10/24

i tested positive for covid in the beginning of january and was on bed rest pretty much the entire month and a few days into february until i recovered. since then, i’ve been dealing with so many different health problems that apparently are the aftermath of covid.

the worse of these is parosmia. i’ve only been experiencing it for a few weeks—about two and a half months after i recovered from covid—but it’s gotten really bad ever since i got the first dose of the pfizer vaccine yesterday. i can’t eat or drink anything but water without gagging because everything smells horrible. absolutely rancid. like something between death and a sewage system.

parosmia is basically an olfactory sense (sense of smell) disorder that happens after the olfactory neurons have been damaged for some reason, often due to a viral infection—in my case, covid. damage to these neurons result in changes in the way smells are relayed to the brain.

basically, everything smells rotten to me. and it tastes that way too.

i’ve been smelling a bad odor for weeks now, but it’s never affected my eating habits. now, the only things i can keep down are water, oat milk, and sushi if i try hard. things like meat, chicken, warm/hot foods, most fruits and veggies, sweets, etc. all smell and taste like a sewage system.

it’s so frustrating because i’m already fasting for ramadan and my stomach has shrunk because of the fasting so it’s hard enough to keep anything down. not to mention, this is literally an ED page and eating is already something i struggle with, and as soon as i try to increase my calories and recover, i literally can’t stomach anything.

a really sick, twisted part of me is kinda glad for the parosmia because i graduate in a few weeks and i’ll probably lose a lot of weight before then if things keep going the way they are.

day 6: 200 calories

calories eaten:

i binged. i’ve already given myself a scolding and i’m ready to get beck on track tomorrow. i’ll fix it.

total calories: way too many

exercise:

40 crunches

40 cross crunches (per leg)

40 leg raises (per leg)

40 donkey kicks (per leg)

40 minutes of walking (~3,500 steps, -178 calories)

i did 2 reps of this exercise—one in the afternoon on an empty stomach, and one at night before bed

note: i don’t have a scale so im just going off of before/after pictures of my body!

day 5: 100 calories

calories eaten:

seasoned salad w/ light ranch: 100 calories

4?? 5 cups?? of tea: 0 calories

total calories eaten: 100 calories

exercise:

35 crunches

35 cross-crunches (per leg)

40 leg raises (per leg)

40 donkey kicks (per leg)

i did 2 reps of this exercise—one in the afternoon on an empty stomach, and one at night before bed

note: i don’t have a scale so im just going off of before/after pictures of my body!

day 4: 400 calories

calories eaten:

skinless seasoned chicken tenders (8oz) w/ sauce: 300 calories

salad w/ seasoning and light ranch: 100 calories

total calories eaten: 400 calories

exercise:

30 crunches

35 cross crunches (per leg)

40 leg raises (per leg)

40 donkey kicks (per leg)

i did 2 reps of this exercise—one in the afternoon on an empty stomach, and one at night before bed

note: i don’t have a scale so im just going off of before/after pictures of my body!

day 3: 300 calories

calories eaten:

4oz seasoned skinless chicken: 150 calories

salad w/ light ranch: 50 calories

1 cup red grapes: 100 calories

total calories eaten: 300 calories

exercise:

30 crunches

30 cross crunches (per leg)

30 leg raises (per leg)

30 donkey kicks (per leg)

i did 2 reps of this workout—one in the afternoon on an empty stomach, and one at night before bed

note: i don’t have a scale so im just going off of before/after pictures of my body!