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I'm doing the 30 Paleo challenge and am 17 days in. I have a couple of questions but the first is the embarrassing one. I have not had a solid poop since I started. Every trip to the bathroom has been diarrhea. I'm just wondering if anyone else has experienced this and what they did.

My second question is how long did it take you to feel the "good effects" of eating paleo? I'm so tired and can barely get through my workouts at the end of the day.

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Oh wow, that sucks. :( You might just be in the 'carb flu' stage. That goes away in a week or so for most people. Getting the poops might be an effect of suddenly upping your fat intake, or hitting the raw fruit and veg too hard. – NewEra May 2 2012 at 20:00
I'm hoping that's the case and I'll be better in a few more days. I'm really trying to stay committed and stick it out but so far I just haven't seen any benefits. :( – Lizzy May 2 2012 at 20:36
Hey Lizzy, this is not meant to be alarming, but diarrhea for 17 days might be something to see your doctor about. That sounds rather extreme to me and might be a bug. I did have a similar transition period when I started, I think just because my gut flora was adjusting itself, but it tapered off after a week or so. I think soft stool is probably okay for 17 days, but diarrhea is a serious condition if it goes on for a prolonged period. Good for you for sticking with this, but please don't hesitate to seek medical care. – PaleoVenus May 3 2012 at 14:34
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If it didn't just start occuring since changing my diet I would agree with you, but since this is obviously linked to my change in eating I don't feel the need to go to the doctor at this time. I'm leaning toward the idea that I'm eating too much fat and need to scale back a bit. I may need to add some additional carbs into the diet as well since I'm feeling so pooped out (no pun intended). – Lizzy May 3 2012 at 18:02
ahahahaha, plus 1 for "pooped out." – PaleoVenus May 3 2012 at 20:40
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11 Answers

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As to your second question, I would encourage you to go easy on workouts (or skip them altogether) if you are struggling to make it through because of being tired. It is not benefitting your body to workout when you are already feeling too beat up to handle it. Not knowing what your diet consists of, it's hard to make specific recommendations; however, play around with your macronutrient ratios. A lot of people do well on low carb, a lot of people do not - maybe you need to increase healthy carb intake (sweet potatoes, starchy vegetables, limited amounts of fruit). People experience different lengths of feeling poorly when transitioning to paleo, based on their body and their nutrition prior to switching to paleo.

As to the first question, that has--thankfully--not been my experience on paleo.

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+1 for ditching the workouts – Sam Knox May 2 2012 at 21:42
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Love it that people are advising to ditch the exercise, that is Paleo in a nutshell. – Poop Master MC May 2 2012 at 22:47
I'm not going to give up my workouts. I will scale back but I'm doing Crossfit and my goal is to be strong. If Paleo eating can't support working out then why eat this way? – Lizzy May 3 2012 at 17:58
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YES I'm familiar! For me the answer was too much fat, my body couldn't handle it so that was the result.

I then started tapering back my fat% (from 75% at that time down to 55-65% max per day). That seemed to help, but some days I still have to be careful.

Could be carb flu or die off, who knows, try adjusting the fat and see if that helps.

Are you taking any probiotics or adding fermented foods? that could cause die off. Same with if you started using coconut oil, it can also cause die off (while doing good but sometimes you need to go easy so you don't pay the price). Start analyzing whats new in your diet, including supplements etc.
Any changes can have an effect.

hope this helps!

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Thanks, I'm going to try to cut back on the fat and see if that helps. As for the other question, I'm only taking a fish oil supplement (which I have for the last two years). No probiotics or fermented foods. – Lizzy May 2 2012 at 20:38
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Non-solid is not necessarily diarrhea.

Bristol Stool Chart

Type 5-6 isn't ideal, and 6-7 can be considered diarrhea.

What does your diet currently look like? If you are eating only roughage (insoluable fiber) -- i.e. only veggies and generally leaves -- and no soluable fiber, your stool will tend towards shapeless.

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Wow, you really know your shit :) – Sam May 2 2012 at 20:08
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The terms "fluffy" and "blobs" when used in regards to poop is funny to me, for some reason. – NewEra May 2 2012 at 20:18
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LOL this is more than I could have hoped for. Unfortunately I'm in the 6-7 realm. I'm eating lots of lean protein and veggies (usually cooked for dinner), or salad with protein, but often I'll grab raw veggies for a snack during the day. I'll usually have a handful of nuts for a snack or at lunch as well. I haven't been using coconut anything (I don't like the flavor). I drink water. Use Olive Oil for cooking. Will usually have 1 piece of fruit a day. I feel like I'm really sticking to the plan. – Lizzy May 2 2012 at 20:35
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Should I be proud that I've experienced all 7 types of stool? – Sam Knox May 2 2012 at 21:44
I thought 5 was considered just fine. – gydle May 3 2012 at 5:57
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Could you be more specific as to what exactly you are eating? My personal experience on a switch to paleo was the opposite: severe constipation, until my body caught on how to move food thru without tons of fiber and carb thingies.

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17 days in.. you are experiencing the carb flu.. will go away soon, stick with it!

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Not necessarily! I'm 2.5 years in and it is still usually 6 on the Bristol scale in the mornings - usually goes to a 5 later in the day and on good days a 4. But perhaps this was a norm for our paleolithic ancestors? Perhaps stools hard enough to turn to coprolites was very rare??! – andrew May 3 2012 at 6:43
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Could be gallbladder too (one of many symptoms for GB problems). Just sayin. Really, it could be a number of things. Just change it up for a few days and see what happens (food wise that is).

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I have been Paleo for over 2 years and still have # 6 or 7 bm's. I was just the opposite before Paleo. :(

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My experience exactly. It might just be the norm??!! – andrew May 4 2012 at 19:13
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I read somewhere once that something like 80% of your stool is the remains of the gut microbes digesting your food. When you change your diet suddenly, the microbes in your gut are not adapted to the new diet. They may be used to more carbohydrate-rich foods, and poorly adapted to high fat/protein.

When I had the same problem, I introduced probiotic foods (sauerkraut and kefir) and took a probiotic supplement. I was prepared to add a non-digestible carbohydrate (like psyllium husk) to feed the microbes, but my situation cleared up before that was necessary.

Also, I found that adding rice to my diet resolves the problem whenever it comes back. Maybe that's not a solution for you right now if you're motivated to complete your 30 days, but adding a safe starch might help, or at least be informative, once you make it through this period.

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Are you adequately washing your veggies? Some of the chemicals on produce can wreck your innards...

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Can't help you with the first question, but it took me a good 3 weeks before my workouts were back, (and now they're better than ever!) but with what you're experiencing digestively I could see it taking longer. Hope you feel better soon :-)

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maybe you got a mild case of food poisoning... think back to any food that could have been contaminated around the time your problem started

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