LA Weight Loss - Best tips for making the most of LA Weight Loss

Would anyone care to share your favorite tips for getting the most out of this plan? You can include anything from menu tips to avoiding unnecessary expenses. What advice would you give to newbies?

Thanks!

something I just discovered is to be accurate with your servings for maximum weight loss. Your weightloss will slowdown if you are not getting the enough amount of servings, don'tleave anything out, include all your foods! I wasn't eating the right amount of protein and instead of eating 2.5 protein a day I was only eating 1.5. I noticed that once I ate all my fruits and protein properly my weight shifted and I was less hungry!

keep comming back here........to this forum........daily.........get to know these smart, kind, encouraging women.......it will be the most benenficial thing you can do to stay on plan and be successful on LAWL!!!

of course ...drink the water wirh lemons..also especially after eating something salty....really helps before wi..NANCE

I agree! As my COD advices: 1 Cup HOT water with 1/2 a fresh lemon sqeezed in it and 1 packet sweetner....it is a natural diaretic and helps get rid of bloated water/sodium gain. Also, eating several times a day instead of two or three meals has been beneficial for me. Not only does it keep your body from going into "starvation mode" but it also keeps you from over-indulging at the dinner table.

michelle----I use cold water...but seems to be working. you have done great so far!!!!!!

Nance - I just checked out your ticker and join date, you are doing great too! I joined the latter half of Sept of this year, so we are pretty close!

thanks we are real similar in our loss....I sometimes like to think I am taller than I am....hee hee..nance

Hmmm to get the most out of this plan.

1) Be honest in your diary. If you don't, then the counsellors will not be able to determine why you might be stalling
2) Give the bars, supplements at least one try. You never know, you may like it
3) Approach the program with an open mind. Take what you need from it and discard the rest. Remember ALL weight loss centres first and foremost responsibility is to their shareholders, therefore they want to make money. However, there can be some excellent tips you can learn.
3) Hot water lemon-all the way

As far as avoiding unnecessary expenses, I recommed doing an all food plan. The bars, weather you buy them at the COD or use Luna's to substitute, can get very expensive.

Use your food log EVERY DAY and check off your exchange as soon as you have it so you don't "forget". Also check off that you have had your H20, vitamins, supplements, activitiy. It will help keep you on track.

I know the COD encourages you to "change it up" and include a lot of variety, but I find that I am more successful when I stick to the same basic breakfast, snacks and lunch. I will change up dinner but I always start my day with cereal and almond breeze(3/4 cup Cereal =1S and Almond Milk=1condiment!). My snacks consist of a piece of fruit and cheese stick (1Fr;1/2D 2 X Day). Lunch is usually a salad with some protein(2V;1P) like salmon or tuna. That will leave me with 1 Fr, 1S, 1P, 2V for dinner and snacks when I get home. The evenings are toughest for me so using my food budget wisely will keep me satisfied and POP!

I think Holly's advice is very good!!! I do think variety of foods is healthiest, but I think you can change it weekly, or every two weeks......... but keeping breakfast, snacks, and lunch the same makes the program less mind work. It helps you to stop obsessing about what you are going to eat, and it makes grocery shopping much simpler. If you plan your meals ahead of time, you can look at them and if you are lacking in some nutreints one week, you can make up for it the next week.

I am not a fan of the supplements......and simply because they are not FDA approved. To be fair, there are a lot of products, most of the ones that claim to be natural, that are not FDA approved. Because they are not FDA approved, does not mean they are not safe........it simply means that the FDA has not tested them to show that they do what they claim to do, and they may or may not contain what they say they contain. Often times people think that if something says "natural" on the label it is better for them. That is simply not true. Vitamin C is vitamin C is vitamin C, no matter what form it is in. The only way that it is truly for certain natural is if it is consumed in a food in it's natural state. This is the way the body prefers and metabolizes it most efficiently.

Synthetic vitamins get a bad wrap. The chemical structure of synthetic vitamin C is NO different than the chemical structure of vitamin C from a natural source. I prefer things that are FDA approved (synthetic or natural), because I know the FDA tests these products, and I know that if the label says it has X amount of vitamin C, that is exactly what it has, in every single dose. Non FDA approved supplements don't necessarily have to have everything they claim to have in them, because they are not regulated. Most likely, they ARE in fact exactly what they say they are, but I prefer not to take any chances. I know, I sound paranoid.......but supplements can be VERY misleading. Often times (synthetic, natural, FDA approved, not FDA approved) supplements can't even be absorbed by your body before they are excreted. So, often people are mislead into thinking they are meeting their daily requirements of nutrients, because they are taking the proper supplements. Often they are not, because their body's aren't absorbing the nutrients from the supplements. Our bodies were designed to get our nutrients from food. All of the systems of our body are designed to use food, not pills or power bars, or electrolyte balancing beverages or any of that. A lot of the proteins in protein bars are not complete proteins, and our bodies cannot break down and use some of those proteins.

With all of that being said, I am not AGAINST taking supplements in an exteme fashion..........I am just saying, it is smart to be very aware of what you are putting inside of your body. It is good to ask the right questions......it is good to find out if your body can metablolize what it is being fed.......and it is good to try to get as many of your daily nutritional requirements from food first. And if you are wondering........yeah, I take a daily multiple vitamin. My eating habits are far from perfect. I take Centrum......my doc says the body can utilize most of the vitamins and minerals before they are excreted. If anyone knows of a better one........fill me in. That was advice from my doc about 10 years ago, and things change quick.

1. Plan your menu out and faithfully keep your diary.
2. Read and post on 3FC LAWL website
3. When you go to the COD and find a good counselor - ask for that counselor when you go back (at my COD you can write that person's name down when you sign in).
4. Try at least one new recipe each week to break the monotony (use recipe thread on this site)
5. Exercise is not a focus at LAWL, but it should be! Keep moving!!

In addition to the wise words already posted here, I would add a few things.
First, it is not cheap to eat healthy, but there are ways to be frugal. Shop ads, shop seasonal foods, plan you menu accordingly with what you can get on sale and lastly, remember you are worth the money it takes to stay on plan. In the long run, when you add up all the money spent on eating out and eating junk that is detrimental to your health, you're coming out on the better end!
Next, if you fall off plan - IMMEDIATELY get back on! Don't let the detour take you too far off course! Something made you decide to do this - remind yourself of that and get back on track! Our greatest mistake is letting one incident become a day of incidents and then a week, and then... well, you know the rest because most of us have been there.
I can't stress enough the amount of support you will get here on this site. Not only are these people able to empathize with you because they are on the same road, they can advise you and hopefully prevent your detour by their experience!
Lastly, no matter what, you are worth it! Worth the time, worth the money, worth the sweat, worth the aggravation, worth the frustration, worth the struggle, worth it, worth it, worth it!!!! Your family deserves the healthiest you that you can be. YOU deserve that too!

PLAN, PLAN, PLAN.

A lot of us on the board (me included) plan their menus weekly. It's so much easier if you just have to look at your list and put it in your lunchbox, or defrost it. You only have the decision-making once a week.

Definitely plan your meals based on what's on sale if you can. You will find you save a lot more money that way.

Veggie burgers and other "veggie" products are your friends.

When you get your plan and are totally overwhelmed with what to do, go through the food lists and highlight the foods that you like. It's much easier to not get stuck in a rut and to figure out what to eat. Four veggies per day seems like so much, but if you really plan and get what you like, you can break it into manageable exchanges.

Eat all of your exchanges. They are not a range. They are not something that is "up to a certain amount". They are set and specific and they are the way they are to keep your body from starving and stalling.

Forget everything you "know" about weight loss. If you are going to pay the money for this program, then "buy into it" completely. Do what you are told, and follow your plan. Fighting the system or trying to figure out ways around it will result in your weight loss stalling and you getting frustrated and quitting.

Lastly, for the newbies, just follow the plan. You can get a lot of information from this board, but sometimes too much can just bog you down. Read this board, contribute when you can, and ask anything you want. But, follow your plan and listen to your COD above anything. If you see a conflict between your COD and what you've read here, ask the COD to clarify, speak to the manager, or even call or e-mail corporate LAWL for clarification.

pearl..I also enjoyed your words...nance

did I mention sugar free jello and fat free cool whip. they are my life savers :)

I think that what works well for this type of lifestyle change (we don't call it diet ;) ) is really following the plan as it should be. I find that, as Julia mentioned, not eating all your portions affects my weight loss. I also tend to eat later in the day, but when I make an effort to eat earlier and have my last meal at 7p (the very latest), I see a little more loss that week.

Of course, exercise and lots of water helps as well.

pearl and bizlawchik i found ur words really helpful...i feel like i have fallen off track. I just filled my water bottle and i am going to have a good day. thank u!!

I never noticed this thread before. Thanks for pulling it up Shari!

1- Make a list of the reasons you decided to lose weight. Post it where you can see it often, your own words can really help you stay on track.

2- Set mini goals with rewards at the end. NOT food rewards! Some suggestions would be things that make you feel good about yourself such as clothes, shoes, makeup, manicures, pedicures, massages, facials, lotions, perfumes, stuff for your bedroom, music, etc.

3- Celebrate your successes, learn from your failures.

4- Don't give up when you stall. Everyone will hit stalls from time to time, but they do end eventually, and you will start losing again if you keep with it.

5- Commit yourself to a lifestyle change forever. Just realize that gone are the days of putting anything into your mouth without thinking about it. Do not come into this plan thinking that "I can't wait to get to goal so that I can go back to cheese burgers and fries." It just does not work that way. Even when you get to goal, you will always need to repect a 90/10 way of eating, meaning that 90% of the time, you put only good things into your body, and 10% of the time, you allow a little splurge.

6- Lastly, I really want to urge everyone to take a good look at the food they are purchasing and preparing. Who is doing most of the work, you in your own kitchen, or the manufacturer? I truly believe that our country is engaged in a nutrition crisis due to convenience foods filled with trans fats, food colorings, and many other chemicals. These prefab foods are causing obesity, cancer, heart disease, autism, birth defects, and a lot of other ugly stuff. As we all get busier, our nutrition is really suffering. There is no crime in taking the Joan Cleaver road and spending more time in the kitchen to do it homemade. We owe it to ourselves and our families.

Plan plan plan your meals!

I have done WW in the past but am really having great success with LAWL. With both plan the journalling is the key! I take about an hour at night once a week and plan out my menu for the week. I take stock of what meats are in the freezer etc, veg in the fridge, grab my old journals and the cookbook and sit down and plan. On nights I know we have functions I usually leave myself a protein, starch, 2 veg, a fat and a fruit for dinner. I then plan the rest of my day around it.
If you are hungry and come in the door without knowing what you are going to eat you are much more likely to grab the wrong food or just eyeball what you are eating instead of measuring. Planning ahead allows you to add some variety to your meals, make favorites etc.
When shopping for meats bring them home, weigh them and label them for the freezer. I buy a bulk package of chicken or beef and then weigh out my portions. When I go to make a recipes that needs 5 ozs of chicken I can just reach in the freezer and get it and know I'm only eating what I should. Planning ahead makes it easy for you to know what to thaw the day before, what items to grab at the grocery store etc.
The journalling and even the meats take up a chunk of my time some evenings but once it's done I have no work to do for the rest of the week but to enjoy all my meals and know I'm staying on track.

Hope this helps!

I think I am going to do that Kristen... I already portion out my meats before putting in the freezer but I am going to sit down with the cookbook and recipes I have been printing and plan out the weeks meals tomorrow afternoon!

Hi Barb.. my COD truly believes that is why I am having such success.. if it isnt' on paper it doesn't go in my mouth. I do use my measuring spoon and cups all the time as I know my eyeball is far from accurate :) I never have cravings as I always revamp my menu and have a lot to choose from.. do you have the newest cookbook? I posted a while back but there are some great choices in there... Lemon Chicken, Oriental Style Shrimp Salad, Italian Style Burger, Mediterranean Pasta Bake, Veal and Mushrooms, Meatloaf.. just to name a few! The only ones I didnt' like were the Bran Muffins and the Chicken Okra Gumbo. .both were quite bland.
Note me with any questions as I use this book EVERY day lol

I have an older cookbook. I was thumbing through the newer cookbook at the COD today and noticed alot of the recipes were in that one. I personally liked the chicken okra gumbo but I added some more seasonings to it. It was bland at first. I dont know if I want to spend the money on the new one if alot of the recipes are in the one I have...

If and when you can will you post the Lemon Chicken and Oriental Style Shrimp Salad? I know that you a busy gal! Thanks!

I have the older books too and the new one is virtually identical with a few additions.. I'll try to at least get the Lemon Chicken in tonight if I can.
:)

thank you Kristen you are awesome :)!!!!!!!!!! I am going to make sure that those 2 recipes are not in my book but I did not see them.

Best advice? I've never thought of this as a diet, this is a new way of eating for me, for life or I might as well quit right now! I decided I was too young to feel old.Stick with the plan, it works. I'm down 37 pounds and just finished my 3rd month. I never imagined that I could eat so much food and still watch the pounds fall off. It's certainly a motivator! And smaller jeans isnt't such a bad thing either! ha ha

6- Lastly, I really want to urge everyone to take a good look at the food they are purchasing and preparing. Who is doing most of the work, you in your own kitchen, or the manufacturer? I truly believe that our country is engaged in a nutrition crisis due to convenience foods filled with trans fats, food colorings, and many other chemicals. These prefab foods are causing obesity, cancer, heart disease, autism, birth defects, and a lot of other ugly stuff. As we all get busier, our nutrition is really suffering. There is no crime in taking the Joan Cleaver road and spending more time in the kitchen to do it homemade. We owe it to ourselves and our families.


Such wise words from someone who is living proof of an LAWL success story!!! Thank you for reminding us of the power of whole foods, Katie!!! You're awesome~~~

Katie - I agree with your theory too. Plus, when you make your own meals, you get a much more filling portion, I think.

Welcome back Shari!

I've never thought of this as a diet, this is a new way of eating for me,

That's the way I'm looking at it...to me "diet" is a psychological thing that i want to do subconsciously. It's harder for me if I actually say I'm on a diet.

As i mentioned in other posts, i'm just surprised about how energetic I feel throughout the day! I think that's what's keeping me strong right now...plus losing weight...although at my weighin today I gained back almost 2lbs. I'm not worried...today I went after eating lunch and drinking almost 3 liters of water.

For me when I get tempted to order a pizza or head to Wendy's, I think of how horrible i felt afterwards. I think of how fast foods such as KFC make me nausiated. I try and dwell on the negative of what i'm craving...it's not fool proof, but most of the time it works for me.

That helps me, too. I "refuse" to eat frozen custard (like Sheridan's) or milkshakes anymore because I always end up with an upset stomach, no matter how good they are initially. :)

Katie's comment about "who's doing the preparation" made me think of the last time I went to the grocery store. As I put all my groceries on the conveyer belt, I was amazed at the amount of fruits and veggies and non-boxed things I had picked up. It used to be the other way around! (I think the only canned things I buy anymore are chicken broth and the occasional can of spaghettios for the kids, hah!)

I find myself doing the same thing, Megan. I look at the food in my cart and when I'm at the checkout I compare what I'm buying to the person in front of or behind me and think...wow, I'm pretty healthy!

Same here!! Happened just the other day.. I had five or six bags of veg and fruit and the lady behind me (sorry ladies) had cookies, chips, pop,... All that stuff I used to buy...

The only processed stuff I had were a couple of "once a week treat" chicken lunchables for the kiddos.. We, well Liz, usually makes them lunch, but we keep a couple of lunchables on hand just incase they run late...

I still buy lunchmeat.. Usually turkey, as I've found some that's lower in sodium than the others, but we don't eat it that often... Lunch is usually leftovers from teh night before or salad...

On this same topic, a local group of my friends and I have been posting on LiveJournal together about our weight loss journey...one of them is just starting and mentioned that she's been struggling the last few days and has been having "just ramen" for lunch. I nearly jumped out of my seat with my caution about the sodium! No!! Don't do it!! Hah.

Another friend posted a recipe that included cream of chicken soup, Stove Top, etc. She did say that she used the Healthy Choice version of the soup, so that's good, but my initial reaction was the same.

Isn't it funny how we can almost SEE the sodium in processed foods now? That tickles me. What a change in just a month!!

It really hit me when I had my first McDonald's hamburger after being on the plan for about a month... It was so salty I couldln't believe it..

And to think I used to ADD salt to my burgers there.. Yikes!

"Just ramen"? Forget the sodium - do you know how many calories and fat grams are in those? Cripes!

Isn't it funny how we all feel so superior now that we've changed? I know it's wrong to feel that way, but sometimes I just can't help it. When I was on WW, I would have 5 light beers and use my 10 banked points. No wonder I wasn't losing! I keep thinking that about others too. Either they don't eat enough or eat like crap and wonder why they don't lose fast. The one thing I've learned here is that there is no easy way. I've heard people (and LAWL too) say that you don't have to give up the lifestyle to lose weight. Guess what... you DO. No matter what anyone says, if you want to lose the weight for good, you need to give up your previous lifestyle. You don't need to quit living, you just need to change it. There are no shortcuts.

It's funny, when you say that if you want to lose the weight for good, you need to give up your previous lifestyle. it made me think of learning a foreign language. It's been said that you can't really speak another language until you can think in it. I think of weight loss the same way - you can fake it and memorize some things for the short term (and even get some results), but if you want to lose it and keep it off - you really have to think in a new/different way. That is my challenge now. How do I change 42 years of how I think about food and living a certain way?

I'm hoping I can do it.

DenverChick - The answer is you will when you are ready. Only you will know when that is. You can "fake it 'til you make it", but then something kicks in and you know that this is something that is permanent.

I was 260 when I went to LAWL. I wasn't going to join that day, but I was going to listen to the program and take a few days to think about it. I don't know what happened, but at that moment, something clicked, and I became ready. I signed up that day, started FF the next two days and haven't looked back since. I still have days when I am not POP, but even the "cheats" are nowhere near how I used to eat. Not even during the holidays when I gave myself a week off plan did I come close to how I used to eat. If I can change 36 years worth of living/eating/drinking, and change I am a girl who loves beer and bar food, then you can change 42 years of it too. You will do it when you are ready. Listen to your body. Listen to that little voice in your head. Don't focus on the end result, just focus on today. Have faith in yourself.

So true, Cassi, and yeah, I'll agree on that whole "superior" feeling, as bad as that is to admit it. I'll be at work in the cafeteria and I'll see someone go through the line with burgers and fries or something equally unhealthy and a little part of my brain (probably the same part that houses the fashion police, hah) says, "Tsk, tsk, he/she really shouldn't be eating that!"

I've not tempted myself with fast food lately, but I'm thinking that when that time comes, I'll probably just want to sink my teeth into one big bite of a serious burger and then be done with it. I can't even imagine eating a whole giant hamburger now.

What have they done to me? The LAWL people have stolen my soul!!!

:rofl:

:devil: :snooty: One of us... One of us...:wizard:

Here's something interesting for fellow parents...
My DD is almost 3 years old. She has never had soda, maybe had juice twice and about 5 french fries in her lifetime...no chicken nuggets or fried foods and definitely no junk food. She eats fruits, celery, oatmeal, nuts, chicken, cereal, frozen blueberries, drinks lots of water...you get the idea. So when I decided to change my eating habits again, my husband said, "Just eat like Emmy" and I thought "DUHHHH!!" - I'll feed my kid nothing but healthy food and feed myself junk! And the worst part about is that I knew that what I was eating I didn't want her to have, so I made sure I didn't eat it in front of her. How stupid!!!
The good news is, everyone in my house now eats "like Emmy"!

Dan: I believe Boar's head has the low-sodium cold cuts and we can eat them. I'd go NUTS without my low sodium sliced cheese lol.

Emmysmom: I do not have children yet but I always say to myself how I'm going to half the healthiest children around lol. No fried foods.. well maybe once a month the most and half them all involved in some sort of physical activity. I would never want my children to know the pain and burden of being overweight. I'm very proud of your daughter for learning all these habits that will benefit her at such a young age.

Thank you, nikki! And the best part is that she doesn't feel like she's missing out because she loves her healthy snacks. I wish I was brought up to think that way.

:devil: :snooty: One of us... One of us...:wizard:


:lol: Now THERE'S an obscure quote... I know a really good song that encorporates that scene from the movie.. The song is called "Separated Out" by the band Marillion (cue my wife's eyes rolling), and talks about being segregated from society because you look different.. Sounds familiar....

Nikki.. Thanks for the tip... I don't know, however, if I can buy boar's head lunchmeat around here.. I know a few restaurants that serve their product, but I've not seen it in stores.. Hmmmm... I'll have to do some research...

There's a talk show that I listen to here that uses that sound clip. Go to wzzr.com and listen to the love doctors between 10 and 3. Not like any talk show you've heard.

My, oh my how we have strayed from the original topic. LOL

Well.. Sort of, but not really.. We're simply making it easier to stay on plan by being the kind of supportive community that can take obscure movie quotes and make them relate to our situation!