Herbalife - I know the skinny me is somewhere out there!

Herbalife - Yep, they do great job of a marketing their pyramid scheme!
I am always happy to hear when someone finds their motivation, but nothing beats just grocery shopping properly and eating clean!

Good luck with your weight loss,

@ the OP...Welcome to MFP.

@ Lenchman...I am sure the OP appreciated you warm welcome before you let her know your opinion.

I grocery shop...try to make sure that my food is clean and that no one has thrown it in the flour and stomped on it.

Really??? Don't some of you people ever get tired of telling others how they should eat?

OP made a choice that only affects her...just as you made a choice to only "eat clean". I wouldn't make either of those choices but I don't care what you decide to do.

Herbalife and other such fad diets and gimmicks will not work long term, because they don't teach you proper eating and exercise habits. And I'm going to go off on a limb here and guess that you do not at this point in time have good eating and exercise habits, otherwise you wouldn't have weight to lose.

What do you hope to have happen when you get to your goal weight with Herbalife? Do you plan to be on it indefinitely? If not, how do you plan to maintain a healthy weight, without knowing how to actually maintain a healthy weight? I'm seriously not saying this to be rude, but these are questions you honestly need to be asking yourself. If you can't satisfactorily answer these questions, take that as a hint that this is not a good idea.

I recommend seeing if you can get your money back. Use that money to buy good delicious fresh food, eat it at a moderate calorie deficit, with an occasional treat. You will be happier, it will taste better, it will be cheaper, you will feel like you have more freedom, and it will teach you healthy habits that you can use for the rest of your life. Really, what's NOT to love about all of that??

OP - Read here: http://www.examiner.com/article/new-study-shows-counting-calories-works-best-for-weight-loss-how-to-benefit

Save money, lose weight. You're welcome!

Hi there! Don't worry about what everyone else is saying; it's all about finding a combination that works well for YOU! I have a good friend that began selling Herbalife and so to support her I bought some of the products - Formula 1 shake mix, multivitamin, and cell activator. I've been using them for 6 months now, and I've enjoyed them - I can't say that they necessarily helped me lose weight, because I only drank one shake a day for breakfast, and still ate normally the rest of the day. Now that I've really committed to eating well the rest of the day, though, I think they'll make more of a difference! I also think that if you substitute a shake for two meals instead of just one, that would help too! My favorite shake flavors are the cookies 'n' cream, mint chocolate chip, and pumpkin spice latte (only available October-November, sadly). My friend absolutely loves the products, she's now self-employed with her own health shop in our hometown, and she couldn't be happier! The products can really do good things for you if you make them part of an overall healthy lifestyle! Good luck!

welcome to MFP OP! I have not tried it but my 2 cents is that if that is the only thing that is going to get you motivated to start implementing change, give it a shot. I agree you will need to learn some kind of sustainable habits for long term success, but you will have to learn for yourself how to get there. The skinny you is inside you, keep plugging away until you figure out how to get her out Best of luck on your journey, read a lot, don't take anything too seriously, read some more and decide for yourself. And if you are going to do anything extreme, you'll probably want your doctor on board as well.

I was chatting to a personal trainer about this yesterday. I gave him my "snake oil" perspecti ve but was somewhat swayed by his response.

He said he has learned that, for some people, their diet knowledge/skills are so very poor that he sometimes starts them on this to get them motivated etc whilst underpinning it with education for the longer term. As a new PT he has been shocked at how badly some people eat so felt he needed an alternative to just knowledge at the initial stages because learning such basic skills as cooking/nutrition takes time and people just give up.

Not saying this covers all people who use it!

Yeah, I know another PT that justifies profiting off of people by selling a plan that's doomed to fail and against everything he's learned about nutrition and weight management with a similar line.

Hi there! Don't worry about what everyone else is saying; it's all about finding a combination that works well for YOU! I have a good friend that began selling Herbalife and so to support her I bought some of the products - Formula 1 shake mix, multivitamin, and cell activator. I've been using them for 6 months now, and I've enjoyed them - I can't say that they necessarily helped me lose weight, because I only drank one shake a day for breakfast, and still ate normally the rest of the day. Now that I've really committed to eating well the rest of the day, though, I think they'll make more of a difference! I also think that if you substitute a shake for two meals instead of just one, that would help too! My favorite shake flavors are the cookies 'n' cream, mint chocolate chip, and pumpkin spice latte (only available October-November, sadly). My friend absolutely loves the products, she's now self-employed with her own health shop in our hometown, and she couldn't be happier! The products can really do good things for you if you make them part of an overall healthy lifestyle! Good luck!

Anecdotal experience and loyalty to your friend doesn't equate to a great product. Any diet program works if followed. Trying to stay on that program for life is where the problem happens. So it's actually good for the OP to hear from opposing views as well as pro views.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

I started Herbalife almost 2 months ago and honestly, I love it. People criticize it saying it is a "liquid diet" and that it is not for the long term but it's all about what YOU do with it! When I first began, I immediately joined an 8-week weight loss challenge local to me. I bought my shakes, some bars for snacks and some tea. I hesitated to go "all in" right away because I didn't want to waste my money. My coach made a very good point that if I calculated that I'll spend $100-150 a month in Herbalife products, compared to what I had been spending on meals out (I added up ONE WEEK of "regular" eating, and it was well over $80 for JUST lunches. I can't imagine what the total was including the breakfasts and dinners I dined out). So, just by buying my healthy snacks for in between my shakes, I am saving a TON of money.

If you're going to invest in shakes and still eat out and buy junk to eat at home... you're gonna find it to be expensive. If you do it the correct way, you will save money.

As far as the "liquid diet" claim goes - YES, at first the shakes are a shock to your system and you'll drop some weight fast. I dropped 5 lbs in my first week and then only about 1 lb the second week once my body adjusted. But since then, with a bit of working out (2-3 times a week), I have programmed my system to work so well with the help of Herbalife that I just returned home from an 8 day trip in Hawaii where I ate ANYTHING I WANTED - didn't even have a single shake - and I STILL lost 0.7 lbs when I weighed in with my coach at my weight loss challenge! The muscle and metabolism I've improved helps me to burn fat even when I'm not being so disciplined. But I definitely got right back on track since I've been back. I feel great, I'm about 7 lbs down so far, and I'm ecstatic.

Back to the liquid diet claim. One of my coaches had used Herbalife for 16 years. For the first year, she did 2 shakes a day, 2 healthy snacks and one healthy meal. She went from a size 8-9 to a size 2-4. After the first year of using Herbalife, she went into "maintenance mode" because she had reached her goal weight, and began having only one shake a day. For 16 years, she hasn't had to worry about her weight, even through two pregnancies. That's with ONE shake a day. How much is that costing you, really?

It may not be for everyone, but it's worked for me.

My whole family takes herbalife and has lost 145 since February ( 4 of us combine ) . I personally love it. Its not magic or anything you have to be strict on what you consume otherwise bit its a helpful tool instarting out and maintaining a healthy life style.