My regime used to be cereal for brekky, something chicken based for lunch, turkey sandwich in the afternoon, go to gym, pasta/chicken for din-dums, turkey/bread before going sleepy-byes. Fruit would be at random in the afternoon, and veggies lunch/dinner.

PWO shakes were whey and carbs in the form of maltodextrin/dextrose-monohydrate. I used dailyburn.com to track a lot of what I was eating and would generally workout 4 times a week. Originally I'd combine weights/cardio, but in later years started splitting the two into separate workouts over different periods.

Something wasn't quite right in the diet though which I never figured out, because I'd end up feeling mentally zonked for periods at work the next day. I presumed it was something like low iron levels or crazy blood-sugar, but I had blood tests done a couple of times which came out ok. Eventually it got to the point where the periods of feeling like I had the IQ of Chewbacca at work were too frustrating, so I stopped working out. I'd like to get back into it, but I'll need to consult a nutritionist to find out whats going wrong, I didn't have any luck with the two GP's I tried in the past.

I'm having trouble figuring out if this is a thread about tuning up your body, or a thread about tuning up your car. Lots of long words that must mean we all know what we're talking about because they sound like science!

So, Jon`C are you against all dietary supplements? Or just certain ones? Do you disapprove of people taking protein to help build muscle mass or vitamin stacks? I'm curious where you stand.

I thought he'd made his point fairly clear that he's against any supplements that haven't been shown in clinical trials to have any positive effect, especially if there's a good chance of a negative one.

Just imagine being able to go into a pharmacy where they only stock stuff which has been shown to be beneficial? What a wonderful world that would be, given that 90% of the stock on their shelves is snake oil. The homeopathy shelves would be gone, as would the multivitamins and all that other nonsense.

They'd stop selling cigarettes, too.

*shrug* well my thought process is you do as much research as you can on a product (as to it's safety factor at least, and it's effectiveness if you can find the data), and you give it a shot (a lot of them offer trial size or sample bottles for free, or a couple bucks). If you feel like you get results then great. If you don't then don't buy it again. I bought the Hydroxycut on the promise from a shipmate that he would buy it off me if I didn't like it, so I knew I had an out if I didn't like it). But I did like it. If anything, I liked the energy boost from the caffeine. It helps keep me motivated to make time for the gym, despite the significant work load and long hours I deal with on deployment. As to the results, I can attest that I'm definitely getting faster results now than I was the last time I started getting heavy into the gym. That being said, I wasn't being so particular about my diet then either, so maybe it's entirely that and the placebo effect that Jon`C's talking about. Either way, I'm gonna finish off the bottle, then try something else. I'm enjoying the results I'm getting (or at least believe I'm getting). I've got the money to burn, so I don't mind the cost. And I'm following the recommended dose and only using it for a short time, so I'm not super concerned about the possible health risk.

I'm still curious to hear from you again, Jon`C. The question I asked before, and also wondering if you do any exercise and/or take any multi-vitamans/dietary supplements, and if so, what about what you're taking sets itself apart from the stuff you have been talking down about in this thread. If not, is there anything you would consider taking? (vaguely as in type, or specifically as in certain product)

They sell cigarettes in pharmacies in the US?

as far a vitamin supplements go... your basically paying for expensive piss, because that's where most of it is going. Vitamins can have SOME benefits, usually if there is a specific vitamin you are lacking and not able to get from your diet. you are much better off getting vitamins and minerals from your daily intake of food though, your body is simply able to absorb vitamins better that way.

...and that is not saying if supplements even do you any good, only if they can be absorbed in pill form.

in the same building as pharmacies. most pharmacies in the US are kind of like really big gas station stores that sell drugs too. also, a lot of grocery stores have pharmacies in them as well.

I think my doctor once said that vitamin supplements only really work if you already get those vitamins from your food, in other words, they're not a total substitute.

Are you really all that surprised? This is 'merika we're talking about...

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/12/ff_causation/all/1

interesting article that talks about causation.

Check this out I have devised one of the most badass nutritional supplements of all time, OF ALL TIME.

Each morning, I place into a food processor:

Kale
Spinach
Brussel Sprouts
Assorted Peppers
sometimes brewers yeast since I don't eat meat unless it's wild caught or killed by me or someone I know.
Sometimes a beet
Basically whatever there is at the farmers market or grocery store

With a frozen bannana or other fruit for ice. Maybe some flax seeds or chia seeds. Udo's oil, and some rice protein sometimes, working on the theory that it adds some extra calories to ****, but mostly because it tastes better than putting carob powder in there and doesn't have the mercury that Hershey's does.

I get more vegetables in 15 minutes than most Americans get in a week, and as I constantly rotate what I put into it, I cover most of my micronutrient bases without a nonsense and expensive multivitamin. I cover my macronutrient needs primarily with eggs, nuts and beans, rotated seasonally.

This is all tied together by High West Utah made whiskey and Guinness.

Just consider, in your case, there is a reason that they admonish candidates for SFAS/BUDs/AnS etc. to not take retarded supplements and to eat reasonable quantities of whole foods. Because if you stop taking all of this supplement crap your performance will suffer. More likely than not, your performance is going to suffer not because it was improving with the supplements, but because you're throwing yourself another curveball and denying your body it's fix of strange. Even if they did work, you can't get them in denied environments, so what's the ****ing point?

well I have 0 interest in spec forces, so that doesn't matter..

but just to point out.. you wouldn't have access to a blender in BUDs either.

Point being, I have trouble envisioning performance needs (that are healthy) that are higher than those types.

Sure, you could take Lasix if you're a bodybuilder, but it will probably kill you. The point I make, is that the only thing worth consuming to make you healthy is real food. Ask Ray Kurzweil.

o wait

Yeah, but the dudes in BUDs can make a smoothie using their hands.

Spook, do you end up with a shake, or viscous gloop, or something more solid than viscous gloop? Also don't frozen banana's go nasty brown, or is that not really a concern compared to everything else floating around in there?

It's like a regular shake the way I make it. I ususally add a little more almond milk to make it of the drinkable milkshake variety rather than the Utah spoon fed type.

Also bannanananas dont turn brown in the freezer, at least a fast as I use them.

I like ripe banananannas anyway

I thought I'd made my point fairly clear that I'm against any supplements that haven't been shown in clinical trials to have any positive effect, especially if there's a good chance of a negative one.

No, I don't take any multi-vitamans.

Sarn, I think you should probably just stop taking the ****ty supplements you found at Wal Mart.

I'm not sure what the texture of that would be like but that sounds DELICIOUS.

Or you know.. GNC. *shrug*

I think I'm gonna shower in that **** tomorrow, Spooky Bear.

Actually, it sounds gross. Like that stuff they might feed crewmen on the Nebuchadnezzar.

I'm going purely on taste.