Troubles with ViSalus

Thats just my issue...I keep giving up. Everytime Im finally happy with my weight or just starting to lose weight....I get pregnant and gain 50 lbs. What is BMR?

BMR is your Basal Metabolic Rate. You can calculate it here: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ It's the number of calories your burn by simply existing (as though you are in a coma all day). It's an estimate of how many calories you need just to survive. Your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) is the amount of calories you burn per day based on your activity level + your BMR. This number is usually 20-40% higher than your BMR (depending on how active you are). The idea is to eat enough to keep your body properly fed and fueled with enough nutrients, but less than your TDEE so you drop the excess fat weight. It's a much more sustainable program than eating a super low calorie intake for a lot of people, and it sounds like doing this might be very beneficial to you so you have time to get a handle on your eating habits and get back the control you need.

This ^^^

Spend an hour learning about BMR, TDEE and calories (and how you can eat a lot of food with limited calories -- look at the calories of tomatoes, shrimp, fish, etc...) and you will be better served as to how to lose weight and keep it off.

You have some great advice in the above post. Good luck.

My shake was always: 1 cup skim milk, 1/2 cup water, 1 cup frozen fruit or 1 banana, and the shake mix.

Sometimes I would do a peanut butter and banana one.. soooo good

Or the apple pie one!

1/4 cup unsweetened apple cause and a little bit of cinnamon and some ice cubes..... so good!

haha feeling a bit silly right now, I tried that one with a real apple and it was nasty!

i made that mistake too! apple sauce is much better!

If I had some visalus I would try it, right now I have herbalife (my neighbour sells it).
I did realize that oranges and pineapple didn't work. I tried a few from the shake list they send you. There is a rootbeer one that sounds yummy.

my faves were:

The chocolate mocha one (I add strawberries too, delish)
The Apple pie one
Strawberry banana
Pinapple strawberry banana

I love that the shakes are so versatile, you just have to be careful about how much you put into them because you never want to make them too high in calories!

I have not heard of herbalife..... is it good?

It is really all the same, there is next to no difference. Visalus may have a smidge more protein, but they both last me about 2 hours before I am hungry again. That's kinda why I don't use them as much anymore, I get more 'satisfaction' from a banana and an instant oatmeal.

My shake was always: 1 cup skim milk, 1/2 cup water, 1 cup frozen fruit or 1 banana, and the shake mix.

Sometimes I would do a peanut butter and banana one.. soooo good

Or the apple pie one!

1/4 cup unsweetened apple cause and a little bit of cinnamon and some ice cubes..... so good!

haha feeling a bit silly right now, I tried that one with a real apple and it was nasty!

i made that mistake too! apple sauce is much better!

If I had some visalus I would try it, right now I have herbalife (my neighbour sells it).
I did realize that oranges and pineapple didn't work. I tried a few from the shake list they send you. There is a rootbeer one that sounds yummy.

my faves were:

The chocolate mocha one (I add strawberries too, delish)
The Apple pie one
Strawberry banana
Pinapple strawberry banana

I love that the shakes are so versatile, you just have to be careful about how much you put into them because you never want to make them too high in calories!

I have not heard of herbalife..... is it good?

I prefer them plain...I have a bunch of chocolate and strawberry flavor packs but yea...I prefer it just plain. I seriously just dont have the time or patience to properly prepare something for myself...I go for quick and easy.

Well perhaps ViSalus is just not for you, and that happens. some love it and some hate it. the reality though is weight loss takes time and effort, it sucks, but that's what it is. I prepare my meals each night, and it takes me a good hour and a half. I don't love doing it but I have lost 37 pounds so far and I 2 to go until goal, then I can maintain. the body is tricky. Eat too many calories, gain weight, don't eat enough calories, gain weight.

Getting healthy eating habits is a huge start, and one that is pertinent to weight loss.

Thanks mum, for giving me your metabolism =/

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.