I only poo once a week. Please help me go more often

[Cheeseandlobster]

I should be going more often. A typical days diet involves - no breakfast, lunch is a spicy scrambled egg but really more like vegetables binded together with 1 egg ( courgette, mushroom, pepper, spinach and jalapenos) followed by grapes. Dinner is usually a mega salad with chicken, fish, quiche. Small bar of chocolate, another fruit portion and maybe a yogurt. I drink at least 1.5 litres of water daily. Do Hiit training for 20 mins daily.

Yet the only thing that gets me going is having a beer at the weekend and then I think I poo for the whole week, though only once so its uncomfortable and unpleasant.

I have tried a colonic. The lady told me I will be more susceptible to bowel cancer (jeez thanks lady)

I really don't want to become dependant on laxatives but I think I might have to .

Can anyone advise me please?

Too many eggs.
Can you eat bran flakes?
I'd say more apples and eat more in general?

I would second what others have said that it doesn't sound like you eat a big volume of food. People who go every day probably eat more in terms of volume. You can increase the volume without adding calories by taking in more fibre. As some have said oats are good, of course they are carbohydrates but they are very good for you in many ways besides the fibre. Also in case it's something you haven't considered yet check for the symptoms of hypothyroidism as this and other conditions can cause constipation.

Coffee always gets me going! Aside from that your diet doesn't sound 'bulky' enough. I think it's a myth that wholegrain and high fibre foods help the bowels- I think they are much slower to digest and slow down the rate 'poo' production. I find white bread, white pasta and dairy products pass through quickly. The more you eat, the more you poo! If you are on a diet you will poo less than when you eat a lot!

Low carb often has this result IME OP. There's less bulk and fibre in your diet so less to pass through.

Dried apricots, hot chocolate and a large bowl of All Bran. I think you are eating too many eggs.

I'm a once a fortnight girl, diagnosed with slow transit constipation and on shit loads of medications and other interventions but as I get older it's getting worse. Prune juice is my last resort if I'm on day 13 - 3 large glasses and I'm on the toilet for most of the day :-/

Much more veg. Cut out most of the eggs, make sure your yogurt is natural and unsweetened like a good proper Greek one. Don’t peel veg like carrots and potatoes to up your fibre intake.

Do exercise that focuses on your abdominal and core muscles like Pilates stretches, hula hooping , yoga.

An apple a day....

Tinned prunes in their own juice are very helpful, available from Tesco.
All Bran is an excellent cereal to help with constipation. Not Bran Flakes,
they are not as good. Try it every morning for a week. You may not like it at first, but you can get used to anything if you have to. Nice with Blueberries on top.
I think it will take a least a couple of weeks for your system to get going, and to settle into a routine.
Please come back and let us know how you go on.

for a quick fix Costa vanilla ice coffee.

for a longer fix think the pp's above have covered it

when me, or my DD have problem with going to the loo I have a portion of prunes of prunes juice.

Try also peppermint tea, or black coffee.
Sometimes just sip of coffee will make me go.

Also hot water and lemon first thing in the morning.

I do think you should speak to your GP, long term chronic constipation is not a good thing and should be managed with laxatives. I verge on the constipated side and unlike others movement doesn't help for me...I only ever poo on my days off when I'm lounging about.

The old saying is “eggs are binding” - I cannot eat eggs because they bung me up. But yes, nowhere near enough fibre - carbs are not the enemy!

Fibre gel every day
Helps get your fibre in if you don't natural eat it

You do need to speak to a GP.
Peppermint tea makes me go. I noticed that by accident.

I go twice a day (tmi, I know). I have porridge every morning (oat so Simple) with a satsuma or clementine afterwards. Sandwich for lunch (Hovis super seeded bread, usually with ham or chicken and tomato). Dinner is anything really - steak and chips, chicken or fish with broccoli, cauli, carrots, potatoes. And usually either more fruit or an ice cream after. I think your diet is too clean. You can take it to extremes you know.

Olive oil. On salads or by the teaspoon.

Baked beans.

Haven't RTFT but second a pp who said it doesn't seem like you're eating much, when I was dieting I only used to go roughly once a week.

Order a dominos, makes me go every time
Those laxido sachets should work so should fresh orange juice and weetabix.

Fresh coffee makes me go. Sometimes just the one in the morning at work, other times I need to have a couple a few days running but it always does the trick.

Freak star. You are talking nonsense! No way is it a myth that wholemeal foods bread, fibre etc is a myth. they are good for helping food along the gut.

I used to be the same until I started taking magnesium for migraine prevention. I’d tried everything else, from flaxseed to prunes to oats but nothing worked. Magnesium works a treat.

Another vote for laxido/movicol/ macrogol (same thing).

Only a pure vegetable diet worked for me. Your body doesn’t work differently if you take laxido. Good luck with the other stuff but I tried a lot (prune juice, nuts, kiwis, water, running a marathon) but only pure veg diet worked and I wasn’t willing to do that so I take laxido every other day.

Psyllium husk is good and just pure fibre so good for low carb. Stimulant laxatives are bad long term you are right but bulking agents are fine like Laxido (psyllium is just like a natural version of that) I find low carb is a disaster for my bowels but I understand why you want to stick with it!

I had the same issue when low carb and 5:2.
Now plant based and never been so regular as others have said lots of fibre, healthy whole grain carbs, oh and beans and lentils work wonders!