Constipation when travelling: what to do from day one.

You landed on Monday, it's Wednesday, and you still haven't been. That's how constipation when travelling starts, and every remedy that comes to mind leads to the chemist's.

Meanwhile your stomach feels tight, and it's all you think about in the meeting. People I work with often message me, usually on day three: 'I haven't been since I got here. Is there anything natural?' It nearly always starts with four things the trip has moved.

How to spot travel constipation

What counts is how far you are from your usual rhythm.

• The urge is missing. At home it came after breakfast, on the dot. Here, nothing.
• It comes at the wrong time. In a taxi or mid-meeting. You put it off and it goes.
• You go, but it's hard work. And it feels unfinished.
• A tight stomach. By evening your belt is out a notch.

Why do you get constipated when you travel?

Usually because your gut runs on a timetable, and travel changes it all at once. Meals move, you drink less, you sit for hours and there's no quiet moment.

The timetable. The urge follows your meals. It usually comes after breakfast, and it's last night's dinner arriving late. Alarm at five, no breakfast, dinner at ten, and that signal can get lost. Across time zones, your gut can stay on home time for a few days.

Water. Flying dries you out, and on a work trip you drink less so you don't have to find a toilet. The last stretch of your gut takes water back from what it's holding, and if you're dry it tends to pack it tighter.

The chair. Flight, taxi, meeting, dinner. A whole day sitting. Movement helps drive your gut, and when you stop, it tends to stop with you.

A loo that isn't yours. Your body digests when it's at ease, and away from home you're on alert. At the hotel or the client's you put it off, and often it's gone until tomorrow.

How to avoid constipation when travelling

From the morning you leave, with nothing to buy.

A proper breakfast, every time. It's the meal that usually triggers the urge. Even at five: eggs, Greek yoghurt and nuts. As soon as you're up, a large glass of water, which for some is enough. Coffee afterwards gives many an extra nudge. Leave yourself time before the taxi, phone away.

Water from the morning. Work on 30ml per kilo of body weight, at least a litre and a half, up to 50 in the heat or when you sweat. Most of it by mid-afternoon.

Fibre at every meal. It holds water and adds bulk, and bulk helps your gut move. The guide is 20 to 30 grams a day, built up gradually. Away from home: vegetables at lunch and dinner, fruit with the skin on. If you have bread, wholemeal or rye, and eat it last.

Walk after meals. Ten to fifteen minutes at an easy pace. At the hotel, take the stairs. If dinner time is your call, make it early and light. In the evening your liver and gut find it harder.

That 'something natural' is already in your day. What you eat, how much you drink and move, and when. Start there on your next trip.