Supplements the debate/discussion thread

I used to be nearly 500 pounds myself. I managed to go down to 310 but now I'm back up to 360 (fighting to go back down as we speak). I did not have any surgery done or anything. I think that, like people who have addictions or deep personal issues, at some point I hit a really important turning point in my life where I realized something had to be done. I won't bother with the details because no one really cares, besides it's all about personal stuff that won't relate to anyone.
What I do want to say is that it can be done. I'm not giving up hope. I've lost nearly 200 pounds and maybe I won't be able to go under 300, but being 300 was the slimest I've ever been that I could remember. I'd be happy to be back to that weight.
Good habbits, some level of exercise, etc, is not as important as having the right mindset to do it. Also, and I know this is not something that obese people like me could understand until you actually go through it, but loosing extreme amounts of weight is noting like anything I could have thought of. I don't mean this in the "oh man I'm so awesome" sense, but purely on the "what the hell is happening to by body" kind of sense.
For one thing, whenever a doctor told me to loose, say, 200 pounds, all I could think was that it would be impossible. If I did put my mind to it however, I would also see that 200 pound mark as the finish line where I would finally feel better about myself. Nothing could be further from the truth. You start feeling physicaly better almost as soon as you start doing something about it. To give you an example, on the day I really set myself to do something (and I had no real intentions of doing so at the time), I had an extremely ****** day at work and I decided that I needed a breath of fresh air. Note - I would never leave my office because of my weight, but you get the idea. I walked up to the street corner, I barely made it, I was drenched in sweat, started feeling pathetic, etc.
The entire week was like that, and so on the following day I decided to do it again after a major fight with co-workers. I don't remember the specifics, but the improvement was very noticable. I was still sweaty and all but it took me a few minutes less. By the end of the week, for the same amount of time I had during my lunch, I had doubled that distance. It was not a lot of distance mind you, but it was weird to see that level of improvement.
I'm going to stop on the progression thing because I really did not want to mention that beyond the fact that things get better more quickly than you can realize. I just wanted to lead to this: Other things happened to the rest of my body as well.
I started sleeping better. I used to play MMOs until the wee hours of the morning but I was feeling burnt by 10 and rarely got to sleep beyond 10:30. Reading a book in bed usually knocked me out. Sleeping better made it easier to get up in the morning. More energy, better thinking, better moral, which fueled my will to walk a bit more, etc. If I did not sleep better I'm sure the rest would not have followed.
After about two weeks I realized I breathed more easily. It did not matter that I could barely walk a block's worth, what I loved was how I did not weeze that much anymore. Over time more and more tiny details showed up. Every week I could notice something new. I could see my knucles for instance. Then I started seeing veins on the top of my hands, which also led to my forearms after many months.
A great victory was when I went for a blood test and the nurse had no trouble finding a place to draw my precious bodily fluids.
What I came to realize is that loosing weight had more to do with cascade effects that made me feel better, physically and mentally, over time. For some reason I always thought that the results would only be felt by the end of the journey, but nothing could be further from the truth. I did not have to wait years to reap the benefits, in fact I only had to wait a few days, and that stuff acumulates. I know things about my body now, more than ever. I can even gauge my health based on details that people would never notice. That's because I've been to hell and back with my body and I know the many levels of good and bad.
More importantly, it was easer to go on once started, especially after seeing benefits, then when you're at a dead stop. Sure, there's a moral issue at stake, but the whole demystifing effect of loosing weight and how it works helped me understand (and properly expect) what was ahead of me. I've teetered back and forth since then, I'm not super worried about being at 360 since I got back to that point once before and went down to 325.


Can't even imagine what being 500lbs must be like :eek:
 
RobSmith said:
Seconded on the Scivation Xtend. LiE suggested it to me also, just make sure you don't get watermelon madness, it tastes rank.
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I ordered some Scivation Xtend green apple flavour, tried it Monday and this morning and my word it's not that nice. It mixed better than I thought but it's not the best tasting.

I think it actually made me feel sick and have an iffy stomach, not sure whether to try it again tomorrow!!
 
Ordering some more supplements next month and I'm already getting whey, dextrose, vitamin D and omega 3 oils.

I'm also wondering though if anyone takes anything that they find improves there mood and helps with being focused and alert (not a pre-workout as such though)?
 
SMed said:
http://www.sciencebase.com/science-blog/rhodiola-rosea.html
http://www.sciscoop.com/rhodiola-rosea-redux.html
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http://www.detourbar.com/pdf/Rhodiola-muscle-development.pdf
http://smart-drugs.net/Rhodiola-rosea.htm

For every one you throw at me I'll throw one back *yawn*


Have you tried it?

I only use my own personal experience to judge. I've tried more supplements than the average bear and very few of them are worth taking.

For about 10 years now I've been using Rhodiola Rosea because it is fantastic. Search the net and you'll find about 90% of users really rate it while for what ever reason 10% don't. I think a mixutre of poor quality product, some people just expect too much and for whatever reason there could be non-responders. After all we are all different.

One example is even a highly reputable company like Myprotein were inadvertently selling a Rhodiola Rosea so weak is wasn't worth taking. It was actually 0.3% Rosavins, it wasn't until I started a thread on their forums about it that they looked into it. They then changed their product to a stronger 3% version. Also places like Holland & Barrett sell a non-standardized product so probably worthless. People try these and then quite rightly spout off the product is ****.

Trust me, it is not **** and it does work.
 
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IndigoGorilla said:
Cheers for that will give it a try.

Would these be suitable or are they probably rubbish?

http://www.naturesbest.co.uk/rhodiola-rosea-1000mg-p124/?src=goherb

Don't really fancy the powder stuff if it's really horrible. Had a quick look on simply supplements and they don't have it and it seems MyProtein have stopped doing it as well.
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No those look like 0.8%

You could try looking for Jarrow 5% Rhodiola, it's about £20 inc P&P for 60 caps so quite a bit more expensive than the powder.

Or

.... now don't laugh but Biotest actually make a very good Rhodiola which is a whopping 15% Rosavins. So you only need 100mg or less at this strength. If I wasn't using the powder this is the one I would go for. I've seen it for about £21 delivered but as high as £40 so you need to shop around.
 
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