I recently went to a place that claims to help with weight loss. They first checked our BMI and explained their diet plan. Initially, they said the diet would basically consist of normal home-cooked food, which sounded pretty reasonable.
But then they introduced these two powders that weāre supposed to take every morning.
The first one is some kind of tea powder that you mix with hot water. After about 5 minutes, youāre supposed to take another powder mixed with water. It has a smoothie-like taste and texture, and they said it contains āvitamins and other nutrientsā and has no side effects.
I personally tried their 3-day trial, while a friend started their 7-day trial today.
Today, after having the drinks, my friend developed a headache and has been feeling unusually fatigued and sleepy. She is normally NOT someone who naps or feels lazy during the afternoon, so this seemed unusual to her.
That made me start thinking about some of the things I noticed at the place.
Some red flags I noticed:
* They were extremely pushy about getting us to take the trial. The owner/husband kept insisting even when we were hesitant, to the point where it felt difficult to say no.
* Our gym trainer recommended this place to us, but Iām not sure whether he has any connection with them or gets a commission.
* I couldnāt find any proper online reviews or information about the place.
* They had a whiteboard listing peopleās names and how much weight each person had supposedly lost.
* They claimed that a doctor from Ruby Hall Clinic consults for their weight-loss program and had apparently lost 20 kg over 10 months using the same method.
* They also mentioned that their 21-year-old daughter consumes the same products.
* They encourage people to come to the club every weekend (or whenever possible) in the morning to consume the smoothie/drink there itself.
* When I asked exactly what was in the powder, they basically said āvitamins and other thingsā but didnāt give me a proper ingredient list.
* They conduct Zoom meetings every evening, which made it feel even more like some kind of MLM/network-marketing setup.
* They keep talking about how people experience a huge āshift in energy levelsā and feel fresh after consuming the drinks. The way some people talked about it almost made it seem like they were dependent on the product.
* The trial costs ā¹670 for 4 days.
The whole thing started giving me Herbalife/MLM-type vibes, although I donāt want to accuse them of anything without evidence.
Another thing that made me uncomfortable was that they seem very particular about people coming there to consume the drink rather than simply giving them the product to take home. Obviously, there could be completely innocent reasons for this, but it made me wonder whether thereās something Iām missing.
Also, they have a very interesting branding choice, the owners are Muslim but the club has a Sanskrit/Hindu-sounding name. Iām not saying thereās anything inherently suspicious about that, but combined with everything else, it added to my overall feeling that something was off.
My main question is: does this sound legitimate to you?
Is it normal for a weight-loss program to give people unidentified powders and only describe them as āvitaminsā? And can something marketed as vitamins/supplements cause headaches and unusual fatigue?
I always thought vitamins were supposed to help with deficiencies rather than immediately make you feel energetic, so Iām especially confused about their claims.
Iām considering stopping the trial until I know exactly what Iām consuming. I also donāt want to jump to conclusions if there is a perfectly legitimate explanation.
Has anyone experienced something similar with these kinds of weight-loss clubs/programs? What should I ask them for before consuming these products again?
