My Daily Supplements

I think anyone who has considered taking supplements to help boost their potential with weight loss, in the weight room, or both will agree that there are so many choices out there it's confusing and overwhelming.  This one area I will admit I am not extremely knowledgeable about.  But I have managed to learn a little and pick out what I believe to be the best and most effective supplements for my needs.  What you need may different, but this might help someone to get an idea of how to go about selecting supplements.

I take three different "stacks" (combos of supplements), timed morning, afternoon, and before bed:

1. With breakfast (for maximum absorption) I take-
- A multi-vitamin. I don't take any one brand- I just try to find a well-rounded one.  Truth be told, right now I am taking children's gummy vitamins.  So shoot me.  My diet is good enough that I don't feel I have to get picky about this one.
- A calcium/magnesium/D supplement.  The one I take has about 30% daily recommended amount of calcium and 50% recommended daily amount of D per pill (not per dose- a dose is 2, and I only take one at a time).  I take the calcium because more often than not I don't get two servings of dairy in daily.  The magnesium is for max absorption of the calcium.  And the D is because I have a past history of depression that I have noted is a lot better when I am in the sun frequently.  I thought this might be related to vitamin D, and sure enough, when I started taking D my depression was a lot easier to manage.  If I didn't get magnesium or D with the calcium pills, I would take them as a separate supplement along with it.
- An Omega fatty acids pill.  The one I take has all 3 Omegas in it (3, 6, and 9).  There is enough scientific evidence behind this one that I believe it is worth the expense.  Plus, I swear my eyesight is better when I am taking it.  On days I eat fish I skip this supplement.

In the afternoon (with lunch, if I remember) I take:
- Another Omega Fatty Acid pill
- An Iron pill, because I have a low iron level.  I keep the iron pill far away from calcium intake, either in diet or supplement, because calcium inhibits Iron absorption.

Before bed I take:
- Another calcium/magnesium/D pill.  This is a great time to take it because cal/mag has been proven to help with sleep.
- A glucosamine pill, because I have arthritis in a knee and it's supposed to help with joints.

In addition to these, on days I work out I take an L-Glutamine pill with my breakfast stack.  I guess it's best to get L-glutamine in powder form immediately following working out, but since I have a bunch of them in pill form and I know pills take a while to break down and get into the system, I take them with breakfast, reasoning it will reach my muscles by the time I am done lifting. My reasoning is NOT based on science, though; just simply on what I think, so I could be dead wrong with this one. But I don't want to waste the pills, so until they are gone this is what I will be doing.  After that I don't think I will take Glutamine at all anymore.

And right after I am done working out I have 5g of BCAA (branched chain amino acid) powder in protein powder that I put in my gym bag and add water to after lifting so I can drink it while I am walking out of the gym.  Since starting this I swear I am not as sore after my workouts.  I think they are also supposed to help aid in weight loss, but I'm not quite sure how.  I use the Modern brand and the recommended dosage is 10g, but since I am a 150-lb woman I just take 5g (single scoop).  This helps to stretch the container.  A word of warning about flavoring with BCAA powder- make sure it has some!  I got the plain the first time and my goodness, it was bitter!  I had to add a packet of stevia to my protein powder/BCAA concoction to make it palatable enough to swallow.  The flavor seems to help mask quite a lot of the bitterness.

Okay- so there you have my stacks and my reasons for them.   I used to take more, but this is what I've brought it down to and I believe benefits me the most.