Health Healthy Body Healthy Gut

Poop Tracking Is Your Body’s Form of Bullet Journaling—and This App Makes It a Cinch

Kells McPhillips

March 15, 2019

Thumbnail for Poop tracking is your body’s form of bullet journaling—and this app makes it a cinch

Pin It

Photo: Getty Images/Westend61

Part of the rise of gamification in modern American culture is that we're all really (and I mean, really) into tracking the data of our daily lives. "Let's strap smart devices on our wrists to keep in-real-time stats about our 10,000 step-regimen," we say. "Let's keep up with every egg movement in our menstrual cycle." And I'm sorry—yet strangely satisfied—to report that the state of your stools is no exception. Using the free app pithily called Poop Tracker (Toilet Log), anyone can kick off their journey toward bowel movement mindfulness. That is, knowing exactly how your stool is fairing, 24/7.

The app earns 3.3 stars in the app store and allows you to log each number two, so you can keep up with the quality and quantity. By recording the color and texture of each movement using the bristol stool scale, the idea is you become intimately familiar with how your meals are making their way through your bod.

"These metrics can be important to determine if you have any bowel problems such as diarrhea, constipation, IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), colitis, Crohn's or other bowel problems," the description reads. "This can also help you figure out whether your diet is causing problems with your poop schedule, poop consistency, or poop urgency." Much to my personal delight, PTTL also wants to know the urgency of each trip to the bathroom. Was it a run don't walk kind of situation? Did you just casually meander to the facilities?

So what does the app do with all this need-to-know intel? I'm so glad you asked. If you have the free version, you can review your fecal archive to spark insights about your personal patterns. Like, "Oh, so [X type of poop] tends to happen when I eat sweet potatoes and harissa together. Interesting." However, should you choose to go all out and upgrade to the premium, the toilet log includes a graph that looks straight out of the Microsoft Suite.

I kid, but in all seriousness, the app might just deserve a spot on the front page of your app collection. After all, knowing thy poop is part of knowing thyself.