Hi.
It was a super fun, long weekend. There was fried okra involved (picture above), but the fully recap will come later.
I did NOT want to wake up at 6 am this morning to get to work. Nope, I really didn’t want to wake up. I almost fell asleep in the car.
I did not get enough sleep over the weekend or last night. But that’s totally fine with me. I also came back pretty dehydrated, a little heavier, and full of sodium but that’s okay too.
I decided to start that process by buying vitamins to take!
I’ve been without vitamins for a couple months now because I ran out and never got around to replacing them. That was silly. I’m hoping getting back to taking this regularly will help me feel better and less tired.
I got daily multi-vitamins.
And fish oil because I pretty much eat zero fish these days.
And B12 for some energiesssssss. Cause I need any boost I can get.
I pretty much bought the B12 on a whim, but after buying it I tried to look up more info on it. I’m now a bit confused as to whether b12 taken as a capsule is ineffective or not. Anyone know more about this?
I also picked up some Melatonin because there was a buy 1 get one free sale on vitamins. I’ve been wanting to try taking melatonin at night for nights when I sometimes have trouble sleeping or know I will get woken up several times. I’m hoping it will help me get more sleep and feel better rested.
That’s it for my vitamins!
I’m taking the first three this morning with my second breakfast/snack and then will try the melatonin tonight.
Other plans for today:
- eat my healthy packed lunch of tuna and kale chips
- eat enough protein
- do some sort of cardio at home tonight
- drink 1 gallon of water (need this bad!)
That’s it. I’m ready for an awesome week following an awesome weekend. It’s going to be great, I’m going to feel good, and I’m going to get so much stuff done! I hope everyone else has a great week too!
I’m glad you had a great weekend! Have a good week!
happy august, MARY!!!!!!!!!
It’s a new month!! Woohoo!
Yes, I just realized this. ;)
Can’t wait to hear about the wknd, sounds like you had a great time!
Happy August!
I love melatonin…I’d suggest taking half a tablet as I’ve heard that anything over 1 mg is a waste. And fish oil is AWESOME too!
Hi Mary! I have sleep trouble too, and when I went to ask the local health food store about melatonin, they advised me NOT to take it. She said that if you take it, your body will stop producing it at all and then you will have to always take it. She gave me a herbal mixture that works just great. You may want to check into that!
I don’t plan to take it a lot so I don’t think that will be a problem for me. It’s not something I plan to take every night or anything like that. It’s basically just something I wanted to try out to have around for certain nights where I know I’m going to need a good night’s sleep but I’ll have trouble getting to sleep (er, like the night before the wedding type thing). I’m pretty good at falling asleep naturally but certain big events or projects will keep me up because my brain doesn’t like to shut off. ;) I think it will be fine to use occasionally for those situations.
Sounds like a good plan. :)
Hello Mary,
my name is rose.3 years ago I had a gastric bypass surgery done to help me stop the eating habits I was addicted to as sugar and processed foods.The surgery made me lose weight the first three months because I had to fast inorder for my body to heal from the intestine realighnment.I was not able to eat no solid foods only liquids in protein drinks.I lost a total of 60 pds.I am unable to lose anymore.Iam stuck at 196pds.I found out recently I have had a severe thyroid disease for many years that is causing me not lose the weight like i needto.I also have lost a good amount of my hair so that two issues Im dealing with right now and would like hear from others who are going thrugh the same health issues.
I’m not sure I know anyone with those exact issues, but maybe someone will show up. I don’t have any advice either other than talk to your doctor about what you should be eating and doing!
Thanks for commenting Rose!
I haven’t commented before, but I really like your blog. :O) I just wanted to say that I have heard fish oil is best kept in the freezer … it prevents you from burping up the flavor for the rest of the day! You may already know that, but just thought I would pass along the tip just in case it’s helpful!
I also use melatonin on occasion – it definitely helps me fall asleep when I know my body is physically tired but my mind just keeps racing. I’ve also heard not to use it every night, not sure if there is truth to that, but I see no harm in using it once in awhile. It doesn’t really help me stay asleep, just falling asleep. Curious what you find out about B12! (PS. Love your blog!)
Glad you had an awesome weekend! Mine was fun too! I take fish oil (or I think right now I have flax, which I’ve read is the same thing, I got it on accident) every day too, it’s supposed to help a billion things. I also take the women’s multivitamins and I’ve read somewhere that vitamins are pretty useless, and maybe it’s the power of suggestion, but I feel better when I take them.
This is a parade of vitamins and minerals. Thanks for encouragement for a healthier life, Mary. You are a great motivator for the good things :)
The best way to purchase vitamins is to first evaluate your diet. Choose products that you know are lacking from the foods that you eat. By doing this you can make your supplementation budget go a lot farther while getting the maximum benefit.
I’m not much one for vitamins because I truly believe they give you expensive pee. It’s hard for your body to absorb vitamins outside of their natural environment. Sometimes I take minerals though because I really can tell the difference.
I don’t know about b-12 except that combined with two aspirin it prevents a hangover. haha. I swear it works if you aren’t too far gone!
Hahaha! That’s funny!
These vitamins weren’t very expensive. ;) They may just be something that makes me feel better but that’s cool with me.
Ooo I can answer (some of this anyway). =D B12 is effective provided there is something in it called Glucuronolactone. As far as I understand, this is what essentially makes the B12 ‘molecule’ big enough that it absorbs slowly into your body so that the energy should last you all day. It’s what prevents ‘crash’, like a high and sudden low that a lot of people get from things like soft drinks, coffee, etc, although I guess that’s assuming you suffer the crash at all. Is there any caffeine in the B12? Sometimes, a small amount is common in the supplement, too. A sign that you are getting lots of VitB is flourescent pee! I’m personally very deficient in Vitamin B so this is definitely something I’ve looked into. I have never heard that B isn’t effective in a capsule although I have to take mine as a shot (to the butt!) b/c I’m so deficient. I was also encouraged to eat more dairy.
For the melatonin, have you ever checked on your calcium levels? There are lots of reasons that your body may not be secreting enough melatonin, but since we’re talking vitamins and minerals, the body will secrete less melatonin if your body is lacking calcium. If you currently take note of the calcium you’re intaking, just make sure you note the total amount of Vit D3 as well, because that’s what lets you absorb calcium. Without D3, taking calcium is moot. 3mg is a lot (I think most OTC ones are only 1mg?) so you should be getting a solid 8 hours of sleep. If you can’t get that much, then a warning: You’ll probably be groggy!
Hope that helps! =)
of course, now that I take a look at the pictures again and see that your daily states it’s 1000IU of VitD and 500mg calcium! How many do you take a day? I heard that tablets aren’t as good (as a supplement form) because of the binding agents, or ‘glue’, that makes it a tablet. I think it means your body won’t absorb as much as compared to capsules…
Just one a day.
b12 – Shots scare me. So I figured the pill form was better than nothing. Eh. I stopped eating a lot of dairy since I’m lactose intolerant which is something I haven’t made up for in any other way.
Melatonin – Yeah 3 mg is a lot but that was the version that was on sale. ;) I took it last night and got 8 hours and slept through people coming into the apartment and my room so it was pretty effective. I feel good this morning! I actually normally get tired and am probably producing the right amount of melatonin in my body it’s just the outside stuff that has been messing with my sleep. I’m not going to be taking them often but probably will every so often.
I won’t lie, the shots are pretty sucky =( but my doctor wasn’t giving me a choice and to be honest, I’m not that great with pills or capsules either. You can get a lot of B from meats, too =)
And wow, that’s pretty good stuff, that melatonin! 8 hours of solid sleep sounds wonderful! I hate waking up throughout the night! That definitely makes me feel super unrested (and super cranky!)
Me too! Getting woken up multiple times at night is my biggest problem right now because it’s so hard for me to fall back asleep. I’m good in the beginning but being woken up ruins it. Melatonin definitely helped with that. :)
Don’t forget your Vitamin D as well! I do feel better when I get my vitamins in even though I eat a healthy diet I seem to need that added boost!
There is vitamin D in the multivitamin.
Kale chips?! I’ve never heard of these, but they sound great. Your post also reminds me that I need to start taking my vitamins regularly again. I’ve been a slacker.
You should try Juice Plus tablets, that is what I use and they are great!
Lovely article.
Some healthy information here
Lean body mass
Cheers