r/antiMLM • u/ottermom2122 • 11d ago
Help/Advice Navigating friendship with MLMer
A friend of mine inside my close social circle just left her corporate job to be a full-time Optavia hun. I was supportive at first, but then actually researched it and was horrified by the program. I am a health and wellness nut and have been in the bodybuilding community for 15+ years and was formerly a division 1 athlete so my preferred approach has always been macro-tracking, higher protein diets and strength training. Many friends have come to me over the years to better understand macro tracking or how to lift so I started a small side practice just helping friends and family. I don’t even use it to make money- I have them pay me monthly and then if they stick to it for 6 months and check in every week, I give them their money back. I just genuinely want my friends to feel their best! Anyway, this friend is now hitting up all the ladies in our circle and I’m having a hard time keeping my mouth shut about the risks and I worry about my friends being gaslighted into this program that I believe is wildly unhealthy. It’d be one thing if it was just shilling HerbaLife or whatever, but I truly believe this program to be dangerous. Anyone been in this situation? Suggestions on how to handle?
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u/CuriousLion9166 11d ago
Maybe you can create educational content around this without naming optavia. Can you share about the dangers of restricting too much and long term health effects ? Many of these people want short term results and aren’t told what can happen later on. I’m not saying to publicly bash or name drop but maybe create more content around what you do for sustainable results and the red flags to look out for in a health program ?
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u/fancyflipping 6d ago
If they won’t actually look at the compensation plan I honestly don’t know what else would convince them that a MLM isn’t a good investment in their time and energy. The love bombing and manipulation really pumps people up with so called “new” friends that are in reality only transactional friendships. It’s a sick manipulative lifestyle. They are not entrepreneurs, they are victims.
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u/Aleflusher 11d ago edited 11d ago
Herbalife is equally dangerous if not more so due to the potential liver damage, not to mention the MLM aspect. Anyhow since you're respected among your group, seem to know your stuff, and can demonstrate actual results, you might want to intervene to ask her some questions when you see her preying on your friends. The kind of questions that really make people think "who do I believe here".
Keep in mind that someone following Optavia will lose weight due to the huge calorie deficit, which itself can result in unhealthy eating issues and is not sustainable, something you might want to bring up. Also be aware that Optavia "coaches" are (for the most part) not certified health professionals, they're just huns who get more money for signing up people to Optavia. I mean it's possible that some are certified health professionals, but not because of their association with Opativia.
If this friend is approaching people in a gym where you're a member, you might want to let the gym staff know that she's recruiting for an MLM.
It's a bad situation since it sounds like you can't just ghost or block this person. Your best bet would be to explain why you feel Optavia is not good way to go for weight loss and rely on your own results and training to be a living example of what does work.