Supplements I’m Using and Why

Weight loss is personal and women feel differently about how to attack it. Some like to keep it quit and are able to do the work on their own with amazing results. Some need to shout it from the rooftops and have everyone help them. Take a wild guess at which one I am? lol

I started running regularly again a couple of weeks ago when my surgeon gave me the ok and have been doing a plank challenge until I have approval for full ab workouts.

I finished my 24-day Jumpstart over the holidays in the Advocare© ONE/80 program. I'm now into the Optimize phase of the program. We've been with Advocare© since 2012, but I still need to change my products up here and there due to all the life changes I've had over the years.

To get myself off the coffee habit I drink the Spark. Not having coffee in the morning took a little bit to get used to, but I prefer not having the crash from coffee. I have a caffeine sensitivity and this doesn't get me all jacked and keep me awake all night. ALTHOUGH, I definitely have to pay more attention to how late I'm drinking it. My sleep hasn't been good the last few nights. Since I'm running again my sleep is getting better.

Jump starting the diet has roller coaster days. The first week I was on it. SUPER on it. Really proud of myself on it. Then I had a few drama filled days and that emotional eating popped up. One day was bad but I'm not going to kick myself over it. Being aware of it even as you are doing it, is an accomplishment.

Also, I just really like food. Especially food I'm not supposed to have. If I actually stuck to my IBS diet, I could lose this weight quite easily. It would be all about portions. But damn if those fries don't just call me sometimes. Since I know I need the extra help, I'm taking Crave Check to curb my appetite. I don't take it daily. Just the days that I can tell I'm going to have an issue grazing. Or if we are going out to eat with friends. It helps me make better choices.

I've kept 12 pounds off since before Thanksgiving. Losing weight over the holidays when you aren't allowed to workout because of surgery isn't easy!

Besides all of the stuff to help me lose weight, I take a battery of vitamins and supplements. I have an old lady pill box with 14 compartments. I am horrible about taking pills and it upsets my stomach to take all of them at once. I spread them out to twice a day.

Most everything is for preventative reasons. Now that I'm in surgery induced menopause I need to get some extras. Here's what I'm taking and the reason I take them.

Calcium – I've got to save my bones. I don't have to take them daily. I save the pill for the end of the day and if my diet wasn't full of enough green, leafy vegetables and other natural foods, then I pop one of the pills. That easy. Since I track my food I know when my calcium isn't high enough. Most days it is even though I can't eat dairy in any form.

Vitamin D – A couple of years ago I was going through what I thought was depression. I tried a couple of antidepressants but they made me feel horrible and didn't help. Thankfully my PA decided to run some blood work. My vitamin D was seriously low. I was put on a super high prescription for a couple of months. I can't remember the exact number of iu's, but hink 10's of thousands. Now I'm just required to take 1000iu a day if it's sunny and 2000iu's other days. Living in Seattle area, I generally just take the higher dose. lol

It made a noticeable difference after a few weeks, it is not instant. A couple of times I've ran out and my mood would change over the weeks until I finally remembered. It's a tiny pill and not worth forgetting. If you have noticed mood issues, ask your doc to run some blood work. It may be as easy as a little supplement.

Glucosamine – A few years ago I noticed my knees were starting to get sore. I'd wake up and they were aching. Yes, I was running but it was a different ache. I asked around, did a little research and decided to try the glucosamine. This also isn't an instant fix. It takes some time to build up in your system. But it did take away the achiness that had started.

OmegaPlex – I take the omegas to help keep my cardiovascular system going as smoothly as possible. Fatty acids have a lot of other great benefits as well. My nails grow quick and are healthy lol Now I am not saying this will work for everyone, but talk to your doctor about it. My blood pressure is significantly lower when I'm taking the Omega's. Do your own research and see how the fatty acids help your cardiovascular system.

Vitamin E – This is something I started taking completely on the recommendation from a friend that's into a more natural approach to life. I was having breast pain which scared me. It was so sharp that it brought me to tears a few times. It was time for my annual check-up and a mammogram anyway so they bumped me through quickly because of the pain. Everything came back perfect and the tech told me that random breast pain is normal.

WHAT?!

I was not ok with that answer. I was complaining to my gals at the senior fitness class I taught and one of them had the same issue once. Her naturopath told her vitamin E. She said it worked within a few days and she hasn't had pain in years. I went right to the store and bought it. Pain went away like she said. I don't even care why it works, it's just in my supplements for good now. lol

Hmm, looking at webMD it shows there are a lot of reasons why I should be taking vitamin E. I haven't had any breast pain since and it's probably been 4 years since this happened.

Multivitamin – I just bought one at Costco. Figure there's no reason not to bump up vitamins and minerals I probably don't get in my daily diet.

As I am in surgery induced menopause, I've researched more natural ways to help. When I used the prescription estrogen I was given, I turned into a raging, crazy woman. It was horrible and I won't go back to taking it. Since I have so few, menopause symptoms it's been easy to work with my PA to find alternatives to help besides a prescription. My body doesn't seem to react to some of the natural options like they are supposed to, so I haven't kept up with the black cohosh I tried for a while.

Do you take supplements? What difference have you noticed since taking them?

PS – BEFORE taking new supplements or starting a weight loss routine, please consult with your doctor. Some supplements, no matter how natural, can play havoc with prescriptions and cause damage. Better safe than sorry. Check before you buy!