Hi - I am going to buy my vitimans and supplements this Friday at the class. I read that a lot of people buy the same stuff elsewhere - is it the same stuff exactly? Can someone give me details on what not to buy and what to buy from the center? Thanks so much.

The only thing I buy from my center is the EFA - it's $21 a bottle I think, and I like their formula because it doesn't have any fishy burps along w/it - some EFAs do that and I can't stand it. But you can totally find that at a vitamin shop (probably for cheaper) - I just haven't had a chance to look yet.

I generally buy all my HSNs from www.dietdirect.com - I wait for the Proti Diet Concentrates or the Bariwise Powders to go on sale, and then I stock up and by 15+ or more boxes - if you buy like that, you can get them down to like $8/box w/free shipping included. I only buy HSNs from my center when I am out of Proti/Bariwise and DietDirect isn't running a sale - then it's the same to just to pick up 10 boxes from my center for $90 (and wait for the next sale online). The key is to ensure that whatever formula you decide to purchase, ensure that you're getting something with 15 g of protein and less than 4 grams of carbs per serving.

All my other vitamins and whatnot, I've gotten from my local vitamen shop. I used an online version of MRC6 for six weeks (called KLB5 and purchased it from bariatricfoods.com, I believe) - but decided to stop taking that all together to save money about 3 weeks ago and have had no noticiable ill effects from stopping that (i.e. it did not slow down my weight loss or my inch loss).

The centers don't sell bad products - they just tend to sell unnecessary products or overpriced products. Best of luck to you!!

Also, when purchasing vitamins (regardless of the store), keep in mind they're not regulated. There's no guarantee that a package that says it's x amount of a vitamin isn't actually just a bunch of filler with a little vitamin.

There's a very diverse range of quality out there and the cheapest multi vitamin you can possibly find doesn't mean it's comparable to the mid range multi. Purchase from trusted, reputable sources to ensure you're actually getting the nutrition you think you're getting.

I recently went to vitamin shoppe to stock up on some replacement products so I would be less dependent on the center and didn't really save any money, the center doesn't really charge any more for their vitamins than a regular store and the HNS's are only like $1/box more than diet direct when you land a sale from them. MRC's higher priced products are just the proprietary ones (MRC-6, enhancer, etc).

Good luck!

I don't buy anything from the center anymore. I get fish oil at Costco, KLB-5 from Diet Direct, and any other vitamins from Target. I take a prenatal vitamin instead of a regular since we are going to TTC this fall.

Thank you all. What is TTC?

ttc=trying to conceive

Does anyone buy the Meal Replacement Shakes from anywhere else. I like there shakes for the times i am in a hurry and don't have time to make my lunch in the morning. Just looking to see if there is a cheaper alternative out there?

When you buy HNS from another source (Diet Direct, etc), does that staff ever say anything negative about it? I've only bought from the center...

My staff has never said anything negative to me when I've mentioned that I've bought product elsewhere. I don't advertise it, but I wouldn't lie about it either when asked.

Do all of you ladies take phentatrim or the enhancer? If so, any suggestions of a replacement for them?

I found Walgreens had the Co Q10 buy 1 get 1 free so I stocked up on 60 days worth for 1/2 the price of 30 days at the center.