If there’s one thing many of my clients have in common, it’s the inability to take a good dump. This issue is very frustrating and can easily cause mental and physical upset. I’ve personally struggled with unfulfilling poops for years. So, naturally, I’ve done a lot of research and personal experimentation (avoiding certain foods/eating more of certain foods, taking prebiotics & probiotics, drinking more water, etc.). After years of research and carefully listening to my body, I found that following tips can be a great and simple jump start to living in a blissful state of poo-phoria!
1. Drink More Water
I can’t stress this enough. I guarantee that if you drink a litre of water fairly quickly (not chugging, but within say...half an hour), that you’ll be building a log cabin in no time. Butt (hehe) don’t get confused, drinking water consistently throughout the day is key to having the above be an effective measure. Water has the power to nudge waste out of your colon because it softens stools making them easier to pass.
2. Make Fiber your B*tch (By Eating Well)
I can have an entire blog (or even business hehe) based just on this point alone. Eating well is the key to having blissful bowel movements. Start by eating foods rich in dietary fiber (both soluble and insoluble). In short, dietary fiber is the edible parts of plant foods that cannot be digested. Soluble fiber slows digestion and helps you absorb nutrients from food. Insoluble fiber draws water into and adds bulk to your stool, helping the stool pass more quickly through the intestines. Most plant foods contain some of each kind of fiber. Foods containing high levels of soluble fiber include beans, oats, oat bran, rice bran, barley, citrus fruits, apples, strawberries, peas, and potatoes. Foods high in insoluble fiber include wheat bran, whole grains, cereals, seeds, and the skins of many fruits and vegetables.
3. Make Time to Sh*t!
If you’re someone who has trouble going number two on a consistent basis, you need to consciously make time to sh*t. What does that mean? Here are the conveniently listed steps below:
Take a period of time during your optimal poop window - time of day in which your BM is most likely to occur.
Relax. I’m not saying you have to sit and do nothing at all. But just relax your mind and don’t focus so hard on getting the demon out. A great way to do this is to distract yourself by responding to emails or getting some other low key work done.
Pound some water. Water is King and Coffee is Queen. If you have trouble dropping a deuce during your morning cup of joe, don’t simply have another one! Switch to water, and lots of it.
4. Exercise
Have you ever done a hard workout and felt as though you had to lay some serious pipe either during or after? What’s the dealio? Exercise cuts down on the time it takes for the food you eat to pass through your large intestine. In turn, this limits the amount of water that gets absorbed from your stool into your body. The less water that your body takes from your stool, the easier it is for you to pass it, and the more regular your bowels become. Exercise also speeds up your breathing and your heart rate, which helps kick-start the natural contractions of your intestinal muscles. When your intestinal muscles are contracting like they're supposed to, it helps your body move poops out more quickly. So, if you want to grow a nice long monkey tail on the regular then be sure to hit the gym on the regular!
Love, Peace & Poop,
-LH