Tips for reducing bloating

I've struggled with bloating on and off for several years but it started to become a more apparent and aggressive issue for me about six months ago.

Having been to the GP several times since the age of 21 (I'm now 35!), I've always been told "it's irritable bowel syndrome - take some pills and hopefully you'll be able to manage it."

But this time, my symptoms weren't like they used to be when I had an 'IBS attack.' Back in the day, I'd sometimes get a sudden urge to go to the toilet. It would always happen within about 20 minutes of eating something my body didn't like, and would result in me rushing to the bathroom in a public place before all hell breaking loose (ok, I'm being slightly dramatic there....the only thing that would break loose was the meal I'd just consumed).

But these attacks lessened as the years went by and came to a stop around five years ago. I believe this was mainly down to my diet and exercise changes, in terms of eating less processed foods, including white pasta, bread and other sugary foods, and upping my workout regime.

However, I do also believe it was down to getting a better grip of myself in stressful situations. I noticed a bit of a pattern - I'd have a couple of stressful days with work or in my personal life (I was in quite a negative relationship at the time) and BAM...bowels would become inflamed and instantly more sensitive.

Although it seemed like my 'IBS' was cured, a couple of years back I began to experience insane bloating. I'm talking the 5 months pregnant look here... It ruined my workouts, my clothes didn't fit and I wasn't going to the toilet for a good 5 or 6 days at a time (who knew you could get so excited about going for a poop?!).

I couldn't understand what was causing this - I researched supplements, the foods I was eating and tried to identify any stress triggers. After trialling different foods, cutting out foods, adding new supplements etc, it became apparent I was out of answers and needed some help.

I used a really good naturopath who educated me on the types of foods I needed to make sure I was including in my diet every day (and the ones to avoid!), in order to get my bowels working in the best way possible. We did a cleansing exercise where I cut out some of the main culprits that normally cause digestive issues and started adding in some new supplements to my daily regime.

I've since employed a new coach to support me with my training and nutrition programme in preparation for upcoming 2019 figure competitions - he is an absolutely brilliant coach, with so much knowledge, not just in terms of the muscle-building side of things, but also the nutrition side. He's introduced to me to a really good greens powder which has 100% helped me (listed below).

I'm now in a much happier place with my digestion, which has made a huge difference to my training, sleep and general daily wellbeing. I'm now prepping for my next competitions as a toned figure athlete (a new competitive category for me!) so it's an absolute must that I'm functioning at my best! Roll on PCA and 2Bros shows this summer/autumn :-)

I can't promise what I did would work for you, and you'd need to seek professional help from a naturopath or similar nutritional expert if you're interested in curing your bloating with natural remedies, but here's a summary of my daily regime which I believe has helped to fix my bloating issues....

---

Daily anti-bloating regime:

• Multivitamin

• Omega 3 fish oil

• Nutridyn Fruits & Greens (chocolate flavour)

• Glutamine

• Avoid processed/sugary foods

• Avoid dairy (I mostly use almond milk instead of cow's milk.... Rude Health do a good almond/rice milk too...)

• Daily portions of green veggies (I stick to the ones I know don't cause too ,much gas in my bowels eg asparagus)

• Sleep ..... when I don't get sleep, my digestive system fails massively (as does my metabolism). Sleep/hormones/digestion/nutrient absorption/mood - it's all interlinked!

Thanks for reading....I hope you found this useful. Please drop me a line if you'd like me to cover any other topics on here.

Love Lucy Xx

@Lucy_AnjunaFit