I've been in the fitness industry a long time now and it seems like the biggest confusion people have always comes down to supplements. I always send my friends, clients, and family members HERE to bodybuilding.com to do their own research. I started just referring people to websites rather than to waste time educating them unless they were READY. I hate to say that I felt like most of my educating was a waste of breath but it was. You all know how that goes. But it just proves that supplements are probably one of the most confused parts of diet and exercise. Some people seem to think they are a magic pill that will do all the work while others think that they shouldn't need them at all. I'm neither of those. I really appreciate supplements for what they are: Supplements. They're to compliment your diet and training.

I use the basics. I believe that the basics need to be covered at first. If you start of guessing what supps you might need you could end up taking 10 different pills per day. I've seen trainers and nutrition coaches do that to people. I just personally do not think your body can process that many different supps at once. There are hundreds of different theories and it's cool if you think that many are okay, but I stick with the basics to avoid getting sick (overdose) or mixing the wrong stuff together causing weird reactions. It can happen. The trouble with taking a ton of different supps at once is if you develop a reaction (rash or other side effect) you wont know which one is causing it! It's easier to figure it out if you take fewer. This is mostly speaking about vitamins and all those other miracle pills out there.

Multi-Vitamins:
For years I just hated the idea of taking these. My favored role model Jamie Eason always said to take a multi-vitamin. I knew she was right. She's alwas right. But the issue was ME. My body just HATED multi-vitamins. So, after trying several different brands, I gave up! I even tried some of those specialty vitamins that come in an AM/PM packet. Warning, do not take those. They're just over-packed. I developed a severe rash (even in my mouth) from them, likely due to an overdose of ingredients (I did a small amount of research to come to that conclusion). I like to use Opti-Women multi-vitamins. These are the best vitamins I've ever used. They do not hurt my stomach at all. Other vitamins are like a hard piece of chalk and just do not digest well and I end up burping them up all day. Not only that, this is gross but, you'll notice that  you pee most of the vitamins out later on in the day (coloration). Sorry to be weird but it's just the only way to explain. I feel like that comes from the pills not digesting well. The ONLY vitamins I have NEVER experienced that with or minimally at least, is Opti-Women. Now, the daily serving is 2 capsules per day. I only take one, because I'm small. I just am so happy I starting using these because nothing else has ever worked. They're a great vitamin specific for women and they have a men's called Opti-Men if you guys want to try them out. I'm sure they're just as fantastic as the women's!

Essential Oils:
I have ALWAYS had spectacular luck with my essential fatty acid capsules. I prefer Flaxseed oil, because my body seems to accept it well. I even use it on my food sometimes. I've used Fish oils before and my body doesn't seem to like those as much...how can I tell? I burp fish up all day if I take them! Yuck! It just depends on your body. I do believe that both flaxseed and fish oil work about the same, I think it just depends on what your body reacts to better. Mine might be flax yours may be fish. Just try them both and see which you like best! Right now I'm using up the remainder of a Spring Valley brand of Flaxseed but I'm sure I'll be re-ordering some brand from bodybuilding.com after they're gone because I go through them fast. I will post in 'my supps' what brand I decide to go with!

BCAA's:
You really cannot go wrong with BCAA's, my favorite kind to use so far are also Optimum Nutrition's BCAA 1000 caps.

L-Glutamine:
A lot of protein powders and other supps actually have this product in it. It's really good to keep your joints healthy. Jamie Eason, years ago, pointed this product out to me because I was having some joint issues from working out a lot. It definitely helps. I use NOW brand, in powder, so that I can mix it easily into protein shakes!

Pro-Biotics:
For women especially, pro-biotics are becoming a VERY important part of our supp routines. I highly recommend Myofusion's Probiotic series protein powder if you need some extra (especially if you're like me and hate yogurt). Also, it's good for our feminine health. You really cannot go wrong with taking these and there are tons of benefits. I'd say if you have no issues and never have you may just skip these, but most ladies are not issue-free unfortunately! It's hard being female I tell you! My favorite are a brand that I HOPE after reading this, bodybuilding.com will try to carry. It's called RepHresh Pro-B and it's a specific line of pro-biotics just-for-women. Please bodybuilding.com, start carrying these!!! ;o) I'd buy a pack each month if you did!!! Haha!

Protein Powders:
As most of you probably do, I have a long list of favorites, but I'll narrow it down! I always use these in my baking, my protein shakes obviously, and just a good way to mix into other foods (oatmeal, yum) to get that extra push of protein! It really can save you some money on buying meats too! My favorites are: MRM, Myofusion, BSN Lean Dessert, BSN Syntha 6. Any of those taste pretty good and bake really well. I've used them for years now!

Fiber:
I just recently started taking these because I am sure I do