Constipation and weight gain

[Morgan_k123]

Okay so I'm worried now. In my previous post and replies I've explained I eat mostly plant based but meat as well and that I have IBS and was diagnosed by a doctor who I don't think was very qualified in my opinion. Iam constipated and a month or two ago I was losing weight at my lowest weight being 110. I got to a normal weight of 113 after eating correctly. But now my IBS has gotten horribly worse where Iam sad all the time and won't poop for weeks and my pants that fit me at 113 pounds don't fit anymore. I have gained around 10 pounds and I'm only 5 feet so every pound counts. I have a very athletic and petite body and I've always been lean and muscular but I have gained weight in my stomach and obloques and I feel so fat now. I still eat extremely healthy and didn't really change my rating from my normal 113 pound weight. Iam now at 123 and my stomach is never at its normal size no matter if I eat or not. I workout 6 days a week either at the gym or for my soccer practices which are 2 hours and high intensity.Someone please help me and give some advice on my situation!

[Lisahelen]

I think you need your gp to get some investigations going, because if you really havent been to the toilet for weeks and are eating normally there could be a problem.

[JAJJV]

Hi, Morgan. If you have seriously not moved your bowels for weeks, or not had much movement for weeks, then a lot of the weight you are seeing and feeling is water weight and waste weight. Once you get all of that under control things will normalize to some degree.

But with IBS, when we have symptoms, a lot of the time we are very bloated, and this makes us feel fat and makes our clothes not fit as well etc.

You certainly need to be moving your bowels, so you need to do something about that.

Also, I hesitate to say this because I know it is a very sensitive subject, but I would try very hard to be more concerned with your health than you are with the way your body looks. I know in today's society that is much easier said than done, but we women eed to let go of the need for a "perfect, skinny body", and work hard on being healthy, body mind and spirit.

Wishing you all the best.

[Morgan_k123 in reply to JAJJV]

Ive had these body image problems since IBS. I eat extremely healthy I basically in a nut shell eat a paleo diet

[Eternity78]

check your Thyroid gland function ..ask for full thyroid profile blood test .

[Morgan_k123 in reply to Eternity78]

I forgot to mention I actually did get it checked and it's perfectly fine. Which I was kinda bummed out about only because I really wanted to find the cause to my problem!

[CE_88_14]

If your not going at all I would go to your GP and they will no doubt prescribe a laxative which can clear your system. I drink a lot of herbal teas and take a lot of herbal supplements to help my stomach and support my system. Marshmallow root tea and peppermint tea help me and I take evening primrose as well to help with inflammation but I think you need to see your GP in case there is something majorly wrong. x

[CMeiJ]

Hi Morgan,

To keep a long story short, I had the same issue last year whilst riding for a women's cycling team. All the symptoms you describe, including the weight gain around the midriff were exactly as I experienced them and I couldn't work out why, if I was training 4/5 days a week and racing like a demon on the weekend, I had gained weight and I was having trouble with bowel movements. Eventually, my coach and I worked out that I was over-trained and over-stressed. As a sports masseuse, I should have known better. I took an 8 week hiatus from training between September and November (this also allowed me to concentrate on re-sitting the exams I had failed over the summer) to re-set my body. I ate healthily (NOT cleanly, I follow the 80/20 rule), rested and did the bare minimum of exercise (one cyclo-cross race for 30 minutes on Sundays, walking for 30 minutes at lunch time most days) and slept...A LOT! This allowed my metabolism to completely re-set itself and by January, there was a visible difference in my weight - there are photos of me at the start of a training camp (my first, proper block of training in months) looking heavy-set and chubby, and by the end of the two weeks you can see that my metabolism has started to work more efficiently and I look slimmer in the tummy region and much more muscular as opposed to marshmallow-y. Looking at the amount of training your doing, I would say your in a similar position and unfortunately, the only way to recover from over-training is to rest. It sucks and it's hard when your used to filling your life with activities - you will drive yourself crazy with guilt over the fact that you are resting, rather than training, but trust me, it will be worth it in the long run. You will need to look at your training regime and how you can train smart, over training volume - cutting your hours back but increasing the intensity of your work and scheduling two rest days a week into your blocks of training, developing 3/week blocks of training designed to overload your system and then taking a rest week - in the long run, you'll notice an improvement in your performance, as well as your bowel movements.

Hope this is helpful advice.

[CMeiJ]

Also Morgan - beware too much Ab work at the gym! Crunching away at those poor tummy muscles 6 days a week for a six pack isn't efficient or healthy! Stretch your abdominals and oblique's out after any targeted work out, but I would say look at your gym routine and re-consider heavy duty targeted ab sessions, as these do not create the aesthetic you are looking to achieve (better to do full body work outs with a mixture of things than targeted sessions and if you want a six pack...take up rock climbing, easiest and quickest way to achieve a 6 pack and I speak from experience here) and they also knot up and strain all those tummy muscles that we don't utilise on a daily basis in our working lives.

[Morgan_k123]

This was really helpful! I actually started running 3 miles or so a day and it has started to help my bowels a little or even getting some flatulence, I used to do heavy lifting but I just felt thicker and and still bloated after my workouts!

[Hidden]

hormone testing?

[Nicola86]

I had the same problem - I was tested for so many things and it was simply eating the wrong things to control my IBS. You need something to get things going, I was prescribed a laxative by my GP. Be warned though once you do it's not nice, really painful and frequent. But the good news is that once that's over you will feel so much better and the weight will have dropped (I'd gained 6lb in two weeks!) then you should look at the FODMAP diet it's specifically for IBS and it's honestly amazing, I follow it strictly and never have any symptoms (unless I stray from it lol) if you'd like any advice about good sites to read up just message me 😃

[Nerdlady]

I feel the exact same as you do!!!!! I’ve competed in bodybuilding competitions and maintained my off season weight up until a year ago. That’s when all hell broke out. At first I complained about constipation on and off and then feeling bloated, with a lower right side abdominal pain. Then the five pound weight gain, with my pants not fitting anymore. I’ve had upper and lower scopes done and results were all good. Had ultra sound and results were good. Blood was normal although I am in menopause. I get tired easily and have these flare ups with feeling like I’m hungover(which I’m not) severe cramps and bloating. And my bones and joints hurt. This is awful!!! I haven’t been diagnosed yet as I can’t get into a gastro dr until the fall so I search the internet trying to get any info that will help.