Health

Weight Loss Challenge : Supplement Your Life

Written by juicebox on May 13, 2008 4:59 pm EST

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

One of the first steps in weight loss is making sure your getting the right nutrients. So if your using a “Fad Diet” or thinking that not eating will make you have sustainable weight loss, think again.

Alright, so you’ve made a commitment to yourself to get healthier, congratulations! The first step in that commitment, is to check where everything is at, and prepare to supplement properly.

Why would you supplement your diet? Trick, a writer here at Gimmie The Scoop sums it up nicely in his recent post “Your Body is a Machine“. I recommend reading that before going further, to better understand the importance of making sure you have all your nutrients.

Step 1: Get To Your Physician

I cannot urge you enough that before you start any diet program, to see a Physician so that they can do a proper evaluation for you and help you assess your risks during your diet. Some blood tests you should have performed are:

Complete Blood Cell Count ( CBC )
Electrolytes (Potassium, Calcium, Sodium, Phosphorous, Magnesium)
Cholesterol (For checking cardiovascular health)
B Vitamin Testing & D Vitamin Testing

The good news is, most general health / wellness test profiles provided by testing companies such as Quest Diagnostics have all this information without anything extra.

Step 2: Evaluate Your Diet

Here’s whats recommended daily for your health by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

Daily Reference Values (DRVs)
(Based on 2,000 calories a day for adults and children over 4 only)

Food Component	DRV
fat	65 grams (g)
saturated	fatty acids 20 g
cholesterol	300 milligrams (mg)
total carbohydrate	300 g
fiber	25 g
sodium	2,400 mg
potassium	3,500 mg
protein**	50 g

**DRV for protein does not apply to certain populations; Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for protein has been established for these groups: children 1 to 4 years: 16 g; infants under 1 year: 14 g; pregnant women: 60 g; nursing mothers: 65 g.

Nutrient	Amount
vitamin A	5,000 International Units (IU)
vitamin C	60 milligrams (mg)
thiamin	1.5 mg
riboflavin	1.7 mg
niacin	20 mg
calcium	1.0 gram (g)
iron	18 mg
vitamin D	400 IU
vitamin E	30 IU
vitamin B6	2.0 mg
folic acid	0.4 mg
vitamin B12	6 micrograms (mcg)
phosphorus	1.0 g
iodine	150 mcg
magnesium	400 mg
zinc	15 mg
copper	2 mg
biotin	0.3 mg
pantothenic acid	10 mg

You can see further Daily Values information here: http://www.fda.gov/FDAC/special/foodlabel/dvs.html

So grab a notepad, and write down this information for what you eat over a few day period, and you will quickly see what you’ll need to supplement based on your existing diet. The most important ones for weight loss tend to be:

B Vitamins
Potassium
Iron
Magnesium
Calcium
Vitamin D
Iodine
Protein

Step 3: I Have My List, What Do I Know What To Supplement?

One easy way is to evaluate what your diet is being planned to if you are making adjustments to what you eat or how much. Then compare that information with the daily recommended above.

Don’t forget to look for the warning signs of being deficient in one of the key vitamins by checking out the database over at WebMD. Remember, too much of a good thing, is a bad thing, so don’t excess to try and protect yourself.

In addition, think to yourself if you really need the supplement before taking it. There are so many different ones out there. For example, if your looking for just magnesium, look for just magnesium. Don’t grab one that has calcium and zinc too unless you are deficient or need some extra.

Step 4: Evaluate Your Decisions With Your Physician, Dietitian or Nutritionist

Now that you’ve got everything set, take your ideas to your Medical Professional who can work with you to adjust this more based on your lifestyle. They may provide additional feedback and supplement recommendations beyond the basics of just the essential vitamins and minerals that can lead you to a healthier you.

Remember, supplementation is a good building block toward being healthier. It is not a magic substance that can just help you melt the pounds like it was water coming out of a faucet. Weight loss takes determination and time. The right amount of will power can make you reach your goals.

My Supplementation Schedule

Just to give you guys an idea, here is how mine worked out. In April when I decided it was time once and for all to get rid of those extra pounds, I took a good look at my food intake and noticed, while I was getting enough Iron (which I used to be deficient in), i was deficient in something essential, Protein.

As I began to supplement my diet on May 1st with Protein, It’s had a profound impact on my energy, my hunger, everything and has been a great help to my continued weight loss success. I must stress that I have not gone to a protein-only style diet, and that i’ve only supplemented. I still eat a variety of foods, and in smaller quantities throughout the day.

These are some of the others I take, when, and Why:

Tonalin CLA (For musclular building assistance, extra healthy fatty acids)
I’ve been taking CLA for over a year now, and it’s helped in building muscle and reducing fat with a light to medium duty workout. It may be something to consider if you’re looking to build muscle while losing fat.
Calcium / Magnesium / Zinc Supplement (After Heavy Workouts)
I found after heavy workouts that my Zinc and Magnesium levels were low based on how I was feeling after my workout’s. When I started taking this particular supplement, found at Target, my muscles recovered much faster the next day with reduced pain such as DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) than if I didn’t. However I only take it after a long workout.

So find what works for you, and make sure to supplement properly to stay healthy during diets, and prevent any long-term disease that could occur from long-term or short-term undernourishments. If you have any thoughts on supplements (not diet pills) or vitamins that you have found to be effective, let me know below!

Coming soon… World of Exercise…

Trackback URL for this post: http://www.gimmiethescoop.com/weight-loss-challenge-supplement-your-life/trackback