My center explained that I had to have supplements they would get me to my results 30% faster. This is the kind of stuff that I am finding out that is soooo amazing...each center is different. Just like the bloodwork. It was not an option. I had to buy it. And at our center you keep the weight off for 1 full year and follow to their plan and you would get your money back. But each center is different sooo just double check with you center...it could be different.
I told them flat out that I would NOT be buying their supplements. If a weightloss pill existed that got you to your goal 30% faster, everyone would be lined up to buy it. You can find the same supplements at GNC or on TV infomercials. They're "herbal," so they're not FDA approved, and frankly that scares me. When ephedra was all the rage, no one told those taking it that it could cause heart problems or even death, because no actual research was ever done on it. The FDA didn't consider them drugs.
If the people at my center can't even tell me how many calories each plan is worth, I don't trust them to put myself on mystery weightloss pills. Especially at $90 per bottle per month. I think that if they would've made the supplements mandatory, I would've demanded my $$ back, walked out, and joined WW.
A lot of y'all are very lucky to have good centers Mine has been really underhanded from time to time, and the only thing keeping me going there was the money I'd invested into the plan. I wish there was a little more consistency between centers! LAWL would gain a lot more credibility if they dumped the supplements and pushed exercise instead.
This is wild, how the centers are so different. I had never even heard of a medical exam! Wasn't even mentioned. Not that I would have taken it, the less blood I have drawn in my lifetime, the better!!!
I had a bad week. I had one bad day after the next, and kept putting off going back to the center. Now, I have been gone for a week, and I know that i just have to go back, deal with the gain and move on, otherwise it will snowball!
Oh well, today is a new day, and the beginning of a new week!!
I do agree with you Joules, mine is underhanded too. I didn't even get the bloodwork (because I am nursing I couldn't do the Jetstart), and you bet they charged me for that physical anyway, they took my blood pressure and some dumb
girl asked questions. I told her I was a gestational diabetic and she said, "now is diabetes when you have high blood sugar?" This is the girl that they sent to do my physical!!!!!)
But there was a woman in the waiting room with me on Sat, and we were talking about the program and the hidden expense and one woman that was signing up walked out!! So, we got them $1000 less anyway. Ha! I just get mad because they get your $$ before they start with all of this other mandatory stuff.
And they got sued once for misrepresenting cost and they had to settle, so it is a legal issue I think!
Other than that I did ok yesteray. I go weigh in tomorrow so I am going to try to be super good today. I did have to eat bran cereal this a.m., but I am so constipated I had to make an exception! But, I'll be good the rest of the day!!
My center never mentioned bloodwork or a physical, but the last few times I've been in I've seen lab equipment in one of the cubicles (tubes, a centrifuge), so I'm sure it's coming. That's awful about the girl being clueless about diabetes!! I'm asking them about the 1/2 money back deal today, but I don't even think I'll make much of a fuss about it. The sooner I can get done with the center, the better. I think the plan is good. It teaches you to eat healthfully and watch your portion sizes. It's just too bad some of the centers take advantage of overweight desperate people. I sure was desperate when I signed up. I didn't even think to ask about the fine print. I just wanted to lose weight.
I just got back from weigh-in, and here's what they told me: If you do not lose the weight in the alotted weeks, you must pay for each additional week until you do. You will get your refunds back only if you maintain your weight for the 52 weeks with an error of +/- 5 lbs, AND buy one box of Lites per week. Nothing about cheating, visiting 3x per week, etc... I flat out told them that I cannot make it 3x per week to the center. My center has weird hours. They're open in the mornings Mon-Wed, and afternoons on Thu. and Friday. Sat and Sun they're closed.
Then I asked about blood testing. She said it was optional and that they did not have the equipment when I started the plan. I asked what it was for. She says "To test your blood."
"Test your blood for what?" I asked again.
"For cholesterol and stuff. To make sure you can do the plan." she replied.
(eye roll)
Then she made another sales pitch for the supplements, and I told her I thought they were too expensive. She said "they really do help." I was biting my lip at this point. I asked, "If they supress your appetite, what happens when you stop taking them to maintain? Won't you just have to deal with your appetite anyways?" She replied that they "break down fat AND supress your appetite." I told her they were too expensive for me again, and we left it at that.
I'm not annoyed with the people who work there. It's really not their fault they're thrown into a job where they can't answer the questions. But LAWL as a corporation really needs to look into backing up some of their procedures and products with sound science. I want to know before I put it into my body!
One thing that bothered me: when we were discussing the supplements, she said "they supress your appetite and break up fat, just like the Lites do." Is there something weird in the lites that isn't on the box? Creepy. Another girl at the center also claimed my decline in blood pressure was due to an ingredient in the Lites once.
I just weighed in and the woman tried to get me to do the Take Off. Can someone explain to me the two day takeoff? She said it was very different from the three day takeoff that I did in the beginning. I am sure she just wants to sell me some $23 juice.
It sounds like I have a pretty good center in comparison to others. For example, I didn't keep my diary on my "week from ****" and she said that she would put down that I did keep it.
And there is only one person at the center that sometimes pushes the supplements, and only sometimes. It is funny, though, some of the claims she makes about them are completely baseless and against all logic. When I question her about them, she flounders.
They made enough money on me, and having the words "proprietary herbal blend" on the bottle is just not enough info for me.
Cheer, a few of us (myself included) use the Hollywood Diet drink in place of the LAWL 2-day take off drink. They have the same ingrediants and do the same job and it's way cheaper. My center charges me $28.00 for the juice, when I can find it for $15.00
xYTx- You posted a few pages back that you have Vodka tonic w/ lime. Do you find that you are puffy in the mornings or that you gain a little w/ this concoction? I'm not a drinker but i'm going to be in the presence of alcohol and wanted to plan ahead.
If anyone else knows of some low-calorie concoctions pls post it.
Did you all sign up for the rebate plan? I did at first until I found out that I had to keep at the weight within 5lbs +/- and then I thought what if I wanted to lose more? If I lost 10 more pounds then I wouldn't get my money back. So I just went on the plan without the rebate.
I was talking to one of the counselors today and the subject got around to the lites. And I just flat out told her that if I do stop nursing my baby anytime soon I would never be able to afford them. And I think she won't ask me anymore now...we'll see.
Now if I could just keep my paws out of my daughter's candy drawer! I'm getting so frustrated with myself! If the stuff is around I have no willpower whatsoever! All I want for a minigoal is to get under 200 pounds and I'm so close but yet I keep going for that candy drawer!
I am really glad to hear all the positive headway you all are making. The holidays are just around the corner and I for one, am really hoping to show a difference when my family comes home. I would really be thrilled to lose 5# by Thanksgiving. That would be a stretch for me as I have only averaged about 1.5# a week. But this week I am doing cardio every day and weights 2 x week.
Do any of you have a goal, either loss or exercise before Thanksgiving?
Hannah
Wow! It is so interesting hearing all your stories...I for one am keeping notes, so when they mess up I can stick it back to them. The day I signed up, I insisted on photo copies of all the paper work that went into my folder and from here on out I am going to ask to see what they are recording everytime I go in.
This was interesting...my first visit to the center I was greeted by two people, one in a lab coat and one in street clothes. The woman in the street clothes was the manager, she introduced the other woman as the "dietican". So when all three of us sat down, I asked the "dietician" the calorie break down of each plan and asked to see the plans. Neither one of them knew how many calories but were guessing and they wouldn't show me the plan...I proceeded to tell them that my daughter in law was a dietician (which is the truth lol) and she told me NOT to start any plan without seeing it and without knowing the calorie restrictions and that I shouldn't start any lower than 1500 to 1600 calories (for my size and activity level). Well of course they both said that she (my dil) was absoulutely right. So I asked them to see the plan that would put me in that catagory. They just couldn't because they didn't know until the one in the lab coat got up and said, "I'll go call corporate". I said to the manager, "I thought she was a dietician?", she said, "well no, she is like our resident dietician because she is so good". Getting the information took approx 20 minutes and the "dietician" came back with, "well the red plan is about 1600, so I think you should go with that". YIKES!!! I was NOT impressed with either of them but I was driven by all of you here knowing that that diet was good and you were all having success. So with a bit of trepidation, I did join.
xYTx....check your contract, I asked a lot of questions, they told me that whatever was recorded on the contract was what we had to adhear to. I live 25 minutes from the center, so my contract says I only have to come "1 maybe 2x a week", which is enough for me because I would get too depressed not seeing the scale move! Also, they recorded that I do not buy the bars. They were not recommended due to the fact that I have spastic colon. I also made them document the fact that I DO NOT buy the supplements. Now there may be some other loop hole there, not sure, but tomorrow I am going over it again with them, because in my center you pay more if you want the money back plan. I thought that would be an incentive for me, so I took the more expensive plan...but if they are going to find some small little thing in the end that I did not do and tell me I didn't follow through...I will be bull, just like I am because they made me pay $79.00 for medical that I have not yet received!! As I stated before, they were suppose to check my thyroid levels and cholestrol. Well enough of that!!! Sorry about running on about that!!
Kathy congratulations! What a great feeling!!! Keep it up!
Everyone else....Have a great day and stay true to yourself! I think I might have to give in and buy the cookbook...getting quite bored with the meals I have been cooking!!
I am laughing, because there is one in a lab coat at my center
too, and she is the one that they send in to do the physicals so I
thought that she must be some sort of nurse! LOL, she is the
one that didn't know what diabetes was!! I think the corporate must tell the franchises that it looks more professional with a few lab coats running around.
My center didn't mention a rebate plan, you just get part of your money back if you maintain your weight loss. Also, the lites were absolutely mandatory.
Anyway, I had a busy day and didn't do too well, but tomorrow is another day!
Everyone at my center wears a lab coat. The rebate plan was more expensive and the lites were mandatory. It has all kinds of awards all over the wall from corporate, but they still think that.6 on the scale means 6 oz. not 6/10 of a #. Go figure!
Kathie
Mine has been really underhanded from time to time, and the only thing keeping me going there was the money I'd invested into the plan. I wish there was a little more consistency between centers! LAWL would gain a lot more credibility if they dumped the supplements and pushed exercise instead.
Sorry about running on about that!!
