Bathroom habits

elphie754
elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
edited November 14 in Health and Weight Loss
Tmi warning, stop here if easily queazy.


So I have a question about going to the bathroom and regularity. I had been going everyday since I first started tracking calories. Suddenly, after losing 50 lbs, I have not been going everyday. This has gone on for the past 1-2 months. It seems like there is a cyclic pattern to my bowel movements. I will not go for about 2-3 days, followed by really loose bowel movements (sometimes even diarrhea), and have 3 "movements" all at once. Then it goes back to not going for the next 2-3 days.

Has anyone here have a similar experience? If so, how do you stay regular?

*medical conditions have already been ruled out*

Replies

  • Azexas
    Azexas Posts: 4,334 Member
    Is it because you were eating in the shower ;) Totally kidding..

    Do you notice if you eat a certain type of food you will have the loose movements the next day? Maybe something to do with your fat or fiber intake? I'm not too sure.
  • gaurdgoose
    gaurdgoose Posts: 106 Member
    Have you checked your fiber intake. you should be in-taking 20-25 g of fiber every day
    You can look up high fiber foods like lentils, beans, berries, etc
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    for some people, it is normal to go only once every few days. as long as its consistent, and its not a constipation/ pain/ discomfort issue, i dont think its a problem.

    You can always increase your fiber/fat/water macros to help move things along, too. coffee helps some people.
  • Vune
    Vune Posts: 674 Member
    Do you bank your calories for the weekend? I notice my body responds differently to me weekday eating as opposed to my weekend eating. I think it's something that you'll have to study your food diary to figure out.
  • jxmom
    jxmom Posts: 28 Member
    Vune wrote: »
    Do you bank your calories for the weekend? I notice my body responds differently to me weekday eating as opposed to my weekend eating. I think it's something that you'll have to study your food diary to figure out.

    I agree with Vune. This weekend I went a little crazy eating differently, and I dearly paid for it. This has happened to me the last two weekends so it was directly related to what I took in.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    What is your water intake like? And I agree, take a look at what you are eating. Pizza plugs me up terribly. (It never used to, but after I stopped eating it regularly I noticed when I do eat it, it causes problems).
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
    Troutsy wrote: »
    Is it because you were eating in the shower ;) Totally kidding..

    Do you notice if you eat a certain type of food you will have the loose movements the next day? Maybe something to do with your fat or fiber intak? I'm not too sure.

    Looking at my diary there doesn't seem like it is isolated to go just one food

    :smile:
    gaurdgoose wrote: »
    Have you checked your fiber intake.
    you should be in-taking 20-25 g of fiber every day
    You can look up high fiber foods like lentils, beans, berries, etc
    I e actually been getting better fiber intake.
    callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »
    for some people, it is normal to go only once every few days. as long as its consistent, and its not a constipation/ pain/ discomfort issue, i dont think its a problem.

    You can always increase your fiber/fat/water macros to help move things along, too. coffee helps some people.

  • ruggedshutter
    ruggedshutter Posts: 389 Member
    Honestly, I have a similar issue on the weekends. Sometimes I won't have the urge to go all weekend and then will spend most of my Monday morning at work behind the door. Not sure what started it, but I noticed it about a year or so ago. I wouldn't worry too much about it, as long as it's not painful.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
    Vune wrote: »
    Do you bank your calories for the weekend? I notice my body responds differently to me weekday eating as opposed to my weekend eating. I think it's something that you'll have to study your food diary to figure out.

    No I don't bank my calories, and eat pretty much the same amount of calories (within 100 calories of each other) every day.
    callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »
    for some people, it is normal to go only once every few days. as long as its consistent, and its not a constipation/ pain/ discomfort issue, i dont think its a problem.

    You can always increase your fiber/fat/water macros to help move things along, too. coffee helps some people.

    Except this wasn't normal for me until about 2 months ago.
    deksgrl wrote: »
    What is your water intake like? And I agree, take a look at what you are eating. Pizza plugs me up terribly. (It never used to, but after I stopped eating it regularly I noticed when I do eat it, it causes problems).

    Fluid intake is the same every day (I don't say water because I count all fluids as fluid). It doesn't appear correlated to any specific food, since I eat pretty much the same foods.

  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
    Have you changed your fat intake?
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
    TheVirgoddess wrote: »
    Have you changed your fat intake?

    Nope. Nothing in my intake has changed.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    More than you ever wanted to know:
    http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/02/14/normal-stool.aspx

    3x per week can be normal, but the watery is likely more of a problem. Although it could even be too much fiber considering how much you may have increased.
  • nickatine
    nickatine Posts: 451 Member
    edited March 2015
    Make sure your your getting even doses of fat throughout the day eg; buttered toast in the morning, olive oil on salad at lunch, snack on peanuts or cashews. Drink a few cups of coffee, take a magnesium citrate supplement, eat pineapple.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
    auddii wrote: »
    More than you ever wanted to know:
    http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/02/14/normal-stool.aspx

    3x per week can be normal, but the watery is likely more of a problem. Although it could even be too much fiber considering how much you may have increased.
    Yeah I don't really trust mercola on anything. And 3 times was never normal for me.

    nickatine wrote: »
    Make sure your your getting even doses of fat throughout the day eg; buttered toast in the morning, olive oil on salad at lunch, snack on peanuts or cashews. Drink a few cups of coffee, take a magnesium citrate supplement, eat pineapple.

    I get plenty of healthy fats during the day. I also drink TONS of coffee a day. The only thing that changes is I have noticed the days I do go tend to be days where I am not working (although that is not always the case).
  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
    I have no ideas really - I have a similar issue, but it's because of the meds I'm on. For now, if I skip a single day pooping, I take a stool softner. It's one of those things you need to stay ahead of the game on.

    The loose stools can be a sign of constipation - your body produces the liquid to help flush out the back up.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I'm quite sure I don't poop every day too. I think every other day. I don't exactly write it down but yeah... it seems about right. And I typically eat enough fiber.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
    TheVirgoddess wrote: »
    I have no ideas really - I have a similar issue, but it's because of the meds I'm on. For now, if I skip a single day pooping, I take a stool softner. It's one of those things you need to stay ahead of the game on.

    The loose stools can be a sign of constipation - your body produces the liquid to help flush out the back up.

    I have no idea either. I though there was a change in something that I maybe missed, but still can't find it. No change in take, macros, medication, exercise, or anything else in my day to day activities.
    Francl27 wrote: »
    I'm quite sure I don't poop every day too. I think every other day. I don't exactly write it down but yeah... it seems about right. And I typically eat enough fiber.

    Except this was not normal for me until a little over a month ago.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    elphie754 wrote: »
    TheVirgoddess wrote: »
    I have no ideas really - I have a similar issue, but it's because of the meds I'm on. For now, if I skip a single day pooping, I take a stool softner. It's one of those things you need to stay ahead of the game on.

    The loose stools can be a sign of constipation - your body produces the liquid to help flush out the back up.

    I have no idea either. I though there was a change in something that I maybe missed, but still can't find it. No change in take, macros, medication, exercise, or anything else in my day to day activities.
    Francl27 wrote: »
    I'm quite sure I don't poop every day too. I think every other day. I don't exactly write it down but yeah... it seems about right. And I typically eat enough fiber.

    Except this was not normal for me until a little over a month ago.

    For me neither. But I'm guessing it's normal not to poop as much when you eat less.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »
    elphie754 wrote: »
    TheVirgoddess wrote: »
    I have no ideas really - I have a similar issue, but it's because of the meds I'm on. For now, if I skip a single day pooping, I take a stool softner. It's one of those things you need to stay ahead of the game on.

    The loose stools can be a sign of constipation - your body produces the liquid to help flush out the back up.

    I have no idea either. I though there was a change in something that I maybe missed, but still can't find it. No change in take, macros, medication, exercise, or anything else in my day to day activities.
    Francl27 wrote: »
    I'm quite sure I don't poop every day too. I think every other day. I don't exactly write it down but yeah... it seems about right. And I typically eat enough fiber.

    Except this was not normal for me until a little over a month ago.

    For me neither. But I'm guessing it's normal not to poop as much when you eat less.

    I am eating the same amout (actually slightly more) than I was in January.
  • Oldbitcollector
    Oldbitcollector Posts: 229 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »

    For me neither. But I'm guessing it's normal not to poop as much when you eat less.

    Seconded.. Seeing the same results here..

This discussion has been closed.

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