We have a rarity today – me reviewing an item that I’ve had a change of heart on.

Do you all remember back in December when I bought an InsideTracker? I decided to try it because I wanted my 30s to be the decade I focus on my numbers and internal health. It also helped that running experts and influencers – whose opinions I respect – were sharing their results of InsideTracker and talking about how the program worked to help them increase their performance, as well as overall health. The evidence of it being effective is there, so I thought why not.

Throughout December, January and February I filled out the daily to-dos I completed on the app and responded to the text notifications asking me if I took my alpha lipoic acid vitamins, if I sat less, if I got my heart rate up. This wasn’t too bad.

Then I noticed around early March the to-do list wasn’t available for me to fill out. Initially this didn’t register as something odd. My original 90 day goals were set in early December for a blood draw follow up in early March. However, in late December I decided to add some additional goals that reset my 90-day date to late March. An email to InsideTracker’s customer service confirmed that I could get my blood work done really anytime in March, so the 90-day date wasn’t set in stone.

March went on. Eventually I reached out customer service about getting my blood draw forms emailed to me like I did in December. While I was working on that email draft, a new email come into my inbox.

InsideTracker was offering a spring savings in late March just like the deal I took advantage of in November for Black Friday.

The wheels started turning and I had a hunch I knew what was going on.

I deleted a chunk of text from that draft and re-wrote it now asking if the only way to get my blood draw paperwork was to re-order an entirely new program every three months.

Here’s what I got back (me note: I copied and pasted text only from my email. The customer service rep’s name is redacted.)

Hey Allison,

If you would like to have another blood tests, you would have to purchase the plan again.

So, what you’re seeing is that we offer bulk orders to save money off the sticker price. The best part is, you can also apply any discount code on top of bulk orders to save even more! Then, within or at 6 months, which is when most of our customers retest, you have your next lab slip ready to go!

I recommend looking at buying in bulk,

Why bundle and save? We recommend retesting at the anytime between the 3-6 month mark to see how your biomarkers are improving after committing your personalized recommendations. You can save these tests for your retest.

I’m sorry, bulk? Re-order?

I looked all over the FAQs on InsideTracker’s website. To be fair, there’s a ton of topics covered under the FAQ pages regarding what to expect once you use the program and everything is detailed. The only thing I saw under the “Before You Buy” is a reference to most customers retesting on average of seven months.

However, there is nothing explicitly stating this is a plan you have to re-order after three or six months in order to get the tests. I was under the impression I would order it once, that the plan was good for a year and then I would re-order next November.

And frankly, this is expensive. Even with the Black Friday code I used, my total for the Essentials Package with the Inner Age 2.0 addition was $288. Buying that three more times throughout the calendar year totals to $1,152 for blood tests and to fill out an app.

The Ultimate, which is the big kahuna package the running influencers all love and use – which incidentally is the package InsideTracker promotes the most – is $589 per test.

Do you all realize you could potentially spend between $1,000 to $2,356 per year?

At first I was unhappy when I realized that the financial investment wasn’t what I thought, but now I’m simply disappointed. The biomarker screening, the daily reminders and the goal planning part of the program are solid. But is it actually worth spending that kind of money to get a blood test and reminders sent to yourself?

Health is important but so is money, especially coming out of a pandemic. I do not think InsideTracker is worth it unless you’ve got the money to spend (or burn.)

Also, going through FAQs with a fine tooth comb, asking questions when something doesn’t sound complete and taking influencers with a grain of salt – even when they do know their stuff – is always a good rule to follow.

So with all that being said, I won’t be using InsideTracker in the future. Whatever choices you all make with your money is your business, and I hope health and wealth follow you as the result.

Until next time,

Allison