To supplement or not?

I've weight lifted since I discovered I had a lanky frame when I was in middle school. I started with pushups and chinups and eventually went into weights. I've started reading fitness magazines as well. And if you've ever picked up a fitness magazine, I'm sure you've seen the ads for supplements.

Lifting all these years, I've done decent research on how this whole thing works. Along the way, I've briefly read about all sorts of supplements (for the life of me, I can only remember creatine right now). Early on, I made the decision to try to build a decent body with no more than working out and a multivitamin. When I had trouble packing on weight, I added protein to the mix, but never more. Then of course, we all know the story of how I eventually stopped working out. With that, the supplements stopped. Yeah, I took a multivitamin here and there, but that was it.

Now that I'm older, I realize my body needs certain things to respond how I want it to. I do try to take a multivitamin everyday. It only makes sense. I try to eat well, but just in case I take one. And now that I know more about weight loss and how half the weight I lose is muscle, I take protein after every workout. I need to do what I can to maintain muscle mass while I'm losing weight. When I had my shoulder injury (which I would say is about 90% healed), I went on glucosamine sulfate for a while to ease discomfort. But that is still all I took. Sure I see ads for products that help you look super ripped and all that, but I don't want to put too much stuff into my body. It seems so artificial, you know?

So, bottom line: Eat well, train hard, take a multivitamin, and don't forget the protein (whey or casein)!