New dieter- all going well with one problem.

trw1972

Full Member
Hi all

After 3 years of no exercise and junk food i topped the scales at 14 stone so decided to lose weight.

I didnt follow a specific diet, simply started weight training again and cut out all junk food and beer. I get 1600 calories a day which comes mostly from veg, fruit, lean meat... i eat a tonne of veg.

So far so good, 6 weeks in ive lost one stone. Ive managed to maintain Lean Body Mass through the weight training.

However (sorry if tmi) ive gone from being regular as clockwork to being permenantly constipated!. I 'go' maybee once a week right now.

I get no discomfort or pain, just no urge to go... with all the fibre im getting id have expected the opposite. Im drinking lots of water.

Has anyone else had this while changing eating habits? If so how did you kick start your system? ive tried daily figs and prunes, to no effect.

I did wonder if maybee my fat intake was too low?. Some days i probably take in less than 20g of fat in total. Ive no idea if that could be a factor.

Thanks.
 
It might be a fat issue, because I kept full-fat dairy for a few things and I eat between 600g - 1kg of veg a day most days, and without going into details I'm a pretty *ahem* frequent visitor to the porcelain throne! :8855:

If you don't want to up your fat intake why not look at adding bran fibre (Jordan's do one in the UK, 188cals / 100g but you only need a few tablespoons) to cooked food where it will fit, and/or using a high-fibre cracker, I'm a big fan of GG Bran crackers, they're sold in Holland & Barrett stores and have 42g fibre/100g according to the label, and they're low-cal and low in net carbs. Just make sure you keep up with the water if you add even more fibre, for obvious reasons.
 
Hey rachblue, thanks for the response.

Ive started taking a few nuts a day now to get some fats into my diet- im really reluctant to add more fibre though as i eat about 40-60g of fibre a day already, far far more than i used to get.

Ive thought it might be related simply to the fact im ingesting a lot lot less calories ... i guess i was just wondering if it was a common issue for people in the first few months of a diet? or if its something i should be concerned about.

Thanks again
 
I have the same thing, I was never the most regular anyway but now it's once every few days which seems ridiculous. Best not to worry too much. I find I am more regular if I eat less dairy and many of us grab the low fat dairy for a low calorie choice so eat more when we diet, I know I do but when I was vegan I 'went' every day. You're doing the right things like eating plenty of fibre and drinking water so it may sort itself out as your body gets used to your new diet.
 
I have the same issue aswell! When I was eating like it was going out of style I'd go at least once a day, sometimes more. Now I'm lucky if it's every other day :( I don't feel ill from it or anything, but it is strange to me to not go every day. I'm on a balanced diet but one that places an emphasis on protein and I overdid the protein the other day and my 'deposit' :p was orange! It's back to normal now but still only every other day at the most. Fibre is apparently the key, but not for me.
 
Yes I have noticed that since eating a healthier fibre rich diet I do tend to go less frequently. I also find it strange since fibre is one of the nutrients I have increased. I guess it is either just a case of less in = less out, or that the healthier foods create less waste products when they're processed.

For me adding a few servings a week of full fat natural pre-biotic yogurt has helped get things moving again.
 
Have lately bean having beans a lot more often to make up for all the wholemeal bread I no longer eat..
 
Hey all, thanks for the responses..just a quick note to say that i added a handfull of walnuts a day to my diet..and hey presto :8855:

So it looks like you really can have too few fats!

Thanks again
 
Back
Top