Supplements, Anyone?

I have never been a fan of fake food.  I went to school to become a dietitian and am fascinated by what different foods can do for us or TO us.  I'm a believer that if we just learn right proportions of the right foods, we will be our healthiest.  Having said that, I realize that there are times when we need a little help getting back on a good plan if we fall into some bad habits, like I did the last couple years.  There are times when some supplements or shakes or bars with strange ingredients have their place.

While I have been struggling with having enough energy to exercise like I want to, I've been trying some other things that people have suggested to get more energy or help with my craving unhealthy foods.  Here's my experience with a few and I'd LOVE for you guys that use others to tell us about them!

Garcinia Cambogia is an appetite suppressant.  It actually worked well for me to do that.  But after a couple of weeks I started to have some water retention.  My hands and legs were kind of puffy.  I think this may be more about my vein issues than any dangerous thing about the Garcinia.  I had to stop taking it because of that.  What I do like about this one is that since it isn't a stimulant, like so many other diet supplements are, I could take it before dinner too, which is when I would normally eat too much.  I bought mine at Costco for something like $15.00

This one I'm using right now.  I like it.  It is a stimulant, and yes - is green tea, which is questionable for me within the way I personally view the Word of Wisdom.  (I have friends that drink green tea and they feel like it's an herbal tea.  Totally a personal decision and I don't think there is really a blanket right or wrong as far as I'm concerned.  I don't drink green tea - but here I am with these for a while, at least.)  What is interesting about the stimulant factor of these is that I notice that it doesn't effect me as much as a diet soda would.  For instance, if I drink a diet coke at lunch, I'm a little jittery for the next couple hours.  I'm pretty sensitive to caffeine.  These don't have that effect on me for some reason.  I still only take them with breakfast and lunch and don't take them at dinner just to avoid any chance of it keeping me awake.  The label says this has more caffeine than a diet coke has, so I have no idea why it would feel different.  I do think this is helping with my energy and calorie burn throughout the day.  I'll probably take the rest of the bottle and then hopefully have my exercise habits back on track and won't buy more.  I just got it at Costco for about the same as the Garcinia, I think.

I ordered doTerra from Miss Katie (Hi Katie!) and have been using it for a couple of weeks.  I have a few friends that use all their diet shakes too and love them.  It is an oil that you put in your bottle of water that you drink throughout the day.  It is supposed to suppress your appetite or help you feel full faster.  I 'm not sure for me it really does that.  BUT what it does do for me is force me to drink that water throughout the day, like I should be doing.  It has a really strong taste that is a reminder every time I take a sip that I am on a diet.  So for the most part it is serving a purpose.

Another friend of mine started selling Zen Bodi, which is made by a company called Jeunesse.  She gave me some samples of appetite suppressants, amino acid drinks and a protein powder.  I REALLY liked them so I ordered some more of the amino drink and the protein powder.  I really liked that I could drink something that was just amino acids between meals when I would normally snack.  And the protein is super light.  It doesn't feel like a heavy meal like the other ones I normally use.  I can mix it in water and it doesn't feel sticky and milky.  Maybe I'll post more on them later when I get my order.

I have been tempted to try the Beach Body Shakeology.  I know a few of you use that and I'd love to hear your review.  The only reason I haven't yet is the cost, and it also seems like I have to sign up for a program to try it.  I could be wrong.

Then there's Herbalife.  If anyone knows about that please share.  They seems very similar to Shakeology.