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I’m sitting here sniveling pathetically over a mug (with a snowman on it!) of way too hot, pomegranate, green tea. For the first time in foreverz, I’ve contracted a nasty cold. It has me glued to water, herbal tea, and chicken broth like it’s my job.  Why do they tell sick people to drink broth anyway?  I’ve just been drinking it because I made some fresh yesterday.

When I woke up this morning, I felt like death. As soon as I was able to pull my sorry butt out of bed, I started ripping my medicine cabinet and supplement stash apart for anything that might even, kind of, sort of, maybe make me feel better. Vitamin C (or at least an orange)? Zicam? ANYTHING?!?!?!!

All I could find was some Mucinex that is probably expired and a box of tissues. FACKKKKK.

Goods news is,  it inspired me to do an update on the supplements I am currently using. I already have a whole page on this… but I’m feeling motivated so suck it (KIDDING).

In the beginning…..
Those that have been following me since the good ol’ days of this blog, when it first started, know that I am formerly a supplement junkie. In retrospect, I dropped hundreds of dollars on powders and pills from a completely unregulated industry.

I am pretty sure I have deleted the comprehensive list I had written at one point, but suffice it to say I was taking in upwards of 30 pills a day + scoops of various things to get through my contest prep. You can see a pseudo synopsis in these posts: Supplementation Part 1 and Part 2. (I apologize for the broken images) I cannot tell you if they caused me any harm or good, to be perfectly frank.

I was leaner then, but I also watched my macro intake like a craycray. 6 of one, half a dozen of another. Did anyone read the news articles about those soldiers dying after taking OxyElitePro and Jack3d, btw? Did they ever say what dosage they took it at? It scares the crap out of me that I took it for so long.

No body composition is ever worth death. Ever.

Nowadays….
My supplement intake has dropped considerably. I like to think that if one eats a wide variety of plants and animals, the need to take a lot of extra and unregulated crap is unnecessary.  Not to mention, aliquoting those funds to quality food is a lot more delicious and fun.

I am taking in daily:
4,000 IU of Vitamin D (some cheap store brand)
~4g EPA/DHA

I’ve been switching it up between Carlson’s and Nordic Naturals for my omega-3′s.  I’ll likely stick with Carlsons because I recently realized they pretty much have the same omega-3 content only NN’s serving size is 2 capsules and Carlsons is 1.

I *finally* bought orange flavored, liquid fish oil. It’s nice to not have to down a ton of capsules to get the right amount.  It tastes great! Like a creamsicle! (Thanks Sable and Anna for the idea!)

I am phasing out:
Protein powders. Yup. I said it. (Sorry Anna!) When I run out of my current bin of whey, I want to try going without it for a while.

I’m not against them, per se, especially for vegetarians or people who spend a lot of time needing their meals on the fly.  It’s just, I’d rather stick to whole foods and cut out anything/everything processed where I can.

I am test driving:
Greens Plus Wild Berry. This tastes like a**hole. Not that I can speak from experience as to what that tastes like, but it’s gross.

I like the idea of a greens supplement though. I am going to finish this batch and next time, purchase an unflavored or different flavor, organic variety.  I mistakingly didn’t get the organic one this time, but most of the ingredients are organic anyway.

Modern BCAA. When Scivation’s Xtend went to SHITE because they started putting in a bunch of extra fillers and dyes, I stopped buying it. Instead, I switched to NOW’s BCAA capsules. These……well….. worked in a pinch. There’s no added junk but they’re kind of a hassel to take and I’m lazy.

When I spoke with Neghar, she recommended Modern BCAA.  It has sucralose and “natural flavors”, but that is probably the best you are going to do for a drinkable BCAA supp.

I bought the grape flavor and, so far, am pleased. Taste is fine and I notice a big (good) difference when I drink it before fasted training. I’ve been taking 1 serving (10g BCAA) prior to fasted training. On longer fasts, I’ll do a serving and a half. I don’t sip it throughout the day or during my training – mostly as a means to cut down on my sucralose intake.

Erika tried it too and I like her description, it tastes like a watered down, grape xtend.  I don’t know if I’d call it watered down as much as I’d say ‘less sweet’ – which is a good thing. It doesn’t make your face pucker like you’ve just eaten a sugar cube.

My only complaint is the mixability. It’s terrible, but that’s something I can deal with. Oh, and it’s made by the same company that makes OxyElitePro and Jack3d, which I talked about above.

Notice the lack of…
Creatine or any pre-workout supps. Creatine is one of the few supplements that’s proven to work. I even have a brand new tub of it sitting in my closet.  I’m just lazy. The other pre-workout supplements? I haven’t noticed much of a difference w/o using them so why pay the $$?

Caffeine is the only thing I can think of that might also be of use pre-workout but I workout so late in the evening that this impacts my sleep.  I’d rather not have that extra ‘rush’ and be able to get a good night’s rest.

This post is already almost 1000 words. JEEBUZ. How’d that happen? Okay.
I’m done.

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