Considering Herbalife? Check out this meal plan first
As mentioned in previous Noom blog posts, Herbalife is a “global nutrition company” that’s been around since 1980, with the goal of changing people’s lives with “great nutrition products & programs.” They offer different programs depending on specific goals, including things such as weight management, fitness, personal care, and nutrition.
As a global nutrition company, it is no surprise that they offer multiple nutrition plans aimed at helping consumers shed unwanted weight. Is this diet plan sustainable or a ploy to sell more shakes? Let’s take a look!
Herbalife Meal Plan Details
The Herbalife diet plan is simple in concept. Depending on height and weight, the diet template lays out example meal plans for consumers to follow. The majority of these plans include five meals per day. Of the five meals per day an average of three of these meals are comprised of herbalife shakes or meal replacement bars. These shakes and bars are marketed as meal replacements but taking a closer look, it becomes obvious that these would be very small meals.
The Formula 1 meal replacement shake has only 90 calories per two scoops and closer to 200 calories when mixed with milk. A 200 calorie meal? Average that out across five meals and that is only about 1000 calories per day! Of course you will lose weight restricting calories to 1000 per day (we are hungry just thinking about that). Given these specifics, let’s dive into sustainability!
Herbalife Meal Plan: The Costs
On top of calorie restriction as a major factor in sustainability, it is also important to take into account the cost of this program. The diet plan encourages an average of three meal replacement shakes per day (Formula 1 meal replacement shake). The cost of the Formula 1 shake is $41 USD for 30 servings. Doing some simple math with an average of three shakes per day for a year you would be spending about $1060 per year on one supplement, not including meal replacement bars, normal food, and the recommended vitamin supplements built in to the program. While you may be spending slightly less on groceries, these savings may not justify the extra cash you will be shelling out for a low calorie, soy-based supplement.
Can’t stop, won’t stop?
Ok, you have saved your money and decided to start the Herbalife meal plan. But for how long? What happens when you stop buying the supplements? What do you eat when you no longer have the shakes and bars? Do you plan on buying them for the rest of your life?
At Noom, our philosophy is simple — if you can’t keep up with something forever, we don’t want you doing it now. Most people cannot afford to purchase these food products for life, so for us, it’s not a viable option. And if you were to transition off of food products, it would most likely lead to a regression in your goals! Dependency on a specific product does not equal sustainability.
The Herbalife diet can be summarized by the following: Buy Herbalife products, replace real food with shakes and bars leading to calorie restriction and ultimately weight loss! Sound sustainable? Not really. Want to find the sustainable way to lose weight? See what Noom can do for you.
