Substitutes?

[ladybird11]

of course! i take L-carnitine to help my thyroid condition. i have lots of fatigue associated with my condition and this does help. It does taste vile but it does seem to help.

Tell me about the taste!!! I had an urge to sprinkle some on watermelon - not recommened just in case .

But it is good stuff!

[Bathsheba]

I find that shaking the powder into a lidded cup of juice (the lidded sipper cups are good for this) is a great way to take L-carnitine... it makes the juice go really frothy and is even vaguely pleasant LOL

[AllisD]

Hmmm that sounds interesting. What is in that stuff? Does it have any side effects? How long/often do you take it?

[Bathsheba]

L-Carnitine is an amino acid as far as I know. You can buy it from health food stores and some chemists. the powdered form is best. I don't think there are any side effects... but maybe ask the pharmacist or a natropath. My GP doesn't seem to know much about it. It can be expensive, I pay about $50 for a container.

[Cherished]

Hi Glamourcide I would recommend changing your exercise to things that you don't usually do like play squash, tennis, get a basketball and go shoot some hoops etc go swimming if you don't usually do that or boxing, anything that you don't regularly do. Also eat food that you don't usually eat, different flavours etc and the time of day you have your meals, for example eat a big breakfast, medium size lunch and very small dinner, I found that has worked really well for me in the past. Mushashi has a great weight loss product with L-Carnitine in it for weight loss, try that one if you are keen to use a suppliment.

[Lulu]

I'd up the excercise too - really get sweating!

[Glamourcide]

Lol thanks for the tips, girls I think if I were to up my exercise any more, someone would have to create an extra few hours in the day - I'm already up at 6am and usually not going to bed until well after midnight because I'm trying to pack in a bit more exercise... I would love to get out and do things like swimming/squash/actual sport but with the two kids and busy days I just literally cannot get out of the house until after 7pm when I put them to bed so unless we get one of those 24-hour gyms in town I think I'm c*** outta luck... which is why I'm resorting to supplements etc to get myself charging, I just cannot fit any more exercise/different routines into my schedule

I bought some of those Fat-Blaster tablets from the chemist but so far I'm not feeling/seeing any difference, so I'll give the L-Carnitine a chop and see if that helps at all.
A typical day food-wise for me is either a small bowl of cereal (usually bran flakes, muesli, rolled oats/porridge etc), a small glass of juice and a piece of fruit; mid-morning a couple of multigrain crackers with thinly-sliced cheese; lunch some homemade salad with greens, tomato, onion, capsicum and a tiny sprinkle of dressing (oil-free); mid-afternoon a few pieces of fruit or a tub of yoghurt if I've got nothing fresh in the fridge; and then dinner is usually a small piece of grilled lean red meat/skinless chicken (and yep Bath, I cover everything in cayenne/chilli, I LOVE spicy foods!) and salad or a light stir-fry with mucho vegies and a bit of lean meat, maybe a bit of rice if I'm feeling like having a carb blow-out lol. Any tips on improvements I can make? I try to have boiled eggs on multigrain toast on weekends when I have a bit more time for the protein, but then I find I usually don't eat anything until dinner and I feel a bit sluggish with a bellyful of eggs lol They're yummy though!
I try not to drink much coffee but I usually have a mug of tea in the mornings and grab a McDonald's coffee once or twice a week (that's my guilty pleasure lol, I hardly ever eat chocolate anymore!), so they're my 'junky' things.

I've just suffered a painfully slow metabolism since my late teens (had a bout with anorexia when I was in my mid-to-late teens and I suppose this is the price I pay) and I have really had to completely change my eating habits again after going nuts being pregnant lol (I took full advantage of 'eating for two' and lived on chocolate and takeaways for ages, then I realised one day that my portion sizing was just absolutely disgusting and I've had to work really hard to get back down to 'normal' portion sizes)...
I've asked DH repeatedly about better, more efficient ways of exercising but it seems for now at least, I'm homebound (so whatever I can do in my living room/backyard)...

So hopefully I can get my hands on some L-Carnitine (powder works better, you reckon? I'll try it lol, despite the foul taste!!) and see if that can help me ditch these last few kilos - I weighed myself again two nights ago (I try to only do it once a week to save me getting hung up on .1's of a kilo, kwim?) and I'm sooo close to cracking the 50's (I'm 60.9 right now, goal is 52-54), I reckon once I get into the 50's it'll be easier, my goal will be within sight, kwim?

Thanks for the advice, I'll let you know how I go!