Regularity

Well, I suppose some would say I'm an uninteresting, dull, kind of guy. Whatever. But some things are important to getting on in life on a day to day basis and regularity is one of them.

So some years ago my Dad got into the First Fitness program of dietary supplements. At first I was quite skeptical. Let me say first that regularity has always been a problem with me. Let me also say I have no economic ties to any of the products or companies I'm mentioning.

That said, he suggested I try a product called "Reneu". It's for colon health, cleansing the colon, also works well to ensure regularity. I tried it once and wow it cleaned me out and I was scared.

But eventually I figured out how to take them without the wow factor. The key (for me) was take two in the evening before bed with 8 oz of water. Then in the morning, soon after you get up and move around, you have to go.

Well, my Dad passed away a couple of years ago and if I'd wanted I could have contacted his upstream provider to continue purchasing Reneu. But it's expensive, like $30+ for one bottle of 100 capsules.

I decided to try some alternative products. Looking at ingredients, there are several key ingredients, one of which is Chinese Rhubarb. So I tried a second product, Turkey Rhubarb Colon Cleanse which was about half the price from an online place, theherbfinder.com. It did not seem to work as well for me as Reneu, and I was not willing to burn through 3 or 4 capsules each time I took them.

I looked around and found another product from herbalfitness.com, called Turkey Rhubarb Formula. Now I don't know the difference between Chinese Rhubarb and Turkey Rhubarb, but they seem to generally have the same effect on my body. This particular product is great! Now I take ONE capsule in the evening before bed with a glass of water. If I take two, the wow factor is too much, but one capsule keeps me regular. The price is right, too, about $15 for a bottle of 100 capsules. So I've effectively cut my cost to stay regular to 25% of what I was paying for Reneu.

I have not seen any bad side effects, to be honest. If I quit taking them, I go back to my old habits of skipping days, hard stools, etc. If things slow down a bit, I may take an extra capsule in the morning.

Regularity is a key to losing weight. The other thing of course is diet. Since going on the South Beach diet with my wife around Easter 2004, I've lost over 20 pounds and several inches off my waist.