ViSalus diet shakes and stuff

[Misfit]

Hmmmmph. I get a call out of the blue from my sister-in-law (we haven't visited in years and years), and she's all pumped about this ViSalus challenge, how my brother's just taken the challenge and wanting to get the rest of the family on board. No how are ya, what's new in your life, just right into all this exciting ViSalus stuff. Watch the video she says and I'll call you back in 45 minutes.

Well, I was at the tail end of the book, and kind of rummy from being up too early (damned insomnia), but I did watch some of it, but things started feeling off and I went to Amazon (they do sell everything), and started reading the critical reviews. By the time SIL calls me back, I got the feeling this wasn't a product for me (I loathe the mess that comes with shakes and blenders), plus it was starting to smell like a pyramid scheme. No surprise, but it turns out SIL is selling this stuff, and I got quite a hard sell - *I'll come back and make you a shake*, here's more websites you can read about it and when can you read all that stuff and get me an answer? And if I'm worried about the initial costs, I can sell X kits to my friends and get the stuff for free (I would never hard sell my friends on anything but a book).

Sheesh. I've just now been doing my own googling since I haven't seen her links.

Anyhow, anyone heard of this? Have any experiences they'd like to share?

Better yet, recommendations on politely turning SIL down?

[Divia]

Never heard of it before. But it does sound like a scheme. Just tell her you aren't interested you dont have any friends and it costs too much

[Misfit]

[quote=""Divia""]Never heard of it before. But it does sound like a scheme. Just tell her you aren't interested you dont have any friends and it costs too much [/quote]

Thanks. I really feel put out that she's stuck in this position. If say my brother had been on it for 90 with tremendous success and thought you might be interested that would be a different story. I hate pushy sales, I get so much of that from cold calls at work.

Amazon sells the stuff. Wonder what would happen if I said sounds great, I just ordered it through them?

[MLE (Emily Cotton)]

I friended an old aquantance, and his facebook page was just one long advertisement for Visalus. In all fairness, I could understand his enthusiasm, because from the photos he was posting he was half the size he used to be. But it does appear to be another MLM (multi-Level Marketing) product. They aren't pyramids, those are now illegal, but MLMs are essentially low-cost franchises where most of the markup for the effort of selling the product goes to somebody else. They all spin fantasies of big bucks, but the most the point-of-retail person ever gets is a 30% markup, and any good business person can tell you that unless you are amazon or Costco with mega-volume, the markup has to be much higher than that to cover the costs of engaging in business.

Plus it is very tiresome dealing with people who are trying to make a buck on you. Especially when their biggest (albeit unconscious) driving force is to prove that they were not a fool for falling for the pitch -- by finding a bunch of greater fools.

[Lisa]

Wow, that is so rude of her! If I had no communication with someone for ages, then they suddenly contacted me out of the blue without preamble and suggested that I needed to use a diet product to lose weight, I wouldn't worry about politely turning them down! But I know it isn't that straightforward with family members.

Although I've never tried any of these diet shake products, I personally wouldn't go near it - it's not real food, how can it be better for you than eating real food (i.e. non-processed stuff)? People don't need it at all, it's just something that's been created to make money, which is evident through the way it's sold. If your SIL is already sold on it though she probably won't listen to reason, so I would suggest just firmly decline and make it clear you have no interest in it at all – never bring up the subject, change the subject if someone mentions it, and never ask any family members who take it up how their weight loss is going, etc. That might at least avoid conflict.

[Misfit]

Thanks for the advice ladies. I have to say it was a bit unsettling to get a call like that out of the blue just to sell me something

I agree about these shakes and diet stuff, it really just comes down to calories, proper eating and diet. But oh how I wish I could have told her I'd been on the right road and had my old figure back and didn't need her stupid product.

[LCW]

That's extremely rude of her. Weight is a touchy subject and I only broach it with my own mother, who does really need to lose weight, when she brings it up. To bring it up out of the blue to anyone, let alone someone you haven't spoken too in a while is just bad form.

Not not mention those shakes and cereals seem like processed to death "products" rather than real whole natural foods. Anyone can lose weight on a very low calorie restrictive diet but it's not the healthy way to do it IMO. Just ignore her or tell her you're not interested.

[Misfit]

[quote=""LCW""]That's extremely rude of her. Weight is a touchy subject and I only broach it with my own mother, who does really need to lose weight, when she brings it up. To bring it up out of the blue to anyone, let alone someone you haven't spoken too in a while is just bad form.

Not not mention those shakes and cereals seem like processed to death "products" rather than real whole natural foods. Anyone can lose weight on a very low calorie restrictive diet but it's not the healthy way to do it IMO. Just ignore her or tell her you're not interested.[/quote]

I so wish I'd been able to tell her I didn't need it, had gotten all the weight off this year. Darn.

I don't even want to take the time to watch all the hoopla on the whip-up-the-enthusiasm video, or the other websites. I was so burned she called out of the blue (I was trying to finish the last of a book with plenty of cliff-hangers), and to watch it all Right Away.

A co-worker of mine familiar with these shake like products took a look at it and said not to bother. Like you said, it's about healthy eating and not just cutting calories. I won't be buying.

[Divia]

[quote=""LCW""]That's extremely rude of her. Weight is a touchy subject and I only broach it with my own mother, who does really need to lose weight, when she brings it up. To bring it up out of the blue to anyone, let alone someone you haven't spoken too in a while is just bad form.

Not not mention those shakes and cereals seem like processed to death "products" rather than real whole natural foods. Anyone can lose weight on a very low calorie restrictive diet but it's not the healthy way to do it IMO. Just ignore her or tell her you're not interested.[/quote]

Agreed. I have a friend who is morbidly obese and I NEVER bring it up unless she does. I mean its not like she doesnt already know! I think we ALL know what our bodies are like.

[DianeL]

As to the actual refusal - the only possible and the only polite hope you have is the simple, unadorned, completely context-free "NO." People like this, if you give them the slightest reason or (heaven help you) excuse, will argue down anything you say. No without supporting documentation is just no. They might still argue, but at least you haven't given them the path to take to do so.

Good lord, PEOPLE. So invasive, that sort of thing.

A friend and I were talking just last night about a mutual acquaintance (NOT a friend) who has emailed us both to ask for help on a very weird and personal project of hers, and to help her MOVE. I simply ignored both of those emails, and there appears to be no problem when I've seen this person since. But I was positively baffled at the requests in the first place. It mystifies me to encounter people who go through life just asking for anything like that. Apparently it works enough to continue the practice, but that in itself rather bewilders me too.