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Has anyone heard of "Body By Vi"? If so, can you tell me about the reliability of the product? Do you believe it to be a scam? Any success stories? Please, fill me in!
My Mother-in-law has been doing it for 2 weeks tomorrow. The first week she Lost 6 lbs and she lost about 1/4 of an inch in all areas (Upper Arms, Chest, Waist, Hips, and Thighs). I do not know before weight and I would hate to guess…but if I had to, I would say she is 5’10 and probably weighted about 180-210? I haven't asked her about week two yet. So far she is happy with the results. And she says the shakes do taste good!
My MIL was leaning at starting weight watchers (again), but decided to go with body by vi because a trusted friend is doing it. Her friend started last Oct. By Jan she had lost 35lbs. So it is seems to be a very healthy weight lost system. Her friend also said she paid the first month ($99) and has not paid since. Other people have been impressed by the results that they sign up using the referral. If the original person has at least 3 referrals, the next month is free. However, I do not think $99 a month is that bad. That is for two shakes a day, so $3.33 per day, and $1.67 per meal. Not too bad.
She says the shakes are very filling. She says they taste great on their own, but she likes adding fresh fruit.
What is difficult for my MIL is figuring out and sticking to sensible snacks. Before, her snacks were a lot of sweets, chips, and other processed things. So she is making lifestyle changes with her snacks by having more fruit and vegetables as snacks. She is also serving herself smaller portions at dinner. So overall, she is making lifestyle changes as well as having the shakes instead of normal breakfast and lunch.
Another thing, is Body by Vi provides a ‘Maintain’ Weight option as well. Where it brings you down to 1 shake a day. So after she gets to her goal weight, she can keep with the ‘maintain’ diet.
It's a MLM (multi level marketing) thing. You buy the product out of pocket, promote others to buy it as well, and you get discounts off your own product, plus you get percentages from the products your "downline" buys. You're pressured into promoting it to others, you can get harrassed if you refuse to promote it to others (such as, you're happy with the product and are willing to pay for it).
Unfortunately, they set it up so that the un-discounted price is RIDICULOUSLY high, and the only way you CAN get your money's worth, is to push it on everyone you know, until everyone you know gets sick of listening to you pushing it, and you lose your friends and your family stops talking to you.
This is how ALL MLMs operate. They get you excited with promises of riches (or free product), trips, prizes, and an income. And then when you realize how stupid the whole thing is, you burn out. If you're lucky, you still have a few friends left to commisserate with.
It's a MLM (multi level marketing) thing. You buy the product out of pocket, promote others to buy it as well, and you get discounts off your own product, plus you get percentages from the products your "downline" buys. You're pressured into promoting it to others, you can get harrassed if you refuse to promote it to others (such as, you're happy with the product and are willing to pay for it).
Unfortunately, they set it up so that the un-discounted price is RIDICULOUSLY high, and the only way you CAN get your money's worth, is to push it on everyone you know, until everyone you know gets sick of listening to you pushing it, and you lose your friends and your family stops talking to you.
This is how ALL MLMs operate. They get you excited with promises of riches (or free product), trips, prizes, and an income. And then when you realize how stupid the whole thing is, you burn out. If you're lucky, you still have a few friends left to commisserate with.
Yeah, I have a friend who started on it a few months or so ago as one of their distributors and each month that goes by, he has gotten more and more aggressive with it.
At this point, he's on Facebook every night posting pictures of BMW's and before and after pictures.
I began to wonder if the pictures were authentic or not and if he was really making the money he is making everyone think he is. Not quoting any paychecks, but saying things like "I have a plan. Next year I'll be at $12K a month".
It sounded eerily similar to the whole Mona Vie thing that went around a few years back.
He believes he'll be at 12k/month by next year, because his "upline" convinced him of it. OR, convinced him that if he keeps telling himself that, it'll come true. That is a -very- typical MLM sales cliche: "believe it, and achieve it!"
MLM companies thrive on people who have hope, and especially on people who are hopeless. They boost the hopeless up with vague promises of riches, saying "you can do this, anyone can do this, you just have to BELIEVE that you can do it."
They pretend there's no such thing as market saturation, they pretend -their- product is immune to the economical problems in this country. In fact, they believe their product is the ANSWER to the economical problems in this country. If everyone would only get smart and sell our stuff, they'd all be rich and all our problems will go away.
Except they forget - if everyone is selling it, who is buying it? Even if it's a great product, chances are it's grossly overpriced, intentionally to convince the buyer to become a distributor so they can get a discount (and ultimately pay what it's actually worth, rather than the inflated ridiculous price).
He believes he'll be at 12k/month by next year, because his "upline" convinced him of it. OR, convinced him that if he keeps telling himself that, it'll come true. That is a -very- typical MLM sales cliche: "believe it, and achieve it!"
MLM companies thrive on people who have hope, and especially on people who are hopeless. They boost the hopeless up with vague promises of riches, saying "you can do this, anyone can do this, you just have to BELIEVE that you can do it."
They pretend there's no such thing as market saturation, they pretend -their- product is immune to the economical problems in this country. In fact, they believe their product is the ANSWER to the economical problems in this country. If everyone would only get smart and sell our stuff, they'd all be rich and all our problems will go away.
Except they forget - if everyone is selling it, who is buying it? Even if it's a great product, chances are it's grossly overpriced, intentionally to convince the buyer to become a distributor so they can get a discount (and ultimately pay what it's actually worth, rather than the inflated ridiculous price).
Sounds spot on to me. It's unfortunate. Though, I will say this.. he has had some success with it. How far it goes is beyond me.
At this point, I'm trying to get back into my exercise routine and my finances are in shambles so it was something worth investigating to me. However, like I said before, I came across Mona Vie a few years ago and this sounded almost identical to that. (BTW, never invested anything in Mona Vie, but was always skeptical of the sales pitch)
An update about my MIL. In 2 weeks she lost 10 lbs and and an inch everywhere. She is not trying to get people to buy it or quit her day job with he. She really is just trying to lose weight, and so far it is working. She is in the right mindset to lose weight. So she if following the diet and making better choices with the one meal a day she does eat.
I understand that it is a marketing scam, and I cannot stand people pushing sales (I have a 2nd cousin that is a herbal life person that is too aggressive. We barely talk). But if you don't mind paying $99 a month (like my MIL), and stick to the diet. I think you will lose weight.
An update about my MIL. In 2 weeks she lost 10 lbs and and an inch everywhere. She is not trying to get people to buy it or quit her day job with he. She really is just trying to lose weight, and so far it is working. She is in the right mindset to lose weight. So she if following the diet and making better choices with the one meal a day she does eat.
I understand that it is a marketing scam, and I cannot stand people pushing sales (I have a 2nd cousin that is a herbal life person that is too aggressive. We barely talk). But if you don't mind paying $99 a month (like my MIL), and stick to the diet. I think you will lose weight.
The issue, is that there is nothing about this Body by Vi "diet" that your MIL can't get elsewhere for less. She can get whey powder at the local GNC or even the vitamin/supplement section of the supermarket, and a multi-vitamin, plus a "women's energy" daily supplement pill.
That's all she'll need for the supplements part of the diet.
And then, she can eliminate all soda/alcohol/juice, stick -exclusively- to unflavored water for a drink after her morning cup of coffee, reduce starchy carbs (bread, potatoes, corn) to a bare minimum (as in, 1 slice of bread per day and no more than one serving of others every 3-4 days). Increase lean proteins, increase green leafy vegetables, include beans at least every other day, keep sugary fruits (such as apples and grapes) to a bare minimum or eliminate them entirely.
Plus, combine with daily exercise including at least 15 minutes of cardio (brisk walking, jogging, or machines) and at least a few sets of core strength training (ab crunches, planks, situps, yoga-ball balancing, etc).
The weight will come off, and it'll cost her less than $15/month for the vitamins, supplements, and whey powder.
The issue, is that there is nothing about this Body by Vi "diet" that your MIL can't get elsewhere for less. She can get whey powder at the local GNC or even the vitamin/supplement section of the supermarket, and a multi-vitamin, plus a "women's energy" daily supplement pill.
That's all she'll need for the supplements part of the diet.
And then, she can eliminate all soda/alcohol/juice, stick -exclusively- to unflavored water for a drink after her morning cup of coffee, reduce starchy carbs (bread, potatoes, corn) to a bare minimum (as in, 1 slice of bread per day and no more than one serving of others every 3-4 days). Increase lean proteins, increase green leafy vegetables, include beans at least every other day, keep sugary fruits (such as apples and grapes) to a bare minimum or eliminate them entirely.
Plus, combine with daily exercise including at least 15 minutes of cardio (brisk walking, jogging, or machines) and at least a few sets of core strength training (ab crunches, planks, situps, yoga-ball balancing, etc).
The weight will come off, and it'll cost her less than $15/month for the vitamins, supplements, and whey powder.
I agree that she can get the near equivalent protein shakes for less by doing some research. Any diet plan is cheaper if a person has the will power to research and plan it out for themselves verses using the diet provider. And ideal, a person would never need a diet provider because they would exercise and eat right. But that is a lot easier said than done.
The OP wanted to know if it was a scam or if there have been any success stories. I just wanted to put it out there that my MIL is so far happy with the product. However, everyone will have a different experience. I personally believe in exercise and portion control. But, I am supportive of my MIL sticking to Body by Vi and being proud of herself and seeing progress. But I am supportive of any diet project that doesn’t cause health concerns.
She doesn’t drink soda/alcohol/juice (Southern Baptist who is very prone to kidney stones). Her liquid intake is 95% coffee (no creamer, and trying to wean herself off artificial sweetners) and water.
With the Body by Vi my MIL is also learning to make life changes. She is trying to incorporate more exercise and is learning about healthier food choices. She was debating about doing weight watchers before she started Body by Vi. However, weight watchers appeared more difficult because a person has to spend all day adding numbers and planning meals. Body by Vi is more of a stepping stone since she knows that twice a day her meal is a shake. The only decision she makes is what fruit to add to the shake. Therefore, she only has to plan small healthy snacks and one meal. It appears to me as a less stressful way losing weight, and still allows her to start making and learning healthier choices.
$99/month does seem like a lot. But when broken down it is $1.65 a shake. I try to break down my meal cost to average about $2-3 per meal (always cooking sensible meals at home, packing lunches, wasting little to nothing). Therefore, $1.65 is not bad, especially, if results are being seen and felt.
A customer at work came in wearing a MonaVie t-shirt. I think the only thing I can say about the company in a positive way, is - they have neat t-shirts.
The rest is overpriced overinflated potentially fraudulent and somewhat useless MLM tripe.
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