My Perfect Digestion - GONE :(

[Beth Christie]

TMI- you've been warned.

So up until last week I had a perfectly consistent, once a week, easy to pass BM, and I could safely pass judgement on my boyfriend from up on my high horse because I never had to pass gas. My water intake was abysmal but I was functionally superior.

Then I started P90X and tripled, quadrupled, (cinc-quippled?) my water intake and for about 3 days have had smelly, terrible, wet gas, and I feel like I constantly need to BM but it's all liquid.

I haven't really changed anything from my diet- eggs and sweet potatoes every morning, lots of vegetables, I've been adding in a banana and an extra meal after my workout.

Health wise I feel amazing- energy, perfect sleep, just the perfect amount of soreness-- it's just my poor digestive system that's taken the fall.

Any advice on how to get back to the firm and stable?

[kb0426]

Once a week was enough for you? I would have been miserable!

[Terresa]

If you were only going once per week, easy or not, you were still constipated. This, as a specialist so delicately explained to me, means that you have build-up on inside, lining the walls of your colon. Believe it or not, it is possible to have diarrhea with this harder material in place. This may also be the source of your odor. I'm guessing here, but (following the specialist's explanation) you may want to consult a doctor or pharmacist about a stool softener to help clear things out, as it were.

[Tom Denham]

Having a bowel movement once every 24 to 48 hours is generally considered the low end of normal and once per day is common. Please don't try to go back to where you were. My guess is that you are in a transition that may remain messy for a while.

It sounds like increasing your water intake was important. You need to be drinking 1/2 to 1 ounce per pound of body weight per day. Keep drinking at this level and I bet you will get to a better place within a week or two.

[PamH]

For toxin removal and general colon health, you should be pooping daily. Going once a week means you were constipated, regardless of how easy it is to go or what the doctors tell you. I don't think you are pooping out several feet of poop that one day, right? You certainly are not eliminating all of the stool in your colon and having it sit there isn't great for long term health.

Give your system time to adjust to the new exercise and water intake. I expect it will resolve itself.

[GFChris]

I have the opposite problem. I'm now on day 5 of my first Whole30, and have been constipated since the beginning. Prior to Whole30, I would have a BM at least once a day. I've been gluten-free (GF) for over 6 years, and it's when I eliminated gluten that resulted in me being more regular. Prior to going GF, I would go days/perhaps even up to a week between BMs.

It makes me a bit discouraged: concerned that early in the Whole30 I'm causing digestive stress to my body.

I tried Kombucha on day 3, sauerkraut yesterday, and still nothing. I'm going to try drinking more water, keep trying with the sauerkraut (planning on having it every other day: not a fan of the taste, but would prefer to solve this with food vs. supplements) and hoping this will resolve itself sooner rather than later.

At what point if God-forbid I don't have a BM, should I be more concerned/take other measures?

[GFChris]

Update: day 6 and I finally went!    Hallelujah!

Wondering if the Senna tea I drank before bed last night (Yogi Tea's Get Regular) helped?  I'll still try sauerkraut every other day or so, plus adding more water, and more leafy greens.

[Kirsteen]

Have you tried taking magnesium at night? It really helped get me regular when the first W30 seemed to throw my system off track. I take magnesium citrate at night but most people take unflavoured natural calm (I can't get it over here) good luck

[Boykinbaby]

i was going once a day but since starting 3 days ago i find that i'm having, not quite, diarrhea and i wonder if it's the increased fat intake?  should i maybe consider probiotics.  prior to the whole 30 i was having a 3-4oz serving of kefir or kombucha as well as a prune every morning so maybe that was keeping me in line before and now my body is relying on itseld instead of food?  not sure, all i know is i'm sure looking foreward to things getting back to normal!

[PamH]

I was not constipated from Whole30, but I do drink Crio Bru (ground cacao) in the morning which I'm sure helps me stay regular.

 

I have to stay regular due to an underlying pelvic organ prolapse that gets MUCH worse if I don't go daily.  I found that eating winter squash (kabocha, buttercup and red kiri especially) was very helpful!  I ate them so regularly over the winter that I turned a slight orange tint.  No joke.  LOL  I had to back off a bit.

 

A warm glass of water with lemon first thing upon waking can really get things going for some.

 

It is kind of trial and error.  Digestion is a very personal journey, it seems!

[PitBullMamaLiz]

GFChris, did you check the ingredients in the Yogi tea?  I was devastated to find out that all my favorite flavors of it have stevia in it, making it non-compliant.

[GFChris]

Whoops, thanks for the heads-up PitBullMamaLiz. It does have Stevia leaf as the fifth ingredient. Bummer.

 

Guess I won't be having that again until my Whole30 is over. Hopefully having sauerkraut every other day will help. I really prefer not to take magnesium if I don't have to.