They didn't at mine but it happens. Consider yourself lucky.

My cousin belonged to LAWeight Loss. she did loose a lot of weight, but she said they really didn't teach her how to maintain the loss. She took the suppliments which are called hebs but really are aphetemines: ephedrine and caffeine. She could feel how they affected her so Patty I can understand how you said you felt sick.

Personally when I think about the cost you all have described I want to scream...

It seems to me a much better way to spend my money is to join a gym. The Y in my area is 2 years old, has a great workout center, pool, indoor track and aerobics for $ 42 a month.

Let's face it, the true secret is to eat less and move more.

Good luck to all.:strong:

Well said Ilovemyluckycat!
For the cost of LAWL, you could easily get a nice gym membership, or buy a home Weider gym set or treadmill, or a ton of healthy cookbooks, exercise videos...and not have to deal with any of their hassles.
We also have a very nice newer YMCA in our neighborhood that has childcare during certain hours of the day, and also has things to teach children healthy habits, such as swimming lessons.
Our city, as well as the one my mother lives in, both have walkways that range for 2-4.5 miles that are specifically for walkers, runners, rollerbladers, etc.-so exercisers or those just doing it for leisure can avoid the traffic of regular roads-you can see if your community has something like this to use-and it is totally free!
Fitness does not have to be expensive. Even if you cannot afford a gym membership or fancy equipment-you can walk on a walkway, outdoors, or in a mall. You can find exercise videos cheaply on Ebay, rummage sales, or thrift stores. Losing weight and getting your body fit and strong does not require that you spend hundreds of dollars at a center each year.
Aphil

Hey, it's me....ILOVEMYLUCKYCAT' cousin.

My problem with LAWL

I was on LAWL a couple of years ago and I did lose weight, BUT....I was starving all the time. LOL

What scares me the most is the supplements they put you on and never tell you that you are taking Ma Hung, which is the highly questionable Epedrine. That stuff can kill you!!! They never once warned me about it or told me not to have any caffeine with it. I felt racy and speedy all the time. I once woke up feeling numb, weak, nauseous, and hot flashy. Thought I was having a heart attack so I took the Tri-Max to my Docs to see what it was. He made me promise to throw it away before it killed me and never take it again. I have family history of high blood pressure and heart disease. The "counselors" there could have put me in an early grave. My hands were shaky and I was jumpy from the stuff, and starving on the low calorie, low carb plan ALL THE TIME. No warnings, advice, or truths from these "counselors"

Who cares about the money, they never said a word to me about what was in their" safe all natural supplements." It IS the same as Metabolife. It's the same Epedrine crap, just cleverly named Ma-hung. It speeds up your metabolism and heart rate and can kill you and they never told me I was risking my life to lose weight.

Since LAWL never really had me modify my diet to a plan that made sence for the rest of my life, you know, like being able to eat banannas, I gained half of the weight back after I stopped taking the crap that sped up my metabolism. Who can learn to live on only 1/2 of a bagel or 1/2 of a cup of pasta as a :limited carb? Or all the foods I loved on the "no-no" list.

If you take the Tri-Max, you will gain weight when you stop. Please proceed with caution on this plan if taking the "supplements". Do research and ask your Doctor. The stuff is dangerous and darlings, you are all worth more.

Maybe they have "modified" the Tri-Max, but it wasn't a plan that changed my behavior. For anyone on the plan, check the lables and have your Docs ok this plan for you. Please be careful.

Well, I wasn't going to post on here, because it seemed like people were getting really catty a while back. Seems like everyone has sort of calmed down now, so I thought I'd add my two cents worth.

I've been dieting as long as I can remember, and I've tried just about everything out there with no or very limited success. I have worked out regularly for years, and my body has always been strong, if overweight. I do cardio, lift weights and do yoga. Exercise alone is not enough for me to lose weight, but, because of all the other great benefits, I've continued to work out even at my heaviest.

I've been on LAWL for about 5 months, and i've lost 35 pounds. The weight doesn't come off quickly or easily, but it does come off. I'm averaging about 2 pounds a week, which is great for me. The LAWL food plan is very similar to some other diets I've been on, but the accountability of going in three times a week really makes me stick with it. It is an expensive program, but I feel like it's working for me, and actually teaching me, how no other program has before. I've had to take time off while on LAWL, due to the holidays and my mother's health problems. Even when I'm on an off week, I do not gain weight, because I am much more conscious of my portion sizes and what I'm eating. My average calorie intake is between 1400 and 1600 calories a day, and I very rarely feel hungry. I have also continued to exercise, doing about 45 minutes of cardio 5 times a week, yoga 3 times a week, and weight training 2 a week.

Now, I'm not an unintelligent person. I know that the "counselors" are working on commission and they want you to buy things. But, I've never been pressured to buy things after my first refusal. I do use the bars, mainly because they are convenient and I like the way they taste. I don't use the supplements, although I have tried them.

I've heard a lot of horror stories from other people on this website about having absolutely terrible experiences at their centers. I have not had that problem. The people at my center are very supportive and nice.

I wish everyone success on their weight loss journey, no matter what path they take.

LAWL may have changed alot recently with the various lawsuits and stuff but I repeat, my major problem with them was not the plan.... it was the deception. If I had been told UP FRONT when I paid for an entire year, that if on the off chance I missed one weigh in or licked Cheeto dust off my fingers....I'd have to start paying the $7 or $8 a week WITHIN MY PAID YEAR, I never would have signed up. They didn't tell me that. They didn't tell me the that if I didn't buy the bars, I'd have to start paying again. They didn't tell me that the "custom" plan was the same plan as 98% of everyone else was on. They didn't tell me ALOT before I signed up that had I known, would have never signed. Paying double within the same year was the deal breaker that was the big deception. PLUS...After initial succress, I just stopped loosing even though I was following the plan and the salesladies didn't know how to help me. I wish you tons of success.... just hope that after you aren't "accountable" to a saleslady 3 times a week, you can do it on your own. Good Luck (sincerely).

I agree with Gringagordita. I started LAWL becaUse EVERYONE i know who has been on it has lost the weight and kept it off. I have tried WW 5 0r 6 times and could not lose on it. Everyone is different.

To those of you currently on LAWL, I'm just curious how the plan has changed. How many weeks were you given to loose how many pounds? (I was given 24 weeks to loose 50) but had to pay for 52 weeks. After 24 weeks, when I wasn't at my goal, I had to start paying again. Have they changed that? I was told WHEN I ASKED, that if the plan didn't work for me, they would adjust it (they didn't...I was gold gold gold.) and I could come until I reached my goal (they neglected to say...for extra money). Do they still use the "red pen"? When you go for your WI, do they put red marks in your file if you "cheated" (I put that in quotes because some of their definitions of cheating were not having enough LA Lites)? I was told that every red mark was a violation of my contract and they could cancel me at any time. Of course they told me this AFTER my 24 weeks. If I had been eligible to get my other 28 weeks back I'd have no complaints. BUT I guess they can cancel your contract but they keep the cash. DO they still have "quick start", which is actually "Atkins until your check clears". Do they allow you to see ANY part of the plan until your check or CC clears? They told me it was very simialr to "the Zone" and was all about food combinations. It's not. How many carbs are you allowed? Have they raised it from 2 melba toasts a day? Can you eat canned food? Are you allowed bananas? What is up with this "weekends off" thing? I find that amazing, since I got a red mark for licking cheeto dust off my fingers. How many bars do you have to eat? It used to be almost half your daily caloric intake. Are you allowed to exercise? We were actually discouraged from it. They say you can eat out... yeah like what? We were told you can go out with friends and they will never notice you are dieting. Yeah... only if you fake illness and don't eat at all (I was actually told to do it). How has the whole thing changed?

Barb-

The plans and policies you are describing are NOTHING like the experience I had with LAWL last year. They told me on average a person looses 1-2 lbs a week in the beginning, and then it often slows to 0.5-1. They told me how many weeks they thought it would take for me to lose the weight, but I made the ultimate decision on how many weeks I wanted to buy. I think I chose to purchase 6 months worth of weeks. In which time I lost 50 lbs.

Now....I know nothing about the red pen and cheating stuff you are talking about. I know that if you go in 3 times a week and make your goal weight....then maintain it for a certain period of time, they will refund a % of your program costs. As far as I know, there is nothing you can do that would cause them to cancel your contract.

As for the quick start...they do have that. They actually have several different versions. I asked to see the meal plan before I joined and they happily showed it to me. Who in their right mind is going to join something without knowing what they are getting into???

I think you probably know that there are several different food plans....you are given one based on how much you need to lose, gender, age, health conditions, etc. The one I was on allowed for 3 servings of starch a day. So...that is much more than 2 slices of melba toast. I have seen 2 additional meal plans, both of which allow for more than 1 serving of starch a day (2 melba toast slices). There may be a plan that includes only one starch serving, but I have not seen that one.

They still recommend eating fresh fruits and veggies instead of canned...but I think we all know that they are better for you. Food processing takes away a lot of important vitamins and minerals. When I was on the program bananas were not allowed....I have never figured that one out. There was another fruit also not allowed...mango or guava or something.

I stopped the program before they got the weekends off program...but I dont think it means "free for all". I think they just get more food variety than usual.

As far as I know, it is 2 LA lites per day, but they are no longer required. A lot of people use Luna or Balance bars or substitute for other foods.

I ate out all the time on plan. Lots of places have grilled chicken salads and lite dressing (for instance). They also have a book that has a ton of restaurants and frozen meals and what the exchanges are.

I think I covered most of your questions....let me know if you have more.

There are two things I want to say about LAWL.

1) like any other "diet" this program is great for some people and not so great for others (I think it is more of a diet than a lifestyle change)

2) the LAWL centers are all VERY different and VERY inconsistent...all of the people posting on the LAWL board have had very different experiences, some tremendously better than others (Barb...I think you had a TERRIBLE center that really lied to you and cheated you!)

I lost 50 lbs on LAWL and have successfully kept off 48lbs for over a year. I just recently started working on the next 50....I am doing a program that I created for myself, using things I learned at both LAWL and WW.

Okay everyone...
 

After reviewing this thread - I think the point that everyone wanted to make - whether pro- or con-LAWL - has been made over and over again...

Rather than get into another debate - I think the time has come to END THIS THREAD. There's enough information here for anyone wondering about the program to be able to make their own personal decision regarding LAWL and whether it's a good 'investment' to make in their weight-loss efforts.

Unless Suzanne has an objection, I think the time has come to close this thread...