Hi Ladies,

After trolling this forum for about 6 weeks, I finally went in to my local MRC center (McKinney, TX) and had a consultation. They are currently running a special where you get 17 weeks for $199 ($100 off). Of course, usually you pay $299 and get the saliva test for free, so for the $199, you don't get the saliva test but you can pay an additional $100 to get it. That cracks me up. I've decided that I really don't care what the saliva test reveals and I'll save my $100 there.

Also, it seems that other than the HSNs, I need a good multi vitamin (will opt for a pharmaceutical grade one at The Vitamin Shop in lieu of Walmart but still cheaper than MRC), a good Flax Seed Oil (how much of this are you guys taking), and the MRC6, which after lots of research looks like I can purchase online for half the cost under the name of KLB5 (only thing different seems to be no B6, which I can ensure is in the multivitamin that I choose). Do these substitutions sound reasonable? Is anyone else using these instead of the MRC-specific products?

This keeps my joining cost down at the $200 for 17 weeks (I need to lose 43 lbs in 15 weeks to get down to 135 from 178), and if I factor in about 3 HSNs per day, that puts me at about $85/month for HSNs if I buy them at the bulk rate of $50 for 5 boxes ($100 if I need to go up to 4 per day).

If I do it this way, I think I can keep it in a manageable budget for me. I have an appt. tomorrow at 1pm to actually join. Special ends tomorrow!

Any advice about the above is greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!

The vitamin and flax oil should be fine. Many people do not use any supplements at all -- wondering why you feel you need the MRC6? When the HNS are on sale at diet direct dot com, you can get them cheaper. Congratulations on your first step!!

guinevere75, sounds like a plan. I attend Mckinney as well and the ladies there are great but they will try and sell you. I started with all the extras but weened myself down to healthfood store multi, and flax or efa's and I still averaged 2lbs a week. The Holidays slowed me down but I did reach my goal in plenty of time for the summer. Good luck to you, it's not easy but so worth it. I have found the key is the HNS's and water, water water.
sexyrene

Thx Deb. In digging through lots of posts on this forum, it seemed like MRC6 was something that most ladies take and think works, thus I had decided that the cheaper version would be worth the cost - it's $24/bottle for a 2 month supply (180 capsules). Do you think it's a non-important piece? Also, what are the HNS called on the diet direct site? Thx for that tip - I'm always looking for a deal.

Thx Sexyrene - you actually answered some of my initial questions a few weeks ago - much appreciated! Do those girls in McKinney work off of a commission? I hope not - I'll be a poor client for them if so - I'm pretty thrifty and not swayed easily by sales pitches. I thought I was going to fall out when she told me I could buy the saliva test for $100 (discounted of course from the usual price of $205)!!

here is a label from PROTI, same as MRC clear hns. There are several different flavors. hope this helps.

if you do the meal-replacement bars, the BARIWISE are beyond good!

All the best!

Thx so much, Joy! See you post alot here - you look fabulous and I can see you've lost a tremendous amount of weight, so much congrats!

I just finished all my paperwork and am officially enrolled - I begin preconditioning tomorrow, and have my 1st meeting on next Friday, June 4, to get my menu and get started on the plan.

I bought their EFA, but nothing else. Seemed like $21 was fine to spend on that for the guarantee of no fishy taste - will definately look for a lower-cost comparable match in the future.

Also, went to the Vitamin Ship and got a good multi-vitamin along with some calcium and magnesium (which I think I may have actually seen you recommend on another thread, Joy - but could be remembering wrong).

I'm ready to go! Now how do I get one of those cool tickers at the bottom?

I figured it out. I'm all set now!

yip, on the magnesium, I swear by NATURAL CALM. It is awesome. You sleep better, you are calmer, oh well. Best.

Joy2MeNu, what brand do you use for the creamy puddings? And on the BariWise drinks, what kind of sweetener is used? I see it says nutritive but I don't know what that is. Everything else seems comparable.

I may not be much help here. The only creamy puddings I have purchased are through MRC, both the chocolate and the vanilla. Really like both of them. I am sure someone else may respond as to options from dietdirect.com on this. I just haven't trieda any of theirs yet!

Yes, I too have asked about sweetners. All I know is that it is not aspartame, and I needed to hear that. I prefer no man-made sweeteners, but if that is what I must do, it may be the lesser of two evils! My sweetener choice outside of the products is TRUVIA. --Joy2MeNu