Day 3

A slightly more successful day today! I got up early and took my dog over to some nearby fields for a run, and then came back and had a good breakfast of fresh pineapple, a hot cross bun, and a mug of peppermint tea. So far so good!

Then lunch was a sandwich (white bread = not so good) but I had a glass of juice and a glass of water.

Then I met up with a friend from school which was lovely - I went for a peppermint tea and a smoothie, so lots of liquid, and the fact I walked 20 minutes there and back at a brisk pace, should only have benefits, no negative effects from what was a lovely afternoon catch up!!

Dinner was good today, sweet and sour pork (homemade) with rice and salad, with 2 tsp linseed mixed in. Had a cheeky mini roll afterwards, and an alpro soya chocolate pudding later in the evening, which are the only negatives from today.

No bowel movements (sorry if this is too much detail), but I'm hopeful for the next few days! We shall wait and see, fingers crossed!

Louisa :)

Day 2

So today was a bit up and down generally - I had my driving test which I was super nervous enough which has 2 consequences:
1) I find my appetite goes completely and I can't eat very much at all.
2) I find it easier to have a bowel movement (like normal people get the runs when they're nervous, I just get normal bowel movements instead).

So on the plus side I haven't eaten anything bad today, but I haven't eaten enough to be able to get my 5 a day in at all, and lack of energy has meant my ability to do exercise was practically nil. Another good point though is that I have been drinking plenty of water, and have also had my linseed today.

Day 1

So here's how things went on the first day of my 7 days of sticking to the rules! It's definitely hard to make sure I eat the right things (such as I was supposed to have bran flakes for breakfast but really couldn't stomach it this morning), but onwards and upwards!

Breakfast:
Ginger tea (It was supposed to be peppermint, but I woke up feeling particularly nauseous).
Wholemeal toast with goat's butter.
Kiwi

Snack
2 glasses of water
3 chocolate biscuits (told you they are my weakness!).

Lunch:
Pork and kale soup with 3 tsp linseed mixed in.
2 glasses of water
Glass of orange juice

Chewed gum on my way to work this afternoon.

Supper:
Ravioli (probably not the best...) in a tomato sauce with a full green salad.
Glass of water.

I have also drunk 3 mugs of peppermint tea today (although I do drink it very weak!).

In terms of exercise, I took my dog for a half hour run/walk in the local fields, and had a very brisk 15 minute walk to work (when I walk I make the most of it and do tend to almost speed-walk).


So overall, not a great start: I remembered the linseed and have done some exercise, but not enough, and I'm still perhaps eating too many white carbs in the biscuits and pasta. It's harder than I thought to follow all the rules, and it's no wonder perhaps that they often don't seem to have enough of an effect. Hopefully tomorrow and over the weekend things will improve, I shall keep at it!!

Louisa :) xx

My plan for the next 7 days

So it's all very well posting all of my hints and tips below, but it's hard to actually remember to follow them all, especially living as a student. But I'm home now for the Easter vacation and so I'm going to try and have a whole week actually sticking to all of the rules, and see if culmitavely they have more of an effect that just sticking to the odd rule or two when I remember. So I'm going to do as much as I can to follow my plan, and I'll post every day letting you know how I'm getting on, whether I've been able to stick to it, and any effects that it is having.

I think the hardest one for me is going to be to reduce the amount of sugar I eat - I have a really sweet tooth and biscuits in particular are my weakness!! It's easy at uni because I tend not to buy them but they are always in the cupboard at home, so it's going to take willpower to simply ignore them when they are there!

So, here are the rules I am going to try and stick to for the next 7 days:

• Have 2 tsp of linseed mixed into my food every day.
• Do an hour of exercise every day.
• Have 3 pieces of fruit every day.
• Make sure I have my 5 a day every day.
• Really reduce the amount of processed sugar I eat (i.e. sugar from biscuits/cakes as opposed to fruit).
• Have bran flakes for breakfast rather than toast.
• Drink peppermint tea several times a day (although I do this already).
• Avoid anything with cow's dairy in (this tends to be a trigger food for me).
• Chew gum once a day.
• Drink a lot more water (at least 6 cups a day).
• Make a conscious effort to work my bowel muscles every day by at least trying for a bowel movement (I don't get any natural urges to have one ever).

On top of this, I'm going to avoid taking any medication. I'm not taking any regularly anyway at the moment because my heart palpatations have been returning with the movicol.  

So...that's the plan, we shall see how it goes!

Louisa :)

Chewing Gum

So I thought I'd write a blogpost about something I've recently discovered: apparently chewing gum has a laxative effect. I think this is fairly common knowledge but not something I knew because I've never liked chewing gum at all, it just made me want to gag when I kept something in my mouth that long, and I found it disgusting after it lost its taste (which seemed to happen fairly quickly).

However, once I heard from someone that it had a laxative effect I thought I'd give chewing gum a second chance and I honestly can't begin to explain how glad I am that I did! I don't have any evidence specifically of a laxative effect, but apparently the constant chewing stimulates muscle movement in your bowels, and I can kind of see how this might work, so it could be one of the factors that have meant my bowels are better recently.

I only chew once or twice a day though so maybe you'd have to chew more to get a laxative effect! The way in which it has really helped me is in getting rid of the halitosis that comes from being pretty much permanently constipated. No matter how much mouthwash/floss etc I use, within an hour so that horrible smell returns, simply because it is not an oral hygiene problem, and having gum ready for when I find myself caught in a social situation works perfectly for me!!

It's also supposed to be really good for your teeth if you chew sugar free gum after eating so the sugars from your food don't linger on your teeth.

I've solved the problem of the taste disappearing quickly by chewing extra peppermint ice, it seems to be the best flavour wise! And having something in my mouth for long periods of time is something I'm getting used to, I just have to do it my own way!