So, I have been doing better on holiday, despite eating worse (less veggies and more burgers) and drinking (beer). This is very strange to me. I am starting to wonder if perhaps I have a mild form of IBS triggered by raw vegetables that I used to eat for every lunch and incorporate into dinner.

I have had a 4 BM all week without pain.

The only changes have been:
1) less veggies
2) more junk food and beer
3) less exercise
4) more sleep (an hour more a night)

It seems counterintuitive other than the more sleep. My mom mentioned perhaps I have less stress at home, but I don't feel particularly stressed on a normal day.

The other thing is that I am having less BMs than I typically had. Down from two to three per day to usually one, sometimes two.

Has anyone ever had something like this where you were eating counterintuitive and saw improvements? I really have no idea what do now!

Could be that raw veggies are bulking your stools and making them bigger. Also maybe the junk food is high in calories so you are eating less volume overall, resulting in fewer BMs and less pain because of that.

You could continue on the same track by eating more protein, including fatty proteins like oily fish and pork. Just avoid the "junk" aspect (added salt and sugar). I think a few people here recommend not eating raw veg, but instead, steam or bake.

I would be prepared to bet that more sleep is doing you a lot of good!
Great news that you are doing better!

It's why there's really no such thing as a fissure diet, or a hemorrhoid diet, or an IBS diet, because it's up to everyone to figure out what works best for their own body. Raw veggies are a huge mistake for me because my messed up GI tract just gets really angry with them. I also have to be very careful about how much and which kinds of fruit I eat. There is no reason to follow any one diet like it's a law. Balance in everything, and finding the balance that works best for your body.

Bottom line, you're seeing some improvements with some of these changes. Make note of them so that you can track over time what foods work and what foods cause problems.

Try to keep up the good sleep habits and keeping your stress levels as low as possible.

Wishing you continued better days ahead!

That's great to read!
More sleep, less stress and a complete change of environment and distraction are valuable!
Take me away from my daily routine of work, school runs and day to day stress and I feel so much better.
Hoping this continues for you :)