Low-carbing and bowels

[ILoveAFullFridge]

3 months into a low-carb high-fat diet, 2 stone down and generally healthy.

I barely ever seem to poo. Is this normal?

I don't think I'm constipated, because I'm not straining when I do go, and I know I'm eating very little so there's very little to get rid of, but it feels very weird to go barely once a week.

Is it OK to poo so infrequently?

Are you eating enough fibre?
Less than once a week is considered (medically-speaking) to be chronic constipation.

Without wanting to get into TMI, the most important sign IMO would be the consistency of your stools when you do go! Are they small and hard, like little rabbit droppings, or normal and soft.

Personally, I would try to make sure you're eating plenty of fibre (Not a big fan of Dukan, but I do like his suggestion of adding oatbran to meals). Try to eat as much as possible of your fruit & veg raw, rather than cooked, and wash them rather than peeling them wherever possible.

Normal and soft-firm. Only ever rabbit-droppings if I don't drink enough.

What veg is low-carb and high-fibre?

Raw carrots have a very low glycaemic index and plenty of fibre. Also bean sprouts (you can sprout your own from mung beans, azuki beans etc - dead cheap and easy), most pulses (especially chickpeas, which are now considered like some kind of wonderfood among nutritionists!).
Seeds (e.g. flax seeds, toasted sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds etc) are an excellent low-carb source of fibre, and raw fruit containing lots of seeds are great, too (raspberries, blackberries, redcurrents, figs etc).

I eat bean sprouts, carrots, some seeds and nuts, celery and other green veg.

Pulses have too much carb and give me wind, so I'm not eating them ATM.

Seeing as I mostly eat baby-size meals, with a toddler- or child-size meal once a day and the occasional snack, I doubt I have the throughput to go any more often!

I tell myselfthat as lAnyone else experienced this?

Bl@@dy iPhone! It ate half my last sentence. (Eats more than I do!)

I think I said:

I tell myself that as long as its soft and easy, it doesn't matter if it's infrequent. But it's just too weird. Anyone else have experience of this?

Why are you eating so little?

You seem to be very proud of how little you eat which is a slightly worrying attitude. Why are you eating such small portions?

Fullfridge, sounds fine to me (fellow low carber here).

Leafy green veg and salad is best for fibre. I eat lots of lettuce and cucumber, olives, celery, and leafy greens such as cabbage and broccoli.

Carrots are a bit carby.

Drinking lots of water is good too.

If you are eating small portions because you are full of good low carb food then absolutely fine. If you feel hungry you can eat a little bit more.

Do you ever join the Bootcamp threads? There are lots of knowledgeable and lovely people there.

I'm not so much 'proud' of eating little, as 'bemused'! As Cob realises, I'm eating very little because I'm simply not hungry. I am satisfied by the amount I eat, and if I do get hungry then I have a snack.

I find the Boot Camp threads a little overwhelming. Besides, I have had to make a super-massive effort to break my MN addiction, and keeping track of a BC thread would mean MNing every day. Almost as bad as chocolate