LOTS of water and LOTS of fibre, i agree with the girls, get as much as you can into you to get to the point where its really not an effort to go! If you're REALLY straining then pur epear juice is good for some fairly immediate (within 12-24 hours) results, but definately review your diet and make sure you're eating as much fibre as you can. And remember iron supplements can make constipation worse so if you're on any iron supplements I'd probably drink a pear juice a day just to keep things nice a soft.