Weight Loss Clinic - Rant!

millerll

Science geeks of MFP, I need your help. My company is holding a benefits fair this week, and one of the vendors giving daily sales pitches is Transformations Medical Weight Loss. When I saw them listed on the agenda, red flags immediately went up. I checked out their web site, and sure enough, they're woo peddlers.

They're big proponents of Simeon's hCG protocol, along with appetite suppressants, thermogenics, lipotropics, B12 shots, and overpriced supplements. Of course, they charge exorbitant prices for these services.

I plan on attending today's presentation, and I want to nail these people to the wall. I was able to find a few legit studies debunking hCG, but I need more ammo. If anyone can post links to other studies about the ineffectiveness of the above methods, I'd appreciate it. We all know this stuff doesn't work, but I need something besides a web site to back up my claims. I want to be able to cite scholarly studies and see how they respond.

I'm also going to contact the company reps who organized this event and let them know what snake oil peddlers these folks are, so hopefully they won't be invited back. But I can't let them off the hook this week. From what I hear, people from my company are signing up in droves for consultations, and I'm furious that they'll be taken advantage of.

Thanks for your help!

PS - I can't post to this site from work, but I'll be checking it throughout the day for replies.

trigden1991

As much as I fully agree that what you have listed is all "woo", there really is no point upsetting your employer or making a fool of yourself for the sake of it. Let others waste their money and make no progress whilst you relish the knowledge that CICO works. Just my opinion but I don't forsee it going well for you.

red99ryder

trigden1991 wrote: »

As much as I fully agree that what you have listed is all "woo", there really is no point upsetting your employer or making a fool of yourself for the sake of it. Let others waste their money and make no progress whilst you relish the knowledge that CICO works. Just my opinion but I don't forsee it going well for you.

Agree

Good luck

ew_david

trigden1991 wrote: »

As much as I fully agree that what you have listed is all "woo", there really is no point upsetting your employer or making a fool of yourself for the sake of it. Let others waste their money and make no progress whilst you relish the knowledge that CICO works. Just my opinion but I don't forsee it going well for you.

This.

It's not worth potentially losing your job over.

Seffell

Hi, I don't have any links to papers but if you search google use https://scholar.google.co.uk/ instead of just google. Scholar google returns papers and you can see how many citations a paper has which could be an indication of how valid it is.

jennifer_417

trigden1991 wrote: »

As much as I fully agree that what you have listed is all "woo", there really is no point upsetting your employer or making a fool of yourself for the sake of it. Let others waste their money and make no progress whilst you relish the knowledge that CICO works. Just my opinion but I don't forsee it going well for you.

+1 It's unlikely you'll do anything other than make a fool of yourself. Try instead working behind the scenes to see if you can promote something better & healthier.

dolliesdaughter

It's not worth it to make a big fuss. Your are going to look like a stupid busy body. What is in it for YOU to make a big fuss? Not a darn thing

RoxieDawn

trigden1991 wrote: »

As much as I fully agree that what you have listed is all "woo", there really is no point upsetting your employer or making a fool of yourself for the sake of it. Let others waste their money and make no progress whilst you relish the knowledge that CICO works. Just my opinion but I don't forsee it going well for you.

So much this.. the words that came to my mind was not just upsetting employer, but embarrassing employer.

LKArgh

I would not risk offending my employer over something like this.

kgeyser

I would contact your company reps and share your concerns about having this vendor at the event. I would not cause an uproar at a company event over what is a personal issue with this particular vendor. Your company invited them to present at this fair, the only person likely to be nailed to the wall in the scenario is you.

JessicaMcB

I agree with all the PP about letting sleeping dogs lie. For all you know your employer has this particular vendor coming because they have family associated with the weight loss organization and that is why they are presenting. I honestly would just make suggestions to HR re: organizations you think might be more appropriate for next year or, if this is committee run, get more involved yourself in next years' presentations

laraplogman

I know the HCG diet gets a bad rap from a lot of people, but I have to take steroids for Crohn's Disease. So my weight shot up. And exercising with Crohn's often leads to embarrassing results. With my doctors' full blessings I have lost 66 pounds on HCG and have about 30 more to lose. And when I say doctors, I mean both my gastroenterologist and my general practitioner, not a doctor at a diet clinic. I hear a lot of people get mad and say HCG doesn't make you lose weight. And it doesn't. Doctors don't claim that it does. It helps control your appetite with a natural hormone rather than some pill with awful side effects or having surgery. The low-calorie diet is what causes the weight loss. I have seen low-calorie diets recommended by keto professionals and even fasting for several days at a time for not only weight loss, but to detoxify the body. I'm sure I'm not changing your mind on the diet, but it's the perfect diet for me and it's working for thousands of people every day, often with the encouragement of their physicians.

elphie754

laraplogman wrote: »

I know the HCG diet gets a bad rap from a lot of people, but I have to take steroids for Crohn's Disease. So my weight shot up. And exercising with Crohn's often leads to embarrassing results. With my doctors' full blessings I have lost 66 pounds on HCG and have about 30 more to lose. And when I say doctors, I mean both my gastroenterologist and my general practitioner, not a doctor at a diet clinic. I hear a lot of people get mad and say HCG doesn't make you lose weight. And it doesn't. Doctors don't claim that it does. It helps control your appetite with a natural hormone rather than some pill with awful side effects or having surgery. The low-calorie diet is what causes the weight loss. I have seen low-calorie diets recommended by keto professionals and even fasting for several days at a time for not only weight loss, but to detoxify the body. I'm sure I'm not changing your mind on the diet, but it's the perfect diet for me and it's working for thousands of people every day, often with the encouragement of their physicians.

There is no reason to "detoxify" the body, andnif there was it would be a medical emergency notndone tjeouh diet and a special supplement.

PaulaWallaDingDong

laraplogman wrote: »

I know the HCG diet gets a bad rap from a lot of people, but I have to take steroids for Crohn's Disease. So my weight shot up. And exercising with Crohn's often leads to embarrassing results. With my doctors' full blessings I have lost 66 pounds on HCG and have about 30 more to lose. And when I say doctors, I mean both my gastroenterologist and my general practitioner, not a doctor at a diet clinic. I hear a lot of people get mad and say HCG doesn't make you lose weight. And it doesn't. Doctors don't claim that it does. It helps control your appetite with a natural hormone rather than some pill with awful side effects or having surgery. The low-calorie diet is what causes the weight loss. I have seen low-calorie diets recommended by keto professionals and even fasting for several days at a time for not only weight loss, but to detoxify the body. I'm sure I'm not changing your mind on the diet, but it's the perfect diet for me and it's working for thousands of people every day, often with the encouragement of their physicians.

Welcome to the forums. Have a look around. Do forum searches for "hcg," "vlcd" and "detox" while you're at it. Learn a few things. Also search for "keto" because I'm not sure it means what you've been led to think it means.

We've all been there.

P.S. I despise weight loss "clinics." Most of them are no more than MLM pushers with an M.D. front.

Edit: I thought I was done with my rant, but wait, there's more! Where do you live, @laraplogman ? In the US, HCG Diet Products are Illegal.

From the FDA website:

In fact, the prescription drug label notes there “is no substantial evidence that it increases weight loss beyond that resulting from caloric restriction, that it causes a more attractive or ‘normal’ distribution of fat, or that it decreases the hunger and discomfort associated with calorie-restricted diets.”

Mini_Medic

People will always flock to the next seemingly easy weight loss trend. Isogenix swept through my place of employment more rampantly than the flu and I work for a hospital! Everybody and their spouse was suddenly a coach selling "my amazing new nutrition product!" Strangely they wouldn't say the name and just ask for private messages, which is shady right off the bat. It costs hundreds of dollars, however most everyone lost 20ish lbs in their first month. No they really did! But it was because they were consuming very low calorie diets (800 calorie range). Amazingly when they went to the next months phase of the program and started eating real food again and not supplements and shakes and doing "cleanse days" (extremely low calorie days) they gained it all back and then some because it was not sustainable. All the coaches are still selling it, but they regained and are relying on their old "transformation photos" to keep selling the products to poor gullible people who want a quick fix and aren't really wanting to do the work required to get the results they are after.

My point? Even healthcare professionals physicians/nurses who know better still get caught up in too good to be true weight loss services and products. Don't waste time or energy confronting the clinic because if it isn't that service at the fair, it will be the next big name that becomes trendy and mainstream promising super fast results, at a cost.

We all know if they really worked no one would be overweight and unhealthy. Keep on keeping on. If people ask you can encourage them in what actually works. Most don't really care and aren't ready. They will say, oh I can't afford a gym, I can't run, I love my food too much, I am happy being overweight, it's genetics, it's my thyroid, it's my medication, I broke my foot last year, I had a baby 5 years ago.

I know it's hard to want to help people out with advice on what honestly worked for you, but that sad truth is most just aren't ready to give up their current lifestyle and aren't yet interesting in learning. Do you. Results speak for themselves.

Larissa_NY

Please only do this if you are sick to death of your job and want to go out with a bang. I don't care if they're selling miraculous cancer-curing tap water; you will embarrass yourself, embarrass your employer, piss off a vendor that your employer invited to the health fair, cause problems for your supervisor, and potentially put your job in jeopardy, and for what? Because you can't allow your co-workers to make their own decisions like functioning adults do? Because you've appointed yourself the snake oil police?

Seriously. Let it go. The satisfaction of being The Person Who Knows Weight Loss Best and saving your co-workers from themselves is going to be cold comfort when you're sitting across the table from your boss and HR.

CharlieBeansmomTracey

laraplogman wrote: »

I know the HCG diet gets a bad rap from a lot of people, but I have to take steroids for Crohn's Disease. So my weight shot up. And exercising with Crohn's often leads to embarrassing results. With my doctors' full blessings I have lost 66 pounds on HCG and have about 30 more to lose. And when I say doctors, I mean both my gastroenterologist and my general practitioner, not a doctor at a diet clinic. I hear a lot of people get mad and say HCG doesn't make you lose weight. And it doesn't. Doctors don't claim that it does. It helps control your appetite with a natural hormone rather than some pill with awful side effects or having surgery. The low-calorie diet is what causes the weight loss. I have seen low-calorie diets recommended by keto professionals and even fasting for several days at a time for not only weight loss, but to detoxify the body. I'm sure I'm not changing your mind on the diet, but it's the perfect diet for me and it's working for thousands of people every day, often with the encouragement of their physicians.

do you know what HCG is? or where it comes from? and a lot of those HCG things are synthetic not natural unless you know where they get the hormone from. also how does it suppress appetite?
It does have side effects such as fatigue, irritability, restlessness, depression, fluid buildup (edema), and swelling of the breasts in boys and men (gynecomastia).

Another serious concern is the risk of blood clots forming and blocking blood vessels (thromboembolism). eating so little on a diet like that can cause gallstones,irregular heartbeat and so on. people who do keto dont normally eat low calorie diets they eat LOW carb.Its been proven that its not safe so why doctors are prescribing it? I dont know but they need sued for malpractice or their licenses revoked.

TimothyFish

If you can lose your job over calling out a "woo peddler" then it isn't a job worth having in the first place. I doubt your company know much about the vendor. That being said, it is unlikely you will get far calling out the salesmen who are pushing it. They are trained to keep pushing the product even when confronted. Most aren't knowledgeable enough about the product to know whether what you tell them is correct.

PAV8888

The correct advice is probably to do nothing or at most send an email to HR if your work position is such that you feel comfortable doing so (CFO vs mail room clerk)

https://www.fda.gov/Drugs/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/BuyingUsingMedicineSafely/MedicationHealthFraud/ucm281834.htm