[bizlawchik]

Since we get this question often from people interested in the program, I thought I would give a quick synopsis of what to expect.

LA Weightloss is a program where you eat real food plus two soy protein bars (LA Lites) per day. It is a program that teaches you how to eat healthy foods in the right portions. It is not "low carb", but you won't be eating a bowl full of pasta, either. It is based on "exchanges" so that you eat in a balanced way every day. You will weigh in at your center three times per week and receive one-on-one counseling. There are no group sessions.

The program consists of three phases. Weight loss, Stabilization and Maintenance. The weight loss phase is estimated in weeks based on how much you want to lose. They estimate 2lb/week when setting up your program. So if you want to lose 30lbs, you will be purchasing 15 weight loss weeks. Stabilization is six weeks and maintenance is 52 weeks. Why so long? Because it is during this time you will reinforce your new behaviors so you will be less likely to regain the weight you have lost.

LA Lites:
The LA Lites are soy protein bars, and are also available in shakes, hot chocolate and soups. You will have two of these per day during weight loss and one per day during maintenance. These are purchased from the center.

Cost:
The program is actually not much more expensive than Weight Watchers. The difference is that you pay for your program up front. You will purchase your weight loss weeks, six weeks of stabilization and 52 weeks of maintenance. You will also be given a sales pitch for the LA Lites. They will offer you a discount if you purchase your lites for the whole program up front. If you don't or can't do that, there are other deals available at different times from the center. The cost for the lites are between $20-$30/week depending on what bulk purchase you do, and what other sales are offered in your center throughout your program.

While the lites may seem expensive, as an example, Pre-LAWL I was stopping every work day in the morning for a sandwich, chips and diet coke which was about $6 every day. I stopped doing that and instead put my $30/week to a healthier lifestyle. Think about your daily habits before dismissing the program as "too expensive".

Guarantee:
If you do the lites, you will be "guaranteeed" a weight loss of 2lb/week. What this means is that if you don't lose that much per week and you need additional weeks to meet your goal, you can keep going to the center without charge until you reach your goal as long as you are purchasing the lites. Also, during maintenance, if you are within 5lb of your goal at the six month and one year benchmarks, you will receive 25% of your weeks purchased back at each one of those times.

There are also other supplements offered, but most are available at your local pharmacy for much less.

You don't have to do the lites. You can request an all-food plan. You just don't get the guarantee, and if you run out of weeks you will need to purchase more. This does not apply if you cannot do the lites due to a medical reason. You will fill out a questionnaire at the initial consultation and they will tell you if you are medically eligible to do the lites. Even if they deem you "eligible", if you have some reaction to them you may still be eligible for the guarantee. Your center will help you with that.

There are many people that are successful with and without the lites. It just depends on you. And you can always change your mind. You can try them for a few weeks and see how you like them. Some people cannot tolerate the soy. Some people need the two snacks a day to help curb cravings. Everybody is different.

Bottom Line:
What you need to realize is that the LAWL plan is totally different from any other plan you've been on before. Yes, they do things a lot differently than other programs, Weight Watchers included, but if those programs worked for you then you wouldn't be here. As a former WW person who probably joined WW at least 20 times, there was a lot to learn when I started. Some things just aren't on your plan at this time. The plan is a lot more strict than WW, but it works. If it didn't, you wouldn't see the successes that we have on this board. It also has a much more comprehensive maintenance program. You need to forget about what you've learned about dieting and losing weight over the years and embrace the program. It's a lot of change, but if you commit to it, the rewards are great.

I hope this helps with some of the most asked questions. If anyone has anything to add, please post below.

If anyone has questions after reading this, please post a new thread as we will try to keep this thread limited to information on the program.