Some Supplement advice please

ginoginelli

Hey Guys,

I am a 28 year old male who has just returned to training afer a long lay off.
My goals are to lose weight and tone up. Im currently about 16 stone and should really be down at about 12!

Ive read the stickies on the front page and have done a bit of research, but I am still at odds at which supplements would be the best for me to take.

Currently I am training 3 to 4 times a week, mixing it up with cardio and free weights.

Ive opted for a clean diet mostly made up of small meals throughout the day consisting of complex carbs and proteins.

In regards to supplements, how does the following sound:

Protein whey and creatine in the morning.

Creatine before workout.

Whey and creatine after workout.

Whey before bed.

I am also considering carnitine before my workout.

Is this sufficent.? Or should I be looking add other sups like CLA, RAM, Glutamine and Cell?

Thanks for taking a look..
Any advice appreciated!

AARRRGH

I only use Whey combined with a clean diet and lots of sleep and it works fine for me.

BossArky

If you want to loose weight then just eat clean and train hard.

Creatine will add about 2kg or so of water to your bodyweight. Obviously this 2kg will fall off once you stop taking it for a few weeks.

A 30g scoop of protein will add ~100 cals to your diet per scoop.

If you are really hanging and feel ill from training hard (as your immune system takes a beating) then take 5g of glutamine in the morning and evening. That would be your best bet if you are going for pure weight loss.

uprooted shane

yea im going to agree with bossrky. just make sure your getting plenty of sleep, and as far as training goes, keep up the training your doing at the minute and try drop down on the carbs, and up the protein a bit! then when your at a weight your happy about, worry about the sups then!

Pugsley

If your looking to lose 4 stone I wouldn't even look at supplements now, they aren't a miracle cure, or a fix all product. As the name suggests they are a supplement, not a replacement for a real diet. Train hard, eat clean, and you will progress, don't get too detailed or scientific at this point.

rubadub

BossArky wrote: »

Creatine will add about 2kg or so of water to your bodyweight. Obviously this 2kg will fall off once you stop taking it for a few weeks.

Yes, but from what I read it will be mainly water going into muscles, so it looks ok, rather than 2kg of water slapped on your gut. I also like the idea of having excess water in my system which might combat dehydration. Also that creatine will help muscle growth and aid fatloss overall.

BossArky wrote: »

A 30g scoop of protein will add ~100 cals to your diet per scoop.

I consider whey part of my normal diet now. I like the taste so it is just like any other food I eat. Fruit juice is processed carbs, whey is just a processed dairy protein product. The scoop will add 100kcal to your diet if you eat it in addition to your diet, since it is part of my diet it is not in addition, but part of it, just like any other foods I eat it is included in my calorie count.

Also protein keeps hunger at bay, so you feel fuller and are less likely to snack, again aiding fatloss.

As the name suggests they are a supplement, not a replacement for a real diet.

There are many definitions of what they are. Some would say anything that is not "whole food". If you go by this defintion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whole_Foods
then my diet consist of very little whole foods. Neither whey or (supermarket) milk are whole foods.

Degsy

ginoginelli wrote: »

Hey Guys,

I am a 28 year old male who has just returned to training afer a long lay off.
My goals are to lose weight and tone up. Im currently about 16 stone and should really be down at about 12!

Ive read the stickies on the front page and have done a bit of research, but I am still at odds at which supplements would be the best for me to take.

Currently I am training 3 to 4 times a week, mixing it up with cardio and free weights.

Ive opted for a clean diet mostly made up of small meals throughout the day consisting of complex carbs and proteins.

In regards to supplements, how does the following sound:

Protein whey and creatine in the morning.

Creatine before workout.

Whey and creatine after workout.

Whey before bed.

I am also considering carnitine before my workout.

Is this sufficent.? Or should I be looking add other sups like CLA, RAM, Glutamine and Cell?

Thanks for taking a look..
Any advice appreciated!

If your goal is to lose weight you dont need supplements,you need to excercise more and eat less.

BossArky

rubadub, I agree with your points above.

I'm more concerned with the person who continues with a dodgy diet, takes in a scoop in the morning, a scoop before bed and a double scoop around work out time. That is 400 cals extra. They are probably burning off max 200 cals in a lack lustre performance at the gym: curling and hopping from machine to machine.

They end up eating more (crap) and getting bigger from the quantity of cals rather than quality.

As far as I know creatine dosen't actually promote muscle growth, just improve work capacity. This can be a potential hazard for someone practising bad form. Imagine having the power to lift a heavy deadlift, but with a rounded back cos you don't know the difference. Ooouccch :eek:

My calves nearly snapped when I first took creatine. The muscle could contract fine when doing calf raises ... but the tendons / muscles weren't used to the extra stress. I could barely walk for 5 days afterwards.

This is the kind of thing which could put a newbie off... so I'd advise against creatine and protein if someone is just starting off and looking to loose weight. Of course that is just my pov.

ginoginelli

Thanks for the input and discussion lads. Im going to follow the general consensus to "eat clean and train hard"

Im also going to introduce protein whey as part of a controlled diet and maybe look at some other stuff like (creatine, glutamtine) down the line..

Cheers for the advice everyone.

lg123

ginoginelli wrote: »

Hey Guys,

Ive opted for a clean diet mostly made up of small meals throughout the day consisting of complex carbs and proteins.

for that little extra you are after i think you should get your weight loss diet off to a T. maybe post it up and some people here can critique. only reason i am saying this is you didnt mention and fats above.

rubadub

ginoginelli wrote: »

Im also going to introduce protein whey as part of a controlled diet and maybe look at some other stuff like (creatine, glutamtine) down the line.

Sounds good, protein is just a food as mentioned, while the others I would consider supps, but do get other sources, chicken, beef etc.

BossArky has some sound advice there, and as long as you do take the extra calories into account you should be fine. I mix whey with other foods too, rather than having just protein. e.g. mix it in with museli, or I have a small strawberry shake along with dinner. I do like the taste, and when I was cutting calories I found it keeps hunger at bay.

Don't do a cartman beefcake