Jason A. Smith | The Valdosta Daily TimesAll of Talk of the Town Nutrition's shakes come as a combo that includes a replacement shake and a tea that helps prepare the body for the shake. 

VALDOSTA – Terence Boyd and Dezmon Gray opened Talk of the Town Nutrition about a month ago as a way to give residents more healthy food options.

Their new business uses Herbalife products as a base for the “gourmet shakes” the restaurant sells.

Boyd and Gray have been using Herbalife products for about six years. The two business owners acknowledged that Herbalife has had some bad press in the past, but because of their own success using the product, they wanted to share it with others.

“We got finished up with school and started our own personal fitness school,” Gray said. “We were both eating pretty healthy, but the energy that we got from being on the Herbalife 24 line, the athletic line, is what really sold us on the product. Honestly, we had great results on our own, but … we started to share that opportunity with other people.”

The press is “always about the actual business structure. It’s not about the product. It’s helping people lose weight. Anytime you ever see anything about them in the news, it’s about the business structure, not the product.”

Gray agreed and defended the product: “We’ve been doing it for six years, and the way Herbalife goes there is always somebody on Wall Street trying to bring the company down, but if there were an issue with the product, then the company still wouldn’t be around.”

After about a year of using the product, Gray and Boyd decided to try and share their experience with Herbalife to the community. They struggled to get the business up and running until recently.

“We have been trying to do this for about five years,” Boyd said.” You know, we had some setbacks as far as finances and finding someone that really believed in us to help us out.”

“Everything just worked together,” Gray said. “We know Valdosta is limited to healthier options, so we wanted to make our community a little healthier.”

While most Herbalife products are sold online or through personal marketing, Gray and Boyd said their restaurant is a way for people to try Herbalife products in a more accessible manner.

To do this, the company offers 25 meal-replacement “gourmet shakes.” Each shake has 25 vitamins and minerals, about five grams fiber, less than 25 grams of carbohydrates and 24 grams of protein, Gray said.

The shakes are designed to not only be healthy but to taste good. The shakes are made using various blends of peanuts, protein mix, blueberries, strawberries, peaches, blackberries, razzberries, bananas, apple chips, chocolate and other ingredients. To make the shakes sweet, they use dulce de leche. It is what adds the sweet-milk taste and is soy based.

“Twenty-one out of our 25 shakes are all plant-based and vegan-friendly,” Boyd said.

Each shake comes with a drink that works in tandem with the shake.

“You get a blend of aloe and tea,” Boyd said. “You are getting antioxidants and from the tea and it has a detoxifying effect. The aloe offers 75 different nutrients that help with digestion.”

The shake and the drink are designed to work as a system where you drink the tea first, he said. The tea preps your body to receive the nutrients for your body.

Talk of the Town Nutrition is the newest way for Boyd and Gray to express their passion for health, they said.

“It makes losing weight easier and fun,” Gray said about the shakes. “You are getting something tasty and is basically making you realize that because you are trying to be healthy doesn’t have to be bland.”

Within opening the business, Boyd said he lost weight because he was using the product more.

“I was able to lose five pounds the first week we were open because of the consistency,” he said.

While consistency with any diet is critical, neither Boyd nor Gray uses Herbalife products as their only source of nutrients.

“We eat food every day,” Gray said. “We just know this is a better place to stop at than the fast-food place. You won’t feel as sluggish, and when you feel better, you do better.”

Bringing a healthy option that is fast and easy is part of Boyd and Gray’s goal. Boyd said he is just as weak as anyone else and dieting is not easy.

“Just because we are personal trainers and push personal health doesn’t mean we don’t go through the same struggles as everyone else,” he said.

By making the shakes readily available and easy to pick up on the go, Boyd and Gray said they hope to help make Valdosta a healthier community by offering a healthy alternative.

Talk of the Town Nutrition, 2941 N. Ashley St., Suite B., is open 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. For more information, call (229) 262-1382.

Jason Smith is a reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times. He can be contacted at 229-244-3400 ext.1257.