Weight: N/A (will not weigh again until Monday)
Total Weight Lost: 19.6 pounds
I've wanted to do a post on this topic for awhile, but hadn't had the correct motivation. This morning was my first on the VLCD (very low calorie diet), but the acronym might as well have stood for "very long constipated day". My diet for more than two weeks had consisted of a wide range of whole foods--fresh fruits and veggies with plenty of fiber. I was as regular as a fine Swiss timepiece. For the past two days I have been on a high fat diet with, unfortunately, almost no fiber. My body, and in particular, my digestive system was not happy. Are you shocked yet? Have I grossed you out? Why is it that a natural bodily function can make us so uncomfortable to discuss?
In 1957, the classic sitcom Leave It to Beaver was the first television show to depict a toilet tank. Censors refused to allow them to show the toilet bowl itself for fear of offending viewers. The 6 kids from The Brady Bunch shared a bathroom, but evidently, they didn't need a toilet. Archie Bunker shocked viewers (surprise!) on All in the Family when he emerged from the upstairs bathroom with the SOUND of a toilet flushing.
That has changed now when we see much more risque and suggestive things on tv than the lid of a toilet tank. But discussing our bowel habits, even with a doctor, is something that even the most liberated among us finds difficult.
In a former life, my wife worked for an organization founded to educate and advocate for the large but silent population of patients with irritable bowel syndrome and other functional gastrointestinal disorders. The stories I read from patients and from doctors pointed to the fact that communication--or lack thereof--were a large reason that so many such issues could go undiagnosed for years.
In the last decade, conversations about colorectal and prostate cancer have become much more public through the efforts of Katie Couric and the like, but serious conversations about "poop" are still much less likely than joking ones.
The point of this post is that our bowel habits can be a great indicator of our health and how our bodies are reacting to the foods we eat. We need not be embarrassed when we notice an unexpected change in our bathroom routine, but should instead be keenly aware of these changes and recognize that what we put in our bodies must...eventually...come out.
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