This is the fourth (but not final) entry into my digital journal, keeping track of my experience with IM8, the new all-in-one supplement produced by Prenetics in partnership with David Beckham.
In my week 1 entry, I outlined the 8 health markers that IM8 aims to improve and shared my day-by-day experience with the supplement. In my second entry, I shared with you how IM8 supported me through a hangover and an eventful day of travel, followed by 4 days of jet lag. Week 3 was the most normal of the weeks, so I settled into the benefits and enjoyed a low-stress, healthful week.
For this fourth entry, I have to start off by apologizing. My fourth week should have wrapped up on April 15th, but I ran into the biggest health road block last week and have been down for the count since.
I’ll get into it as I review the week and summarize my experience, but what I’d like to do is extend my trial with IM8. That first month was full of ups and downs, jet lag and hangovers, and ultimately ended with me getting sick (not IM8’s fault). I’m about halfway through week 7 and finally feeling better and have had a more consistent routine with IM8, so I think it is worth sharing this extended experience so you can see beyond the initial trial period, and understand what it is like to use IM8 long-term.
As a reminder, here are the 8 health markers the Daily Ultimate Essentials supplement aims to improve:
- Immunity: improving your immune response and resilience to illness
- Energy: increasing your energy via key vitamins and nutrients
- Renew (cell renewal): support healthy cell renewal with the best ingredients
- Hydrate: support proper hydration with essential electrolytes
- Cardio: support cardiovascular health with ingredients that maintain and support healthy blood vessels and heart function
- Nourish: offer a complete list of ingredients that include a variety of top quality nutrients and benefits
- Digest: provide pre and probiotics
- Cognitive: support healthy cognition with vitamins, minerals and mushrooms that support optimal cognition
Here’s my review of week 3 testing IM8’s Ultimate Daily Essentials supplement.
Week 4 (+5 and 6) Highlights
Similar to week 3, week 4 was business as usual. I was back home in my environment and had started my spring training phase, leaving me feeling really energized and motivated. I had plans to take the train up to Ottawa to visit some family that weekend and attend a friend’s gender reveal party, but I ended up cutting the trip short so I could keep my Monday to Friday routine consistent (originally I planned to be there for an extended period of time).
I even made sure I had one of my travel packs ready to go so I could stick with my routine of taking IM8 on that Sunday morning.
Things took a turn on the Saturday morning when I realized I forgot to pack my IM8 travel pack. Not a huge deal, but my routine was already in jeopardy and I’d hardly left the train station.
The day went smoothly, I saw my family, went to the gender reveal, and got home in time to have a nice dinner with my sisters. I started to feel a little off after dinner, and ended up leaving our movie night early so I could go to bed it sleep off whatever was upsetting my stomach.
I didn’t have a great sleep, and when I woke up I still felt a little uneasy, but definitely better. My breakfast was good, and then we had a cozy afternoon before having friends over to watch the final day of The Master’s.
I left around 4 and was home and in bed at a reasonable hour. I felt OK at this point, but definitely tired. When I woke up I could already feel something was off, so I didn’t go to the gym as I had planned to and instead went for a walk along the canal in the evening.
Truthfully, everything felt fine by Monday afternoon, but maybe this was my body’s way of manifesting the calm before the storm.
I think that Monday I also forgot to take my IM8, so now I was on 2 days without that part of my routine. I wasn’t drinking as much water during the day because of it, and by Tuesday evening I was feeling the cold coming on.
There was a part of me that wanted to write my week 4 review anyway and maybe leave out these details, but that didn’t sit right with me. So everyday went by, and every day I felt worse and worse. This progressed until it reached it’s peak on Tuesday of this week. Hit with the most brutal PMS symptoms ever, bad anxiety before bed, and not being able to breathe properly because of the cold, meant that I was also having the worst sleep for the past few days.
So here I am today, 2 days at the gym under my belt, 2 days taking IM8 consistently again, and still working through this cold – but feeling much better than I was. I’ve mentioned it in every weekly review and all of my articles about supplements, but I’ll say it again – supplements can be a great way to reinforce healthy habits and IM8 is no exception to this.
As I rebuild my routine and my habits after 2 weeks of chaos, it feels like my hands are back on the wheel and I have IM8 as this grounding moment every morning; a moment where I can remind myself that I am doing something good for my body every day.
So a bit hectic, to say the least, but at least things are looking up again!
Week 4-6 in Review: The 8 of IM8
These past few weeks have been the curve ball for all curve-balls and truthfully, I didn’t have the energy or motivation to take my IM8 when I wasn’t feeling well, so it feels unfair to rank the 8 health markers of IM8.
With that said, I do feel confident saying that now that I am on the other side of feeling sick, I am very aware of the benefits of IM8. Immunity has clearly been something that’s been top of mind, and although I wasn’t able to take IM8 while I was feeling sick, now that I am feeling almost fully healthy again, I do feel like IM8’s ingredients can help get me over the line faster, getting me back to my full health more quickly than if I wasn’t taking IM8.
My energy has been tanked these past few weeks, but prior to me getting sick, I had great energy for the first week of a new training phase! Not to mention, this training phase is focusing on endurance, so I need energy, focus, and a good strong heart (cardio) to get me through the workout. All of which felt really well supported in those first few days of week 4.
Despite having really bad physical PMS symptoms, my skin has recovered well after the reaction it had in Portugal. I’ve had a few small breakouts, but nothing that has stuck around longer than a couple of days (renew).
Hydration and nourishment were both elements that I was really missing when I was sick. I woke up feeling so dehydrated that it felt like my mouth was too dry to even swallow, and I felt like I took on a grey, dull skin tone, which I have always seen as a sign of poor nourishment. Not to mention, my digestion was really off. I won’t get into the details but it was either an unpleasant trip to the bathroom, or infrequent trips. Everything was really out of wack when I wasn’t consistently taking IM8.
Lastly, my cognition has been a little all over the place. Again, in week 4 when I was switching to the new training phase, I felt really sharp. I finished a book, had a couple really productive days at work, and felt very clear-headed when I was in high-stimulus, social environments with friends. This went out the window when I got sick, but this is pretty common when I get a cold. All I can manage are nature documentaries and cheap reality TV.
Week 4-6 average rating: 6/8: Although I didn’t rank each factor with a number for these past few weeks, I do still feel like the average experience was a 6/8. When my health was good, I was feeling really settled in the experience of taking IM8 and all of the benefits that come with it. When I wasn’t feeling good, I also wasn’t taking IM8, so I felt that difference of not taking the supplement, which made me excited to reintroduce it into my routine to help me get through the last days of feeling sick. I have another month’s supply waiting for me, so I will be able to keep this up and am looking forward to seeing how my body adapts to IM8 when I am consistently at home, training regularly, at full health, and with a quiet social calendar (fewer hangovers, that’s for sure!).
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Riley Pearce 