Just pop a pill...really!?

This is another hot topic in the Health and Wellness industry and a topic in which I'm constantly fielding questions: what protein powder should I take?  Should I take protein powder at all?  Is creatine safe?  I hear fish oils are good for me but do I really need it?

Americans have become very good at being efficient.  However, it has come at the cost of becoming lazy and losing some of our intelligence.  Why take one flight of stairs when we can wait 10 minutes for a 10-second elevator ride?  Why do squats when I can run on the treadmill/elliptical?  Enter the late-night infomercials.  But it hasn't stopped there.  Pharmaceutical companies have been spending billions of dollars in hopes of finding a simple and easy way to help with weight loss, mainly by popping a pill.  However, they are realizing its not as easy as they would've hoped.  

Pharmaceutical companies are fighting against thousands of years of evolution.  The human body was never meant to lose fat/weight.  It was meant to do the complete opposite: store weight and nutrients in the event of famine.  There are plenty of risks associated with trying to go against evolution.  Assuming the products beat the odds and make it past clinical testing, they make it to store shelves with warning labels and various side effects.  Unfortunately, within a short period of time, the products are pulled and recalled because the side effects are too dangerous (Meridia, Fen-phen, Rimonabat, and ephedra).  However, with a little bit of research, you can surmise that these quick-fixes are doomed from the start and dangerous for most of the population.

Most weight loss pills are stimulants, usually full of caffine.  However, just increasing the heart rate is not always the safest way to go.  Assuming you're not taking any other medications, why would you want to feel like you just drank a pot of espresso?  And if you're already at risk for cardiovascular disease, increasing the heart rate is the LAST thing you want to do.  

So what can you do?  There's no short-cut: eat right (clean protein, lots of vegetables and some healthy fats).  Push yourself during your workouts.  Take a multivitamin and/or fish oils every once in a while.  Chances are, you'll feel better, have more energy and you'll actually enjoy working out.  Once you enjoy working out, the pounds will shed much more quickly.