Greek yogurt & my go-to digestive cleansing product

First off, I've been hot chocolate-free for two days now. Jonesing! Still staying strong even though it is my comfort drink.

Secondly, I wore my armband for quite a long time yesterday (22 hours and 50 minutes) and I woke up this morning with my armband being somewhat embedded into my tricep (I'm exaggerating a bit) and leaving a spot on my arm itchy and irritated. So I am leaving it off until that goes away (probably another day).

Let me exclaim how delicious greek yogurt is! So creamy and chilled! There will be no need to get ice cream now that I've discovered greek-effing-yogurt! Here's how I've had it so far:

• with Splenda & coconut flavoring or banana flavoring (bought at Bulk Barn) + ground flaxseed to give it that "coconut/banana cream pie" texture
• with Splenda & cocoa (this was an experiment--I might give it another try with the 2% Liberte yogurt...the 0% President's Choice yogurt had too much of a tangy aftertaste to enjoy the chocolate, although maybe I need to mix a dash of vanilla in to cut the tanginess)
• as an additive to mashed sweet potatoes. don't bother doing this, it dulls the flavor of the sweet potatoes

There's another issue I have that seems to affect both the number on the scale and how my clothes fit at any given time. This is a somewhat embarrassing/personal issue to talk about, but I think it's worth talking about so that I can tell you how I'm handling it when I need to.

I'm fairly certain I have some degree of IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) because not only am I not regular, but it's very easily affected by how many carbs I'm having, what types of carbs I'm having, whether I'm stressed, whether I've been less active etc. My sister, on the other hand has gone with a gluten-free lifestyle (that's for you Ember ;)  ) and has a completely opposite constitution.

On Monday & Tuesday of next week I will be visiting her place and bringing along some of my own foods, but when it comes down to birthday cake or baking, I know I will try it, love it and then pay for it for days by being immediately "Bunged Up" (favorite terminology used within our family for ages for this condition lol). She tells me I should eat Magnesium Citrate tablets and be careful how much I take for it might make me want to stay close to a washroom at all times. I bought it *hoping* that was the case and it had little to no effect on that.

Anyhow, I know that when I'm bunged up my digestion "isn't working well", I don't even bother to weigh myself and tend to choose clothes that are looser and more stretchy. I've tried self-administered colonic massaging (rubbing my tummy counter clockwise) and have found that it was helpful in stimulating some digestion a little bit.

When I notice that things are starting to need attention and I'm done with waiting for something to happen, I take 2 of these babies:

I HIGHLY recommend them as they are much easier to tolerate than taking 2 Extra-Strength Ex-lax tablets which I save for the critical-stage times.

However, if you plan to try this product, take one before bed with lots of water, and then lots of water as soon as you get up. Do it on a weekend so you know how your body will handle it. My mom took one and found her digestive system too "squelchy" throughout the day, whereas for me, I don't get that at all.

I'm in Canada, so I buy this in the herbal/vitamin aisle of the natural food section of Loblaws or Real Canadian Superstore. I don't take them every day, so a bottle can last me quite a while.