Just when you might be feeling like the back of a bus you might see the adverts for the Alevere weight loss programme, coincidentally (?) often advertised on the back of buses! Desperate times call for desperate measures.
The pain (both physical and mental) of excessive weight can be considerable and this is what the Alevere diet supposedly helps you to tackle.
- But what does the Alevere diet involve?
- How much does it cost?
- Will it work?
You may know Alevere by a different name. A few years back it was known as Alizonne but rebranded to Alevere but fundamentally it is the same business in terms of what is offered.
What is involved in being on Alevere?
The first thing to point out is that the Alevere diet is based on the starvation diet. It is a low calorie, low carbohydrate diet. The process consists of four different techniques: ultrasound therapy, connective tissue massage, medical diet and longer-term maintenance.
The diet is often recommended for 20 weeks in order to achieve the client’s target weight though this obviously varies between individuals. In the first phase of the diet, you have 5 sachets a day that they claim meets your nutritional requirements (when combined with some veggies, presumably to avoid constipation).
How much does Alevere cost?
Before you buy Alevere sachets though you must consider all the additional costs involved. Alongside the sachets are regular ultrasound treatments which are intended to break up the fat cells and also to tighten skin.
The need for skin tightening is because there is the potential for a significant amount of weight to come off in the short term. GPs recommend a pound or two a week of weight loss and sustainable.
On Alevere people can lose 1 or 2kg per week. This rapid weight reduction due to starvation means the skin has little time to adapt so intervention is needed.
Video proof that there will always be two sides (and sometimes more) to the weight loss conversation
Starvation is not a good idea
When the body is starved it reacts to the perceived famine by breaking down muscle tissue (among other things). This means that weight can reduce significantly but so can muscle mass.
The muscles contribute to a large percentage of the calories the body uses so smaller muscles means fewer calories are used which means more can be stored down the line as fat, once you return to eating a non-starvation based diet.
There is also research that shows that after a period of starvation the body stores more fat than it would if you hadn’t starved yourself. This means that the potential for a rebound after the treatment phase is dramatically increased.
Does the Alevere diet work?
Starving your body will usually have an impact. The question is are you prepared for the expense of the process and the implications of a starvation diet.
As always there are mixed results on all diets and Alevere is no different. People do report changes in the short term but this is to be expected when you are consuming just 750 calories a day in some cases. This can be very difficult to stick to because your body is screaming out for food a lot of the time.
The Alevere approach does nothing overt to address the underlying beliefs and assumptions about food. It just removes food and replaces it with sachets of powder.
The idea is that once you have broken down the previous approach by replacing it with the sachets that you can then build things up with a focus on what is a balanced, nutritious and in proportion for you. This is the main focus of the maintenance part of the diet.
I think the majority of people have an understanding of what is healthy and what is not. This isn’t the problem in most cases. This is especially true when you consider most people going on the Alevere diet will have tried many other diets before this point.
As a part of that experience, they will have been building up knowledge on what is nutritious and what is not. These people need something that will help them put that knowledge into action and to help them to make healthier choices more often. Alevere does not help with this side of things as far as we can tell.
Questions and doubts about ultrasonic treatment
A peer-reviewed scientific study looked at the use of ultrasonic cavitation, which seems to be the technique used by Alevere. It found that “Weight remained unchanged throughout the study, indicating that the reduction in circumference and fat thickness was not related to weight loss. No significant change in levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, and liver markers was observed.” Jasminka & Victor, 2010
The ultrasound technique is reported by some to be effective in the short term but the long-term benefits are considered to be nearly non-existent by many. The ultrasonic procedure is cosmetic only, according to the journal Obesity Surgery.
What does Alevere cost?
Based on the first-hand experience of Nael Mahfouz who wrote a review about Alizonne cost on Trustpilot it is clear that the Alizonne diet is not for everyone based purely on the cost.
Treatments = £130 per week / £520 per month
Sachets = £92.50 per week / £370 per month
Supplements = £30 per week / £120 per month
Approximate total cost per month = £1000
Approximate length of diet = 20 weeks / 5 months
Desperate people often are willing to try almost anything to reach their goals and will say things like…
“But I have tried every other diet, maybe Alevere is the one that will help me reach my goal”
Maybe. It is possible. However, perhaps it is all diets that don’t work for you. Diets do not work for the vast majority of people. Within any diet there will always be people who succeed and people who fail, regardless of the rules and regulations of the particular diet.
What is often effective is empowering people to take control of their thoughts, feelings and then behaviour.
The analysis of diets shows that to a large extent the type of diet a person is on does not matter in terms of their success. What does play a huge role in the attitude and psychology of the person on the diet.
What are some of the possible side effects of Alevere?
The Alevere diet focuses a huge amount on the potential benefits but not so much on the downsides of the process. Some of the side effects of the Alevere diet are:
With rapid weight loss comes increased chance of
- Saggy skin afterwards
- Diarrhoea
- Stomach cramps
- Constipation
- Flatulence
What do Alevere say on their own website about the possible side effects?
Precious little is the honest answer. Do a Google search for “Alevere possible side effects” and you won’t find a single page talking about this. This is a little strange because for the people who Alevere does not work well with they experience some significant side effects.
Alevere reviews from people who have done the process
There are a large number of reviews of Alevere out there. Some very positive, some very negative. When we look at buying something for less than £50 on Amazon the reviews tend to be very influential and if it has 4 or 4.5 gold stars many people will buy the product without thinking about it.
Spending £5,000+ means that it is essential to look at the reviews in much more detail. This is a BIG investment and requires more consideration.
Janet Kennedy’s review of Alevere:
“Complete waste of money as soon as you stop the weight piles back on double quick. cost a fortune and still paying for it, very unhealthy I was on it twice ended in 2 hospital admissions.”
The first 3 reviews on this page were originally posted on www.dietpillswatchdog.com but since then the page has been deleted. The content is saved in this archive of the deleted pages
“Iv done alizonne twice now lost all the weight 10st in total and it all has come back on twice its devastating If your an overeater it will come back on !!!! especially if aftercare is pretty much none existent”
Nicola’s review of Alivere
“Did the diet in 2010 and lost 4.5 stones. Maintenance phase rubbish, care is gone, and ended putting all weight back on plus more! Cost me £7k over the 5 months. I looked great but one you stop the losing weight phase you may as well not bother. Skin treatments stop and they ask you to now add carbs, fatal!” Sarah Ward’s review of Alevere
“I tried this diet in 2011 and got great results for the 20 weeks I was on it however the support post diet was awful and i steadily put the weight back on.
It became clear that the bulk of the weight I lost was in fact muscle tissue, as a former rugby player I carried a great deal of muscle under an excess of 3 to 4 Stone of fat. The weightloss was muscle as my body canabalised itself due to drastic calorie reduction. The diet is dangerous please please avoid” Ian’s review of Alivere
“But this is a hard diet. You will probably be consuming less than 1000 calories per day; in our case, it was closer to 750 calories per day. You are expected to drink quite a lot of water (between 2 and 3 litres of water per day) which is both difficult and will cause frequent dashes to the toilet. Constipation, stomach upsets and flatulence will occur disturbingly frequently.” Nael Mahfouz’s review of Alevere – 2 stars
“I can’t give more than one star for my experience with the Alevere diet plan because it did not give me the rapid weight loss it promised. So beware, before you part with your money, it does not shift weight rapidly for everyone.
I lost 1lb in week one, 1lb in week 2 and 2.5lb in week 3 so I didn’t continue on the plan after week 4 because at that rate if loss I would be bankrupt before I reached my target weight. And yes, I had stuck rigidly to the plan with no cheating.” Elaine Anslow’s review of Alevere – 1 star
“The costs involved is high but thought if the desired weight loss happens it would be worth it. You are promised that you will get all the help you need and that there will always be someone on the end of the telephone if you need to talk to a therapist or the doctor. That is not the case! I had to wait almost all day on my second day for a call back.!! They do not prepare you for some pretty awful side effects. When I asked the doctor during the consultation about any side effects, he brushed over them saying its was only a few that had them.
This definitely is not for everyone! When I called to say that I was going to discontinue the program they didn’t even ask why, I think they are only interested in making money!!!” Mrs Maralyn Randall’s review of Alevere – 2 stars
What are the alternatives to Alevere?
If you are considering spending around £5,000 on Alevere there are a lot of other alternatives you could consider before spending such a considerable amount of money.
Gastric band surgery
The research in this area is extensive and the surgery is very common these days. It could be that this approach could be a better alternative to Alevere for some people.
Personal trainer
At around £30 per session you could have an hour-long session twice a week for a year and a half.
Hypnotherapy for weight loss
On average the total cost of hypnotherapy for weight loss with us is just £280 and it focuses on the most important part of weight reduction….how you think and feel.
Get the right attitude for weight loss through hypnosis
You will potentially have more success in reducing your weight by getting the right focus or attitude in place first. This is why hypnotherapy is not about dieting. It is about a shift in attitude, expectation and focus. It is designed to empower you to take control of your head first THEN your body.
Weight took time to creep on. The healthiest and most sustainable way to get rid of it is also taking the slow and steady approach. If you are permanently hungry do you think you would be more or less likely to want to eat?
Alevere says that you have to suffer (financially and emotionally) for rapid results that may not last that long. At the end of the process, nothing will have been done directly to change your thoughts or feelings about the foods you ate that contributed to your excess weight.
Hypnotherapy works in the opposite way. It helps you to think, act and feel like a naturally slim person.
For more information on what hypnosis is and why it could be a better alternative for you compared to something like Alevere give us a call today on 0114 383 0123 for a free chat about your goals.