On day 26 I’d been left a comment which asked what it cost me to purchase the things required for the Velocity Diet, and that got me thinking about what it’s actually cost. I know it’s a lot… but how much exactly?
The cost wasn’t the only problem – it was the actual inability to get the products in the first place. The UK doesn’t have one tenth of the selection of things available in the USA. Here, go into any health store anywhere in the country, and your options for protein powder will be Chocolate, Strawberry, and Vanilla and Banana if you’re lucky. In the USA, you’d have Tutti Frutti, Tropical, Chocolate Mint, and a million other wonderfully amazing and unimaginable flavours (at a fraction of the price). I mean, if you’re a professional bodybuilder and you know what the products are, you probably know what are acceptable substitutes and what aren’t. If you’re like me however, and you do weights because you have to and not because you want to, then you probably will have to use the Biotest products because you don’t know any better. So you’ll have to pay top dollar if you’re in the UK.
Some people have said that the Velocity Diet was created by Biotest simply as a way of selling more of their product, and in a way, they’re probably right. But I didn’t want to substitute anything because if I wasn’t happy with the results of the diet, I wouldn’t be able to blame it on using inferior products. So I made sure I bought the products suggested where I could. Here’s what I got:
Protein Powder £200.
I’d been recently introduced to Scitec Nutrition’s protien powder, and it tastes so good that I wouldn’t use any other protein powder. I bought it from Supplement Clearance World online here http://www.supplementclearanceworld.co.uk/products/%20Brand::Scitec%20Nutrition and I must say they were very good – delivered each time within 2-3 days and never emailed to say they were out of stock of a product. And they have loyalty points for existing customers.
L-Leucine £30
What the heck is Leucine anyway? I bought a different brand of this because I couldn’t find the Biotest stuff anywhere. I bought MAXX ESSENTIALS L-LEUCINE from an eBay seller. It has a horrible aftertaste I must say, I think I’d buy capsules next time. I only used this for 4 weeks out of the 6.
Biotest superfood £38
Bought this on eBay. Boy it’s expensive. I only bought 4 weeks’ supply because it’s so hideously expensive.
Biotest Flameout £60
This is the one I had the most trouble getting. I tried to buy it online from an online store (unfortunately I don’t recall which one), however they emailed me soon after to say they were out of it (even though the website said “IN STOCK”). I then bought and paid for it on eBay. The seller got back to me and said that he didn’t have it in stock. GRRR!!! I thought you weren’t supposed to list an item unless you actually have it in your posession at that exact time? Maybe I’m thinking of TradeMe (New Zealand). Fortunately, the second seller I tried on eBay had it (I emailed them first to make sure). These are examples of ridiculously bad service you get in this country.
You could probably just buy regular fish oil capsules from any health store if you wanted to save some money.
Biotest Surge £40 (post workout drink)
I love this stuff. I bought the Raspberry one (well, actually I bought the Chocolate one but got sent the Raspberry one – yet another example of bad service by UK businesses) and god it was nice. If it wasn’t SO expensive I’d buy it all the time.
Milled Flaxseed £10
Bought from Holland and Barrett (it’s here). Others have reported not liking the taste, but I think it’s okay.
Natural Nut Butter £12.50
Holland and Barrett again. I alternated between Cashew nut butter and Almond nut butter. My god they’re nice.
So overall, the total is £390.50 for the six weeks. A LOT of money. Of course, you don’t have to buy regular food for the first four of the weeks, but I don’t know about you – I don’t spend nearly £400 on food in four weeks.
It’s been fun though. I’ve still got two more weeks to go of eating only one or two healthy meals a day, and I’ll write up my verdict on the diet as a whole then.