How’s Your Poop?

What if I told you there are five simple self-assessments you can do to gauge your well-being and one of them is checking out your poop?

I’m serious. It’s part of the Puvema Poop-and-Mood Quiz, an assessment tool I created and share with some of my clients.

The answers to five simple questions can give you a lot of feedback about your current state of well-being:

1. How am I sleeping?
2. How am I pooping?
3. How are my energy levels?
4. Do I want to have sex?
5. What’s my mood like?

A person who is well sleeps well. A person who is unwell doesn’t sleep well, often because their circadian rhythms are disturbed.

A person who is well poops well. A person who is unwell doesn’t poop well. Myriad lifestyle factors can impair a person’s digestion-absorption-assimilation-elimination function and this is often reflected in lousy bowel movements and poop.

A person who is well is energetic. A person who is unwell is tired. When a person starts meeting more of their needs more of the time, they almost always become less tired and more energetic.

A person who is well has a high sex drive. A person who is unwell has a low sex drive. Of course, sex drive relates to age. Taking age into account, a low sex drive can be indicative of poor overall functioning of several interconnected systems (circulatory system, endocrine system, nervous system, et cetera) in a person’s body.

A person who is well is more likely to be in a good mood. A person who is unwell is more likely to be in a bad mood. This is a perfect example of body-heart-mind unity. Decreased “physical” function almost always worsens one’s mood. Increased “physical” function almost always improves one’s mood. It feels good to feel good.

The Puvema Poop-and-Mood Quiz gives you an assessment of your current state of well-being and allows you to assess your well-being over time as you improve your self-care.

The Quiz explores and reveals how much ease and dis-ease (lack of ease) you’re presently living with. As such, it’s a form of true preventive medicine. For example, a medical diagnosis of an ailment like type-2 diabetes typically occurs years, even decades, after a person has been living with consistent dis-ease (lack of ease). Not sleeping well, not pooping well, being tired, having a low sex drive, and being in a bad mood are all forms of dis-ease (lack of ease).

The Puvema Poop-and-Mood Quiz

Rate your sleep quality from 0 to 10: __________
0 = The last few nights, I’ve hardly been able to sleep at all.
10 = The last few nights, I’ve slept like a rock.

Rate your sleep quality from 0 to 10: __________
0 = The last few nights, I’ve had a very hard time falling asleep.
10 = The last few nights, I feel asleep as soon as my head hit my pillow.

Rate your sleep quality from 0 to 10: __________
0 = The last few nights, I woke up several times during the night.
10 = The last few nights, I slept through the night until the moment my alarm clock went off.

Rate your elimination function from 0 to 10: __________
0 = The last few days, my poop has been very hard and dry (constipation) and/or very soft and wet (diarrhea).
10 = The last few days, my poop has been well-formed.

Rate your elimination function from 0 to 10: __________
0 = The last few days, my poop has been sinking.
10 = The last few days, my poop has been floating.

Rate your elimination function from 0 to 10: __________
0 = The last few days, my poop has been so light brown that it looks more like yellow and/or so dark brown that it looks more like black.
10 = The last few days, my poop has been medium brown.

Rate your elimination function from 0 to 10: __________
0 = The last few days, my poop has been very smelly.
10 = The last few days, my poop has had an earthy smell that’s not bad.

Rate your elimination function from 0 to 10: __________
0 = The last few days, my bowel movements have felt very incomplete.
10 = The last few days, my bowel movements have felt very complete.

Rate your energy level from 0 to 10: __________
0 = The last few days at around 10 a.m., I was very tired.
10 = The last few days, at around 10 a.m., I was very energetic.

Rate your energy level from 0 to 10: __________
0 = The last few days at around 3 p.m., I was very tired.
10 = The last few days, at around 3 p.m., I was very energetic.

Rate your sex drive from 0 to 10: __________
0 = The last few days, I haven’t wanted to have sex at all.
10 = The last few days, I’ve really wanted to have sex.

Rate your mood from 0 to 10: __________
0 = The last few days I’ve been in a horrible mood.
10 = The last few days I’ve been in a terrific mood.

Rate your mood from 0 to 10: __________
0 = The last few days, people would’ve described me as very cranky.
10 = The last few days, people would’ve described me as very pleasant.

Rate your mood from 0 to 10: __________
0 = The last few days I’ve been very easily annoyed by anything and everything.
10 = The last few days, I’ve been able to go with the flow very easily.

Have Fun with This!

I encourage you to refrain from judging yourself based on your Quiz results. They’re no more and no less than nature’s feedback on how well you’re currently meeting your needs. If you’re doing well, use it to inspire you to keep doing well or do even better. If you’re not doing well, use it to inspire you to improve your self-care and turn dis-ease (lack of ease) back into ease. To get back on track. To thrive.

About Jason Gootman
Jason Gootman is a Mayo Clinic Certified Wellness Coach and National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach as well as a certified nutritionist and certified exercise physiologist. Jason helps people reverse and prevent type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other ailments with evidence-based approaches to nutrition, exercise, stress reduction, holistic wellness, and, most importantly, lasting behavior improvement and positive habit formation. As part of this work, Jason often helps people lose weight and keep it off, in part by helping them overcome the common challenges of yo-yo dieting and emotional eating. Jason helps people go from knowing what to do and having good intentions to consistently taking great care of themselves in ways that help them add years to their lives and life to their years.