***Warning*** Gross Topic

Make sure you are getting enough fiber and water. If you are dehydrated it can really slow things down.

First, I am going to echo what others are saying about fiber. Everyone is different and it takes your body some time to adjust. What do I mean by adjust? Most overweight people are going from a diet where the food is pushed through you by piling on more food. When you switch over to a healthy diet the system actually pulls the food along. Going from a push to pull system can be very difficult.

I was in a Weight Watcher like support group at church some 10 years ago. Thirty people in the class. Everyone complained about bloating, constipation and the occasional bout of diarrhea. Everyone's system was out of wack. I told myself if this continued for over a month I would quit. Took about a month to clear up.

Second, protein supplements. A common side effect to protein supplements is constipation. That stuff can really bind you up. I have talked to a number of fitness experts. The first tip from weight lifters was Magnesium Caltrate (not Citrate!). Whatever the dosage is on the bottle, take half of that for the first week. Also, be close to the loo for the next 30 min. Chasing a full dose of these pills with a hot cup of joe... well... don't get stuck in traffic!!

Lastly, probiotics. I have talked with four doctors over the past 18 months (general pa x2, rhumatologist, and gastroenterologist) and they all echoed the same idea. Probiotic supplements for short term are fine. If you have to take them longer than 6-8 weeks, you need to see a gastroenterologist. If you are having a problem digesting certain types of foods, then you need to eat the fermented foods of the same type to replenish your gut. Having a problem with dairy then you need some live dairy culture to get things moving: cultured yogurt, buttermilk, kefir even blaand will do it. If you have a problem with greens, then it sounds like kimchi or sauerkraut would be helpful. Eating all those processed food for so long as depleted the good bacteria in our gut. Restarting that system takes a bit of time and the right foods to get things going.

I hope you find the info useful and things get to moving again

I was having this, and it didn't make me happy, I just added two servings of the orange flavored fiber powder to my day.... Magic!! Plus it tastes delicious, so that is a bonus.

Try adding a couple of tablespoons of ground flax seeds to your food every day. The nutrients are great, and they are famous for regulating bowels. Some of the fiber supplements are made from wood. And eat whole plant foods.

[Lastly, probiotics. . . . . Eating all those processed food for so long as depleted the good bacteria in our gut. Restarting that system takes a bit of time and the right foods to get things going. I hope you find the info useful and things get to moving again [/quote]

Coming in to suggest exactly this - probiotics. If I was looking to improve my gut health and regularity, this is the second thing I'd do after upping fiber intake. My experience with fermented dairy (kefir) was literally life changing. I can digest food again! Amazing! And eating fermented foods does change the, er, consistency, regularity.... everything (at least it did for me). I don't know how weight loss plays into it, but for me the shift from sick (irregular) to healthy (Atom-clock regular) took about a week of slowly introducing kefir into my diet. I didn't want to buy supplements because as @tryin2die2self wisely points out, our guts are depleted from processed foods. My logic is, why pile on more processed stuff. Also it's much cheaper to ferment your own food, and you get many more strains of bacteria (at least 30-50) versus fermented food in the store which have less than a dozen.

@tryin2die2self - I didn't know that the fermented food "of that type" that one has problems with, would help re-balance the gut bacteria - how interesting!