Who knew that spending a couple of days in bed reading Tom Sawyer with a sick seven-year-old could be so exhausting? Adam, my older son, had the flu. Don't panic... despite what the media says, flu is a normal part of human existence. I'll even tell you how I got him to recover after only two days. I realize it is a viral infection, and I know that you were told there is nothing you can do about it. Don't believe everything you hear, it's not always true... in fact, I could be lying to you right now...

How do you know it's the flu? Easy. Suddenly, your fever is over 103, you have a wicked frontal headache and your nose is not stuffed. Those are three fail-proof early symptoms. If all three check out, do the following. (By the way, you should always keep these remedies at home just in case.)

Probiotics, Oscillococcinum and Black Elderberry Extract along with daily doses of Vitamin C and D are my big guns. Homemade chicken soup, bedrest and plenty of fluids are also a must. If you want to get the full list of helpful remedies, you'll have to sign up for my newsletter.

Oh, and don't expect the flu shot to save you — it doesn't always work. Need proof? Here you go...

Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine

Lactic pain is not gain! This is what I have noticed: I have no lactic pain on the days where I get up and out without hesitation. It really doesn't matter how hard I work out or what I do; there's just no lactic pain. Then there are the days where I can barely peel my eyes open, and when I do, I try to avoid the mirror because I am intimately familiar with the disaster that will gaze back at me. These days usually follow nights when Matt and I stay out past respectable hours (say, after 3am), during which time consumption of wine or dirty martinis has occurred. Actually, the dirty martinis are just me. Matt's drink is vodka. Okay, martinis are vodka, too, but I see them as a whole different animal, probably because of the pretty glass and the blue cheese stuffed olives. Matt and I are also fond of getting a burger on the way home. You see where I am going with this...

Anyway, the lactic pain from that day's workout (you thought I was going to say hangover) is bad and lasts for days. I find it neither helpful, nor proof of progress. It just gives me an excuse to do less. Lighter weight, shorter run, taking it easy on the heavy bag — screws my whole week up.

Here's what I'm thinking.

Dehydrated, overly toxic body with overworked filters (liver, kidneys) = lactic pain. Even my use of proteolytic enzymes as a preventative measure fails (I take three before every workout to speed healing of torn muscle tissue). I'm gonna try something new and see if it works better — making sure I am well hydrated before I hit the gym (the stats are that up to 70% of athletes start their workouts dehydrated), and taking plenty of ionized minerals to replenish my elecrolyte balance. I'll let you know how it works out...

Can't breathe! My nose is all clogged up and I feel like I am sucking air through a straw. And to make matters worse, the thick, disgusting slime keeps slithering down my throat, so my throat is sore, too! Okay, didn't mean to be so descriptive, but this sucks!

I don't know about you, but I need to breathe in order to work out. I can't swim because the ugly, green stuff keeps creeping down and clogging up my airway. I get that panicky feeling like if I don't take another breath, I will suffocate immediately. I keep catapulting myself out of the water like a sperm whale, looking freaked out and altogether uncool.

For the next five weeks, thanks to my injured ligaments, I am on a swim/walk and vertical weight work-only regimen. I can still walk if I'm not breathing, but blowing snot all over myself is not as much fun as you would think.

The neti pot is my solution. I make my own wash from filtered water, one teaspoon of sea salt and a pinch of baking powder. I know, I know... I can buy the solution at Whole Foods, but I already make a sizable contribution to their bottom line, and money is thin these days. Besides, I already have the ingredients.

If you haven't experienced the joys of neti potting (my term, but you can use it) before, you have got to try it! At first, it's like you are six and at the beach with your irresponsible uncle. A huge wave comes in, for which he of course releases your hand so that he can jump over it, leaving you to go tumbling head over foot into the terrifying frenzy of whirling water. Anyway, remember how your nose feels right after? Well, that's what it's like your first time with a neti pot. But, you get used to it and even start to crave it after a while (okay, maybe that last part is just me).

My friend Chele, a health counselor who specializes in gastrointestinal issues, has written a great blog post to get you going: Neti Pot—Every Home Should Have One.

Let me know if you try it!

I'm four weeks into my triathlon aspirations and daily workouts, and I've had my first setback. I injured my pelvic ligaments and threw my spine out of alignment. Don't get me started—I could write a sitcom scene around this one. Such a disability sounds like it should have come from having really awesome, energetic, pillow-biting sex, but sadly, it resulted simply from walking uphill fast and doing those exercises where you lie on your side and lift your legs and torso at the same time. Massive pain in my back. The chiropractor said I have been overtraining, and it's true; I barely take any days off. It hurt so bad, I couldn't even put on my socks!

Here's what I did to fix it. I am telling you this because it's day three now and I am feeling pretty awesome. Who knows, maybe this advice will come in handy for you sometime.

As soon as I limped back from the gym, I took homeopathic Arnica Montana in 30C (yes, I have it laying around just in case. Doesn't everyone?). I had my green smoothie with extra protein, and took huge gulps (at least five) out of the cod liver oil bottle. Then I took a nice hot shower, and put arnica cream on right after. Once my stomach was empty, I took five proteolytic enzymes.

As soon as I could, I went to see my homeopath and chiropractor. After the chiropractor visit, I was feeling much better. So, the regimen was:

3 proteolytic enzymes - 4x a day
4 tablespoons of cod liver oil - 3x a day
2 probiotics - 3x a day
tons of green smoothies and wheat grass juice
homeopathic remedy 2x a day
and the chiropractor 3x a week.

So here I am on day three of my injury. I did 800 meters in the pool and am not feeling any pain. One or two of these things must have worked.