Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

Okay, is it just us or is it the diet? I'm doing MWL with another person and both our GI systems have come to a screaming halt. I can understand mine a bit as I gave up coffee but she never drank coffee and we both are eating vegies like mad and tons of fiber and now, on day 9, we are both so stopped up we can barely move. What's up with this? Anyone else have this issue? Did the occasional oil we had before really lube things up that much? Even laxatives haven't worked very well. Help us!!

Could you describe three typical meals, roughly indicating quantity?

Here is mine for each of the three meals today:
Fruit: 2 cups, including lax fruit.
Vegs: 2 c, variety.
Starch: 2 c, baked potato.
Drink: water or tea.

Well - today so far I've had a bowl of shredded wheat with fat-free soy milk, 1/2 banana and 1 strawberry, 1 bowl of vegie soup, and 1 med. salad with oil free dressing. My dinner at work will be broccoli slaw (1 c), and McD split pea soup and an apple. Yesterday, I had 2 biggish (2 c each?) bowls of vegie soup, 1 med. salad, 1 apple, 2 c. rice, and 2 c. baked beans. I guess it doesn't look like much compared to you - I'm eating enough food though. Water and iced herbal tea to drink - maybe 1 1/2 L combined? Similar food for the other person but more raw vegies - she snacks on them I think. Plus she eats oatmeal for breakfast I think.

You could try an over the counter stool softener. (that's not a sentence I ever thought I'd type in a public forum).

IMO double the amount of water you're drinking throughout the day, & eat the old standby - prunes, ~half a dozen should do it. Make sure you don't have any important appointments the next day. hehe.

How much and what kind of exercise are you doing? That can make a big difference to constipation.

Also, in one of his newsletters, Dr McDougall recommended five tablespoons of ground flaxseeds mixed in a glass of water for constipation.

As already mentioned, ground flaxseed is great. I sprinkle 1tbsp on my morning cereal, or oatmel, or throw it in a smoothie, or even on my salads. Eating a couple of prunes a day really works, and drink lots of water.

for all the ideas - I'm going to go hide under the bed now.