If you put your email address in on diet direct, they will send you the sale flyer. Yes, they do go on sale, and then if you spend over $100, you get ten percent off plus free shipping. So, if you do all that when there's a sale, it does turn out at least $2-$3 cheaper per box. You just have to time it right. However, the 10/$10 deal at MRC really isn't bad.

the centers are all so different .... mine just had a re-enroll special ... 17 weeks including the hormone testing for $179. But seriously, if you're going to have hormone testing done, go to your doctor --- for medical issues, go to a medical doctor (not a salesman/woman).

Some of the concentrates do now come in a long skinny rectangle shape (the pomegranate does too).

In the past, the supplements (ProtiDiet) and MRC and many other weight loss centers were all made at the same manufacturing plant in Canada. They were the exact same product, simply private-labeled for different centers. Many of the bars are too. Now, I haven't checked in the last year, but in the past they were the identical product.

You have to wait for them to go on sale, then they are around $9 per box, less if you're buying in bulk (go in with a friend), and shipping is free.

usually w/ diet direct, i can get the wonderslim brand which is the same (just ck the labels they have on the website) some are about 8.99 per box. the HNS center has 5 for $55 so it isn't a lot different but i buy the Pink Lemonade mix protidiet brand 17.6 oz for $26 for 24 servings. when u spend $29, you get 2 free samples (discovered i love the vanilla shakes!) and free shipping if you spend $49. the strawberry yogurt smoothie is super good too! :-) i got the double choc. pudding but can't get it to gel. i like the wonderslim choc. cream pudding/shake better. you can make pudding w/ 4 oz water or 8 oz water to make the shake. i like volume :-)so like the shake better. i divide out the pink lemonade in zip lockbags and keep in the car. they have the shaker blend bottle w/ a little whisk in it that i love!! i'm outside sales, so got two ($2.99 each) one for the car and one for home.

we got subway subs the other day so to fit in the plan, i took off the bread and ate the meat and veggies (6" club sub- turkey, ham w/ oil & vinegar) we were at the beach so threw my bread to the seagulls!

had some healthy choice tv dinners left over(don't follow my advice on this - not sure if this was the right thing to do!) i took the gravy off the salisbury steak and took the potatoes out. added green beans to what they had. i did eat the little apple dessert (counted that as my starch). put the gravy and potatoes on top of my 3 dogs' dinner! i hate to waste food!
felt like i really cheated so am now drinking tons of water! i weighed the meat and it was 4 oz....


went to Outback the other night and ate 4 oz of the sirloin and took the rest home, had w/ steamed broccoli (usually have sweet potato! before MRC) and a small slice of pumpernickel bread and the salad.

Lost 3.5 lbs!!! i'm making sure i have at least 3 HNS a day and drink tons of water.
I won't do this all the time but in eating out those are the things i did and it turned out ok.

i'll have to make my husband eat the rest of the Healthy choice meals - they r not that good at all - i actually like my salads w/ grilled protein better! :-)

let me know what are some of the food choices you are eating for lunch and dinner. i do love my cheese bread or cinnamon toast w/ 2 eggs so pretty happy w/ b-fast...

Last Saturday our center was closed so that all of the consultants from our "region" could go to the Body In Balance training/workshop - which pushes the hormone testing. I think this may be why the saliva testing is being pushed so hard. . . so far my center has not stated pushing it, but it woudl not surprise me if they start do soon, though I will refuse to do it . . .

Mariah

I am about 23 days into my diet plan and I had to wait to do my hormone testing due to menstruel cyce timing. I am going to do it in a few days. I too have heard that consultants toss around scary terms to get you to take supplements to even out your hormone levels. Obviously, this depends on the center...

I have a medical background and I feel like the only person that should be reviewing hormone results is a physician. I too will try and take my results to a doctor if there is anything concerning on the report.

UPDATE: Finally had my gyno appointment today. First of all, she commented on my weight loss first thing and asked me how I'm doing it. When I said MRC, she said she loves MRC and that she sends a lot of her patients there when they need to lose weight. She said she wishes they weren't so expensive and that she doesn't agree with all the supplements they push on you. She said she tells her patients to go to the clinic, follow their diet, take the multivitamins, but not a lot of the other supplements. (She didn't list them and I didn't ask, though I should have.)

She said the saliva test is so unreliable that it's just a sales gimmick for the center. She said about the only part of it that she "kind of" agrees with is the testosterone level - that if it's low, then she endorses the testosterone cream, because it can make some people feel better and increase the sex drive.

The bad news? She found a "thickening" in my right breast and is sending me for a mammogram next Friday. I don't feel too worried about it right now, but I have to admit that the consultants words, "the high DHEAs levels often indicate cancer" are ringing in my ears. I'm trying hard to push those thoughts away.

Anyway, I told y'all I'd give you an update and there it is.

Ginpea, I will be thinking of you and hoping all goes well.

Your post made me realize i forgot to post after taking my saliva test results to my naturopath. He was quite familiar with the test and thinks it is credible. He did not agree with their assessment of my results and their recommendation to take cortitrim, or whatever it is called. He read the Body in Balance sheet and said while there was truth in it, they were way over-stating as far as the hormone's impact on weight loss. He doesnt prescribe progesterone cream, he believes it is too difficult to dose accurately and consistently. He likes a sublingual version. We are going to discuss it further sometime, but I am not anxious to look into it. Bottom line: some truth, some hype. Buyer beware.

my doctor said she does the saliva tests and sends them to the same lab as MRC...she looked at my results and said they were normal even though MRC recommended tons of supplements and hormones, etc..... i know a couple people on the creams and it works for one and the other one, her hormones are still very unbalanced. the diet itself really helped me w/ my hormone issues so my doc said if i felt good then recommended no supplements...
keep us posted on your results on the mammogram...always good to check everything out. i had the same thing happen a few years ago and it was fibrocystic.. i'm not a doctor but google everything!!

(Shifts in hormonal levels in some women lead to symptoms known as fibrocystic changes. Fibrocystic changes can cause small benign lumps, tenderness and breast thickening. This may affect either one or both breasts. This is the most common cause of breast thickening in women between the ages of 35 and 50, according to WebMD. Symptoms are generally most acute in the days leading up to a woman's menstrual cycle but tend to decrease after it is over. This condition generally requires no treatment, but should be monitored).

try not to worry and hope you have a happy Thanksgiving!

What an interesting thread. I'm still waiting on the results of my saliva test (which I had to do twice because I apparently screwed it up the first time).
I had lapband surgery in 2004 and have gained some weight back. I'm doing MRC for the accountability and high protein diet. It has been very interesting seeing how different consultants react to my specific needs. The Manager just pushed supplement after supplement and didn't even listen to what I had to say. I can't take a lot of pills or eat more than 3 ounces of meat at a time because it can be very painful! Mr. Manager just chooses to ignore this and keep pushing. I now will only go see a couple of the women who "get" my needs. They never push. They're setting me up on a Meals Made easy plan, so hopefully that will work better.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

i personally don't care for the counselors at my center. one of them is a size 0 and i'm thinking this is a sales job for her and never had to struggle to lose weight in her life. she advised me to do the internal colon cleanse when i do mediquick. nice. the other one told me she takes all the supplements, spends over $100 a month on them alone and tells me constantly, look how great i look! i've lost 22 lbs, 24 inches w/out any supplements and she tells me i need to take them. ummm..no. she looks like the dexatrim lady in the commercials w/ her eyes bugged out. the manager is ok but if i ask him for suggestions on recipes or food, he tells me to go to their website. he told me he's a guy so can eat pretty much what he wants. i do like him better than the rest becuz he doesn't push the pills and he actually remembers what i tell him and he remembers my dog's names. haha!! this is a great diet and if you can find a counselor you can connect w/, it's all good. i get most of my support from this board. wouldnt be successful w/ out it.

Glad to read through this. I didn't/won't/didn't plan on doing the hormone testing. I think if something is really off, a doctor/naturopath is a better source of information. My mom, however, did have hers and called today b/c they told her to go see her doctor (at least they told her to do that) to get off her menopause medicine (can't remember which one) so she can start doing their cream. Didn't sound right to either of us, so I said I would look to see what you all had to say. They did talk her into several of the other supplements (she is one always looking for something else to blame besides her own food choices...) She talked about how her cortisol was high and that leads to belly fat...peer reviewed medical research shows no causational link between cortisol and belly fat (i.e. IF a person has both high cortisol and belly fat, there is no evidence that the cortisol causes the belly fat). Cortisol is something you body needs to help release energy stored in your body to do activity. They also told her 97% of the people have some type of abnormal results...which to me means we are all different! I pretty much rely on traditional medicine for issues like that and respect those who use a naturopath or other forms of herbal medicines, but only if done with research to back it up and not sales.

I did ask my consultant if they made a commission (I had went to the center and stocked up when she wasn't there and felt bad b/c she is awesome and never has pushed a single supplement). She said they have 'sales quotas' to meet, but not to worry about it. Next time I'll be sure to stock up when she is there.