Powders and juices and pills, oh my! They’re everywhere – miracle elixers promising to transform us into the slim and healthy person we want to be. But if they help, why are people pudgier and sicker than ever?

My belief? There is no magic pill. There is a conscious decision to make healthier choices, and that starts with the one-two punch, diet and exercise. No miracles here, just common sense and physical effort.

Real food is the best food for our bodies, but I’m not sure we get all the nutrients we need, even in a carefully-crafted meal plan. That’s where supplements come in. Just look at that word. “Supplement,” as defined by the Cambridge English Dictionary, is, “something added to complete a thing, supply a deficiency, or reinforce or extend a whole.” In short, it’s not supposed to be the main feature.

Think of supplements as gap-fillers. They fill in where our diets fall short. The most popular dietary supplements are probably vitamins. Even in a balanced meal plan featuring only whole foods, it’s nearly impossible to ingest every nutrient we need. A quality vitamin, or vitamin pack, fills that gap. There are a lot of low-cost options out there, but do you really think you’re getting the nutrients you need from those? I tend to think not. Although I’ve gone the cheap route in the past, I’m realizing I deserve better. So do you.

I’ve gone the higher quality route with 1st Phorm Micro Factor. At first blush, you may think it’s a bit pricey at $65 for a 30-day supply, but we’re getting more than a multi-vitamin. This is a nutrient pack, and includes a multivitamin, an antioxidant, CoQ10, a fruits & veggies pill, an essential fatty acids softgel, and a probiotic. Try putting month’s supply of that collection of quality nutrients together for $65! Most people are spending that much a week in the coffee drive-through.

Although food bars and protein powders can pack a nutrition punch, they really shouldn’t be relied upon as a habitual, stand-alone meal. To be honest, my weekday breakfast includes a protein smoothie, but it’s not protein powder alone. I use coconut milk, berries, bananas, spinach leaves and flax seed as well as a quality protein powder, 1st Phorm Vegan Pro. Real food with a supplement mixed in. Game on.

Food bars can work as a quick meal/snack on the go when you really, really can’t eat a whole food for whatever reason. Food bars are calorie-dense but not all that filling. You may find yourself gobbling down something else the first chance you get, resulting in an overall surplus. If you need the food bar, remember it’s part of your overall food plan for the day, and not a food freebie. If you measure your macros, it can skew your numbers so mind that.

I used protein powder to create yummy snacks with less guilt. They’re fun, but they aren’t 100% whole food. Like food bars, they can easily derail your macro counts if you’re not careful. Still, they’re a better option than a candy bar!

Are you seeing a trend here? I’m a 1st Phorm fan. So much so, I became a Legionnaire, a rep for the brand. As I put together a midlife workout plan for 2020 (oops – the secret’s out!) I’ll also outline what I ate during #75Hard, including the 1st Phorm Vegan Pro mentioned above.

I hope you’ll stop back to see what’s coming. I’m excited to share specifics of what I did and what I’m doing now in the areas of health and fitness.