Hi. I need to lose about 25 pounds since I've had my baby. The LA Weight Loss ad come on tv all the time. I called the local LA Weight Loss Center and they were very vague on how it works. They kept stressing you have to come in for an appointment. All I want to know is how the plan works before signing up. It's hard to get the baby out of the house, etc.
Is it basically a reduced calorie plan?
I've been searching through the threads and I can't find anything clear cut. It looks like you eat an x amount of fruit, protein, etc. and have optional meal bars and supplements.
Depending on how much you weigh, your center will put you on a certain color of plan. They do sell bars called LA Lites. They will want you to eat 2 bars per day along with the food on your plan. You have the option to tell them that you do not want to eat the lites, and they will put you on a plan with more food. I do not eat the lites, and I have lost just as well as those who have, but the lites do help curb candy and chocolate cravings as well. Be prepared for sticker shock, though, because they are expensive. Anyway, you color of plan will give you a certain amount of starches, fruits, veggies, proteins, dairy, fat, and condiments. You will get a book that gives you your choices, and the amount to eat. I find that the book provides plenty of variety. In fact, I think that I eat much better, tastier food now. It is food that your purchase from the grocery store and prepare at home, too. Hope this helps, and good luck to you, whatever you decide to do!
Another thing to be prepared for is that you are buying your weight loss weeks in advance, plus 6 weeks of stabilization, and 1 year of maintenance. At my center, all that was paid up front (and I think at most). So times that by how much you want to lose (at the rate of 2 pounds per week) times what the current rate is (at my center, it's $7 a week) and see if it's something you want to pay for. The bars and supplements are extra and they will try to sell you the moon. I like LAWL in spite of a bad center and have been very successful.
Just some things I wish I would have known before I signed up...good luck!
Every center is different. Go in and meet the people. You may find you really like them. My people are great, they are supporting me and I've been on it 3 weeks and I've lost 14 pounds! But I've heard stories about bad things from different people. I think it really depends on your center. Just go in with an iron will, in case they are not the nice great helpful people I found in Toledo!
Yes, they have ways to count things like cake, popcorn at the movies, etc. Some exercise, but many do not. You will lose faster if you don't, at least in the beginning, but exercise is never a bad thing.
If you're looking for a WW type plan where you can eat what you want and figure out how to count it, this won't work for you. Most counselors will flip out if they see anything in your diary that is remotely suspicious...unless you've had a great loss that week (in my experience, others could be different). I personally found it to be more food than I was used to eating, but it was more of better things (fruits, veggies, lean protein). I am a carb-a-holic, so it was a shock to my system that way. You definitely are limited on carbs, but not like an atkins or south beach kind of limitation. It's balanced eating and accountability, but not much room for cheating.
That said, when I first started and was losing really good, I did reward myself with one semi-cheat meal a week and still averaged 2-2.75 pounds per week. I do exercise as well, pretty heavily, but some girls do not exercise at all and have no problem losing the weight. I think like anything, the more you have to lose, the easier it will come off in the beginning.
I, on the other hand, am losing pretty slowly! BUT I am losing! And.......I have gone up just a tad here and there, but for the most part I lose or stay the same. I have only lost 17.5 pounds since January---but my goal was to lose 25 pounds to begin with.
hi jamilaz~ LAWL plan is a healthy alternative to other plans out there, in my opinion...theres no room for unhealthy food so you eat more of a healthier selection...so unlike WW where you can have 3 bags of chips in one day and be left with little to no points, here you have a vast array of food you are allowed to eat so you dont find yourself falling short of food by the end of the day...its tough at first b/c you are fighting cravings, but i find using the bars helps a lot...im not hungry on the plan, but i do find myself wanting to eat...but thats the struggle with any weight loss plan..i do exercise and find it helps me, but when i wasnt exercising i lost the same way..and if i were you i would wait a little until they have a deal, i joined at 5$ a week, and my sister joined a few weeks later at 3$ a week due to a special they were having for 4th of july...then even if you go for 52 weeks, its 150$ to join, which i think is a great deal...the bars will run you a lot of money! this is where they get you...but some of us use alternatives like the lunas, prias or kashi's...well the center shouldnt know that because they dont allow it, but we find them to be nutritional equivalent and a lot less pricey...good luck on deciding whether LAWL is right for you
I paid the $3 / week to join; I paid for 25 weeks of weight loss, 6 weeks of stabilization and 52 weeks of maintenance. Plus there was a $99 paperwork / bloodwork fee (Just be sure to keep on them for the bloodwork -- mine wasnt done until I asked for it for over a month).
IMO they were very aggressive when I walked in there -- I had told them I was allergic to peanuts so I didnt have to buy the bars; I also have other food allergies, so I got away from it . .but I think the bars cost alot of $$
My total cost for joinging at $3 was $348. I bought another 20 weeks when they had their open house in March for $4 week. I asked ahead and they said you can add on weeks whenever you want.
Overall I am happy, I"m down 24.4lbs since January, but I do exercise about 4-5x a week, and since I added the weight training (just a few things), i've been stalled since April 19th. Very fustrating, but the program works if you are POP.
Good luck! I have done WW in the past but it gave me too much freedom; like others said, you could "have" a bag of chips, but if its a trigger food you could eaisly use up all your points on junk vs. healthy foods.
Even though my center only wants you to weigh in 1x a week, at the beginning they did the 3x and that really made the difference .. .
How does this plan work?
