herbalife ????

[geemel79]

right tomorrow is D-day for me as to whether or not to introduce herbal life into my current regime, I'm looking to help with the weight loss and get my daily calories as i'm really struggling to eat enough calories and some of the supplements they offer are similar to some i buy anyway from H&B for my IBS.

I have seen some positive weight loss results but can you successfully use herbal life and then maintain a healthier lifestyle ?? or is it a case of as soon as you stop using the products the weight creeps back in ? my BF used the cambridge diet last year ad lost 5.5 stone and has maintained his new weight and is now eating healthier and losing the weight slower, is it just a quick fix or is it a good starting point ?

[Hidden]

Hi geemal79,

Leaving aside your prevailing medical condition, my general sense in terms of buying "diet" products is "Why would someone want to do that?"

By that I mean that so far I've lost 15 Kgs just by kicking the rubbish out of my diet, putting some structure around my meals and by going from super-size portions to human-size ones and increasing my levels of exercise.. And I've not paid Herbalife, Weightwatchers, or Slimmer's World a penny.

(Well, I've indirectly paid WW a bit because I did buy some of their tins of soup out of Tesco's!)

I guess I'm wondering why you need to use these Herbalife products in order to take your daily calorie intake up a bit. But then I really know very little about IBS. So perhaps there is some excellent reason for that.

Basically, your body isn't going to distinguish which brand of calories (or indeed other nutrition) you're putting into it, but it is really important, especially when you are undertaking a weight loss plan, to ensure you DO get the FULL range of nutrients within your food intake. (You can find more about those sorts of things at NHSChoices and at NHS Change for Life web pages).

You could also seek that information from your GP or practice nurse and maybe get a referral to a dietician in terms of how that all ties in with your IBS.

Now if the full range of nutrients, for you, involves using XYZ brand of shakes or biscuits or frozen meals or whatever, then so be it, if that is the best way forward for you.

Personally, I prefer to do the buy-it-and-cook-it-myself approach to nutrition, or more accurately I do now. (If I'd done that years ago I'd probably never have gained the weight that led me to be on a weight loss plan now!)

I do wonder if perhaps you should be asking people in the HealthUnlocked IBS community if they have any experiences - good or bad - with these or similar products. I'll admit to having no idea how these things might measure up against FODMAP diets and that sort of stuff.

theibsnetwork.healthunlocke...

Good luck with your weight loss journey.

[geemel79]

ive always been a buy it and cook it myself kind of person, myself and my kids only rarely ever eat anything pre packed or processed, basically because of my ibs i cant eat any more than i already do without experiencing sever pain and discomfort, you cant put more than a litre of milk in a litre bottle without it overspilling or bursting, unfortunately my body works the same way and ive been seeing surgeons since i was about 9years old and the doctors answers to my IBS just keep taking tablets, lactulose and all the other wee nasty things we dont want to talk about and id rather not do that any more its painful, tiring and depressing not to mention embarassing, and over the years ive just avoided eating to prevent it which in turn affects my weight, and because my body doesnt get rid of things the way it should im always ill, the other answer from them is surgery to bipass it all and to be honest ive not got chronns or cancer so why would i want to subject myself to a bag. i was on a support site years ago for ibs but several of the girls i spoke to sadly passed away during surgery and I stopped gooing on and started using alternative therapies which are the only things that have ever worked but unfortunately the treatments arent available on the nhs and at £150 a pop as a single mum with 3 kids its now a luxury I cant afford

dont get me wrong the first couple of days of eating more seemed positive i have lost weight but now my ibs has kicked in hard and again back to the docs ive had to go, cramps bloating and migraines taking their toll, the shakes for me seems like a way of getting everything i need in a form my somach and bowels can digest properly but im still having my evening meals and fruit and snacks, i did have prescribed shakes at one point to take from the surgeon as meal replacements but i took an allergic reaction to those same with fibrogel.

the guys in work laugh at my little collection of vitamins etc but my body doesnt seem to absorb what it should and im always lacking in something when i go for blood tests. my gp practice have been great over the yeares but ive spent my life reliant on medication that doesnt really do what it says on the tin, even painkillers i have to take by the bucket load as my body doesnt absorb them properly.

[Jane-M]

Dear geemel - some years ago I got sucked into selling herbalife products for weightloss. I bought the package of goods but some integrity in me surfaced and I decided to try the programme myself. My wieght loss was neither better nor worse but I was seriously lighter in the pocket

I sympathise very much with your IBS problems, but herbalife will not give you any nutritional benefit. I'm so sorry you are suffering in this way.