Hi all,
I have recently signed up w/ MRC in my city and have done the food training class and bought a load of additional supplements on top of the vitamins.

Although I felt like I was being pressured into buying absolutely everything they sell, I went ahead and bought quite a lot of it because I really want this to work for me and I want to follow their program.

My question for those of you who have successfully done MRC is this: On the lid of each bottle of supplements that I bought they (the advisors at MRC) wrote how many I should take. (for example, some of the ones I bought were cortislim and MSM) When I looked at the labels at the recommended dosages, many of the labels say 1 per day, but they wrote 2 at each meal--for a total of 6 per day! I don't have them in front of me, but I'm guessing that for 75% of the 20 bottles I bought--they are telling me to take several times what the label says.

Did any of you have this happen? I don't quite think these are unsafe at these levels, but is this excessive and necessary??? Again these aren't the VITAMINS I'm talking about, just the other supplements to aid in the program.

help please?

Honestly, I waited as long as I could on the program before I took any additional supplements. I wanted to see how well the program worked, and I knew it would be hard to tell if it was the program or the supplements until I tried the program without the supplements first. Also, I knew I couldn't stay on supplements forever (and I was on a tight budget) so I wanted to lose as much as I could as naturally as I could.

That being said, when my weight loss stalled after I lost 50lbs, I did try the cortitrim. The label said 1 with each meal, so 3 per day. The center suggested upping it to 2 per meal, and then showed me where on the bottle (inconspicuously written) it said that you could do that. The phentatrim bottle only says 1 per meal, though, and that's what my center told me I could take.

I would reread your bottle labels carefully, and even ask the next consultant you meet with about it, to confirm dosage amounts. If you still aren't comfortable taking that much, then don't! THey can't force you to do or buy anything you don't want, and ultimately the decision is up to you. My one piece of advice would be to wait a few weeks before you take the additional "stuff," just to see how the program feels without it--but again, it's just advice, take it or leave it.

My center had a couple of consultants that pressured me quite a bit at first to get the additional enhancers and supplements--that's what they make their money on, really, not on signing people up for program--but I would usually just respond with "Not now--I'm open to it, but money is tight and I want to see how successful I can be without it first. If I slow down, then I might try it out." They usually accepted that answer and left out the sales pitches as long as I was consistently losing.

Brilliant advice teacherlady79!!! thanks so much and I really appreciate your smart sense about going w/o all the supplements in the beginning to see how well you did. All very informative for me--I can't thank you enough. I think I'll even memorize what you suggested as a reply to their high-pressure sales pitches and see if they can just give me some time.

The crazy thing is (and also a little sad?) is that they told me that many clients use a large bead box to hold and sort all the supplements they take, as if taking supplements by the handful with every meal was necessary to lose weight. I can't imagine the rest of my life like that--or even a few weeks!

thanks again

I know! I really didn't want to be taking (and organizing) as many pills as my 80-year-old grandmother. I just take a vitamin, krill oil, and phentatrim in the a.m., then 1 phentatrim each with lunch and dinner. In the next couple weeks, I'm going to be phasing out the phentatrim, too.

I just started my second month on the meta-slim diet. I have "one-on-one" short meeting and weight in twice a week. I lost 13 lbs the first month. It was dissapointing, I expected more. I am in ketosis in the a.m. I test. It has really affected my sleeping. I wake up around 3 or 4 a.m. and can't go back to sleep. I'm not a morning person lol.

I feel the meetings have become more of an opportunity to sell, than, a time for guidance and regrouping. UNFORTUNATELY.

Hi...
I am on maintenance. I was told to take 2 MRC 3 x a day, 2 Cortitrim, 3 x a day. I do not take MSM. Phentatrim, I only take when I need it. Fat and Carb Blocker. I take 2 only when I eat out.. I do not take any other supplements from the Center. I do not take any vitamins from center, either, as I take my own from health food store.. Hope this helps.
Patzi

13 lbs in a month is great! That's a 3lb/week loss, which is better than some people do. I think I averaged 2-3 lbs a week, though I had many weeks where it was only 1lb, too.

What is it that has affected your sleeping? Is it some supplement that you're on, or is it just getting up to pee in the middle of the night? I've not had a problem with anything really affecting my sleep, but I fall back asleep pretty quickly.

Some consultants--and even some centers--are very pushy about selling supplements. If you don't want any, just firmly state that you don't want them, either due to the cost or desire to do this without them. If I recall, Patzi even had to get to the point where she basically told them "absolutely not, no thank you, and quit asking." Just firmly ask them to respect your decision.

the consultants make a commission on sales and are oftentimes very pushy ... many people successfully work the program taking no supplements at all other than their own multi-vitamin and an EFA.

and seriously -- use common sense. if you are taking so many supplements, your body can't even absorb them, it just flushes them out. take everything you are taking to your personal physician and ask his/her advice -- I think you will be surprised.

you will lose more weight at the beginning of your program and it will naturally taper off as you get closer to your goal. many people start out losing 4-5 pounds the first month, then 3-4, and by the end of their program will have averaged about 2 per week over the whole course

Before I had my baby, I did the program for 6 months both with and without supplements. I started without and then later took them probably for only about 2 months (MRC6 and cortitrim for part). I couldnt' tell much of a difference, really, but I think it would be hard to definitively prove one way or the other because it's affected much more by how well you're staying OP, but it also depends what phase of the program you're in. At the beginning, you always lose more quickly than toward the end where you can encounter plateaus.

This time around, I'm not taking any of the supplements (I have about 30 left to lose-- 10 from prebaby and 20 that I still haven't dropped a year postbaby). It's a lot of money to spend, and I've always been very wary of "diet pills." This plan is healthy as far as food and HNS are concerned, but I'm not certain about the supplements.

I will, however, use the fat and carb blocker from time to time-- still, not sure if it helps, but it's less frequent than the daily supplements, and I didn't experience any ill efects last time.

Bottom line-- supplements are where they make their money, so they have other motives for getting you to take them than what may be in your best interests. I would discuss it with a doctor before taking them if you're really serious. Also, just be ready for a sales pitch and be firm about your answer. I'm not shy about being assertive, so I've never had a problem at my center, but I know that's tough for some people.