Roll call! (bio's)

[Leah AU mom]

I am so glad I found this site. I am so encouraged by reading the effort so many of you are putting forth in your weight loss.

My name is Leah, and I am 34. I have three children 8, 6 and 2. girl, girl, boy.
They are truly a blessing, and I have a DH--married 12 yrs.
I did LA weight loss and was successful and reached my goal, and I felt great!!!!!!!! However, stupid me did not stick to maintenance and I have now gained 20 lbs. THat's right I gained 20 lbs. I could kick my self!!!!!!!!! Instead of paying LAWL again, I'm going to do this on my own, and God's help. I'm so glad I found this site because I'm encouraged by all of your experiences and challenges. I ordered some LA lites on Ebay since I'm not going to the center, and after reading what many of you said about the Luna bars, I think I'll try them.
Looking forward to being challenged and encouraged by this group!!!!!!!!!
Leah

[MetalChic]

Leah, How much did you lose the first time on LAWL?

[bunaybunnie]

hi everyone, my name is yvonne. i am 21 years old and i am married with 2 kids, 2 1/2 and 1. both boys. i went to la weight loss to get my body back to 125, i don't know if ill ever see that again but im gonna try. i look foward to talking to you all. good luck,

[shennie_97]

Hi everyone, I joined a little over a week ago and I am sooooooooooooooo happy to find this website and all the support here.

I feel a lot better about my decision now

I am 26 and live in Indiana. My goal weight is 155, but I have told myself that I will see how 155 looks on me and might go further, but i wanted to set a goal.

I have an 8 year old son ( and before he was born i swear I could eat whatever I wanted). I will be starting a new job on Monday and thank GOD my last day at my old one was Thursday

I am alos a graudate student wokring on my second master's degree ( can't afford to pay back the loans so I have to stay in school)


I am really glad to find so many real success stories and so much support


Hi everyone

[T2 RITZ]

I just joined LAWL on 09.13.05. The upfront enrollment fee was a little heafty, but I needed to give myself a kick in the butt. I'm normally the type of person who exercises regularly and eats healthy the majority of the time, but the last two years of my life have been so hectic that I fell off the wagon and gained 30 pounds. I bascially joined to be held accountable. I'm glad I found this web site. I picked this Thread because it seems to have the most bites. I have some questions and concerns with the program. Hopefully all of you wonderful people will help me out.

I've gone to my first three appointments. I've done the juice and I'm on the GOLD PLAN. Is anyone else on this plan? I also opted to take some of the supplements. I normally don't take things like this, but I'm going to Hawaii on October 19th and I wanted to lose the bulk of my weight by then. The counselor told my I was eligible to take all of the products. I already take a multi and calcium daily, so I didn't get those, but I did get the Xcel, Reduce Plus, FB500 and Carb Enders. I've been on them for three days now, and I'm starting to feel jittery and light headed. Has anyone else taken the supplements? Can I please get a heads up? I'm feeling obligated to take these because they cost so much. Any advice?

I also was bit shocked on my third appointment when I was hit with the cost of the LA Lites. I wasn't given too much information about these on my first two visits, except they help curb your appitite, provide you with protein and taste good. I was given a sample box on my second visit, along with a coupon to purchase more in bulk on my next visit. I was told it was cheaper to buy in bulk, but I wasn't given any costs. When I got to my third appointment (3.4 pounds lighter than when I started-YEAH!), I was given the LA Lite package information. WOW!! I've already dumped $400 for the start fee and $160 on supplements. I told the counselor that I needed to discuss this new cost with my husband. She did extend my coupon for two more days, but I'd like to get some info. from everyone on the LA Lites.

My husband feels I don't need them. I mean I did just join the program to get a kick in the butt to do what I already know how to do. I'm not sure if the LA Lites are really necessary. I left the appointment feeling obligated to buy a package. The counselor told me to tell my husband that this would be the last cost. I need some help. I've tried a few of the bars, and they are good but I'm looking for other on the go alternatives.

In need of advice!

[shennie_97]

Hello and welcome. i am not an expert bcause i just started my third week, so you will probably gte better advoce from the seasoned veterans on here, but i knowthat mnay people have opted to use LUNA bars instead of the lites because they are basically the same thing. Or you can look on ebay and try to buy the lites...but if you don't do the lites, you get a different plan I am pretty sure.

I myself didn't know about the luna bars until it was to late, so I paid for my program stabilization and half of maintenance already. i had been debating on what I would do after maintenance, but I am pretty sure thatI won't keep using the lites, unless i find a great sell on EBay just because after doing the math I realized that if I but the other 6 months of lites, I would be spednign more than my rebate would be anyhow, so I will probably do a reality check when I hit that point but for right now I think that if I maintain for 6 months, I'll be fine andI will probably move over to the luna bars just to have as needed.

I wrote down the ingredients to alot of the supplements on my visit last week and went down the street to vitamin world and found the same stuff for way less money, so you might want to rethink paying them 160 every month or two whenyou can probaly go to your local nutrition store and get what you need. Especially since you have the bottles, they shoul be able to find a perfect fit for you.

Don't let yourself get pressured into spending more than you can afford, because then you will end of being upset and hating to see the people who "suckered" you in and you don't want to hate each time you have to walk in there.

It is really sad that there are soem centers who don't explain the price of the lites upformt. My center didn't tell me the bulk price but I did know the regular price was $30 per box, so I was prepared for the sticker shock.

Good luck and the people on here are wonderful, they have healped me tremedously.

Also as far as the supplements, i am taking a supplement that increasing matabolism and you take it three times a day before you eat ( I think that is almost like the Excel) and I made a mistake and took one thinking I was about to eat, but got busy and I felt terrible (jittery, sweating etc), so I called my doctor and her told me that that was normal sinc eI hadn't aten right away but to not make that a habit...just FYI

[T2 RITZ]

Thanx for the information. I was wondering if I could please get the nutritional informatoin on the LA Lites from someone who is or has used them (i.e. calories, fat grams (saturated, unsaturated, trans, etc.), carbs, protein, etc.). I've been trying to find a copy of a label on-line with no luck. This way I could possibly compare before my visit.

[shennie_97]

All I like are the lemon ones and I am not sure if each flavor is different, but for lemon

Serving size 1 bar (47g)

Calories 190
Total fat 4.5g
Saturated fat 3g
Cholesterol 5 mg
Sodium 55 mg
Potassium 40,mg
Total carbs 30g
Dietary fiber 0g
Sugars 18g
Protein 8 g

[textjewel]

Hi Ritzy (hope you don't mind me calling you that)

You don't have to buy the lites AT ALL -- what they will do is move you to the next higher food plan -- this is what Karen/Metalchick did -- she stayed on the purple plan until she reached maintainence, which she's been on for the past few months. I imagine that you're doing gold?

Personally, I dont do any of the supplements at all. Most of us don't.

However, the standard plan doesn't include any sweet treats at all, so I use the lites for that. I do substitute luna bars frequently for the lites - even though I bought the lite package up front. Yes, it's a lot of money, and I wish I'd found the chicks here before I plunked down the money.

Come join us on the monthly thread - that's where most of us hang out..

Julie

[Repo girl]

My name is Katie, I'm from Idaho. I am 28 years old, three kids, ages 5, 4, & almost 3. By day I own and operate a Childcare/Preschool Center from my home. I have smewhere between 10-15 children each day. By night, my husband and I are reposession agents. We repo mostly cars and trucks. I was always the thin kid in my family growing up. My sisters, mom, grandmas, aunts, and cousins were all on the heavy side. When I was 19 I got engaged to my high school sweetheart, and went on birth control pills. By the time I got married a few months later, my dress size had gone up two sizes. When we were on our honeymoon, we were involved in a car accident in L.A. I came home hurting all over. For months the pain got worse, until I went to the doctor. After extensive testing by a specialist, I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. For a fews years after this, it hurt me too much to exercise, and the weight just kept on coming. By the time I popped out 3 babies in 3 years, I had gone from my college weight of 117, to 218. I have been with LAWL for 4 weeks now, and have lost 12 pounds. I want to get down to 130, and back to a size 8, rather than the 18 I am in now. Since I am only 5'1, with a small frame, I believe that I can attain this goal. I am excited to be a member of this forum. I need the support, and hope that I can offer some of my own to all of you!

[MetalChic]

Welcome Katie!

We all have similar stories. I'm sure you can make your goal; just stay focused on your goal and you will make it.

Come on over to the monthly thread; we are chatting all the time about LAWL, life, and our own demons.

[deetsmom]

MrsBeannie, your stats are awesome...Im sure you will make your goal, congrats!!!

[emmysmom]

Hi everyone! I'm new here, but I have been reading the posts for the past month or so. I joined LAWL on Aug 18th. I had been on the plan before, then I got pregnant. My daughter is now 18 months old and I decided that it was time to lose the extra weight. I started with a goal of 41 pounds to lose. So far I have lost 14.2. The plan worked really well for me a few years ago and it's working for me again. I need the accountability...that seems to be the only thing that gets me going. I also want to be a positive influence for my daughter. It's really great to have her see me eating veggies and exercising. I want her to grow up with all of this being very routine for her. Anyway, I'm done babbling now. You have all been a huge inspiration, even though you didn't even know it. I look forward to chatting with you all.
Tina

[glasgow314]

Hello, My name is Brandy and I am 22 years old. I live in White Oak, Texas. I am a student at The University of Texas at Tyler. I am a elementary ed major. I will be done in May and hopefully find a job. I am really excited. I love children but have none of my own. I got married on Dec 29, 2001. My husband works in the oil field. I just joined LAWL two weeks ago.

[dee in az]

Hello,

I am 34 years old, I am 5'5" and I currently weigh 171. My lean body mass is 125, currently (the weight of my non-fat). My fat% is roughly 27%--my goals is to hit 12-14% (whatever that weight ends up being). My guess is that it will end up being about 132, or so.

I work in HR for a major retailer, which means I have some really irregular hours--and alot of stress. So, when work gets busy, I am not on this board frequently. I do try to catch up whenever I can.

I grew up on a farm in West Viriginia, went to school there and promptly moved to Arizona. After moving out on my own, I started a 10-year trend of gaining more and more weight every year--adding on more and more weight as my jobs got more and more stress oriented.

I attempted to control my gain problem by doing Atkins for a year or so...I lost almost all of the weight I wanted to...and then promptly gained it back in 6 months. I believe that that diet really played some nasty tricks on my metabolism. My weight gain was incredibly fast after I left Atkins, compared to the calories that I was eating.

Then my world changed...I got engaged in May 2004 (weighing over 210 pounds) and swore that I would be back to my normal zone of weight when I got married. (Not just for the pictures/wedding...but more because the weight loss would be a outward indication of better balance in my life).

So, my goal for the last 6 months has been BALANCE--spending a little less time at work...spending a little more time on me and, of course, my fiance.

Starting in March 05 I started focusing on making sure I had a long and healthy life with my husband-to-be. I started out on Weight Watchers and I lost 20+ pounds...but I "broke" the diet. I started to find ways to have exactly what I wanted and I was eating exactly what I wanted in one meal a day...but still within my points for the day.

Realizing that I needed something that dictated a balanced diet, I came across LAWL and started to doing alot of reseach. I began LAWL in August. I started out following the diet to the letter of the law, because I needed the discipline to get in the right frame of mind.

As I progress, I am doing more and more research on diets/exercise. The more I read, the more I modify what I am doing (so instead of "breaking" the diet, I am modifying it so that it gets me where I want to go). I still consider that I am doing LAWL...though not through a center...but I am focusing on more than the basics of the plan.

I focus on eating appropriate amounts of calories (switching from 1200 to 1400 calories every other week, to keep my metabolism going and not adjusting to hit plateaus) and watching my weight loss and adjusting my exercise routine to boost my metabolism when I notice stalls. I have also gotten away from eating protein bars and have supplemented the caloric and nutrient intake with other foods. I am keeping myself motivated by reading alot about nutrition/natural cures, etc.

To date, I have lost 17 pounds on LAWL since August (2 1/2 months). I currently weight 171, so I have quite a way to go to hit my goal of 132 by my wedding.

More realistically, however, I would like to be/look healthy and happy for my wedding.

As long as I keep on track with what I have been doing, I am going to be happy with my results by March 20, 2005--when we are getting married on a beach in Maui.

I just try to keep in mind that this diet goes one bite at a time and I try to make good decisions that don't negatively impact my goals (be it balance or weight loss).

I wish you all luck and discipline in reaching all of your goals.

-Dee