Skinny Chic: How's your poop?

DISCLAIMER: If you have a weak stomach or get queasy when discussing some topics you may want to stop reading now.

Skinny chics this post is a heart to heart about a real barrier to health-gain. I have a real life changing question for you: How's your poop? I mean really, are you frequently constipated or confronting diarrhea? Or are your stools usually on the solid yet soft side? does it usually come out S shaped, a straight line, or little pebbles? Does it float or sink right to the bottom? How often do you poo? Once/twice a month, a week, a day? Do you have bouts of pain when pooing or do you poo with ease?

These are questions that until recently I didn't feel mattered. Who knew that passing poo once a week could actually be a culprit halting my health-gain?

To address the basic science:

a healthy female consumes between 1200-2000 calories a day. The food consumed is broken down by the body into useful nutrients the body can use and the the things the body can't use are pushed through as waste. Your body creates approximately .22-.44 pounds of poop a day. That's 1.54-3.08 lbs of poop a week! APPROXIMATELY 161 LBS OF POOP A YEAR!!!! Have you ever tried passing 3 lbs of poop in one sitting? I'm sure it's not fun & it's not good for your bum.

Poop is important because not going regularly could be a reason why your health-gain is moving at snail pace. But what is regular?

Regular is different for each person. The important thing is that you're consistent for your own routine. If your routine is once a day or every couple of days great! My husband freaks out if he goes less than 7 times a day (ridiculous)!

Good healthy poop should be S shaped & a soft solid. Color doesn't matter (as long as it isn't black - if you have black poop or see blood in your poop stop reading & speak with your doctor immediately because that could indicate bleeding in your colon).

If your poop isn't a soft solid & S shaped here are a few things to consider:

1. Are you getting enough Fiber? 

• A healthy adult needs 30-35 grams daily. 

1. Are you drinking enough water?

• As a rule of thumb take your weight divided by 2 & that's how many ounces of water you should aim for daily. 
• Take that number divided by 8 & that's how many cups you should aim for. 

1. Are you exercising?    

• Exercise helps by decreasing the time it takes food to move through the large intestines, thus limiting the amount of water absorbed from the poo into the body. 
• An added bonus, aerobic exercise accelerates your breathing & heart rate & this helps to stimulate the natural contraction of intestine muscles. Intestinal muscles that contract efficiently help move poop out quickly!
• so take a zumba class this week to jump start your poop routine.

The last interesting thing I'd like to share is PASSING GAS IS NORMAL & NATURAL (& don't you let anyone tell you different). It's actually normal & healthy to pass gas 10-18 times a day! (I can hear my husband groan as he reads this).

So the moral of the story is poop..poop a lot...poop freely...poop without restraint & pass gas while you're at it because with each poop session you're one step closer to obtaining your healthy you.

If you're a fat chic like me stay motivated, be encouraged, and know that inside of every fat chic is a skinny chic waiting to come out.  

Skinny Chic: The Struggle is REAL!!!

AMBER ALERT: Calling all cars we have a skinny chic abduction reported on blogspot & facebook. She was last spotted blogging 5 weeks ago. It's been reported that she's being held captive by a fat chic. 5'7, 257 lbs, brown hair, brown eyes; the suspect is to be considered fat and dangerous. Use EXTREME CAUTION!  She's known to frequent overeating hangouts (i.e. buffets, food festivals, & kitchen tables). She has borderline hypertension, high cholesterol, & arthritis. She may be wearing an over-sized outfit typically black in color. I repeat use EXTREME caution when approaching the perp & call for back up. We want the skinny chic returned alive!

Singing: "I'm locked up, she won't let me out..."

Four walls, boxed in, dim lighting, struggle, pressure, Push...PUsh...take a break...still hasn't budged...PUSh...with all your might PUSH...

Become vegan, have surgery, no carbs, low carbs, no protein, low protein, no sugar, gluten free, fat free, low fat, no grains, take supplements, use protein powder, eat veggies, eat fruits, eat prepackaged foods, no salt, low salt, count calories, count points, food journal, fat journal, diet, fast, cleanse, more water, not too much water, cheat day, free day, free meal, FREE ME!!!!!

Having been conditioned by our microwave society I feel like I'm stuck in weight-loss HELL!!!
I want to go to sleep and wake up and it all be a really bad dream. 9 months...for 9 months I've exercised, monitored my portions, added more fruits and veggies, decreased grains, maintained 8-12 glasses of water daily, exercised (at least once a week), visualized my skinny (sometimes) , I don't eat 2 hours before bed, I limit sweets, little to no alcohol (maybe 3-4 glasses of wine in 9 months), prayed, hoped, wished, cried, & begged the weight to leave.

9 months later not even 1 pound gone...There was a short period late spring/early summer where I think I lost, but I refused to get on the scale & besides I ended up finding that which was lost anyway...REALLY GOD?!?!?!?!...NOT EVEN 1 POUND!?!?!?!?

Fat chic didn't have to kidnap me; we're playing tug-o-war and right now the knot is over her side of the line. So no I haven't blogged. Not because I've been eating my misery or indulging the fat chic. I'd actually like to report that during this break period I've been doing better than ever with the weight-loss/health-gain process. I've up'd my exercise & am working on establishing consistency. I run/walk 2-3 miles 3 times a week. I meal prep healthy meals & I don't eat carbs after lunch & I rarely eat out.

I've taken this break time as a time to attempt to address the mental aspect of health. In my professional opinion (yes I've been a professional fat chic for about 32 years) getting healthy is 20% exercise, 30% intake (food, drink, & vitamins) & 50% mental (thoughts, beliefs, & visualizations). You can exercise & eat right as much as you want, but if you don't address your mental framework you won't be successful; you will quit; you will fail.

A lot of "stuff" from my past has dredged its way into my present mental state & it's ARRESTING MY HEALTH PROGRESS. So I want to say thank you to those who consistently check back to see if there are new blog posts; even when I go on hiatus.

Please don't give up on me and assume the worst about me. If concerned pray for me, for my strength, and my endurance. Reach out & let me know you have my back & hope I'm OK (even if we've never met in person, we're still connected through the words on this screen). I'm working hard to reach my health-gain and rest assured I WILL NOT QUIT.

THE RACE DOESN'T ALWAYS GO TO THE SWIFT, BUT TO THE ONES WHO KEEP RUNNING...NEVER GIVE UP!!!!!

If you're a fat chic like me stay motivated, be encouraged, and know that inside of every fat chic is a skinny chic waiting to come out.