Do you feel suppliments, protein are necessities in weight-loss?

Brocksterdanza

Do most that have over 50 pounds to lose use suppliments to aid the process? Such as bcaa, protein, creatine, etc?

albertabeefy

When I lost my weight I didn't use any supplements. My personal opinion is that for weight loss, they are absolutely unnecessary. Just make sure your diet meets all your macro- AND micro-nutrient needs and supplements won't be necessary.

tlflag1620

I lost 50lbs in seven months, no supplements and all my protein came from the food I ate.

cityruss

No.

AnvilHead

Brocksterdanza wrote: »

Do most that have over 50 pounds to lose use suppliments to aid the process? Such as bcaa, protein, creatine, etc?

The only thing that's necessary for weight loss is a calorie deficit. Supplements are things you can take for specific reasons and can be helpful for meeting certain goals, but none of them are necessary.

Eric Helms recently authored two excellent, very comprehensive books (The Muscle and Strength Pyramids), in which he lays out evidence-based information about diet/nutrition and training. He has a pyramid for both aspects, and here's what his nutrition pyramid looks like (notice where supplements rank in importance - dead last in the hierarchy):

Machka9

Brocksterdanza wrote: »

Do most that have over 50 pounds to lose use suppliments to aid the process? Such as bcaa, protein, creatine, etc?

I lost over 50 lbs and didn't use a single supplement.

Well ... I did take some vitamins, but they weren't for weight loss purposes.

leanjogreen18

I'm a pescatarian but rarely eat fish so I do use a protein supplement in my coffee to help meet my protein needs.

ETA- I don't feel it's a necessity though.

tlflag1620

leanjogreen18 wrote: »

I'm a pescatarian but rarely eat fish so I do use a protein supplement in my coffee to help meat my protein needs.

I don't know if that was intentional, but it did make me chuckle

leanjogreen18

Haha. Fixed it.

crzycatlady1

Nope. Lost 50lbs and the only thing I did was eat at the correct calorie deficit for my weight goals.

livingleanlivingclean

Nope.

snickerscharlie

I used to be a big milk drinker. So in order to help drop the weight (75 lbs) I restricted my intake of dairy, because it became more important to eat my calories than drink them. And being over 60, my doctor gave me a calcium supplement to make sure I still got enough.

But other than that, nothing.

charlenekapf

Not at all. However, when i cut calories, I prefer to use protein powder because chicken breast gets monotonous. Also, I am a big believer in B vitamins, vitamin D. Helps me a lot with energy and mood.

alyssa0061

Never used one. Don't plan on it

SCoil123

I don't think it's necessary for weight loss. I take some supplements for other reasons.

CattOfTheGarage

Protein is pretty important but you can get it from your food. Some people use a supplement for convenience but it's not necessary at all.

As for other supplements - most of them are snake oil.

Even basic vitamin supplements have a poorer evidence base than you'd think, in a lot of cases there is little evidence for the idea that the vitamin has the same effect in supplement form as it does in the context of the food it comes from. I'm not saying some supplements, like iron, calcium, vitamin C etc aren't helpful, but in general there is more evidence that adjusting your diet to get these nutrients from your food is probably a better option. Of course that isn't always possible, and that's where supplements come in - they're a sticking plaster, not an ideal solution at all.

When supplements are marketed as a first resort, or as a weight loss aid - and I'm including those multivitamins advertised with happy smiling sexy people on the back of buses, apparently optimised for men or women or teenagers or whichever group they've decided to milk- pure first press extra virgin snake oil. Save your money.

Wynterbourne

I've lost 125lbs. Zero supplements, only calorie counting. Heck, I've been a bad girl and done almost zero exercise for the entire loss. Whoops.

lady_ghost

Brocksterdanza wrote: »

Do most that have over 50 pounds to lose use suppliments to aid the process? Such as bcaa, protein, creatine, etc?

They aren't needed but can be convenient and helpful. I've used it myself and lost 30 pounds.

AnvilHead

Brocksterdanza wrote: »

Do most that have over 50 pounds to lose use suppliments to aid the process? Such as bcaa, protein, creatine, etc?

None of the supplements you listed have anything to do with weight loss. BCAAs are protein, and are completely unnecessary if you have enough protein in your diet from other sources already. Same goes for protein supplements in general. Creatine helps (slightly) in the weight room for lifting performance. None of them contribute in any way to weight loss. The most important aspect of protein when dieting is to have enough of it in your diet (by whatever means) to help minimize loss of lean body mass/muscle (and strength training is equally, if not more, important).

If you don't have your diet on point, supplements aren't going to do anything. Your diet does the heavy lifting when it comes to weight loss, just as shown in the Nutritional Pyramid above. Calories matter most, then macros and micros. Meal timing starts to matter when you get to pretty lean BF% levels (maybe, say 10% or below) and are trying to cut further, and supplements matter least of all.

TigerLily100

I'm doing veganuary with the hope to becoming vegan longer term, so yes I think it's needed in my case.
After planning my foods, I feel my protein is a little low so will supplement until I've learned more about the diet and can get enough protein. Will also be supplementing vegan multivitamins and omega oils - again just until I have learnt enough to get the right nutrients via food.

Ming1951

Brocksterdanza wrote: »

Do most that have over 50 pounds to lose use suppliments to aid the process? Such as bcaa, protein, creatine, etc?

I'm just tracking what I eat and staying within calories set by MFP, so far I'm down 45 lbs.