Rant on

The manager weighs 300 lb and the sales employees are both plump (30-50 lb overweight). This is not a statement about individuals, but more about the type of people GNC hires to represent their stores to the healthy fit minded customer.

Rant off

Rant on again

I find it hard to buy product for getting ripped and muscular from someone who does not walk the talk. It is too bad. I feel they are more about pushing product, getting you to buy "one get one 50% off" and know just enough to make one very high level statement about it. No real passion about how the product works and how i could benefit. it is like they learn one line to memorize and that is it. So i need to say no when they try and push something on me that i am not even interested in. Almost feels Like telling one of those timeshare guys who do the 90 minute sales presentation "no." they make you feel guilty for saying "no." It is impossible to have any meaningful anatomical science based conversation with these GNC guys because they do not seem to embrace the product that they are selling. Sigh.

Rant off.

I think I will take my business to Vitamin Shoppe where the level of knowledge is so much higher or perhaps i will just stick to Amazon. However, I do like being able to walk into a health store and have meaningful conversations about health, fitness and supplementation...

Thanks Laura.

Thanks Laura.

Since we are on the subject, what are some good bariatric vitamins to get online?. I am pre surgery and I take a good amount of vitamins every day and I am sure they won't be good for my new tummy post op. I appreciate any feedback on this subject. Annie

Since we are on the subject' date=' what are some good bariatric Vitamins to get online?. I am pre surgery and I take a good amount of vitamins every day and I am sure they won't be good for my new tummy post op. I appreciate any feedback on this subject. Annie [/quote']

Most post ops go with Bariatric Advantage chewable or Celebrate capsules. These are the major brands usually picked up by WLS centers. However, I do have to warn you that they make a lot of folks nauseous, including my wife and I. It might be from the Iron they have. I eventually switched to Trader Joes high potency chewable multi Vitamin. It is also berry flavored like BA, but did not make me want to gag every day. My wife also just switched to taking and liking them. She is 1 month postop and i am 13 months post op. Today, I take Optimal Nutrition Optimen or Animal Pack. I tend to not take Animal Pack too often because there are 11 pills and some of them are gigantic. I also did take GNC extreme athlete mult vitamin pack for a few months after month 6, but find that Optimen to be far more convenient and gives me more energy. My advice is to find a chewable vitamin tab recommended either by your surgery center or by someone on VST that you can tolerate for at least 3 months and then switch to something more conventional as a Non-WLS post op might take. It is really important for you to get 200% RDA of the key vitamins and minerals during the critical healing time frame (first 6 weeks). The Bariatric vitamins are designed to meet this requirement, but again, can make you sick to your stomach.

The GNCs by me all have young fit guys. When I first went looking for stuff when I was pre op they had no idea what WLS people should have and the stuff they suggested wasn't WLS friendly so I did my own research. I absolutely love vitamin shoppe!! They have so much stuff and as I'm slowly transitioning to be an athlete they still have stuff I need. But shop at vitamin shoppe online first the prices are lower so I check and then go into the store and they will match their on line prices.

Since we are on the subject' date=' what are some good bariatric Vitamins to get online?. I am pre surgery and I take a good amount of vitamins every day and I am sure they won't be good for my new tummy post op. I appreciate any feedback on this subject. Annie [/quote']

I do a few things. I currently take a prenatal Vitamin because it meets the requirements my nut and RNs have set for me. I also get a monthly B12 shot and now that my month is coming to an end I can definitely feel my energy decrease! I also take a Calcium supplement but be sure not to take it with anything that has Iron. And I'm taking a D supplement and Fiber (makes you super regular!)

Oh I do take my main vitamin right before bed because in the early days when I chewed the bariatric vitamins it made me feel sick. I have taken the prenatal earlier in the day but eat right after just incase. I was worried about the big pills at first but do just fine with them.

The Vitamin shoppe I go to has some very knowledgable employees and it is refreshing / rewarding to have conversations about supplementation. The problem is they are a good 30 minute drive where GNC is a 5 minute drive. If I know what I want to get based on personal research' date=' then Amazon has anything and everything with free 2 day shipping. It does not get much better than that.[/quote']

You live in the Seattle area right? If we ever do a Seattle VST meet up I'd totally pick some stuff up for you at Vitamin Shoppe. I work about 5mind away from one and live 10 mind away from another one.

You live in the Seattle area right? If we ever do a Seattle VST meet up I'd totally pick some stuff up for you at Vitamin shoppe. I work about 5mind away from one and live 10 mind away from another one.

Yup-live north of Seattle in Lake Stevens area ( about 1 hour north of Seattle by car when traffic is good). With traffic (in Everett), it sometimes takes 30 minutes to get to Vitamin Shoppe near the Everett mall from my place out in the sticks. GNC is right up the road at Frontier Village. I love going to vitamin shoppe because of their selection, but the people who work there really make me want to drive there. They really are knowledgable and care about the success of he customer way before trying to sell something. I sometimes chat with them for 30 minutes and have gotten to know a few of them very well.

The Vitamin shoppe I go to has some very knowledgable employees and it is refreshing / rewarding to have conversations about supplementation. The problem is they are a good 30 minute drive where GNC is a 5 minute drive. If I know what I want to get based on personal research, then Amazon has anything and everything with free 2 day shipping. It does not get much better than that.

See, I had the exact opposite feeling at the Vitamin Shoppe I went into as I was prepping for surgery. They were rude & condescending at three different stores I went to. One of them even had the gall to mention I was "Taking the easy way out". I do realize that it varies from location to location, but that experience really soured me on the brand.

Badboy- Sorry to hear they treated you that way. No health store should treat customers like that because hey, we are all trying to get healthy. Duh. Basic business model is to cater to people like us in addition to the body builders and track stars.

I miss the days of the independently owned health food store....

I have memories as a child going into our locally owned store, operated by a well versed hippy,

That store always had a certain smell and it felt like a magical world of strange potions to me.

Wha.....independently own health food store? I do not think I have seen one of those in my life time, but I am a wee bit younger than you (I believe 10 years). The first health food store I have ever been in was GNC. More recently, I have been in vitamin world and vitamin shoppe. However, with the invention of the interweb () who needs those darn retail stores anyways. Any vitamin, mineral or supplement is but one "buy it now" click away.

We have an independently own health food store. It's more expensive than even GNC or my local grocery store ! Sorry, I'm broke!

Thank you Fiddleman! and you answered my next question, which was how long do we have to do chewables. I do take extra Vitamin C and I have a buffered powdered that I should be able to tolerate after surgery. I also take some Krill oil and vitamin D3 oil which I can "squeeze" into some yogurt. (I know I am big on vitamins) I know my needs are going to change and I am going to have to add a iron supplement as well as some other stuff. Thanks again!

Celebrate makes very good vitamins. You can get them with or without iron depending on your needs. you can order them online. You may want to check with your doc as to whether or not you need a liquid vitamin for the initial period after surgery.( my doc. had me do that for 3 weeks and i was glad when that ended)