So I am not really sure where to put this, since it's not REALLY diet related, but I'm assuming at least a few of you guys have had this happen. This is a dead serious question...
I cut down my calories by a a pretty good bit. As in, I was eating probably around 2100 a day and Friday, I made a transition to around 1400. Problem: I haven't, well, pooped, in 5 days, and it seems directly related to the change in food intake. I'm not going to go back up to my previous intake as that would be unhealthy... but is this normal? Like, I haven't even felt like I NEEDED to, but it's obvious that food has to be going somewhere. It's a little unsettling because I used to be "regular"... Anyone have the same experience? What did you do about it?
You probably need to up your fiber intake. By cutting back, you may have cut back on your fiber. I can definitely tell if I haven't had enough fiber in my diet.
Before I started dieting, I was completely irregular. 5 days without going was completely normal for me...
I started dieting and really being careful about what I ate, and I was regular for the first time in my life. It became normal for me to go once a day...and I felt so much better.
After a while I slacked a lot in the diet department...I wasn't watching what I was eating as much...and I know I wasn't getting enough fiber or vegetables or fruit....and I was back to 5 days without going...and since I was no longer used to it, I felt absolutely terrible...
I figured out after a lot of hard work that it was the things I had been eating...
Try eating LOTS of fiber, those fiber one granola bars are great...eat an apple...try to eat foods that have whole grains and stuff...thats what helped me anyways. Worst case scenario, go to your doctor or go to walgreens and buy an enema (i know, gross...but it might help).
I hope everything gets better...I've been there, I know how much it sucks.
Are you getting enough water? Water is indispensable when it comes to healthy bowel movements. If you're not used to eating a lot of fiber you might want to up it gradually. There's also a good supplement, GLUCOMANNAN, which comes under several labels (I like SlimStyx brand). Sprinkle a packet in yogurt, juice, or anything soft-ish like that and it bulks up quite a bit.
I used to have problems like this a LOT. I started taking some fiber pills because I don't ever seem to get enough fiber in my diet. They're lots of different kinds and they're pretty cheap. Also, a few months ago I did a two week Diet Start Cleanse, made by RenewLife and it totally helped! What I mean is that it was gentle enough for me to not feel like I was on it and completely improved my regularity, even after the pills were gone.
You could also just try some simple remedies like coffee or apple juice!
Last edited by tonimaroni2; 12-16-2009 at 04:46 PM.
Be very, very careful when upping your fiber intake. Going from too little fiber to lots of fiber can exacorbate the problem. A lot of people encounter this when they start a new way of eating because more nutritional foods are naturally much higher in fiber.
For some reason I have issues when I go on vacation or travel and I found that Activia yogurt helps a lot as does getting PLENTY of water. If all else fails you could always take a stool softener.
For future reference, I do use psyillium husks in my smoothies and this helps my irregularity a lot.
I would make sure that the 1400 cals a day you are eating includes a lot of green veggies, spinach, broccoli etc. This will help with your *ahem* bowel movements.
In the past I have also tried adding lemon to my water and it helped with my digestion.
I have a "sluggish colon," and it becomes much more apparent when I am on my healthy eating plan. I eat tons of veggies and some fruits and drink lots of water, but it's still a problem. So far, what has really helped me is taking Magnesium supplements. I take 3 every night at bedtime. If I forget, I pay the price the next day. If I remember, it works like magic. I think most people are deficient in Magnesium anyway and it's good to take at bedtime because I think it helps the body relax for sleep. Another thing that is natural and helps is Psyllium Husk. I heard Dr. Oz say that he always puts it in his smoothie in the morning, but I know they have it in a capsule form too. Last, there's a probiotic called Kyodophilis and it works really well for digestion. I hope you feel better soon and don't be embarrassed, I'm sure someone else will read the advice here and benefit from it.
I would say that it's unhealthy to have a BM once every 5 days, and when you do have one, I'm sure you must be constipated. When you are eating 1,400 calories a day, you need to be really picky about what foods you eat, because you need to get enough fiber, protein, calcium, vitamins and minerals. Just because you eat less doesn't mean that your body requires less nutrients. I eat 1,500 calories/day on average, and I usually go maybe 1x daily or 1x every 2 days at the most. I try to eat oatmeal every morning, and I try to replace all of my white grains with whole grains. Eating a lot of vegetables helps too. But I'm the type of person who never has problems with this, so it's different from person to person. Some people are always having problems no matter what they eat or don't eat, and need to take supplements or even medication. If the problem persists you should go see a doctor.
Like a few have said, I was also very irregular before I started dieting. It would drive my boyfriend nuts (yes, we are open, lol) that I'd go 5 or 6 days without going. He'd tell me just go and do it, but I couldn't. It would be like asking a man to go give birth, haha. My bowel movements were kinda funky for the first week or two. This is probably TMI, but like I said, everyone does it. Since I was eating so much more fruits and vegetables and fiber, I had some funky colored loose stools. But after my body adjusted, everything calmed down.
My guess, your body will pass naturally on its own and will adjust to the new diet. If you haven't gone in the next few days, get some kind of stool softener.
IF you are eating a lot of fiber AND drinking plenty but you are still irregular, you may have cut too much fat out of your diet. Healthy fats/oils are critical for good health and they help "grease the skids" as well, lol.
Make sure you include fatty fish/fish oil, nuts, peanut butter, flax, canola oil, olive oil, etc. They are caloric but very important, just be careful with serving sizes.
Kinda gross, super embarassing question >.<
