Herbal Magic?

You mean like yohimbe???

I did herbal magic for 6 months. I did lose weight however its extremly pricey. They make all there money when you buy the supplements. The location I attended actually wouldn't work with you unless you used supplements because otherwise you weren't truely doing the program. The calorie count was 900 a day. When i brought this up with the manager she got annoyed with me, even though i was having problems being light headed through the whole program.
The cost was about $300 plus a month. The other frustrating part was there employees have no training. They will tell you they do however I asked the girls in my location. None of them had any back round in nutrition and followed the same book I followed.
I ended up discontinuing the program and was really disappointed in everything they promised. I would never do the program again and would highly recommend another alternative.

I second this.
I did herbal magic through recomendation of a friend. She was very successful with it at the time (she has gained most if not all of it back after)
It was incredibly expensive. You have to weigh in every other day or so. The average calorie count for me was 1100-1200 per day. The "herbal" vitamins made me feel sick and I ended up at the emergency room with numbness in my face and left arm/side. I then decided to quit the program, they did not refund the money (or balance remaining)
The employees had little to no training. Could not explain the vitamins. Plus I had one of them tell me that perhaps I wasnt losing weight (that weigh in) cause I had eaten a banana the previous day and a banana was a heavy fruit ....wtf?
All in all I can honestly say you can do better on your own, If you really need support, or a group perhaps look into WW or something similar. Although they may push their products alot you dont have to buy them or be on them to participate.

I did it years ago, for the 2nd time, with the first being in the late 90's. I lost weight easily on it both times because one of the supplements you take is an awesome appetite suppressant, Unfortunately I never learned anything longterm and here I am, with almost all of the weight back but keeping my money this time!

"When combined with changes to diet and exercise", anything works. Or nothing at all usually works just as well, as long as you combine that nothing with changes to diet and exercise.

This sounds like some trainers (over the phone I assume) giving the same generic advice this site will give you, combined with some supplements and maybe a stimulant or two to assist with the weight loss. All in all, not necessarily a BAD program, but MFP really offers everything but the supplements, and you don't need those to lose weight.

About the only thing they offer is assistance with a meal plan, and a few well-spent minutes in the recipes section of the forum will give you some interesting ideas to start with.

If you want to learn to lose weight and keep it off, you need to learn to eat.

I've worked with over-the-phone health coaches before (we're required to here at work or they charge us more for health insurance), and some of them are well-informed. I respectfully decline to express an opinion on some of the others because momma taught me if you can't say anything nice...

I'd stick with MFP's tools for a while and see how things work. It's free.

:smokin:

Oh wait--wrong thread...:blushing:

My my, the simplicity and finality of these statements. But this is how most Americans feel. Most people have no concept of the HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of dollars it takes to get products through clinical trials, and how many smaller companies (with extremely valid products) simply can not afford this. (But who can afford this? Huge drug companies- which are not in business of making people well, but merely keeping them sick, because if they actually cured their clients, where is their business?) And many people look at the FDA as some sort of saint-hood, set in place for the good of the people. This couldn't be further from the truth. The board of the FDA has several members with affiliations with Big Business corporations like Kraft Foods and Bristol-Meyers Squibb Pharmaceutics. Obviously they've got LONG POCKETS to fund FDA approvals.

I'm not saying all herbal supplements are worthwhile, but I am saying that FDA approval shouldn't be your hallmark or gold standard for using a product because the FDA, much like ALL branches of government and drug corporations, has its own agenda to promote and it certainly has nothing to do with what is truly healthy for Americans.

You've got to be kidding. The bolded part of your reply smacks of simplicity tinged with paranoia. The drug companies exist to make money for their shareholders. Their shareholders are people too (and quite often very ordinary ones by way of pension plans etc) and these people get sick and die too, can you even begin to fathom how much money a drug company would make if the found a cure for AIDS or cancer? It's naive to suggest that there would no future revenue stream as people will always get sick.

In Canada many of the supplement makers were lobbying for the right to have DIN (drug identification numbers) for their products and to have them recognized as drugs yet couldn't / wouldn't undertake clinical trials to prove the safety / efficacy of their products nor were they willing to determine methods whereby the quantity of whatever the active ingredient could be standardized.

Do some herbal remedies have merit? I don't doubt it but until the supplement makers are ready to behave in a scientific fashion and stop (in many cases) outright lying in their advertising (of course with the disclaimer that the statements contained herein haven't been evaluated by the FDA) I'll take my chances with conventional medications.

This is not a pot discussion? *leaves thread* lol

Who has tried it,
and what was your experiance with it like?

If you are willing to waste money, just send me money to my paypal account


Seriously, you really don t need this

What is a waste. It seems quite sound:

"The Herbal Magic program offers a combination of private one-on-one personal coaching, real food bought at your grocery store, and natural health products.[6][8] It has weight loss programs designed for women, men, diabetics (type I and II), youth, women who are planning to conceive, breastfeeding mothers, and those with diagnosed heart conditions. The programs are designed to help clients lose weight at an average rate of two pounds per week. There are three key phases to the program including:

Phase 1: Weight Loss. During this phase, a personal health coach reviews the client’s medical history and food journal as well as recommends a meal plan with natural health products to optimize healthy weight loss. Once the goal weight is reached, the client enters Phase 2.

Phase 2: Stabilization. In this phase, the client and personal health coach work together to increase the amount of food intake while maintaining the client’s goal weight.

Phase 3: Maintenance. The length of the maintenance phase varies for clients based on the amount of weight lost during the weight loss phase. This is the phase intended to ensure the weight is kept off for good.[2]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbal_Magic

Overpriced prepackaged meal service. Same principles apply. Calorie deficit. You can do do all that for free here on mfp.

Is it pre-packaged meals? It doesn't seem like it in the blurb above.

Its not prepackaged meals. Its a meal plan with all their expensive supplements.

My MIL tried it a long long time ago, but I don't think she lost any weight. Personally I think it sounds like a huge waste of money.

Huge drug companies- which are not in business of making people well, but merely keeping them sick, because if they actually cured their clients, where is their business?

You actually believe this????

I do!....you dont? name something they have cured?

Beta blockers are keeping millions of people alive, Anesthetics seem to do a pretty good job, testicular cancer is now treatable with drug therapy rather than castration. I only mention these because I was involved in the registration of these types of drugs with the world wisde health authorities and I can assure you that for these submissions there was no payment to the FDA or even a "cosy" relationship. The FDA were tough, hard, and often very, very demanding of me and my colleagues. I've also had the dubious pleasure of an FDA inspection at the company I worked. It was frightening, their level of professionalism was only surpassed by their dogged refusal to accept glib answers: They dug, and dug until they could go no further or had exposed a problem.

So they treat testicular cancer with s drug, what do they do once it is gone? do they do anything to prevent it from coming back? NO! I know people that have thyroid trouble, they go on a pill for the rest of there life, most are ok with this, some educate and realize that those darn "herbal" meds that the fda didnt approve correct the problem and then you dont need any meds! I also know people that have type 2 diabetes, they thought they were stuck on insulin and all the crap the fda approved, then, once again, those darn unapproved "herbal" things got in the way and now, they are free of insulin and everything!

I knew someone once who ate an orange... he got knocked over by a bus the following day therefore eating oranges is bad for you. Same argument.

If any health care company want to register a herbal treatment as a therapy that is possible. Organise some clinical trials, prove a decent efficacy to side effect effect profile and prove that you can control the dosage and hey... you've got yourself a fully registered therapeutic you can see in the US!

Or, alternatively, they can claim it's "just a food stuff" and not do the safety/efficacy work but then they should STFU about how it cures everything from warts to brain tumors because until they have done the studies.... they have proved NOTHING.

Huge drug companies- which are not in business of making people well, but merely keeping them sick, because if they actually cured their clients, where is their business?

You actually believe this????

I do!....you dont? name something they have cured?

Beta blockers are keeping millions of people alive, Anesthetics seem to do a pretty good job, testicular cancer is now treatable with drug therapy rather than castration. I only mention these because I was involved in the registration of these types of drugs with the world wisde health authorities and I can assure you that for these submissions there was no payment to the FDA or even a "cosy" relationship. The FDA were tough, hard, and often very, very demanding of me and my colleagues. I've also had the dubious pleasure of an FDA inspection at the company I worked. It was frightening, their level of professionalism was only surpassed by their dogged refusal to accept glib answers: They dug, and dug until they could go no further or had exposed a problem.

So they treat testicular cancer with s drug, what do they do once it is gone? do they do anything to prevent it from coming back? NO! I know people that have thyroid trouble, they go on a pill for the rest of there life, most are ok with this, some educate and realize that those darn "herbal" meds that the fda didnt approve correct the problem and then you dont need any meds! I also know people that have type 2 diabetes, they thought they were stuck on insulin and all the crap the fda approved, then, once again, those darn unapproved "herbal" things got in the way and now, they are free of insulin and everything!

I knew someone once who ate an orange... he got knocked over by a bus the following day therefore eating oranges is bad for you. Same argument.

If any health care company want to register a herbal treatment as a therapy that is possible. Organise some clinical trials, prove a decent efficacy to side effect effect profile and prove that you can control the dosage and hey... you've got yourself a fully registered therapeutic you can see in the US!

Or, alternatively, they can claim it's "just a food stuff" and not do the safety/efficacy work but then they should STFU about how it cures everything from warts to brain tumors because until they have done the studies.... they have proved NOTHING.

they will gladly test it, all the govt has to do is give them just a little funding, but they wont. Its easy for clowns to say they have proved nothing, the fda wont allow them to prove anything. And to correct you, they have proved in other parts of the world that it works, like China