Embarrassing Bathroom Question

[ovenfried]

OK. So I am eating wonderful healthy foods now. (today is day 10).
Lots of veggies daily (I've never done that until SBD). Plenty of protein. A comfortable amount of dairy without going overboard.
????: South Beach Diet Forums http://www.southbeachdietbulletinboard.com/south-beach-diet-forums-phase-1/5784-embarrassing-bathroom-question.html

For almost 3 days, during the day, I have, like, the major runs.

Is it possible that my body is just flushing out excess water wherever it will go? Or am I eating too much of one thing and not enough of another? There is no discomfort associated with it...no fever, no cramping, nothing like that. I just have to be near a bathroom for several hours in the afternoon. I've noticed that my belly fat is getting softer, so I'm assuming it's because the cells are shrinking.

Does anyone else experience this? I'm not worried about it, but I haven't seen it overtly mentioned here.

Thanks

Amy

[RedRox]

Are you eating any/many sweet treats with sugar alcohols/polyols in them? Bascially ingredients that end in -ol like malitol, sorbitol, mannitol and so forth? Those aren't processed by the body (hence their lower caloric values) and can cause various levels of what is considered under a broad umbrella of "gastric distress". Anytime we change our diets it can affect our ummm.. elimination process, in either direction. But I would have thought it might have hit more towards the beginning of P1 rather than later into it. So not sure really! Hopefully things start to normalize soon!

[ovenfried]

You may be onto something, RedRox!

To replace the sugar I usually put in my morning tea or coffee, I use XyloSweet....an expensive, but very tasty natural sweetener. It's xylitol. Makes total sense. I consume it mid-late morning, the "distress" occurs in the mid-afternoon, and I normalize later! Eureka!

Tomorrow I won't sweeten my tea at all. I'm working alone in the shop. Wouldn't be able to handle all the time off the sales floor...lol!

RedRox, you're my new best friend! Thank you!!!!

Althought I must say that there's something satisfying about flushing so much stuff out. But I know it's not healthy. I'll back off.

[RedRox]

xylitol is a polyol, but not one that affects people quite as much as some of the others and if that's all you are using it for, then smaller quantities shouldn't be as much of a problem, but perhaps you are more sensitive than most. You could try going without or switching to a granular fructose which is also on the allowed sugar subs list. Personally I like a little agave nectar, but that's not an official solution, just what works for me. You could also try a stevia product or stevia derivative like Truvia or PureVia, although careful if you have any ragweed allergies as they come from the same general plant family. But play around with it and see if taking it out helps and then in a few days maybe try adding it in again and see if it comes back? A lot of this program is just experimenting, being aware and mindful of our bodies and our reactions and adjusting accordingly along the way! Good luck!