Troubles with ViSalus

Bmr says 1713.7.... now I have o research what exactly that means!

If you're sedentary, add about 20% to that, and that's a good estimate of your TDEE. So, that would come out to about 1.2 x 1714 = 2057 (rounding)

Set your calorie goal right about 1800 calories and start working on controlling your intake within that level, and you should continue to lose weight. It may take a few weeks to re-adjust, so be patient.

Thanks so much for all this info! I know it will help me alot. What the BMI said about my weight hit me hard and almost made me cry..but the "acceptable" information about my body fat made me think its time to make changes now before that is officially changed to be obese.

best of luck to you sweetie, you can do this!

I know a lot of you are against Visalus. You have your reasons why you dont want a part of it and I my reasons why I am taking the shakes. You cant post anything in here about the shakes that I havent read in any other thread posted about ViSalus...thanks anyways.

This is for those who DO take Visalus.

I started the 90 day challenge two weeks ago. For the first week I did very well...lost 5 lbs. Two shakes a day and a healthy dinner. Now Im completely falling off track already. Yesterday I only had one shake and havent had any today. I have a hard time eating throughout the day (why Im taking visalus in the first place) so I just have no ugre whatsoever to make the shakes.


Do I absolutely HAVE to have the two shakes a day for results? Or can I do one shake a day?

luls. It seems you haven't heard allot actually. Mainly because scientifically, if you knew how they worked, this wouldn't be a question. How the shakes work is they cut out a gigantic amount of the calories you use to eat and now you're replacing them with shakes. Not eating a shake has no impact on your results. Scientifically, what does make a difference is eating less then your TDEE (less then the energy you expend on a day). As long as you're under your calculated TDEE (these calculations are found all over the places), then it doesn't matter how many shakes you have. I'm pretty sure those who are educated on the shakes will agree with that. To accurately get an idea of what this is you can get your RMR read by a doctor, or a less accurate but in the ballpark way is to calculated via a BMR equation and use a multiplier for activity level. Keep in mine if you are on a low calorie diet like vialus your RMR reading will be lower (as in your metabolism slows down on a low cal diet). There's all kinds of information all of over this site and on the internet that explains these concepts and helps you calculate the things mentioned...or like I said you could get it read by a doctor. A sedentary underweight 4 foot something eating disorder female has a higher TDEE (mathematically) then what body by vi allows, so unless you have a disease that makes you not a normal human then no, you don't have to have the two shakes a day for results.

From what I've heard, you have to have two shakes a day for weight loss; one is only for maintaining.

Well, I only use one a day and I'm still losing weight.

The whole point of any kind of meal replacement program is to take out a meal (some people think a HEALTHY breakfast is 600 calories) and replace it with some kind of shake that is MUCH lower in calorie count. It's simple, really. Less calories=weight loss. You can use only one shake a day and you'll lose weight but you'll have to be very careful about the FOOD that you're actually eating.

I use one shake a day mostly because I'm never up early enough to make a real "breakfast" (working late nights).

But I agree with something I heard on the thread.... Visalus is about making a lifestyle change. So don't try to weasel your way around the rules. Just buckle down and do what you know you're supposed to do. Losing weight isn't easy. It's about discipline. There are rules laid out in front of you. They've worked for others. Don't try to tweak it to fit laziness and a lack of motivation. Those are the things that got us all in the situation that we're in; being overweight.

There is absolutely nothing about shakes that makes you lose weight except that you are replacing a meal with a shake so in theory you won't over eat. If you're making a shake for breakfast that's 240 calories and I have my breakfast of 2 eggs and a yogurt for 190 calories then where is the advantage? I've just had my real food lunch of 250 calories so a shake wouldn't save me there either.

I guess if you can drink your calories and be happy then go for it but I prefer to chew and enjoy real food. It's a heck of a lot cheaper too.

The whole reason why I am taking Visalus is because I dont eat. Ill have dinner then Ill snack all through the night. Ive been this way for years. Ive had good times where I eat proprly but then I always fall of track and stop eating. NO Im not trying to starve myself. 240 for breakfast is far better than 0 calories for breakfast.

Despite the wives tales, meal time and frequency also has little to nothing to do with weight loss. I switched my diet from eating a big breakfast at 7am to eat from 2-10pm. Haven't gained a pound. If you'd rather snack throughout the day, go ahead. As long as you're at a calorie deficit you'll still lose. If you don't want breakfast, don't eat breakfast, only eat later on in the night.

I started using Visalus because I would skip meals. I am a very busy nail tech and I don't book time for lunch. I would try to keep healthy snacks like yogurt, almonds etc. at work, but most of the time I just wouldn't eat. Then I'd try to eat a healthy meal for supper after work (9 pm most nights) and would still be starving after eating and would binge eat the house. lol Now I make my shake, take it to work and sip it all day. I make mine with 1 cup almond milk (was using skim, but almond is yummy too!) and 2 scoops mix, lots of ice and about a cup of water and some instant coffee (yum!). It lasts me longer that way. Then when I go home, I have the energy to work out (elliptical for 35 min) and then eat supper, and no more binge-ing!!! On non work days I eat a healthy lunch unless I get busy and forget (which is often) then I have a shake. I think they are great! Keeps me from overeating when I do have time to eat because I'm not starving! Also keeps me from having to few calories when I don't have time to eat, or forget. Visalus tastes good to me, and I like the versatility of it,and that it is delivered to my house so I don't run out! But any healthy shake would do I'm sure .