Building a supplement routine you will actually keep

Adherence is the quiet variable underneath every supplement decision. A powder with a larger serving that you take twice a week is worth less than a capsule with a smaller serving that you take daily. This is worth being honest with yourself about before you buy, not after.

Choose the format you will not resent

Powders require a vessel, a liquid and thirty seconds. That is a low bar in principle and a surprisingly high one at seven in the morning. Capsules require water. Gummies require nothing and are the format most people stick with, at the cost of lower ingredient amounts and usually a little sugar.

If you have abandoned a powder before, buying another powder because it is better value is a false economy.

Anchor it to something you already do

The most reliable routines attach to an existing habit rather than a time of day. Next to the kettle, beside the toothbrush, in the gym bag. A reminder on a phone works for about a fortnight; a physical position in the path of something you already do works for considerably longer.

Start with one thing

Adding four products at once means that if something changes — good or bad — you will not know which one did it. Adding one at a time, with six to eight weeks between, is slower and far more informative.

It also stops the monthly cost climbing before you have established whether any of it is worth continuing.

Review it properly

Put a date in the calendar three months out to decide whether to continue. Most people never do this, which is how a cupboard ends up with eleven half-used bottles. If you cannot articulate what a product is doing for you at the three-month mark, that is a reasonable point to stop.