Hi All,

Today's my birthday so of course I cheated on my plan, but plan to do the Take Off for the next two days. So far, I've lost 16 lbs.--about 1.5 to 2 per week and am satisfied with LA. However, don't you think it's strange that the counselors don't seem to ever mention exercise or commend you for it? For those of you who don't eat the LA Lite bars, do you craze sweets a lot?

Happy Birthday!!!

Congratulations on the weight loss so far You are right about the exercise, though. This is one of the major complaints about the LA Weightloss program, and why many of the experts recommend against it. A lot of people complain that the counselors there are not trained well (or at all) and they don't get good advice. Howerever, some people do get lucky and get counselors that know what they are doing! We have several threads here, spanning back for quite a few months, if you have time to read them. The reviews are very mixed.

Take control of your health and get exercise anyway. It sounds like you know you need it

I agree...you may lose weight with diet-but only exercise is going to improve your cardiovascular health, and tighten and firm your body. You can lose a ton of weight and be a small size, but still have jiggly inner thighs or a poochy tummy...there are some things only exercise can do!
Aphil

Can the thighs get any jiggly-er than they are now? hehehehehe

A lot of people on LAWL have a rigorous work out program. You just need to tell your consultant so that he/she can put you on the right food plan. I think they usually put you on the red plan if you exercise a lot.

When I joined LAWL and told then that I love to workout, I was told not to or I wouldn't lose the weight. I tried it for a few weeks and did lose but felt terrible. I spoke with my counselor and told her I needed to add exercise back into my plan and her response was "wait until you have lost the weight and then you can exercise all you want".

Needless to say, I didn't follow that advise, I want to firm and tone up as I lose. Not be slim and flabby, that doesn't look well to me. The counselors are not knowledgable when it concerns weight lost and exercise. They really need to fix that problem.

That is one of the main complaints about LAWL...that the counselors are not "in sync." I have heard about wonderful counselors at one location, and terrible counselors at another that tell you not to exercise, hard sell you supplements and bars, and are rude to customers.
Take it from me...there is absolutely no reason to wait to exercise until you reach your goal weight...as a matter of fact, you will take LONGER to reach your goal weight if you DON'T exercise because you are not burning those calories and building muscle!
I agree with you...slim and flabby does not look good. I would rather be a size 10 or 12 and have firm thighs and nice toned abs than be a size 4 and have a flat butt and jiggly arms...
The LAWL counselors really need to learn more about diet and exercise in my honest opinion. I think the ones who are more knowledgeable were probably more knowledgeable before they worked at LAWL and just carried that with them-it was not due to any training they were given.
Aphil
Exercise! Exercise! Exercise!!!!!

I did LAWL for my wedding 5 years ago, and I was not happy at all. I never even finished the weeks I paid for. I was not encouraged to exercise, and I felt like I was being tortured. One of my counselors was upset that I had a lowfat muffin for breakfast (which I took instead of a doughnut). I was like, "Did you WANT me to eat the doughnut?" Find a plan that you can live with that is sensible... and get exercise! I think you can live with LAWL for the most part... just don't take every word those counselors say as the law. As long as you feel good and you are losing, you are just fine!

Talk about strange... We don't even have LA Weight loss around here and I read this thread yesterday. Well, when I was searching the "help wanteds" (a nightly passion with the unemployed), there was an ad for LAWL coming soon to our area!!

They are looking for managers & salespeople, not counselors! Things like proven sales track record, revenue driven who are "energetic, attractive, charming, motivated, caring and empathetic"...

That means the successful candidate can sell anything and today's product just happens to be weight loss. The only information they need to pass along will be provided in training.

Hmmm...to bad the criteria isn't old, fat and intimately familiar with weight problems... I might apply. LOL.

Oh that is just TOO much...to have "proven track record in sales, revenue driven, and having attractive and charming as job qualifications!" Yep...they are looking for salespeople, not people who know anything about weight loss. I would love to go to our local LAWL, knowing that I know 50 times more about exercise and nutrition than they do-and apply for a job-challenging everything they are teaching me in training-expecially about the not exercising...
Aphil

That's one of the things that attracted me to HMR. Those folks are not salespeople. <grin> They were so matter-of-fact about things, and so focused on "doing the right thing" regardless of how it affected how many people would agree to sign-up.

Bicker...What is HMR?..don't think I have heard of this?

I believe HMR is a company that sells diet products like shelf stabel meals, meal replacement shakes, and other items. I remember receiving a catalog or two from them once upon a time...if this is indeed the HMR bicker is speaking of.
Aphil

Actually, the product sales are a side-business, one that HMR got into only because people kept bothering Larry (the president of the company) about not making the products available for sale.

Health Management Resources (HMR) specializes in professional programs for weight and health management. They have 20 years of experience providing high-quality service. HMR is the leading provider of weight management programs and training services in the medical community. Since 1983, HMR has treated over 800,000 people in programs nationwide, as well as thousands of employees in corporations.

I have no connection to HMR other than as a former patient. You can read a lot more information about my experience with HMR on my web site at http://brianandrobbie.com/hmr/

Take it from me...about 7 years ago I was just out of college and looking for a job - I had a BA in Psychology - went to work for LAWL.

I had lost 20 lbs. on WW so I was pretty familiar with weight loss issues, etc.

Oh My God. The things I saw go on there - I could write a book. Aphil - if they did hire you, they wouldn't want to keep you because of "lack of sales." They badgered me SO much to keep pressuring people to buy things - and I did believe in the bars being high in protein, and being substituted for sweet cravings...so I did try to sell those - but if people told me they couldn't afford them, I didn't pressure them. What was I going to do, buy the bars for people?

Needless to say, I didn't work there very long!

It IS a decent food plan - but pretty low calorie if you go without the bars. I think we finally figured out that the Gold Plan was about 1200 calories WITH the 2 bars a day? I can't remember exactly, that was so long ago.

I do think that people on these types of plans, and I experienced it with WW as well - get fixated with weight loss and weight loss only. Why would you ever go and get weighed in 3 TIMES A WEEK? No one will ever see much of a loss weighing in that many times a week!

Babysteps, if you have lost more than 12 lbs. in 6 weeks - that is AMAZING. Don't let anyone make you feel as though you should be losing more. Find a 10 lb. bag of dog food, and pick it up. You have shed MORE THAN THAT from your body. Good for you!

That is my diatribe against formal weight loss programs for the day. I personally think we should focus on sound nutrition, EXERCISE (the E word!), and emotional matters. Not worrying about juice fasts, etc.

Hope this helped!

Jessica

I think it is unfair to lump all formal weight-loss programs together. That's like lumping all dieters together. There are good programs out there. Of course, even within good programs there are good and bad practicianers, but that doesn't take-away from the good work of those who are conscientious, professional, knowledgeable, and supportive.