Over the past few months, I’ve had a ton of people reach out to me and ask me how I lost so much weight. Many of them are shocked when I tell them I didn’t use any supplements or any special diet. That’s right, I did it the old-fashioned way.

I didn’t always believe in doing it the true “all-natural” way. I even tried joining itWorks because I was convinced that I needed a little push. My self-esteem was low and I was preyed on, but that’s what MLM companies do, isn’t it? So, I paid $99 for my starter kit. The boy was that a waste of money.

I even sold a wrap to someone (and I’m so sorry to that person). Their wraps dehydrate you to take down bloating, but I quickly found that it’s only a temporary fix. That was my problem, I didn’t know that they dehydrate you because I didn’t investigate the company.

I didn’t consider the products or the science, I just regurgitated what I’d been hearing. When I saw how distributors were told to post about “looking for models for a discounted price,” I knew it was a bad place. Those discounts? They’re just the distributor price. The whole thing gave me the creeps and I silently ghosted the company.

I got a few messages from my upline later. She asked me where I stood with itWorks. I told her that I had mixed feelings. For one thing, I didn’t have my second campus job yet so I really needed the money. Being a college student with Celiac meant that I couldn’t rely on my meal plan to get me through the day.

I buy upwards of 70 dollars of food each week. On top of that, I still hadn’t shed the weight I’d wanted to lose. Maybe these products could really help me, but deep down, I knew that they couldn’t. I didn’t want to prey on women. I’d always called myself a women’s activist, so I asked myself, could a women’s activist participate in an industry that’s known for causing problems for women? No, I couldn’t.

After I ghosted the company, I came across a documentary called Betting on Zero. It’s about Bill Ackman, a CEO of a hedge fund holding a short position on another one of these “health” companies, Herbalife. When looking at the structure, I was amazed. Herbalife was not much different than itWorks.

If someone wants you to pay them so that you can work for them, it’s probably a pyramid scheme. If you make money through recruiting rather than selling, it’s probably a pyramid scheme. And pyramid schemes are not the type of work environments you want to deal with.

As for how I lost weight? I severely limited my sugar intake. I still eat carbs, fat, and the occasional bowl of ice cream, I just count sugar grams. Many supplement companies claim to be “all-natural” and then they add things like gluten and soy to their protein powder. It’s bogus. Don’t put that stuff in your body.

Stick to good old food, exercise and fun, because even if you don’t lose weight, you’ll feel great with a balanced diet.