Girls that take supplements, please help!

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gaveruz
gaveruz Posts: 47 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been trying to lose weight since November 2011 and so far I have lost 30 pounds however, I am stuck. I do cardio 2-3 times a week, consisting of Zumba, Latin Dance, Turbo Kick or Cycling, and boothcamp (boxing/muai tai oriented). I take a Body Pump class twice a week, consisting of a whole body workout with weights and a bar.
I eat clean Monday through Friday but must confess I sucumb on the weekends, so I need to change that.
I drink an EAS protein shake most days, 17g of protein and only 100 calories. I also take (sometimes) a vitapack from GNC (joint) consisting of multivitamin, green tea extract, fish oil, vitamin D and calcium and something else that I cannot remember.

I am an avid reader of Muscle and Fitness magazine but I just don't seem to see any changes in my body. I know step one is to get those weekend under control. But wonder if I am missing supplements, such whey protein, casein, etc. I, however, have no idea how I should take them!!!

Anybody on suplements would care to share your supplement schedule through the day? What you take and what is it for, and when do you take it. Thanks!
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Replies

  • embersfallen
    embersfallen Posts: 534 Member
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    I have JUST started taking CLA 2x a day...it might be my imagination, but it seems to be helping the rate of fat loss with weight training. (I have an omron body fat monitor) A lot of people on this site have mentioned it... so I thought I would give it a go :) I am doing ChaLEAN Extreme 3x a week, plus DDP Yoga/ Kettlebell 2-3 other days of the week. I also burn a few hundred calories with Cardio. I went through nearly a year with a plateau so i feel your pain! I was doing crazy cardio...sometimes double zumba, AND weight training..... so somtimes i was 3-almost 4 hours of working out a day...and nada......so right now I am still doing my cardio, but not as crazy... and focusing on weight training hoping that doing the weight training 5-6 times a week will get things going again.
  • rciszek
    rciszek Posts: 134
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    I have lost 15 pounds in the last two months myself. I do running 4-5 times a week and strength training 2-3 times a week. With your body pump, I'm not sure if you would need the strength training like me. I also do a shake, I actually do the GNC Performance shake that is Whey and that I'm sure helps. I've read that the 100% whey shakes are awesome to use and the best for losing weight and creating muscle, recoup muscle, etc. I also am a stark user of GNC supplements. I take the Burn 60 in the AM before my run and can see a big difference in my body and how it reacts to the workouts. I also take the their WaterRX (because I have a tendency to hold water), Osteo Bi-Flex, a multi, fish oil, and their calcium chews. I think it helps taking the whole thing, it's worked well for me. Once I incorporated the Burn 60 and the WaterRX into my routine, it definitely boosted everything.
  • LovesGG
    LovesGG Posts: 241 Member
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    What makes you think it's a supplement issue? I really don't think you need anymore supplements. Have you considered reevaluating your calorie goal instead of spending more money? If so, provide us with your current height, weight and your current calorie goal.
  • rciszek
    rciszek Posts: 134
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    Exactly!! I was doing the same. 5-6 days of working out 2-3 hours a week with NO real change at all. Once I incorporated the GNC supplements and their shake into my routine it has made all the difference. I'm no doctor so I can't say it's fully because of that, but it's a heck of a coincidence!
  • rciszek
    rciszek Posts: 134
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    PS...my Burn 60 I take has the green tea extract in it with other natural items in it.
  • GrumpyAG
    GrumpyAG Posts: 41 Member
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    Body pump is more of a cardio workout. Cos you are working each muscle group for a 3-4 min track the weights are kept low to allow you to complete the workout. Introduce heavy weight strength training into your workout routine and you will definitely start to notice a difference.
  • gaveruz
    gaveruz Posts: 47 Member
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    Current weight is 146
    Goal 120
    Height 5' even
    On 1200 a day and eating back all or most of my exercise calories

    I think some of the supplements will help me gain muscle or at least retain muscle, burn fat and improve gym performance. I also think I need to increase my weight lifting. I think I am overgrowing Body Pump....

    Gosh, reading what I just typed made me realize that I THINK a lot....... now it's time for some ACTION :-(
  • cominupmilhouse
    cominupmilhouse Posts: 257 Member
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    I started noticing a difference when I started taking whey protein shakes with me to the gym! It could be mental, but who cares it's effective!! I put a scoop of dry mix in my shaker cup with me to the gym and after my workout I just fill it with fresh cold water, shake it up and down it right after to supply my muscles with immediate protein for repair. I bought this sweet shaker cup thing, its got a screw-on lid and a little ball-shaped mechanism inside that kinda aerates and mixes the drink making it more 'shake' consistancy. definitely not a requirement but makes it much more enjoyable!
  • bcf7683
    bcf7683 Posts: 1,653 Member
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    I wouldn't consider your problem a supplement-based problem. I started my weight loss with Zumba 3 days/week and body pump 3 days/week. Once I lost about 19 lbs, things started to stall. Cardio can only get you so far (as a sidenote- Body Pump isn't considered weight training, the way the class is built is more cardio. Doing light weights for a large amount of reps, i.e. to an entire song, is conditioning your body for endurance, not strength, therefore not building a significant amount of muscle- which burns more fat by raising metabolism). In my opinion, you need to add in some strength training. Once I kicked the Body Pump and Zumba and started lifting (heavy) 5 days/week and adding in about 20 mins of cardio a day, I saw the rest of the weight come off, and I've seen an awesome change in my body- more muscle definition and definitely a raised metabolism. I up-ed my calories from 1200/day to 1300 (I know, not a big difference) and up-ed my protein and carbs. I've seen a huge change since I strayed from the all-cardio routine. If you're still trying to lose a significant amount of fat, maybe you'd want to do a little more cardio than the 20 minutes, or perhaps off-set your days (lifting one day, cardio the next, etc.). By staying strictly cardio, your body is burning fat as well as muscle- you aren't engaging in any activity that would maintain the muscle that you do have.

    As far as supplements are concerned, I take Optimum Nutrition's Gold Standard Whey, Nordic Naturals fish oil (strawberry), Optimum Nutrition's Opti-Woman multi-vitamin, and Optimum Nutrition's CLA. I don't honestly think the CLA has done much for me, but I have the bottle, so I'm finishing it out.
    I wouldn't recommend that you add in a casein supplement since you aren't in a muscle building state. Casein is a very slow digesting protein that many people take before bed to keep their muscles "fed" while they are sleeping. I've considered it because I wake up at 4:30am to do my lifting routine and I don't want to do it on an empty stomach. But if you're already taking a protein supplement, I don't think that you'd benefit anymore by adding casein.

    You may also benefit from a few sessions with a trainer/nutritionist. If you feel like you've hit a wall, they would be the perfect person to help you through it.
    Good luck!
  • korygilliam
    korygilliam Posts: 594 Member
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    I was on a 3-4 month plateau doing everything under the sun to get over it...I think the thing that helped the most was cutting my cardio in half (7 hours to 3, still 5-6 days a week). Since then, I have read in quite a few articles about people over doing their cardio and hitting this same thing. Review and see if you can cut down on some of your cardio and still stay with your net (and eat back most, if not all of your cals).

    The theory was in most of them is that we over-estimate our burn and underestimate out munch... (I was doing primarily elliptical, but added in zumba and cardio jam...cal burn was from polar HRM w/ chest strap)
  • kah68
    kah68 Posts: 1,515 Member
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    I can attest to supplements making a huge difference, especially in how I feel. I workout 6-7 days a week – cardio (elliptical, cross trainer, swim, treadmill) 4-5 days a week and workout with my trainer twice a week. My trainer got me started on the supplements. I take cordyceps mid-morning (for energy/stamina), a women’s performance vitamin (b’fast/dinner), 5g fish oil (excellent for inflammation – lunch/dinner), a calcium/magnesium supplement (at b’fast/lunch/dinner), and probiotics (lunch). For me, it’s made a huge difference.

    Honestly, I was on a see-saw for about 6 months - since starting the supplements and incorporating circuit type training with weights, etc. the weight started coming off again.
  • bokodasu
    bokodasu Posts: 629 Member
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    I am an avid reader of Muscle and Fitness magazine...

    Well, there's your problem. Those types of magazines exist to sell supplements. Their customers are the advertisers - you as a customer are the product they are selling to them. They are not your friends, and supplements are not the magic potions they're made out to be - most of them time when they do something, it is a very *small* something that they do. (Which is not to say there aren't supplements that could help you, but you have to have a good foundation before you can know which ones those are.)

    Fix your diet first. If you're not already, start tracking your weekends to see what's really going on there - you might be better off than you think, or you could be eating 2000 calories a day over what you should be, which would wipe out anything you're doing during the week. Tweak until it fits into your weekly deficit (which should be on the smallish side, set it to .5 lbs/week and eat back most of your exercise calories - and I say "most" because MFP tends to overestimate calories burned, not because you shouldn't be eating all of them). Keep an eye on your macros.

    Once that's under control for 4-6 weeks or so, if you're still not seeing the changes you want, try picking up heavier things more often. Start a real weightlifting program 3x/week and see how that goes for another 6-8 weeks.

    If you're at that point and *still* not seeing results, *then* start thinking carefully about what you're lacking, and how to supplement it.

    ETA: I see we cross-posted. If you think you're outgrowing Bodypump, you are. Start the weights now! Also, I meant to include: I take creatine (for squeezing out that extra rep) and an algal-DHA supplement (I don't eat fish), and I'm going to try glutamine for 6 weeks on the advice of my trainer although I'm not really expecting it to do anything (it's supposed to help prevent muscle loss while I'm losing weight, but I probably get enough through diet that it won't make a difference). I also make my own protein shakes, but I just make one big one and drink 1/3 pre- and 2/3 post-workout, I don't worry about fast-vs-slow protein.
  • LovesGG
    LovesGG Posts: 241 Member
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    How many calories are you eating per day? And are you eating back your exercise calories?

    I would also recommend you look into "heavy lifting" since you are nearing your goal weight. I think protein powder and a vitamin truly is the maximum you should ever spend your money on. The supplement market is really out there to make people spend their money and it's doing a multi-million dollar heck of a good job.

    I promise, you are not "missing" supplements.
  • lkcuts
    lkcuts Posts: 224
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    I started taking iodine/iodide drops because , even tho the tests show ok on thyroid, I read it could still need a boost, I went to a natural easy dispursed (so it just doesn't just sit in your stomach) multivitamin,liquid trace minerals for joints and stool softening. Zinc supplement for immune system,and its lots of other benefits it gives. I read, there is no way you can eat enough food to give your body what it really needs for good balance to lose weight.
    I had to invest on hormone balancing (menoclear) to help with my raging menapause of sweats, no sleep, mood swings etc and its really helped. it has among other ingredients, wild yam That is helping with that. I listen to my body. Some days I cut my multi vitamin in half as it has b6 and 12 in it and since I have been taking these supplements I feel more energized and don't need it all some days. Go with any symptoms you may have (brain fog, sluggishness etc if you have any) and see what would help in those areas.
    liquid trace minerals and a good multivitamin should be all you need to cover anything you might be missing in your diet.
    I take all these in the morning straight away. If I miss more than 2 days i can really tell a difference. Good Luck!
  • BikinimomE
    BikinimomE Posts: 116 Member
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    What makes you think it's a supplement issue? I really don't think you need anymore supplements. Have you considered reevaluating your calorie goal instead of spending more money? If so, provide us with your current height, weight and your current calorie goal.

    ^^ This.

    There is no *magic* supplement that will help you lose bodyfat unless your diet is dialed in and you are NOT over-doing cardio and doing adequate strength (weight resistance) training.
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
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    Maybe you could try some of the workouts in Muscle and Fitness, and read about Les Mills instead?

    Supplements are not the issue, and the CLA I've seen suggested will do nothing but waste your money.
  • KaidaKantri
    KaidaKantri Posts: 401
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    I've taken quite a few supplements, they never actually did anything, other than boost my energy, and you might as well just have coffee for that! However, I did take the Alli pills, they did work when I stuck to the diet. The issue with that one is that if you don't folllow it to the T, the side effects do happen, and its uncomfortable. It sounds like you've done the same routine for awhile, why not try changing it up? Your body is probably just used to whatever your doing.
  • BikinimomE
    BikinimomE Posts: 116 Member
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    Unless one has the desire to put on a decent amount of mass or build strength in a big way, the only supplementation that one should consider is a multi-vitamin and/or calcium/vitamin D/vitamin K, perhaps B vitamins supplement, vitamin C - etc, all dependent on individual needs.

    As for MRP (Meal Replacement Protein) shakes (which are NOT to be confused with protein shakes that are very low in carbs and fat) could be helpful if one has difficulty getting enough quality calories from whole foods.

    Just my .02 that I've earned from pursuing better health, wellness and fitness for the last 28 years. :wink:
  • mamacta13
    mamacta13 Posts: 1
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    I read a lot of good advice in here. Especially pertaining to changing your exercise routine. Cardio is not the answer to weight loss. Circuit training is what got me off of my plateau. This involves intervals of lifting with intervals of high intensity cardio (done for about of 60 seconds to 90 seconds at a time).... Google HIIT, it stands for high intensity interval training.

    Something else to know about over exercising: it causes stress to your body which in turn causes cortisol production. Cortisol is a stress hormone that actually encourages your body to store fat as a protection response. You really have to make sure you are allowing adequate recovery!

    Do your research before taking supplements! Some of them can actually cause health problems if your body is already producing what it should be! Talk to a certified nutritionist if you can afford it.... and not the people at the supplement store either, their job is to sell you supplements...

    Good Luck!
  • oOMusicBabii
    oOMusicBabii Posts: 494
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    I take a multivitamin, joint supplement and calcium+D in the AM and a joint supplement (replenex by melaleuca) and calcium+D in the PM. I take the multivitamin to try and cover any deficiencies I might have from diet. I take calcium+D because of a family history various bone issues. And I take the joint supplement because I have terrible knees and as a skier my knees take a lot of abuse.

    I will be adding vitamin C this week (waiting for payday) because my doctor thinks it will help with a lot of sinus, allergy and asthma problems I have (starting with 1000mg/day and slowly moving up to 4000mg/day).

    I have never really felt a need to take some of the crazy supplements others take (and by crazy, I mean super $$$ and tons and tons of it). I know what my body needs right now, so I'm doing that.

    I think you should take a look at what you really want from vitamins/supplements and talk with you doctor to see what they think.

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