Buy my meal replacement shakes and lose weight fast!! Woo alert!
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philippakate197
Posts: 125 Member
Ok, the title is shameless click bait, but I really need to have a good rant with folks who are of a similar mind!
I've spent the last year losing 63lb (so far, 14lb ish to go) and I have one acquaintance I see every Sunday. She's seen me lose weight, she knows how I've done it and she's asked me for advice.
Now, she's posting on Facebook about how she's lost 7lb in a week doing some meal replacement shake thing, some other crap called 'skinny juice' plus 'body wraps', where you basically cover yourself in goo and expensive cling film and lose inches! I mean, c'mon!!!! So much woo I feel like I'm going to explode!
Apparently, "eating real food doesn't work for everyone" and "not everyone's body works the same"! Sure, because expensive milkshakes will teach you loads about portion control and your body obviously defies the laws of physics! I'd love to know how she thinks this is sustainable. I'm sure she'll lose weight for as long as she drinks the shakes - less calories than what she was eating - but it'll all go back on again, long before the wedding that she wants to be thin for!
Garghhhhhh!!!
There's zero point saying anything to her - she's seen me have success but chosen what she thinks is the easy route - but keeping myself from saying 'you're kidding me, right?!' on a weekly basis is giving me a headache and I really needed to share!
End of rant!
I've spent the last year losing 63lb (so far, 14lb ish to go) and I have one acquaintance I see every Sunday. She's seen me lose weight, she knows how I've done it and she's asked me for advice.
Now, she's posting on Facebook about how she's lost 7lb in a week doing some meal replacement shake thing, some other crap called 'skinny juice' plus 'body wraps', where you basically cover yourself in goo and expensive cling film and lose inches! I mean, c'mon!!!! So much woo I feel like I'm going to explode!
Apparently, "eating real food doesn't work for everyone" and "not everyone's body works the same"! Sure, because expensive milkshakes will teach you loads about portion control and your body obviously defies the laws of physics! I'd love to know how she thinks this is sustainable. I'm sure she'll lose weight for as long as she drinks the shakes - less calories than what she was eating - but it'll all go back on again, long before the wedding that she wants to be thin for!
Garghhhhhh!!!
There's zero point saying anything to her - she's seen me have success but chosen what she thinks is the easy route - but keeping myself from saying 'you're kidding me, right?!' on a weekly basis is giving me a headache and I really needed to share!
End of rant!
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Replies
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There's one in every bunch. Trust me. People want a quick fix. They don't want to put the work into thinking about it. Congrats on your progress. Your knowledge will have you at your goal in no time!6
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At least she isn't selling them yet?
Some people think it's too hard to just eat fewer calories and they want that magic.4 -
It's frustrating. One of my Facebook friends just chronicled her cabbage soup diet (ugh). She lost eight lbs in a week (peed it out, obviously). That was over a month ago... No mention of her progress since then. I'd wager she regained the water weight and is either right back to where she was, or maybe one or two lbs lighter (certainly not Facebook worthy). I just didn't respond to any of her posts related to that fiasco (no liking, no commenting). People need to figure this crap out for themselves, really. That and this is someone I knew in grade school and high school, but haven't really talked to in a long time. If she was someone I was close to, I wouldn't call her out on FB, but I would have been very tempted to say something privately.
Maybe ignore her posts for a while... In a few weeks, if that, she'll see that her gimmicks didn't work and will stop posting about them.6 -
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Don't post any before/after pictures anywhere she can access them. There have been MLM salespeople who steal their friends' pics and post them all over the place, claiming that the results came from whatever snake oil they're peddling. Several people have posted about it in the past here on MFP.
Good for you for recognizing a scam when you see it, and realizing that those products are nothing but a big rip-off. The only person who benefits from them is the person selling them.4 -
tlflag1620 wrote: »It's frustrating. One of my Facebook friends just chronicled her cabbage soup diet (ugh). She lost eight lbs in a week (peed it out, obviously). That was over a month ago... No mention of her progress since then. I'd wager she regained the water weight and is either right back to where she was, or maybe one or two lbs lighter (certainly not Facebook worthy). I just didn't respond to any of her posts related to that fiasco (no liking, no commenting). People need to figure this crap out for themselves, really. That and this is someone I knew in grade school and high school, but haven't really talked to in a long time. If she was someone I was close to, I wouldn't call her out on FB, but I would have been very tempted to say something privately.
Maybe ignore her posts for a while... In a few weeks, if that, she'll see that her gimmicks didn't work and will stop posting about them.
I did reply asking for some information on how it works....strangely had no reply!!
I'm just going to keep doing mfp, look hot and awesome, and wait.
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philippakate197 wrote: »tlflag1620 wrote: »It's frustrating. One of my Facebook friends just chronicled her cabbage soup diet (ugh). She lost eight lbs in a week (peed it out, obviously). That was over a month ago... No mention of her progress since then. I'd wager she regained the water weight and is either right back to where she was, or maybe one or two lbs lighter (certainly not Facebook worthy). I just didn't respond to any of her posts related to that fiasco (no liking, no commenting). People need to figure this crap out for themselves, really. That and this is someone I knew in grade school and high school, but haven't really talked to in a long time. If she was someone I was close to, I wouldn't call her out on FB, but I would have been very tempted to say something privately.
Maybe ignore her posts for a while... In a few weeks, if that, she'll see that her gimmicks didn't work and will stop posting about them.
I did reply asking for some information on how it works....strangely had no reply!!
I'm just going to keep doing mfp, look hot and awesome, and wait.
Report back if she tries to explain how it works!2 -
Don't post any before/after pictures anywhere she can access them. There have been MLM salespeople who steal their friends' pics and post them all over the place, claiming that the results came from whatever snake oil they're peddling. Several people have posted about it in the past here on MFP.
Good for you for recognizing a scam when you see it, and realizing that those products are nothing but a big rip-off. The only person who benefits from them is the person selling them.
Yikes, really?! I've put a couple of pics on Facebook but I don't think even she would be daft enough to pinch them - I see her every week and she knows I'd rip her to shreds!
I was not above considering these scams back in the day when I didn't know any better, but I've read enough on here now to be able to spot woo at a thousand paces!
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philippakate197 wrote: »tlflag1620 wrote: »It's frustrating. One of my Facebook friends just chronicled her cabbage soup diet (ugh). She lost eight lbs in a week (peed it out, obviously). That was over a month ago... No mention of her progress since then. I'd wager she regained the water weight and is either right back to where she was, or maybe one or two lbs lighter (certainly not Facebook worthy). I just didn't respond to any of her posts related to that fiasco (no liking, no commenting). People need to figure this crap out for themselves, really. That and this is someone I knew in grade school and high school, but haven't really talked to in a long time. If she was someone I was close to, I wouldn't call her out on FB, but I would have been very tempted to say something privately.
Maybe ignore her posts for a while... In a few weeks, if that, she'll see that her gimmicks didn't work and will stop posting about them.
I did reply asking for some information on how it works....strangely had no reply!!
I'm just going to keep doing mfp, look hot and awesome, and wait.
Report back if she tries to explain how it works!
I will! I get that the meal replacement shakes just give her less calories so she's in a deficit, but I'd love to hear some of the broscience about the body wraps!
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I was that girl once, diet pills, shakes, detoxes, wraps, patches, you name it I did it. Even when someone like you kindly explained how they had lost weight I still believed that I could do it my way, the quick fix way.
Well 30 years later, countless failures and uncounted amounts of money lost and here I am doing it the right way.
You have done an amazing job and I understand your frustration with your friend, however nothing you can say will change her mind at the moment so don't try. It will only frustrate you. Your friend will either find this out in her own sweet time or she will remain overweight.12 -
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I was contacted by a family member on FB asking me how I lost so much weight (didn't post progress pictures, but it's pretty easy to see the progress from what I do post) and I told her (more-or-less) "I found out how many calories I need to consume in order to lose a pound a week and I eat that. I eat less and I move more, period"
Of course, that simply can't work for everybody because she's a special snowflake who NEEDS something else. So now she's on a low carb diet (20g a day) and constantly contacting me asking "How many carbs are in oranges?" "Are there carbs in nuts?" "Can I eat [such and such food]?" It's annoying af. But I've started telling her that butter is a carb, so at least I can troll a little while I'm at it.20 -
OMG! I'm right there with you! Two good friends are selling Thrive. According to them it's NOT a weight loss plan. What it does is fill in your nutritional gaps so that you have more energy to exercise and you're not munching on snacks all day because you're getting the correct nutritional supplements. All you have to do is wear their patch, take their vitamins in the morning and a half an hour later drink their protein shake. Even though it's NOT a weight loss plan, you WILL lose weight.
Yeah, right.
(Cue the rolling of the eyes)
She's a good friend and I'm not going to ruin our friendship by calling her out but I really, really want to.
What I hate is that they're preying on other people's insecurities and giving them false hope. That's what bothers me the most.3 -
Forty6and2 wrote: »I was contacted by a family member on FB asking me how I lost so much weight (didn't post progress pictures, but it's pretty easy to see the progress from what I do post) and I told her (more-or-less) "I found out how many calories I need to consume in order to lose a pound a week and I eat that. I eat less and I move more, period"
Of course, that simply can't work for everybody because she's a special snowflake who NEEDS something else. So now she's on a low carb diet (20g a day) and constantly contacting me asking "How many carbs are in oranges?" "Are there carbs in nuts?" "Can I eat [such and such food]?" It's annoying af. But I've started telling her that butter is a carb, so at least I can troll a little while I'm at it.
Oh, you could have so much fun with that! Have you told her how many carbs are in vegetables?!
I don't quite trust myself not to say something extremely sarcastic so I'm letting it all out here instead!
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shinycrazy wrote: »
Oh yeah. When I started one of my former best friends asked me how I was doing it. I led her to MFP. She joined, got a Fitbit, and lost about 10-15 pounds before getting off track. And two years later, what did I see her post about on FB? That she's now shilling MLM products (the one with the wraps). She posted last week about some undereye treatment to relieve bags...I saw no difference in her before and after.2 -
YASSSS!!! I completely understand, agree, all the above!!! I have so many friends in life, on facebook, IG, etc. "oh how are you losing the weight?" when i tell them counting calories and moving more (nothing dramatic, mainly walking) they want to know "no, really....WHAT'S THE SECRET!!!???" Then later they have posts of break through weight loss using some ridiculous diet or product and back to posting pics of food and no more mention of said diet.
I had a public weightloss IG account and after several hundred ITWORKS and Shakes etc I finally closed it. The cherry on top was a weightloss coach that wasn't taking no for an answer, and I was having better results than her so she wanted me to become a coach, like huh??0 -
Ah yes, like one of my ex-coworkers who lost 80 lbs in a year through MFP and working with a personal trainer 4 times a week who now sells It works wraps, pills, etc.
All with her before/after,
Those poor poor suckers.6 -
OMG! I'm right there with you! Two good friends are selling Thrive. According to them it's NOT a weight loss plan. What it does is fill in your nutritional gaps so that you have more energy to exercise and you're not munching on snacks all day because you're getting the correct nutritional supplements. All you have to do is wear their patch, take their vitamins in the morning and a half an hour later drink their protein shake. Even though it's NOT a weight loss plan, you WILL lose weight.
Yeah, right.
(Cue the rolling of the eyes)
She's a good friend and I'm not going to ruin our friendship by calling her out but I really, really want to.
What I hate is that they're preying on other people's insecurities and giving them false hope. That's what bothers me the most.
I feel your pain!
It's people making money out of it that makes me so damn furious!
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philippakate197 wrote: »Forty6and2 wrote: »I was contacted by a family member on FB asking me how I lost so much weight (didn't post progress pictures, but it's pretty easy to see the progress from what I do post) and I told her (more-or-less) "I found out how many calories I need to consume in order to lose a pound a week and I eat that. I eat less and I move more, period"
Of course, that simply can't work for everybody because she's a special snowflake who NEEDS something else. So now she's on a low carb diet (20g a day) and constantly contacting me asking "How many carbs are in oranges?" "Are there carbs in nuts?" "Can I eat [such and such food]?" It's annoying af. But I've started telling her that butter is a carb, so at least I can troll a little while I'm at it.
Oh, you could have so much fun with that! Have you told her how many carbs are in vegetables?!
I don't quite trust myself not to say something extremely sarcastic so I'm letting it all out here instead!
I got tired of looking things up for her on MFP so now I reply exclusively with snark. I told her about MFP numerous times, so she can come look up any vegetables she wants (because I don't give a kitten about carbs, so I never pay any attention)2 -
And these things also annoy me because they give an unrealistic expectation of weight loss. When people think they can lose 5, 8, 10, or 20lbs in a week using these things, why would they come to MFP where they'd only lose 1-2? Those of us who have been in the game long enough know that 1-2lbs loss per week is normal, healthy, and sustainable. But these things promise way too much and people think that's normal.5
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