Severely Constipated!!! Whats up with that??!!

[MelanieR]

Hey Everyone,

Before starting the whole30 plan, I was regular, to the T, I could even tell you to the half hour both times a day when I would go. After starting the whole30, Im now down to once every 36 hrs, if that. I can admit that I havent been drinking as much water as before, but then again, I was drinking a ton and probably too much water. Im now consuming about 6 bottles a day, and a couple more on exercise days.

Today, I went for a small bowel exam, a test that should only take at the most 2 hours. It took me 4.5 hrs to complete. This means that by the time I drank the bromium, it took 4.5 hrs for it to get to my large intestine. The lady who did it at the same time as me took 40 min!

The radiologist said that I was severely constipated! I was a little embarassed as I am usually soooo regular. Is this normal?

[Karen]

I always get backed up the first week or two of starting a new diet or doing a cleanse. Eventually, things always turned around for me around day 10-11. Are you in the early stages of your Whole30?

[MelanieR]

No, I'm on day 22 and when I do go, my stool is as it should be in terms of consistency ect....

[Robin Strathdee]

Melanie -

Do you have a food log on the forum? Or could you post a few days worth of meals for us to look at? That might help us help you figure out what's up down there.

[MelanieR]

Breakfast usually consists of

3 eggs fried in a tsp of evoo, half and avocado and a whole pepper and some cucumber and I add himalayan pink salt.

French vanilla flavoured coffee with coconut milk

Workout followed by either lunch or hard boiled egg for protein and raw almonds

Lunch

Cauliflower rice with garlic and fresh chives, sauteed ground turkey in evoo with onions and organic whole tomatoes and juices with sea salt

1/3 cup blacberries

Dinner

Coconut milk and curried black tiger shrimp (about 12) with sauteed brussel sprouts and garlic

Another coffee with coconut milk

Berries with organic coconut shreds and drizzled with coconut milk

I usually drink about 6-7 bottles of water and a couple glasses of Perrier

Another day

Same breakfast and coffee

Lunch

Brussels sprouts and parsnip sauteed with garlic, grilled pork tenderloin in epicure Greek seasoning with evoo and lemon juice fresh squeezed

raspeberries

Dinner

Kirlkland mixed veggies mix with onion and garlic sauteed in evoo with sea salt and pepper, beef tenderloin steak with pink salt

Bowl of blackberries, raspberries and strawberries, about 1.5 cups with coconut shreds and drizzled with coconut milk

Another coffee with coconut milk

I always wait at least 4 or 5 hrs between Meals. I don't snack unless its a post workout protein.

I also wake up really early as I have clients in the early morning so I don't eat, just have water until 8 when I have a break before my next client shows up.

I also sometimes don't wait a full 2 hrs after I eat before going to bed.

Hope that helps

[TrayS]

I've had the same issue, much more since being Paleo/Whole and although my issues may be more or less affected by my lack of a gallbladder, what I have found to be an apparent solution may be worth trying regardless of the underlying cause...

Sweet potatoes and/or butternut squash. Fiber-filled, bulky, and very tasty. 1/2 to 1 sweet potato or 1/4 to 1/2 squash per day, with whatever meal you want to eat them with (sometimes I just take a chunk and eat with each meal). I am convinced these are miracle foods in general, certainly have helped me with this (and other) issues.

Good luck!

[heatherdarbs]

Breakfast usually consists of

3 eggs fried in a tsp of evoo, half and avocado and a whole pepper and some cucumber and I add himalayan pink salt.

French vanilla flavoured coffee with coconut milk

Workout followed by either lunch or hard boiled egg for protein and raw almonds

Lunch

Cauliflower rice with garlic and fresh chives, sauteed ground turkey in evoo with onions and organic whole tomatoes and juices with sea salt

1/3 cup blacberries

Dinner

Coconut milk and curried black tiger shrimp (about 12) with sauteed brussel sprouts and garlic

Another coffee with coconut milk

Berries with organic coconut shreds and drizzled with coconut milk

I usually drink about 6-7 bottles of water and a couple glasses of Perrier

Another day

Same breakfast and coffee

Lunch

Brussels sprouts and parsnip sauteed with garlic, grilled pork tenderloin in epicure Greek seasoning with evoo and lemon juice fresh squeezed

raspeberries

Dinner

Kirlkland mixed veggies mix with onion and garlic sauteed in evoo with sea salt and pepper, beef tenderloin steak with pink salt

Bowl of blackberries, raspberries and strawberries, about 1.5 cups with coconut shreds and drizzled with coconut milk

Another coffee with coconut milk

I always wait at least 4 or 5 hrs between Meals. I don't snack unless its a post workout protein.

I also wake up really early as I have clients in the early morning so I don't eat, just have water until 8 when I have a break before my next client shows up.

I also sometimes don't wait a full 2 hrs after I eat before going to bed.

Hope that helps

I would target coconut milk, since it seems to be constant throughout your day. Did you consume it this frequently prior to Whole30? I have a love affair with it and think I have issues if I periodically consume too much.

[MelanieR]

I was hoping no one would say the coconut milk I love it so much.

I was thinking that maybe it was the extra protein. I always ate protein and a good amount but now I feel like I am eating a ton of it!

[jillian]

I, too, was very regular prior to doing my first Whole30. So I was also pretty bothered when I became constipated during my first Whole30. I noticed that adding a sweet potato each day made all the difference. I'm doing my second Whole30 now - and from the start I've had a sweet potato each day (sometimes 2 - gasp!) and have been very regular. It also keeps me from overeating protein. And most importantly, I feel really good - my moods have stayed steady and positive and I haven't had many cravings. My energy levels have also been very steady. These were 2 issues I struggled with during my first Whole30. So I may be eating "too many" starchy veggies this Whole30 - but I feel too good to think this is so...

Hope this is helpful!

[MelanieR]

Thanks, I may have to try the sweet potato as a few ppl have mentioned it. It will go against anything Ive ever done though as I try to stay away from as much starchy vegetables and fruits as possible. Maybe Ill start by adding a quarter of one and see if that helps

[Robin Strathdee]

That was going to be my suggestion, as well - sweet potatoes. Or squash. Or pumpkin. Is there a specific reason you stay away from the starchies?

[TrayS]

Interesting that Jillian brings up energy, this was actually why I started eating them and they alone have made a HUGE improvement in how I feel on a daily basis. The constipation relief was just a welcome side effect. Don't stay away from them, embrace them!!

[Andrea D.]

Well...my first though before even looking at your food log was..."I wonder if she's eating coconut?"

I would try adding the sweet potato or butternut squash as that seems to help me some but if that doesn't do it I'd try the cutting the coconut! Sorry!

[Susan W]

Winter squashes are SO full of fiber. It doesn't seem like they are, but they are. Don't give up coconut quite yet.

[heatherdarbs]

I was hoping no one would say the coconut milk I love it so much.

I was thinking that maybe it was the extra protein. I always ate protein and a good amount but now I feel like I am eating a ton of it!

I know; I know - I hate to even bring it up! You'll just have to move things around to see how much might be too much (of anything)...and maybe the culprit isn't even coconut milk. I won't give it up; nope.

[MelanieR]

I do eat a lot of spaghetti squash but the others squashes only about once à week.

Robin, I stay away from starchy food for several reasons. One is that my husband is diabetic so I often think in terms of blood sugar levels so I stay away from pineapple, mango ect..... cause they are higher carb then berries and such. I also try to always eat my fruit with a protein or fat or right after a meal so that my sugar doesnt spike and have AGE occur. I also have been eating in the low carb mindset for some time so I tend to choose less starchy options for my veggies. I will have to rethink this. So much of my relationship with food is warped that I really need to reset my thinking, which is why I am doing this whole30. For example, I ate a 2 egg, 2 egg white omelet for lunch packed with spinach, chinese mushrooms and a sweet potatoe and now I feel fat cause I think that the sweet potatoe isnt low carb.

I know its idiotic and unhealthy thinking but that is why im doing this and Im working on changing that mindset.

[Robin Strathdee]

Changing unhealthy patterns is a process, and we're proud of you for working through that. I also understand learning to live and work within the confines of someone else's restrictions - marriage is nothing if not a partnership, right? I would suggest adding in sweet potatoes where you can, and perhaps trying some other homeopathic methods to relieve your..self :0) My great-grandmother would swear by water only (usually warm) in the morning - no food - until she had gone. It always worked for her.

[Flynn]

I agree with what everyone says, eat big sweet potatoes with the skin...try all the different types: purple, orange, yellow and white. Apples, pears, carrots, raw vegetables and way more berries also help and when eaten with meals won't make your blood sugar crazy. I understand the mindset of not wanting to eat a carb, feeling fat and fearing fruit, but think of this: Carby things are great for balancing the diet, they are healthy and important for the body because they give your brain energy and get things moving digestively...without them you get blocked up. All that meat and fat you've been eating needs some assistance getting pushed out, that's what the fiber in carbs will do, and there's no reason to fear this...you want your waste to exit.

Also, I once read an article about how the Jamaican olympic track team eats tons of sweet potatoes, many were raised eating them, and they are all lean and mean Good luck!

[jillian]

I've read in a few places that sweet potatoes and winter squash actually help improve glucose management. Not that you can believe everything you read - but here's an excerpt from a magazine article that I think is interesting:

(source: http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2010/apr2010_Sweet-Potato_01.htm)

Diabetes Fighter

Diabetes is an insidious disease whose early symptoms include weakness, fatigue, weight loss and tingling in the hands and feet.6 Left untreated, the disease can have lethal effects on your health. In a study involving rats to determine sweet potato's effects on several markers of diabetes, the vegetable showed significant abilities to potentially reel in some of the more harmful markers.1 Using white-fleshed sweet potatoes for the study, the rats showed impressive improvement in pancreatic cell function, lipid levels, and glucose management. They also showed reduced insulin resistance inside of just eight weeks. Improved insulin resistance was also discovered in a human study when sweet potatoes were added to the diet.1

[heatherdarbs]

Kimchi works REALLY well, too.

[MelanieR]

My husband loves kimchi. Me, not so much.LOL

I will start to add sweet potatoe and also beets to my plan and see what happens.

Im on day 25 today, and things are starting to get moving down there

[Snappy Shark]

I had some constipation issues when I started, too. I found that Robin's tip about the big glass of water (I add some freshly-squeezed lemon juice to mine, too) first thing in the morning is KEY. Usually after being up for about thirty minutes, I go. It took a while to get back to being regular (like most of the 30 days, actually), but now that I've been eating like this for a few months, I am very regular.

Try some sauerkraut, drink some delicious (compliant) kombucha, and try the water w/ lemon juice trick...all three of those things really helped me.

[MelanieR]

Thanks guys! Ive added the sweet potato and I am drinking my hot water and lemon in the morning. I am happy to report things are moving again, slowly but surely

[lauragh13]

Along the same lines as kimchi, cabbage in general is doing the trick for me. I had the same situation - from very regular to "wth are my innards doing in there? NOTHING!" I got cabbage just to try, and as long as I eat some every day...things are moving on through. Plus cabbage is a heck of a lot better than I thought it was going to be. LOL!

[DocIKY]

I just wanted to chime in and say thanks for this question!

I'm on day 2 of my first whole30. For years I've believed that one had to consume fiber in the form of grains to stay regular. Starting out I was worried about how my body would handle a drastic switch from mostly grains to no grains without plugging up the pipes!

I was coming on here to ask how to avoid constipation issues. I am a big fan of the winter squashes and sweet potatoes too, so I will make sure to keep those apart of my daily menu.

Looking forward to the next 28!