I'm sure you've all been told, at some point, that taking a protein shake, or this fat burner or that fat burner is the way to lose weight. When you walk into a dischem you are literally bombarded with all manner of supplements, all of them promising all sorts of miracles.
A few years back, CLA was the "it" supplement. It is supposed to be a fat burner and I religiously took it for about a year. I can say honestly, that, during that year I gained about 6kgs and didn't see any new muscles growing! I will explain the "why" of it in a bit but, at the time, I didn't understand it at all.
The thing with supplements is that it's a BIG industry, kind of like over-the-counter medication. Advertisers are very sneaky. They will find a way to convince you that you simply cannot function without them. If you get a cold, you HAVE TO go out and buy Benylin for flu, throat spray and strepsils and possibly a nose spray as well. All that will set you back easily about R250 and, at the end of it all, you will probably end up feeling worse because, all that stuff does is stop your body from healing itself naturally. You'll end up spending more money on a doctor's appointment and the subsequent prescription of antiobiotics (which don't even kill the flu virus!)
Supplements are no different. You need to lose weight and you spy an advert telling you about the USN 12 week body makeover challenge. You see pictures convincing you that it works. You "suddenly" realise you will NEVER be able to do it alone. You need to spend several thousands on all the products and take the challenge. The before and after pictures say it all! It DOES work. (can anyone say sucker?)
Here's the thing with a package like that: it involves spending thousands on supplements but those supplements WILL NOT work alone. You also need to change your diet and train regularly as part of the challenge. The truth is, THAT is what will bring on the changes. Your body shape and size is ALL about diet and exercise, not the supplements you take. The challenge is no different to hiring a personal trainer, except a trainer will be cheaper and more beneficial because they don't require you to buy thousands of rands worth of supplements but they will still help you change your diet and train you correctly and regularly. There is also nothing to motivate you like a personal trainer. Do the USN challenge alone and you will eventually fail and you will have wasted thousands on supplements that will sit on your shelf gathering dust.
You will start gaining weight again when you stop the challenge and they are very clever, those advertisers. You will be convinced that it's the supplements that are necessary to maintain your body shape. Surely you don't have to continue to diet and exercise so religiously if you just buy more supplements? A few thousand later, you are out of pocket and you've gained 5% body fat... I'm not making this up. I've seen it happen to a few friends. Earlier I mentioned that I was taking CLA and I didn't understand why it made me gain weight. I can say now that I DO know why. I was relying too much on the pills and not enough on my diet and exercise. You can't take CLA and keep eating rubbish. Of course you'll get fat. Body shape is 80% diet and 20% exercise. I was exercising like a mad thing, but I was eating more than my body needed. The result? The excess calories went to my thighs and hips and no pill could change that.
You need to stop putting your faith in a supplement made in a laboratory. You know the deal. Anything that is made in a lab is NOT real food. Your body will not thank you for it. USN products contain aspartame as do a lot of supplements out there. Aspartame is poison to your body. Here's what you can expect from ingesting too much of it:
- Headaches
- Ear buzzing
- Dizziness
- Nausea
- Gastrointestinal disturbances
- Weakness
- Vertigo
- Chills
- Memory lapses
- Numbness and shooting pains in the extremities
- Behavioral disturbances
- Neuritis
If you read the instructions on a whey protein container, they tell you take 2 scoops of protein shake before or after exercise. In most cases, 2 scoops of protein shakes contain at least 44grams of protein. Women who don't exercise need roughly that amount of protein THROUGHOUT AN ENTIRE DAY, not just in ONE meal. That means, if you are having your shake in the morning after exercise, technically, you shouldn't have any more protein during the day. How many of you are vegetarian? Not many, I'm sure. That means you are eating too much protein in one day. Any extra protein is going to need to be stored somewhere on your body...
It's true that protein can help your muscles recover after a workout but who decided it HAD to be protein shake? The big corporations making money off of them, that's who. Andy Murray eats raw fish straight after a big match. He makes sure there is a good quality sushi restaurant nearby to deliver his fish straight after the match. That is how he replenishes his protein resources. I couldn't think of anything better! Raw fish is full of powerful, healing enzymes AND protein. It's real food doing what a supplement promises to do only it's doing it so much better because it's the real deal and it will rebuild your cells with good quality, real nutrients instead of plastic, poisonous chemicals.
If you MUST use a protein shake, there is a right and a wrong way to do it. Try and stick to a brand that uses ingredients that won't mess with your body too much. I only recommend SOLAL's whey protein if you are going to use one. It doesn't have chemical additives and it's not heat-treated so all the nutrients stay intact and it's not carcinogenic. It's the one we use if we use one at all. Avoid any that contain aspartame and any ingredients that you can't pronounce! As with any food you buy, try and stick to the most natural, least processed foods and you more than likely won't go wrong. Always read the nutrient breakdown on the container and determine how much protein is in a scoop and only have as much as you need. As far as other training supplements go, I'd avoid them and let your real food diet do the work instead. It is entirely possible to build muscle, and lose body fat, without a single supplement. All they will do is empty your bank account, pollute your body and give you false hope.
If it was just me, I could make do without a protein shake at all.We often do. If we run out, I can go weeks without buying a new one. I find it makes my smoothies too sweet. But GLM misses the taste of it in her morning smoothie;) My compromise is that I add only one scoop between our two smoothies, just to add the flavour she enjoys and then I add all my usual breakfast smoothie goodies plus a raw egg and some raw yogurt and all my raw fruits and veggies to make up for the shake;) We don't drink protein shake after exercise at all. It only goes in our morning breakfast smoothie. I don't see the point of drinking it after exercise because a real food meal works even better. A protein shake, on it's own, will be an unbalanced meal anyway and I wouldn't recommend doing it too often. Eat a balanced meal of protein, fat and carbs, with a combination of both raw and cooked food, after a gym workout and you will see far more benefits than you would from downing a little protein shake mixed with water. Plus it's far tastier!
Nothing in excess will ever be beneficial. Life is all about balance. Find the right balance and your body will reward you:)
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