I'm starting on the Body for Life 12 week challenge which is to my knowledge sponsored by EAS; so I'm expecting a level of bias to use EAS products during this challenge. ALOT of the people who had success with this challenge listed a bunch of supplements they used, of course most of them were EAS supplements. My question is; outside of multi-vitamins and flaxseed oils, are any other supplements really useful? I'm talking things such as "MUSCLETECH HYDROXYCUT HARDCORE ", "BSN CELLMASS", "MUSCLETECH naNOX9" etc etc etc.....I'm not a big believer in drugs to help you shed weight, but I know that most people in good physical shape in the gym use some type of supplement. Where do I start with thse?

fish oil, and a protein supplement The protein supplement is just nice and convenient way to get your necessary protein, and comes in handy in a pinch, quick and yummy. I get the vanilla so i can mix in any flavor i want.

The other stuff (thermogenics) is just icing on the cake, and is useless, if you are not on a solid diet, and exercise program.

I do regularly drink protein shakes, and I usually also take multi-vitamins and flaxseed oils. I eat alot of fish as part of my daily proteins whcih also accounts for the oils. This 'icing on the cake', does it do ANYTHING at all? Or is it all placibo(sp?)?

it does have a use, they are probably giving it to you for a reason (because of the program they have you on requires it etc)

Talk to Steve though he can probably explain it best

Body For Life isn't the worst program, if you are choosing to do something like that. I'm pretty sure Steve and I have talked about this before somewhere, and if I remember correctly he wasn't a huge fan of it (IIRC it was the mandatory 6 meals/day). Don't want to put words in his mouth, though.

From what I remember, it is a program that has you eat 6 small meals a day that are protein heavy, and alternate days between lifting (The split they recommended wasn't terrible if I remember... I'll see if I can find it), and interval training for cardio. If you go from 2-3 meals/day to 6 meals a day, you are going to feel like you are eating every second of the day. I liked it, as it made me aware of everything I was putting in 'cause so much of the day was devoted to eating/what I was eating. However, if you ask Steve, 6 meals a day does not increase your metabolism a buttload, and he has studdies to back that. I'll dig around and see if I can't find that research.

As far as NEEDING sups, you never NEED them, no matter what the trainers behind the counter at your gym, or the guy taking steroids will tell you. Here are some experiences I've had with different sups, and my honest personal opinions on 'em.

Hydroxicut/weight loss pills/workout pills: Gave me lots of energy, but not all of it was useable. It helped out with my workouts in that I was on task and focused for the later reps and later sets in the workout where I'd usually be far less focused 'cause I'd usually be out of energy. However, taking them morning/noon/dinner or however they recommend now that they're without ephed was a waste of money, and turned me into a grouchy/anxious jerk. Unless you are at a point in your workouts where you have been beating 'em up for years and are plateauing and nothing else has worked to bump you, there's not really any reason to consider using these, and even then, it is still a coin flip. I personally am never going to use them again.

Protein: With the 6 meals a day the way they suggest, you should be getting plenty of protein. People around here have been saying 1g/lb of lean body mass. However, if you aren't, this wouldn't be bad. Thanks to discussions with various members of this board, I have upped my daily amount of protein, and instead of eating ten whole cows and a whole mess of chickens a day, I add in a protein shake or two. Quick tip if you decide to use protein powder... Grab a blender and some milk (whole is better than skim is better than water, if you can spare the calories), and a banana (if you aren't allergic like me)... dump it in and blend till there are no chunks left. Nothing turns you off of these like watery, lumpy shakes.

Creatine: I use this stuff on and off, but I wouldn't use it during a period where my intent was to lose weight. It flushes water into your muscles, and basically gives your muscles ADP a free recharge to ATP (science boiled WAY down there, but just to give you an idea). It has zero restorative properties, and is solely for knocking out the 8th rep in a set where you might have only gotten seven without it.

Aside from those, there isn't much on the market that is that great. Lots of the big "MUSCLEBUILDO-80000" are really just stacks of different stimulants mixed with creatine, and priced way high.

My advice: Try it without all the extra goofy crap first. If you find that there is an area that is sufficiently lacking, and there is nothing else that is working for you to help that area... then do some more research/looking/asking around. Don't go into this with the mindset that you're going to need help.

Good luck with the contest!
--James

Thanks for your response!

I'm not really DOING the actual Body for Life challenge; I'm more or less using it as a rough outline of my workouts. I enjoy having a target date for weight loss and its especially easier for me to do this as I've already lost 50 lbs and know its not impossible to lose the weight, it's actually quite 'easy' to lose 50lbs in my opinion...AS LONG as you're diciplined and REALLY dedicate yourself to it. Now I just need the last 25lbs off, I've seen people post amazin results from the Body for Life program, so that's why I'm giving it a shot.

One thing a lot of people miss, or probably never heard of, are digestive enzymes.

Hey, I figure it's worth a little added assurance that all the food I'm eating is being fully assimilated by the body.

Do you have any material on the stuff you are taking? I haven't really read anything about supplementing digestive enzymes, and I figured that my digestrive track does a pretty good job 'cause I've never pooped out a whole apple, but I have been wrong before. I'd be interested to read anything you could dig up.

Thanks
--James

lol that did sound like a load of balarny or something id find on snopes

I think I mentioned this in another thread, James, but I was at a conference last year listening to a Dr. DicQie Fuller talk about these little critters and really had my eyes opened.

I know there are a lot of people out there adding the "Dr." title to their name, but DicQie is the real deal. Her curriculum vitae reads like this:

"Dr Fuller, the Founder and President of Transformation Enzyme Corporation, holds a Ph.D. in Nutrition and Health Sciences. With over twenty years of clinical experience specializing in enzyme therapy and nutrition, she is actively involved in researching the health benefits of enzyme supplementation. Her significant contribution to the rapidly growing awareness of the importance of enzymes has been honored in Who's Who of Women Executives, Who's Who of American Women, and Woman of the Year 1990. Dr. Fuller has published extensively, including articles on the use of enzymes in nutrition, body typing, glandular therapy, and appetite and weight control."

Which doesn't do much to answer your question...

But if you locate a copy of her book "The Healing Power of Enzymes", it's a good read.

If you Google the phrase, "Dr. DicQie Fuller The Healing Power of Enzymes", you'll get some good info.

Interestingly, the site raked around 5th reads: "DicQie Fuller-Looney".

Uh, no, that's not meant to be taken the way it reads...

Looney is her married name!