Supplements versus healthy eating

Question

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I am a 20 year old male.  My father died at a very young age of heart disease.  I have taken heart tests and know I am healthy (as of now).  I am about 5'9" and 150lbs.  I'm obviously not overweight but would like to get in a little better shape.  I have exercise-induced asthma and have medication for it.  It isn't that bad, but certainly puts a hindrance on my exercising.  I don't have a lot of stamina so my routine usually goes something like this: 25-30 minutes of running/walking, intermittently.  I run for a few minutes, walk, run, etc.  Then I do about 30 pushups/tricep dips.  I know this isn't a rigorous workout but it gets me in the right direction.  I am hoping to be able to do this at least once a day.  I am looking for some sort of advice to maximize my results, burn fat all while working around my asthma.  My other problem is I have terrible eating habits.  I hate salads, fish, etc.  I'm trying VERY hard to work on this but they are hard habits to change.  I was thinking about getting some vitamin/protein supplements because of my poor diet.  Do you think this is a good idea?  If so, what should I be focusing on?  Should I just get the big body building protein powder?  Any advice you could give me based on my whole situation would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks!

Answer
Hi,

Your exercise routine is close to what is called interval training, which is very good for improving one's cardiovascular fitness level. What you might want to do is make your running time shorter while *gradually* increasing the speed.

As to the supplement question, of course it'd be better than nothing, however, I would have to know what foods you do eat. The matter is, there's no "balanced" diet: any diet lacking even one food group need to be balanced. For example, vegetarian diet can be low in good protein, low carb diet is lacking many phytonutrients, they both can be deficient in vitamins - tough different for each.

Read more:

Michael Geary抯 opinion: 95% supplements is a waste of money
http://atkinszone.com/exercise/2008/08/opinion-95-supplements-is-waste-of.html


The Book of Supplement Secrets
http://atkinszone.com/success_stories/2008/08/book-of-supplement-secrets.html

Vitamins A, B, C, D, and K
http://atkinszone.com/fat_loss/2008/09/vitamins-b-c-d-and-k.html

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