Constipation Symptoms, Causes, and Diagnosis

What is constipation

Constipation occurs when bowel movements become difficult or less frequent. The normal length of time

between bowel movements ranges widely from person to person. Some people have bowel movements three

 times a day;others, only one or two times a week. Going longer than three days without a bowel movement is

too long. After three days, the stool or feces become harder and more difficult to pass.

What Causes Constipation?

Constipation is usually caused by a disorder of bowel function rather than a structural problem. Common causes of constipation include:

• Inadequate water intake.
• Inadequate fiber in the diet.
• A disruption of regular diet or routine; traveling.
• Inadequate activity or exercise or immobility.
• Eating large amounts of dairy products.
• Stress.

Constipation & Exercise: 

Running Your Way to Healthy Digestion

 Of the best choices of exercise for constipation relief is a brisk 10- to 20-minute walk. Make running a habit by taking a stroll after dinner & before bedtime. If you"ve eaten a sizable meal, you may need to wait an hour or so before running. After you eat, blood flows to the intestines to help you digest your food. In case you exercise immediately following a meal, blood will be diverted toward your heart & muscles & away from your digestive tract.

Constipation is a common digestive issue. Fortunately, there's several natural cures, like eating a diet rich in fiber & drinking plenty of fluids. Most notably, exercise may be what you need to help relieve your constipation if your bowel movements are not jogging on schedule. Exercise that accelerates your breathing & gets your heart pumping can help get everything else going.

If running doesn"t appeal to you, try yoga. Yoga masters think that positive yoga positions & breathing exercises aid digestion & strengthen stomach muscles, thus helping to relieve constipation.

Aerobic activities
Aerobic activities are probably the best exercises for relieving constipation. Aerobic exercise increases blood flow to our organs, & bringing more blood to the gastrointestinal tract ends in stronger intestinal contractions & more digestive enzymes. The stronger the contractions & the more those juices flow, the more quickly & basically food waste will move through the colon & out of the body. Aerobic exercise can include running, jogging, swimming, biking, & plenty of other similar activities.


Do"s and Dont"s¦

You can get constipation relief or work to prevent constipation now with the right constipation diet. Follow these diet dos & don"ts.
Dont"s
Depend on processed foods. Processed foods don"t have much fiber. Eating lots of of them can lead to constipation  better to go with natural foods like fruits & vegetables than to get your meals & snacks from a box or bag.
Drink coffee or caffeinated drinks all day. Caffeine is a stimulant so it may cause you to have a bowel movement. But it can also cause dehydration, which can have the opposite effect & lead to constipation,
Go overboard on dairy. Dairy by itself may not lead to constipation, but the lactose in dairy can produce gas & make you uncomfortable if you"re backed up already. Also, foods that are loaded with cheese aren"t usually part of a balanced diet, so be positive to get the recommended every day servings of dairy from healthy, low-fat sources, such as nonfat milk & yogurt.
Drink too much alcohol. Like caffeine, alcohol can dehydrate you & cause constipation. Limiting your alcohol intake can help relieve constipation.
Do"s
Drink lots of fluids. Getting the recommended six glasses of water a day helps to soften your chair, making elimination simpler. Drinking the right amount of fluids may also help chair leave the colon.
Eat fresh & dried fruit. Fruit, dried fruit, is loaded with fiber & is of the foods that help relieve constipation. Along with water, fiber helps give chair the right consistency to pass basically. Nice fruit choices for a constipation diet are raisins, prunes, figs, bananas, apples, & applesauce.
Load your plate with vegetables. Vegetables are also high in fiber & can help prevent constipation. Pinto beans, legumes, salads, & raw vegetables are all high in fiber, making them great choices for constipation relief & prevention.
Fill up on whole grains for fiber. Look for whole-grain bread, oatmeal, ground flax seed, barley, & wheat bran cereal. Your objective ought to be to get up to 35 grams of fiber a day, & ounce of wheat bran cereal gives you ten grams.

A Failure to Plan for weight loss Is a Plan for Failure

A failure to set goals won’t help you lose weight. Goal setting is one tool that will help to turn your weight loss efforts into weight loss success!


Everyone knows that it's nearly impossible to get where you want to be without a map to get there, right? This is what goal setting is about. Setting goals in the form of an ultimate goal, broken down into smaller goals, is the map you'll create to get the body you're dreaming of.

But not everyone knows how to set effective goals that will help him or her reach that ultimate goal. It's not enough just to say, “I'm going to lose 40 pounds and get a six-pack.” You have to create a very specific ultimate goal, and then specific milestones to reach along the way.



So your goals might look something like this:

Ultimate Goal: Lost 40 pounds in 25 weeks; define abs to the point that I am happy to show them off, tone the rest of my body so that everything is much firmer, reduce the look of cellulite on my thighs, and be able to wear skinny jeans without a blob of fat rolling over the top.



That's a tall order, but it's fairly specific. You know what you're shooting for.



But you'll need to add milestones to this goal, so you have smaller goals to shoot for and reach and then feel motivated to shoot for the next milestone.



Depending on your own self-motivation, you might make milestones pretty close together, to keep yourself going, or you might spread them out a bit. They might look like this:



Month One Goal: Lose 6 pounds by reducing your caloric intake by 500 – 750 calories a day. Exercise each day for 30 minutes (combination of cardio and abdominal focused exercise) to further use up another 150 - 250 calories per day. Explore new low-fat and low calorie recipes.



Month Two Goal: Lose another 6 pounds for a total of 12 pound lost. Continue with eating and exercise plan. Work up to more advanced levels of exercise and add interval training, creating a more intense workout and the possibility of burning more calories and fat slightly quicker weight loss. Clothes will be getting loose now!

This is how you set goals.
You might want to make your milestones closer together, like every two weeks. That's fine. Remember that your milestones should challenge you, but be reachable, so that you'll feel encouraged and motivated to keep going. If your milestones are too hard, you could get discouraged and give up!

Also be sure that your ultimate goal is realistic. If you have it in your mind that you're going to look like a movie star when you're done, you might need a reality check! It's not that it's impossible, but remember that they have plastic surgery readily available to do all sorts of nips and tucks.

They have personal trainers who help them work out – sometimes for several hours a day! And they’re used to living in a world where black coffee and a cigarette is considered to be a meal (no, this is not a good way to lose weight!).


It's been said that many of our most loved female entertainers eat no more than about 900 calories a day in order to stay super skinny and to look like we apparently think they should. First of all this is difficult to do, and second, it's not healthy as a long-term way to lose or maintain weight.

Trust me, if you follow the program I'm giving you in this book, you'll look awesome when you get to your ultimate goal, but you still have to be reasonable with yourself. Get a reality check and remember that you want to be healthy and happy, along with trim, and the owner of a great set of abs.

Don't be afraid to set goals and milestones. These act as great motivators and are wonderful for helping you to get to where you want to go. And remember that setting goals is a great way to accomplish anything.