Poop? Why does it matter?

Now, I am no expert on bowel movements, but I do know we all have them. Anyone/thing with a digestive system has them. Why are they important though?

I recently watched Ali Wong’s most recent stand up Netflix special. She ranted (in a hilarious way) about how in her world, men just get this time at the same time every day to have a bowel movement. She talked about how she recently had to have a medical procedure in order to remove the obstruction from her bowel. The reason; she didn’t poop for more than 2 weeks at one point. She explained how as a woman she just shoved it all back up in her and didn’t take the time for this. While the comedian expressed this in the most hysterical of ways, I reflected on my own life. I am totally not regular. Full disclosure, I am day 5 here. I literally just didn’t make the time. I was TOO BUSY. What the heck is with that?!

I realized that in order for general overall health, we need to be regular. The benefits of gut health are so obvious, yet we don’t realize it. Often we just suffer. I have no idea how as a woman, having a bowel movement became some element of self care, but here we are - albeit begrudgingly.

So, I have opted to increase my water intake (haha as I have been saying for years) and also increase my fibre. I actually got fibre supplements and have been using them for a few years. Every morning with vitamins I take a fibre. Totally going to increase. I can’t even imagine how this would be if I wasn’t taking fibre every day. I started using a tracker too. I just need to get in the habit of actually using one. I also realized that if I am not consistent with actual BM’s then how could I be consistent with a tracker. So this will need some work.

Based on some reading, I did notice that everyone is different and that what matters is actually what comes out. So I guess that makes me feel better.

I decided to write this because how many people are dehydrated? How many people are struggling with this and not talking about it? Also, how many people in our lives don’t know we are struggling and not taking the time to poop?!!

My message here is that we should be making sure we are caring for ourselves. It is bonkers to me that Ali Wong had to go through that (whether real or not). A great story.

My challenge to you: drink some water, eat some fibre, and take time to poop.

This is AboutU after all.