Cat Meffan

Tips for Bloating & The Not-So-Sexy Truth About It!

As I sit writing this blog post I’m in quite a lot of discomfort, which is making me feel pretty grouchy and sad. I know this isn’t a particularly ‘sexy’ post, no wonderful yoga poses or tips to get your beach body, but it’s a post featuring tips for bloating that I’ve been meaning to write for quite a while, but for some reason I’ve put it off maybe because I was being silly and shy about it.

The fact is that right now the waist band of my trousers is feeling pretty damn tight (even though it was too big this morning!) and I’ve got a bit of trapped…. you know! Oh yes, the truth is coming out now. I’m pretty sure every woman (and possibly man) gets this feeling all too often so I though I’d open up a conversation about it.

Usually for me, bloating comes with eating bread, which even though I try to cut it from my diet – as it doesn’t agree with me – when I’m faced with a warm slice of walnut bread or thick wholemeal toast I just find it hard to say no. Those are the days when I think “Silly Cat, you knew this would happen”, but today is different. I think I’m bloated today from too many vegetables. I mean we just can’t win, can we!? Over many years of getting this feeling I’ve figured out a few little ways to help relieve the pain and ‘help’ is the important word here. These aren’t hard and fast cures for bloating, as we’re all different, but these are the tips for bloating I find work for me.

Tips For Bloating

  1. Walking – Obviously when you’re in this kind of discomfort you don’t fancy moving in any vigorous ways, but going for a walk is my number one thing to do. For me, walking feels like it’s moving everything around and helping my tummy calm.
  2.  Mint tea – I’m pretty sure that there’s no conclusive scientific evidence to back this up, but having a warm mug of mint tea is said to aid the digestive system and whether or not it’s just a myth and it’s all in my head, it does seem to work for me.
  3. Squat – Ok, so this one might sound a little odd, but I learnt about it from an Ayurvedic doctor and it’s great. With your feet apart you want to squat down with your bum to the floor (you can put some cushions under your butt for comfort if you like!). The aim is to have the knees above the hips which will put the gut in a good position. Obviously that’s the quickest description ever, so if you want to read more I’d recommend reading a book called Gut, by Giulia Enders.
  4. Let it out – You all know what I’m talking about. Holding in any gas will only make you feel worse!
  5. Eat slower – This is the one I’m totally useless at actually doing, even though I know it would help. I see food and I’m like “Get in my belly”, BUT it would help so much if I did try to eat slower and also chew my food more.

If you have any tips for bloating you’d like to share then please comment below. This shouldn’t have to be a taboo subject, so let’s share our hatred of the bloat here. I’ve written that word so many times, it’s starting to sound odd, so I’ve leave it there.

Love, Cat x