L.A. Weight Loss

[maplekitty]

Anyone use this? What's it like? Do you like it?

I've done Weight Watchers, and I just want to know what L.A. Weight loss is like compared to it?

[jp'swife]

I did LA from November of 2003 to about May of 2004. I lost over 45 pounds.
(of course, then I got prego and gained it ALLL back and then some but that's another thread). :)
Anyway, with LA, you meet with a counselor about 3 days a week and follow a food guideline (a little card that they supply to you that tells you portions, what types of food to eat, etc). They also like you to buy their snack bars which is extra from the cost of the program. They aren't cheap, especially considering that you are to eat 2 per day and each box costs about $28 if I remember it correctly.
I would say it's different than WW (which I haven't done) in the sense that they don't provide the food for you. With LA, you have to shop for all you know. It wasn't all that bad considering that it does prepare you for the real world situations like the grocery shopping for the proper items. Then again, everything is pre-packaged now in the frozen section....hmmm.

[RobynScott]

I did it and lost weight on it - it's a good program but $$$$$. The bars they want you to buy are basically the same as Slim Fast Bars at twice the cost. The 'counselors' that help you are actually all salespeople and don't need to know anything about nutrition. They make you pay for the whole program up front at $7/week (thankfully it was on 'special' for like $3/week when I did it). It worked - but I probably wouldn't do it again b/c too $$ and they are really there to make sales.

I prefer WW - the one thing is, on WW there is more choice - which has also been my downfall. LA Weight Loss - if you stick to the progarm (and I did) -is low carb and it works well - but I can't see doing it for life. I definitely would not sign up again at $7/week - just way too $$ for something you could really do with WW as well.

[jp'swife]

The 'counselors' that help you are actually all salespeople and don't need to know anything about nutrition. They make you pay for the whole program up front at $7/week (thankfully it was on 'special' for like $3/week when I did it). It worked - but I probably wouldn't do it again b/c too $$ and they are really there to make sales.

I totally agree with you! It was very very expensive. I think I remember paying over $700 up front (DH just about had a fit).
I don't think I would do it again either. I still have the cards with the portion/food information on them and would just follow that without paying money to join them again and go to their 'knowledgable' "counselors".

[RobynScott]

Jill,

If you still have the cards, do you remember which plan you were on? I was on Gold and if I could find the cards, I would probably follow at least some of the principles that worked for me. I admit that the plan worked for me (and, at the time, it was worth the $$ to me for the 30 pounds I took off) - but I wouldn't do it again.

I definitely think WW is the weigh to go. (bad pun intended :p )

[princesse]

I am in agreement with everyone on everything. I signed up last January on a $3 a week special and with all costs I think it was over $1000!!!!! I thought that would motivate me to lose but in the end I had to do it my own 'weigh' (pun intended). You pay for the bars (there is a selection of bars and soups and stuff called LA Lites) up front, at least I did, so I hear you about the sales pressure. Once you are armed with the eating guide and the diary I kind of feel like you are good to go if you can be disciplined...then again if you can be disciplined you can pretty much do any diet huh?

One good thing is that I thought the bars were really yummy. Currently the medication I am on for my migraines totally kills my appetite so I dropped the 30 pounds I wanted to. I still have a ton of the bars that I have already paid for....if someone wants to do the program or wants the LA Lite Bars I would be happy to sell them at a drastically reduced price. I will never use all that I have already paid for and would be happy for someone else to be able to. Just PM me:-) Actually I have the cook book and other stuff if anyone is interested in it as well.......

[paiger]

I did LAWL last year. Here is my post from the WC thread about it:
link to the thread ~ http://boards.weddingchannel.com/thread.jspa?messageID=4033090�

i started LAWL about a month ago, and i have A LOT to say about it. it was a weak moment when i woke up one morning that was chillier than normal, and i didn't feel like i was fitting in my winter clothes. i had been up drinking and eating w/ my DH till 3am, and i was a bit unrational. the center is across the street from my house, and i didn't even consult my DH about the cost b/c in your first meeting they really don't tell you what it is going to be.

they tell you that you pay for 2 pounds a week for how ever many weightloss weeks you are going to have, 6 weeks of stabilization and a year of maintenance at $8/wk. then, they say that if you do the program correctly that you get over half of this back after the year of maintenance. so, in my irrational thinking, i think that the money i get back will surely pay for the LA lite bars that they wanted you to buy b/c they tell you if you buy them in bulk you get them cheaper. in the first 3 days you do this take off juice that basically cleans you out, so i lost 4 lbs of H2O weight, which they acted like was incredible. after the initial weightloss, you have a meeting about how much the lites are really going to be, etc like what jp'sbride said. not only that but buying in bulk only happens on that day (or special occasions) right after you pay your initial fee which is $$$, and it is really only like $.50 off a bar.

basically, reality sunk in at that point on what i had done to my DH's and mine really poor finances. we could NOT afford it!! i was hysterical that night crying, and i went in the next day to tell them. well, the consultant tells me that their contract says that the only way that you can get ANY of your money back is w/ a doctor's notice or if you die. i said 'wait, that's not what my contract says b/c if i'd known there was no 'grace refund period', i wouldn't have done this'! sure enough, they had had me sign the wrong contract!! so, after talking w/ the manager, they decided that they would shorten my program to 26 weeks w/ just a shortened maintenace period to give me the rest in vitamins, la lites and products.

now, w/ all that said here is my review of the program:

LAWL is harder than they make it out to be. sure, you can eat foods from the grocery, but basically only fresh foods (veggies), nothing w/ salt, few and limited starches, little dairy, basically no alcohol and at a certain point, no red meat or pork. in restaurants, it is pretty much all salads, veggies and pretty much chicken. you have to be able to spend more at the grocery for all the fresh food and have extra time to plan meals and prepare them. it is very hard to go to eat out w/ people b/c what you order screams you are on a diet, and unless your DH does it w/ you, you'll have to fix him a seperate meal or at least eat something entirely different from him (which is hard). i could barely even let my DH have junk food in the house, which he hated b/c he loves to snack.

if you want me to i can tell you exact stuff about the program, just let me know. when i started, i was too embarassed that i had paid all that money to even post about it on the WC. i thought most people would think i was silly (it is good to know others have done it). i have craved my favorite foods for a month and a half (i'm in stabilization so now every week i get more food options), and my DH didn't know what was worse - me complaining about my body or me complaining about how bad i wanted to eat this or that. i also feel that some of the restrictions are not healthy.

i know that you shouldn't loose more than 2 pounds a week and some of the things they told me about the foods i wanted to eat were a little silly. it is hard to get there 3 times a week before they close, and the consultants are on commission so they only want you to keep buying more. HOWEVER, as unhappy as i was with the program throughout it's difficulties, i can say that it works. i have realized that at 25, newly married and super busy, i had to have a food makeover, or i was just going to continue to gain weight.

i feel so much better about myself, and i ended up stopping the weightoss at 12 pounds instead of 16 b/c my work clothes were getting too loose. i don't know that i could have maintained the strict diet (not that i didn't cheat, i'm not going to lie) w/o those meetings b/c i would feel bad showing my food journal and getting on the scale in front of the consultants. that kept me from doing alot of damage when i was presented w/ the opportunity. i do plan to use the portion control, healthy eating tips and fresh food/low sodium principles forever b/c they have made a HUGE difference in my weight (i am a salt fanatic). anyway, sorry to make this a LAWL journal entry, but i can't tell you how relieved i am to talk about this w/ other ladies that know about the program. if i had known that there were other people interested, i would have loved to have had an LAWL support group. that would have helped me so much!!

[RobynScott]

ardathapaige - I agree with everything you said. (except - I wanted to lose 40 and stopped at 35) - I lost all of the weeks I paid for maintenance but it was worth it to stop buying their supplements. also, exercise does not really fit into their plan.

I will admit however that I did better on their strict eating plan than on the more permissive WW (my failt).

If you still have the materials, I would be interested in being reminded about the plan (if you don't mind) - some of the things really did work for me. To this day, I can only buy no salt added veggies (if I get cans) - or fresh or frozen and only have lite salt in the house.

PS - Ardatha - you should not feel bad about anything. Those people are sharks!

[paiger]

You can get all the plan information on Ebay. I found that after I was doing 'research' when I thought I was going to try to get out of my contract. You can also buy and sell LA Lites, the cookbook, etc. However, I found that LUNA bars were better and the same thing as LA Lites while cheaper.

I'm still really embarrassed by the fact that I paid all that money to lose weight. I have told very FEW people that I know. However, I COULDN'T have done that w/o it. I mean, I just didn't have the will power, and I still don't. It has been 1 year and 4 months since I lost the weight, so 4 months since I was going to the center on maintenance. I have probably gained 4-5lbs back from the lowest I got during the program, which I'm fine w/ b/c I got down to a weight that was just too hard to maintain. I still REALLY have to watch myself to not get back into my old ways, and it's hard. I just felt so 'accountable' for my actions that I stuck to the program more than I would have had I just been doing it on my own.

I was so pissed off at myself for doing the program when we couldn't afford it and at the Program for being much harder than they made it out to be...however, if in a better financial situation, I would totally do it again. I learned some valuable lessons about myself, my eating habits and what I could accomplish w/ my weight.

[jp'swife]

Jill,

If you still have the cards, do you remember which plan you were on? I was on Gold and if I could find the cards, I would probably follow at least some of the principles that worked for me. I admit that the plan worked for me (and, at the time, it was worth the $$ to me for the 30 pounds I took off) - but I wouldn't do it again.

I definitely think WW is the weigh to go. (bad pun intended :p )

Robyn, I still have the cards...I think...hidden somewhere in this house. I remember being on the gold and the red. They had me on one and then when I got down to a certain weight, they switched me to a more restrictive one when it comes to carbs, etc.
It did work though...I just wish I had those cards for free instead of paying that much for a program.

[jp'swife]

which they acted like was incredible. after the initial weightloss, you have a meeting about how much the lites are really going to be, etc like what jp'sbride said. not only that but buying in bulk only happens on that day (or special occasions) right after you pay your initial fee which is $$$, and it is really only like $.50 off a bar.

Hey, that was me in that other thread! I thought I mentioned something about LAWL over on the other site! LOL!

[RobynScott]

I'm still really embarrassed by the fact that I paid all that money to lose weight.

Don't be embarrassed! If I knew it would work, I would pay all of the $$ again and then some (and would have paid a lot more) to get the weight off. You shouldn't feel embarrassed at all. You did something that was good for you and you learned a lot about your eating habits - don't beat yourself up at all.

I know for me it made a world of difference.

[paiger]

Robyn ~ It's funny you should ask, b/c I just pulled out all of my info to organize and go over ~ I think I went from a Green Plan to the Gold. I'd like to get the Red Plan information for my mom. That Gold Plan was awful! I had a couple of breakdowns to my DH on that plan! :o After I did all the weight loss weeks they started giving out these nice folders and stuff, so I need to do that for myself. I want to be able to go back and like put myself on Stabilzation week 3 to get off extra pounds. That is what the girl said they did if you gained 5 lbs during Maintenance.

Once, I get my stuff organized I'll send you a PM. I have a scanner, so I'll scan it all, then maybe b/w the two of us we can remember it all.

[paiger]

Hey, that was me in that other thread! I thought I mentioned something about LAWL over on the other site! LOL!

Yea ~ I went and found that thread :D! I didn't want to type all that again, but I knew I had said a lot about it on the WC.

[jp'swife]

Don't be embarrassed! If I knew it would work, I would pay all of the $$ again and then some (and would have paid a lot more) to get the weight off. You shouldn't feel embarrassed at all. You did something that was good for you and you learned a lot about your eating habits - don't beat yourself up at all.

I know for me it made a world of difference.

ITA!!! it helped me a lot too and believe me, I was embaressed about the money too.

[RobynScott]

Thanks :) If you think the Gold Plan was bad - imagine being on it the whole time :( but - what can I say, it worked. Of course, I need to lose weight again - but this time I am sticking with WW.

[paiger]

Robyn, I totally agree with you on that it works!

I would do it again if I get to the point where I was before, but I would just pay to join and NOT buy any of the bars/supplements/etc. They told me that I would get half my initial payment (cost for start up and weeks of plan) back if you do everything they want you to. Well, that is nothing compared to the cost of the bars!! So, if I were to decide that I wanted to lose that kind of weight again (or for the first time, if you are thinking about doing this), I would just go in w/ the gumption that you aren't going to buy their products and go with it.

At first, when I stopped buying the bars, they were really iffy w/ me, but when they saw that I was still going to come in, lose weight and follow the other 'rules', they were fine w/ me. I only bought LA Lites (after the initial purchase were you get a deal) 1 other time when they were having a special that made it cheaper to get their bars than to get bars in the grocery store.

[paiger]

Thanks :) If you think the Gold Plan was bad - imagine being on it the whole time :( but - what can I say, it worked. Of course, I need to lose weight again - but this time I am sticking with WW.

I thought the Gold plan was only for the last 5 pounds, or maybe that was the Green Plan. Whatever the plan is for that 'last 5 lbs', it is a nightmare. I guess I was on the Gold plan for the majority of the time as well ~ I also had breakdowns about food on that plan as well!! So, if you were going to lose 40 lbs and were on the Gold plan, too, then I wonder how much you have to be trying to lose to be on the Red Plan? I was going to try to make a compilation of it all.

[jp'swife]

I would just go in w/ the gumption that you aren't going to buy their products and go with it.

At first, when I stopped buying the bars, they were really iffy w/ me, but when they saw that I was still going to come in, lose weight and follow the other 'rules', they were fine w/ me. I only bought LA Lites (after the initial purchase were you get a deal) 1 other time when they were having a special that made it cheaper to get their bars than to get bars in the grocery store.

Yes! See, I would love it if you didn't have to buy the bars or that crap. (even though I think I was addicted to the peanut butter chocolate ones....frozen......drool)
I would just love to go and have a REAL dietician there to help me through...go through my diary and really talk. Not just get on the scale, browse my diary and count up my carbs or point out that I had brussel sprouts and that was a no-no. WTF???? Yes! She told me that once! I almost flipped because I was thinking to myself, "you just frowned upon brussel sprouts because of the extra starch. Do you realized that I would have handfuls of chips and pretzels and cheetos before this???"

[paiger]

I definitely would have preferred a dietician, and maybe that is the way to go. I'm sure they are out there, right, or is that more expensive?

I had one of the girls to tell me that when I got hungry it was just air bubbles in my stomach :eek:! There were a few other things that I would just look at them and say 'that's not right, and I know that b/c I have 2 doctors in my family and took biology in college'. Considering freshman bio told me that wasn't right means they really pull one over on some people!! :p

[RobynScott]

Did they ask you about your bowel movements each time you checked in? Um yeah - ok. and that if I did not go, then the nutrients / food / calories would be re-absorbed into my body. Uh, ok.

Also, one of the consultants was stick thin and would sit there eating fast food complaining that she needed to gain weight. Yeah - - that really helped.

[maplekitty]

So most of you are saying it's quite expnesive, but at $7 a week, isn't that cheaper than WW? I remember paying $12-$14 per weigh-in if I didn't buy a "package".

[jp'swife]

Also, one of the consultants was stick thin and would sit there eating fast food complaining that she needed to gain weight. Yeah - - that really helped.
I forgot about the bowl movements! ha! ha!
See, the one consultant that I always had (since I went the same time after work each day) was pretty overweight. She was the one who made the comment about the brussels sprouts. :rolleyes: Maybe if she ate more brussel sprouts....anyway! Yeah, I had a hard time talking to her about weight issues with my diary when she was much more overweight than I was. Then again, maybe she was on the plan too.

[RobynScott]

So most of you are saying it's quite expnesive, but at $7 a week, isn't that cheaper than WW? I remember paying $12-$14 per weigh-in if I didn't buy a "package".

The problem is that they make you pay for the whole plan up front. Say you want to lose 20 pounds - they say that will be ten weeks ($70) - ok, not too bad so far, plus 6 weeks of stabilization and 52 weeks of maintenance (so 58 x $7= $406) - so you're at $476 to sign up, not including the cost of the food they make you buy. and if you don't buy their food then they tell you the plan is not guaranteed to work and you don't get half your money back after a year of maintenance the way that they promise you.

[princesse]

I was so pissed off at myself for doing the program when we couldn't afford it and at the Program for being much harder than they made it out to be...

I told very few people that I was doing it as well and still feel like such a ding dong for having paid so much. I am under my goal weight now and have gotten a few post cards saying if I go back I can get my "lost"weeks back for free. Should I do that? Then when I stay at this weight perhaps I can get half of the money back? I had forgotten about that!!!!!

I really like reading about what you guys have experienced with them as well. And LOL about the BM checks!!! That always weirded me out, too. My first councelor was also stick thin and I always felt so judged. Truthfully I don't miss it at all but would love to get the money back. And I did like the bars a lot:-) I so looked forward to having them and really thought they helped.

[RobynScott]

And I did like the bars a lot:-) I so looked forward to having them and really thought they helped.


I did too. Till I figured out that they were basically the same as slim fast bars - but more $$. (except I really liked the peanut butter one)

They also told me that most people could not eat one at one sitting and had to break it up during the day - ok, way to make me feel like a hog. I had no problem eating it at once - I looked forward to my one in the morning and one in the evening.

Ahh - memories :) *lol*

[jp'swife]

They also told me that most people could not eat one at one sitting and had to break it up during the day - ok, way to make me feel like a hog. I had no problem eating it at once - I looked forward to my one in the morning and one in the evening.

Ahh - memories :) *lol*

me too!!! I soooo looked forward to that sweet treat. Couldn't eat a whole one at a sitting my ass....ha! ha!
:D

[princesse]

BAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAAA!!!! ROTFLMAO! I sometimes ate 2 when I was ravenous. That just kills me! They have new ones that are like Almond Joy. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

[RobynScott]

You girls are funny - too bad we couldn't compare notes the first time around.

[jp'swife]

Ok, eventhough we lost weight on it....how many of you cheated when writing in your diaries??
Don't lie! I know you are out there!

One day I had some pizza and a few other really bad things. I think it was around Easter time. I didn't lose weight at the next weigh in. I think I was actually about a pound heavier and definately embarressed and sad that I let myself fail that time. So, I put something very healthy in my diary and the girl looked at me like I had ten heads.
I told her it was that time of the month and I was probably bloated.
:rolleyes:
ha! ha! ha!

[RobynScott]

HEHE - I remember telling the truth that I had eaten like 5 french fries and getting yelled at - WHATEVER!

but again, to give credit where credit is due, I did lose weight.

they also refuse to admit that their three day juice diet is the same as the Hollywood Juice Drink - but it is!