@danteism thank you for the reply and very helpful thoughts. He gave me a pre-workout sample and took it and went to the gym… well I had energy but suddenly got light headed as f*** 
I looked for reviews on it and found nothing!! I am just going to chill out the rest of the night and let it wear off. I had a great pump and workout but not worth it to me at all.
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Best pre workout on the market is coffee, lol.
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@The_Myth well I take pre-workout every morning then!! I seriously believe you because I was doing good before with nothing but thought what the heck it’s a free sample LOL. I was basically dancing to the music at the gym I was so jacked. Never ever ever again!
This is the first I’ve heard of it. Seems like most people say it doesn’t do anything. Have you tried it before?
I haven’t found anything that builds muscle other than putting in work and eating right. Creatine and beta alanine can improve your performance on repeat high intensity bouts of exercise by helping you recover between sets/sprints.
Nerd time:
Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the energy molecule in your body. When you use it, it becomes adenosine diphosphate (ADP). You can’t use that but if ADP finds a phosphate then it becomes ATP again.
Creatine bonds with phosphate. By increasing the creatine in your body you increase the number of available phosphates. ADP takes the phosphate from CrP (creatine phosphate) and you’re left with ATP (energy) and Cr.
This really only applies to the phospho-creatine energy system which is the first one called to action and the one used for activities like weight lifting.
In conclusion, supplementing with creatine helps you recover between sets faster. That can lead to more weight on the bar or more reps from set to set.
Research has shown that using creatine AND beta alanine together works even better. I’m not sure about the science behind beta alanine but that’s the stuff that makes your skin burn.
So, back to my original statement - - putting in work is the only thing that really works. There are a couple products that help you put in more work but your effort is still the key.
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@Frank_C WOW! I’m going to need to read that post a few times before I start to understand the nerd time section HA!
It’s good that you say there is no need for that stuff because I would prefer not to unless there is a great benefit. I felt like I did well but it’s not worth being light headed and just off. I do need to work on my diet but literally have no appetite and force the food. Cooking healthy is so intimidating for me and I stress over it. I wish there was someone around that could give me a face to face lesson but I don’t have that where I’m at… sorry for the extra venting but I don’t want to fail at fitness…
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There’s no magic powder or pill. We’ve all searched for it. I take pre-workout right now but it’s mental. I enjoy the way I feel in the way to the gym and then I have good workouts. The stuff I take has beta alanine and I feel my lips burning/tingling when I sip it!
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The only pre-workout most people would need is some simple carb source (I eat a banana, though I’m not sure if a banana counts as a simple carb source) and maybe a stimulant if you want (I drink coffee) some short time before the actual lifting session.
People on this site who have tried Plazma swear by it, but it’s expensive and I don’t think you really need it unless you’re serious about lifting. There are better things to spend your money on (whey protein, good clean food).
Afaik, the only perfectly legal supplement that actually works is creatine.
Eating healthy is really simple-
Cooking can be challenging, but you can simplify it to a gross degree and get through it if you treat it as a job. Just literally eat things in its natural state- Steam whatever vegetables you enjoy. Eat whole potatoes/sweet potatoes/etc. Eat steak or hamburger patties. It can get boring, but I’ve never really minded it cause I’m too hungry to care.
What do you find difficult about cooking in particular?
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Pre-Workouts are good every once in a while, you know, when you’re feeling like death and just can’t perform. But I wouldn’t use them regularly. Personally I’ve used PWOs maybe ten times ever
I’ve tried it and saw some minor improvements - but at the time I had been training for a rather long time already. HMB is most effective with beginners (some studies claim it’s effects rival those of PEDs, but I don’t buy into that)
It’s rather cheap so the best way to see if it works is to test it yourself.
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@magick thank you for taking the time to give me that information 
I should have known to search the site for helpful articles… it’s so easy sometimes to rely on the experience you all share.
Things that scare me about cooking healthy: figuring out how to make fish, making food too bland, vegetables I have no clue how to prepare, and I’m sure I missed something. I have a garden and pork/beef always available from the farm. I have a habit of getting healthy but expensive takeout.
Do you have any favorite spices? What kind of food do you like?
Vegetables are very simple- either roast them in the oven(or some sort of dry heat) or steam them and eat them with olive oil + various spices and herbs. Just experiment and find what you like.
Fish is hard. I tend to overcook it, so I don’t prepare my own fish =(
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Well as many already have stated, if you eat the right way, go to the gym about 3-4 hours after a main meal, have a banana, an apple, raisins or some other nice fruit you like. Get some/a lot of water between last main meal and the workout.
I like to sip a bottle of protein powder, carbs and creatine while working out.
But a bottle of water or some sugar added drink is fine too.
As for preparing food, once you get used to it, it’s easy. And I do think you can cook.
But have a look at @jamie1888 “my get fit log (over 40 female)”
There you’ll get really inspired 
Hope it’s okay with you Jamie
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Of course! Thanks for the tag!
Yes, this!
Whatever veggies you like, you can cook one or a few if you like to have variety. I turn the oven to about 400, spread veggies (like broccoli, green beans, cauliflower) on a baking sheet. You can drizzle a little olive oil on them and give them a little massage. Or if you want to save the fat & calories, you can just spray them with some coconut oil cooking spray.
I also like to put a tray of veggies under the broiler instead of roasting them. Same preparation as above. But, broiling is a little faster. Start with 3 minutes and then check them. You just want to get a little browning on them. Broiling really brings out the sweetness in green beans and snow peas. But, just about any veggie will taste good broiled: Asparagus, broccoli, zucchini, etc.
And if you just don’t know what to do with your veggie, you can just do a search on Google: “how to roast broccoli” and follow one of the recipes that pop up.
You can also put your meal over a bed of mixed greens / lettuce. A little olive & salt, pepper on the greens. Sometimes I don’t add anything and just eat along with whatever meat I’m eating. No dressing needed.
Ha! Fish is SO easy! Yes, overcooking is common because fish cooks very quickly. Shrimp/Fish are opaque in color when raw. Just a couple of minutes on each side and you’ll see the color/texture change from opaque/raw to cooked. Touching meats and fish is also a good way to test for doneness. Mushy = raw. A little firmness = cooked. Very firm = overcooked. Just takes a little practice to get the hang of it.
I use a pre-workout drink most of the time because I workout first thing in the morning. I don’t like coffee or tea so the caffeine boost in the drinks help me out. When I don’t feel like drinking pwo, then I’ll just take a caffeine pill that I get at my local nutrition shop.
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I pretty much eat raw veggies with oil based salad dressing…or hummus.
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@magick awesome! I’ve never steamed before but love veggies like that and grilled. Your right I just need to try it and see what happens because it’s only vegetables. That’s the same with me I over cook fish… tried once and it was awful! I’m a great cook but southern type food isn’t all that healthy and that’s all I knew growing up.
@jamie1888 thank you for taking the time to post! That was a lot of help and you make it seem easy so I might try it again using your advice. I want to be rewarded cooking good healthy food on my own and not waiting on someone else to do it for me. I appreciate it!!
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@Frank_C Me too… I eat raw veggies all the time and salad! My coworkers want to order out and I feel like all I eat at work is salad 
@mortdk I appreciate you referring me to Jamie! I’m just going to try her advice and see what happens. Also I’m going to sitck to coffee and protein shakes… some people are just not made to take preworkout lol and I’m positive I’m one!
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Stretched and then…
Curls: 10lbs warmup
Arnold Press: 15lbs 1x15, 20lbs 1x15, 25lbs 1x15
Bent over dumbbell row: 12lbs 1x15, 20lbs 2x15
Front raises: 12lbs 1x15, 15lbs 2x15
Shrugs: 45lbs 2x15
Played some basketball…
Maybe should have done more but just happy I did something!
I cooked some deer meat from a deer that I shot at the end of last year. Good stuff!
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Murderer!
JK. I have buddies that have deer property in Northern California and one night at his house I had some venison sausage with jalapeno and cheddar and it was so good I decided to learn how to make sausage. I took a class and started making my own. That stuff was so good!
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