No photos in this post, sorry. 
I was reading a blog about how to write successful blogs the other day, and the lady suggested that we be REAL in our blogs. Ok, well, this is as real as it gets. Truth be told, I guess I’ve been known for my funny "poop stories" ever since I was a kid. My husband appreciates them. 
Why the obsession with poop? Maybe because I knew something was wrong with mine. Maybe it was on my mind because it was happening so often in my day.
Let me ask you a question, do you think it’s possible to be constipated and have diarrhea at the same time?
Let me answer my own question, now! I think the answer is YES. And I think that’s what I’ve suffered probably most of my life.
We went out of town right after Christmas, for 3 days. We ate out quite a bit. I tried to stick to the diet as much as possible, but I did eat rice pasta and some beans that probably had not been soaked. My body just can’t handle these foods. What happened to me?
I gained EIGHT POUNDS in three days time. Do you know what those eight pounds were? Poop. Seriously. I’m convinced. My belly was bigger. I felt bloated and icky. I felt like I had a lot to get out that wasn’t coming out, but I was also having to go often. Does that make sense?
Did you know that having to go often, whether it’s watery or loose or not is diarrhea? If you’re going more than 3 times per day (my usual pre-GAPS, and my usual after 3 days of eating out), you’ve got chronic diarrhea.
I’ve figured out what’s happening in my body. When I eat foods that my body can’t handle, MORE of my food turns into poop. That means LESS of my food is being used by my body. So what happens for me, when my food isn’t being absorbed and it’s just going into the toilet multiple times per day?
~~I get weak and shaky.
~~I get arthritis and aches all over.
~~My immune system gets weak. Immediately after this, I got a cold that lasted a good week and a half, and I felt weak, weak, weak….
~~I feel like I still need food and my blood sugar is low. I used to reach for chocolate (preferably my large stash of Mini Cadbury Eggs) when I felt like that.
My body suffers when it’s eliminating most of the nutrients that I take in!
When I’m on GAPS, I poop 1x or maybe 2x per day (I know, you wanted those details). My poops don’t hurt on GAPS. I don’t feel bloated. My tummy doesn’t look puffy. I don’t feel like I’ve always got more to eliminate but can’t. I have SO much more energy (I am absorbing WAY more from my food!!). I feel SO much better.
I’m convinced it’s the starches and the grains, for my body. Now I’m looking around at the big bellies I see in our country (you don’t have to go far to see them) and wondering how much of the problem is really fecal compaction?? It’s gross, I know–but I wonder.
So there you go–me being real–me unplugged (pun intended ), sharing my poop story with the world wide web. Hope this blesses you, and that you can start feeling better too!!
