Saturday, May 03, 2008

Bathroom Stories

Photo by AK Photo's


So I know this is a weird subject to be talking about but I feel as if I've gotten to know you all well enough through our juice feasting that I can go ahead with it and it won't be weird. I hope so anyway.

Remember when I had my dramatic colonic episode during my juice feast? If you remember, I had quite an emotional response to releasing probably years and years of "matter". I continued with the colonics throughout a lot of my feast and yet I still wasn't seeing a lot of improvement with bowel activity. So many of my juice feasting friends were all very regular while I was still stopped up.

Even when I broke my feast I was eating prunes for a week to try to get things moving. It was slow going but I am happy to report that I have for the first time in my life that I can remember gotten "normal" movements. I know it sounds crazy, but I am just thrilled about it. I am in the bathroom at least 3 times everyday. I am still having moments where I know I have to go but it takes a while to happen but at this point, who cares, I am able to go all the time, everyday! Woo hoo.

Now, the reason I have decided to write about this isn't just to pat myself on the back...or the bum as may be. I have noticed something about myself that I never knew before and I suspect it may be something other people with chronic constipation might be able to relate to.

I never liked the idea of going to the bathroom. I thought it was embarrassing and I thought it was gross so I didn't want to have to do it very often. I would hold it in so I wouldn't have to go when I was out in public etc. God forbid I would have to take a crap at someones house, no way in hell was that going to happen. I was too busy to stop and go to the bathroom too. Putting this on top of the emotional ties I have had to "holding on" and I set myself up to keep it all in.

So now that I am going more regularly I catch myself holding it in again. I will be sitting at the computer and feel like it is time to go to the bathroom but I don't want to get up so I wait. Or I will be watching TV and I don't want to get up so I hold it. What the hell, I have a DVR so I can pause live TV right? Why do I wait?

I find that it is a habit. I was like this for so long and I didn't even know it. So now when I catch myself doing it I stop what I am doing and go to the darn bathroom like my body was created to do. The cool thing is that I am so efficient now that I go so quickly and with little odor that I could go at someones house and they wouldn't even know it!

When I am in the bathroom on my throne I make a point to be grateful to my body for doing what it was intended to do, for releasing the toxins and for keeping things moving. I think it is really important for me to respect my body and all of its functions so that it will keep working for me.

Of course I don't think I would have been able to experience this abundance of movement had it not been for my juice feast. I really think that getting the fresh juice in my body everyday did some major healing in my digestive system. It is so cool.

So I hope this wasn't too much for you and I hope it was helpful to someone out there because I guess that is the only reason anyone would want to talk about their bowel movements in public, to help someone else. :o)

4 comments:

Lisa (Pixywinks) said...

OH! lightbulb moment! Thanks for sharing! I have had problems with constipation my whole life too. I never wanted to interrupt what I was doing to "go". And my mom would always get mad at us if we needed to go when we were out with her anywhere. She said we should have gone before we left the house!
I'm better at going now that my diet is cleaner, but it's been an issue my whole life. I will look at it differently now.
Thanks heaps!
Pixy Lisa

Hanlie said...

My mother took me to a specialist about my bathroom habits when I was just six! I have gone from holding it in for so long to not being able to. I haven't really given it much thought since the juice feast, but now that you mention it, I'm normal these days!

Linda in the Raw said...

Yay for the #2!!

I love going to the bathroom, honestly, it feels so good!!!

Penni said...

After a lifetime of having irritable bowel syndrome, poop is no longer a taboo subject to me. I am so happy to hear that you are more conscious about your potty patterns. You gotta let that doo doo go, sister! No holding on. You gotta let that train leave the station ON TIME!! Sounds like good progress and I am so happy for you!!

xoxo....Penni