Parting words
To the graduating class of School of a Good Poo
How Are You Pooing?
Right, so have you tried anything on the list yet?
- Drink water
- Eat more vegetables and plants
- Add fibre through flax seeds and chia
- Elevate your feet so your knees are higher than your hips
- Supplement with magnesium citrate
- Stress less
- Move more
Here’s the thing about poo and consistency
Consistency is absolutely key when it comes to poo. And I can’t stress this enough.
You can’t just smash 2.5L of water on Wednesday, then only have two coffees and a glass of wine on Thursday and expect different results. Same goes for the whole bloody list.
Look, your overall health will always benefit from any sporadic efforts you make that’s great. But good digestion? It doesn’t work like that. It has to be an everyday thing. These need to become habits, not just things you remember to do when you’re feeling blocked up.
Retraining your bowels
If you’ve had trouble with regular good poos for a while, you need to expect months of retraining your bowels. Months of consistency. I know that’s not what you want to hear, but that’s the reality.
Once the bowel has been retrained, you can take your foot off the pedal every now and then. Your bowels are muscular they benefit from you exercising them to get stronger, just like your biceps. The more you work them properly, the better they get at doing their job.
One more thing on consistency
There’s real benefit in trying to make time to poo each morning. Even if you don’t pass a motion each time, your bowels like routine.
5-10 mins max
the same time each day is important
be relaxed, reading can help
elevate your feet so your knees are higher than your hips
after breakfast is best 30 mins after eating is ideal
And here’s a big one: don’t ignore an urge if you can help it. When your body says ‘It’s time,’ listen to it. The more you ignore those signals, the weaker they get.
Before we all crack open the Yakults, let’s remember why we’re here.
And the reason I have dedicated the whole month of June to helping you poo, is to elevate awareness to colorectal cancer. Below, I have cut and pasted from The Cancer Council website
What are the bowel cancer symptoms I need to look out for?
Not all bowel cancers show symptoms. Experiencing symptoms does not necessarily mean you have bowel cancer. However, you should see your doctor if you notice:
bleeding from the back passage or any sign of blood after a bowel motion
a change in usual bowel habit, such as straining (constipation) to go to the toilet or loose motions (diarrhoea)
abdominal pain or bloating
weight loss for no obvious reason, or loss of appetite
symptoms of anaemia, including unexplained tiredness, weakness or breathlessness.
Who is at risk?
Everyone is at risk of developing bowel cancer; however, the risk greatly increases with age.
a previous history of polyps in the bowel
a previous history of bowel cancer
chronic inflammatory bowel disease (e.g. Crohn's disease)
a strong family history of bowel cancer
increased insulin levels or type 2 diabetes.
If you are at increased risk, discuss surveillance options with your doctor.
The National Bowel Screening Program, using FOBT, is offered free to all Australians aged 45-74. If you are aged 50-74, you will be sent a free home test kit every two years. If you are aged 45-49, you will also be able to request a free screening kit to be mailed to you. For more information visit www.bowelcancer.org.au.
In one week, already 1000++ legends have become Protein Points Breakfast Club members!
During my gap year, I wanted to do two things: write full-time and be of service during this cost of living crisis. This is one of my projects- the Protein Points Breakfast Club – designed to help people, especially women, understand the importance of protein better.
The club is completely free to join. You'll get a 30-page guide sent immediately to your inbox, ready for you to start implementing right away. Then every week, I'll send you recipes, tips, and hacks to make hitting your protein goals achievable and delicious.
30g of protein at breakfast is honestly life-changing and it's an excellent investment in a high-quality lifespan.
x Catie
PS. Please like this article or even share it, if it was valuable to you, because it is a very valuable to this algorithm, it also helps me write more of what you want.