I'm pretty comfortable talking about poop. And no, it's not just because I've pooped in front of an entire hospital room while giving birth, or that I've been pooped on more than once, have accidentally stepped in a dirty diaper (also more than once), and have even taken a bath with my daughter and saw her little poop floating in the water beside me.
No, you see, since college (so for about 18 years!), I've dealt with digestive issues thanks to my nervous stomach coupled with some insanely severe lactose intolerance with a side order of sugar sensitivity [1]. I've seen specialists galore, had to explain my embarrassing pooping details on too many occasions, and even had to have a rectal exam with my two kiddos in the room. Fun stuff. So yeah. I'll talk about pooping to anyone because I've had some pretty crappy experiences (pun intended), and if me talking about it somehow helps you, it's totally worth it.
Which brings to me one of my favorite topics surrounding poop — the pooping stool [2]. If you've never heard of one, it is going to change your life. There's a brand of pooping stool called the Squatty Potty with an ad featuring an adorable pooping unicorn [3], but I just use the little step stool I got for my kids [4] when they were potty training — it works great. I seriously think this pooping stool has become the cure to my digestive issues, and here's why.
When you're sitting on the toilet and you place your feet on the stool, it raises your knees above your hips so you can assume a squatting position. This helps to relax the puborectalis muscle that squeezes around the place where the colon meets the rectum, which allows your colon to empty quickly and completely.
Before using the stool, I used to wait until I had the urge to go, which caused bloating, gas, and feeling sluggish and just not myself. Plus that feeling would usually come at a not-so-great time, which made me hold it, and then I'd be all constipated. I remember taking my dog on a woods walk and I thought about how much better I'd feel if I, too, could poop on command. Then it dawned on me. If I wanted to be regular, I had to choose one time to go every day so my body would get into the rhythm.
First thing in the morning seemed like the best time — just go and get it out of the way. The thing is, I had a 5:45 a.m. CrossFit class, so that meant I had to get up even earlier to make sure I had 10 to 15 minutes to sit and relax. With my feet up on the stool and not even the slightest urge to go, I was amazed that within less than five minutes, it happened. It was like magic. I pooped and actually felt like I was done.
So it's been like that for seven months, and although not every morning is perfect, most are, and it's helped tremendously with easing any bloating or other digestive issues. There's nothing like the feeling of a good poop in the morning so you don't have to worry about it for the rest of the day. If you long to be regular and the idea of a pooping stool sounds intriguing, I say give it a whirl. This could be the one thing that ends your constipation for good.