The Routine

Here is the routine.

2 calcium vitamins
3 Omega 3's
1 Daily Multi
1 B-Complex (100)
3 doses of psyllium (Metamucil)

It seems I get better and a little more dramatic results when I stick to this.  Problem is its a bit too much and its rare that I get it all in on a daily basis.   This month I have proven that I can maintain pretty well without it.  Usually though,  its 1 or 2 of the Metamucil and I split the vitamins to keep the calcium away from the others as it may hinder absorption.   And I do skip the other batch.

Since calcium is so important for women I do take it all at once even though your supposed to spread it out.  I will take one of the omega 3's with it so I'm not taking 5 pills in that other batch and so they get spread out a little more.   I'm not sure if its doing any good or not, but I keep thinking for those who eat little sardines, er, with the little bones, umm, are getting all their calcium and omega's in at once anyway.  So...  Here are some reasons why I think it works.

You get your water in.   The recommendation is to drink 8 glasses of water a day.  The information that usually seems to be missing when this statement is made, is that its an 8 oz serving.   1 cup.   A measuring cup that you measure flour and sugar with.    A glass-glass, like a tumbler that you put ice in and drink out of is usually 16 oz.   Maybe 20 if you've got something fancy there.  But usually its 16 oz.

Go do it right now.  Take your Pyrex measuring cup that says 1 cup (8oz) on it and fill it up with water and pour it into your usual drinking glass.   Betcha you have to do it twice to fill it up.  So every time you've gotten a drink, you've most likely have been automatically doubling your intake.

So with 3 doses of Metamucil a day you've already taken care of 3 of those 8 servings of water, but wait.   There is a warning on the back of the label.  It says there is a choking hazard if you don't mix it with enough water.  That is because of what it is.  It swells into this gelatinous blob which is what makes it do its thing as it goes through you.  So I usually mix it with 12-14 oz of water. By the way the back of the label reads like this.  

"Mix this product with at least 8 ounces (a full glass) of water or other fluid."

So you see they are using the US RDA guidelines to communicate with you.   Not what is in your cupboard.   This gets further confused when the message senders use the typical glass that is in your cupboard as a visual.

So anyway I mix it with more than the recommended water that is stated on the back of the Metamucil label.   But then I will give it another shot and refill the glass with another 4-6 oz to give the glass and my mouth a rinse.  Just to make sure its all clear.  Yeah, I get a little paranoid.   So roughly 16 oz per dose.  3 doses a day equals 6 out of the 8 servings of water.   But wait!   Metamucil wicks water away and redirects it to the bowels.  

Really??   How much  more water do I have to take?   Well I don't know I haven't found that part yet.   But wait.    I also take the vitamins.   I'm not a very good pill taker so I do go through a whole 16 oz. glass of water or more with each batch. So now that is another 4 servings of water.   That puts me at 10 servings a day.  IF I keep up on it.  Now I also drink coffee, tea, milk and orange juice.  Occasionally I will drink beer, root beer, lemon-lime soda, but not usually when I'm in active weight loss mode or the restrictive phase 1 on the South Beach Diet.  By the way,  Metamucil also prevents absorption of vitamins and minerals, so I try keep that separate also.   That is why it becomes a lot and quite difficult to keep up on it.   Or maybe its not difficult if you just aren't thinking about it.  That is pretty easy then.  Its easy to forget.

Now, I share this information with respect to you being a responsible person.  No matter what Metamucil or psyllium is,  it is still a laxative.  the back of the label kind of sort it out as 2 doses a day is for lowering cholesterol and 3 doses is a laxative.   I was under the assumption that it is what old people took daily to keep them regular.    The key word here is Daily.   Now as I'm reading it seems as though that is not the case.  The product is still prone to abuse and extended use over time may actually even do damage.   Then they could be overstating things, because you can't be too careful these days.  So as with anything else, you are an adult.  Make adult decisions.  If you aren't an adult, act like one and Do Not go around acting like you've found the magic cure for weight loss.   Metamucil is no secret, its been around since the 1930's.  If it was the secret ingredient then we wouldn't be having an obesity epidemic.   You are a wise one.  Use it so.