I've done 2 rounds of LAWL and just switched to MRC. I like MRC much better so far...the very limited choice is good for me (too many 'diet junk food' options with LAWL). My biggest issue with LAWL is that I purchased $150 worth of bars in bulk, and my center closed shortly after. They would not honor my purchase at my new center! They claimed that they lost all of the computer records from the one that closed, so I had no way to 'prove' that I had purchased them. GGGgggrrr.

Lawl
 

I joined LAWL 2 weeks ago and have lost 15.8lbs. I did NOT buy the bars, as I dont really like them and the chocolate causes me to have migraines. After explaining this, they seemed understanding with it, however when I weighed in today I saw a post it on my file that said "Re-talk Lites" They dont seem to take No for an answer, even when it involves medical issues. Thats annoyed me.

This is my 2nd time at LAWL and I found 2 yrs ago when I did it the cousellers were FAR more friendly and interested in my success. This time, not so much! In 2 weeks they've only looked at my diary ONCE. How can they tell me how I'm successfu or failing if they dont even know what I'm eating!

On the other side of things I did get some positive feedback on my willpower and structure which is always nice to hear.

All in all, the program has worked for me, and I'll never tak abad about the program itself, however I wish I could walk in to a friendly warm inviting environment. Wishful thinking I suppose.

I joined about four years ago and lost 47 pounds from January to July.
I was on a no-lites plan and it worked for me.

I understand that they are a for-profit business - we all need to make a living, but I cannot get over how many times my counseling session was interrupted by a district manager wanting and update on the sales for the day. I waited on average 20 minutes for a session and was interrupted many times because there was no receptionist.

I give the plan itself a huge thumbs up; a solid 10.
I give the management of the centers, including phone interruptions, lack of training on the counselors part and pushiness to sell unhealthy product; a low 2.

I was successful on the plan without the added products - lites - which I do not believe are healthy supplements either. Fat blockers and carb blockers are not the healthiest either - in my opinion (although t \he effects are favorable). I know there is mention of high fructose corn syrup in posts... not a good product in excess along with sugar, I agree. But the biggest violator is the soy protein isolates (and other processed soy derivatives) added to these bars and products. Soy in it's raw from is a healthy product to injest -- but ALTERED/PROCESSED soy as in isolates and the like are not healthy ingredients to any woman who is estrogen receptive. I stay away from any products with isolated soy/isofalavins (including protein bars, certain cereals, etc.) because of the history and type of breast cancer in my family.

The reason the plan works is because the foods are limited based on glycemic scales and relies on pure foods. That is the part of the plan I love most.

I actually used to *work* at LAWL. There was a lot of employee turnover, and none of us had any training in nutrition. We were taught what to say about the products in order to sell, not how to help our clients lose weight. The whole company was really terrible and poorly run! We never had the supplies or support we needed, and the clients suffered for it. I wouldn't reccomend it to anyone!

ohhh i love reading all of these posts...they are so representative of the working experience i had as an LAWL employee! I suffered thru that work experience for six months, was under six managers (or so called managers) was forced to endure countless inconsistencies in policy and procedures based on all the above managers. We had a kind and skilled staff but horrid upper management. As a senior counselor, i trained newbies the best i could under changing rules and regs. but the bottom line was....make money, push product, sell sell sell and if you dont...you will lose your ability to earn a living. talk about pressure to perform each day. they worked us 12 hour days (8 hours but with odd breaks that kept us there for the 12 hours. the bars were so over priced it was sickening...meaning..a box was at our cost 2 bucks but sold for $16. we were forced to twist arms to make packaged deals. if not, we were humiliated in staff meetings for not making the weekly $$ quotas! when i walked off the job because i just could not take the abuse any longer, i helped a number of clients leave with refunds. i had a following of clients who would only deal with me because i was honest and forthright about what products were worth buying, i gave out free samples so my clients could decide if something was taste worthy of spending the money. I was not popular with management even though i was a top sales person. why?? because i was honest about the whole process....no bull***t. Any way, the program was sued by the attorney generals office in both Oregon and Washington states for misleading advertising and business practices. how they stay open in beyond me..but from an employee stand point, they were the worst company i have ever worked for. what a waste of six months of my valuable time. good luck for those who choose this company and program..weight watchers would be a cheaper and more reasonable choice of paid programs in my opinion.

LA pros and cons
 

Well, I started LAWL in Nov of 08 and the first few months went well. I lost about 25 lbs by february, which was better than i had been able to do on any other weight loss program or through exercise. I felt better eating the healthier foods and cravings weren't that bad. Well, it is now Aug 09 and i have not been following the diet well. part of the problem was the center. i guess i could have put up with them, but as soon as i hit a plateau they were very condescending. The solely put the blame on me (as it was a conscience decision for me to stall out). I was eating what was on the list in the reccommended amount (or less, which they always griped about, but eating everything is a lot of food). I think I just developed this fear of going in there because I didn't feel like they were caring or knowledgeable. Some of the girls were better than others, but the center's manager was the worst. They also went through the big spill about the bars and I wasn't able to eat them much (I think i was having an allergic reaction to the soy or something). They really do try to pressure you into buying their stuff although the program says you don't have to. I just go fed up. Sounds like all the centers are about the same, which is a shame!:dizzy:

I was a member of LA weight loss in Ontario, Canada. I signed up and was on my way to a new life and 2 months into my program they locked the doors without notice and closed shop. I lost all my $$$ I put into program including all the food I prepurchased but did not get. It sure was a kick in the pants for me. I lost about $600 or more. I have no idea if anyone ever got any money back who may have had the same problem. If so tell me who to contact.

I have since recovered from my let down and have decided to give dieting another chance. I hope this time I will be pleased at the result.

I am a current employee at LA Weight Loss. I am pretty disgruntled because of the extremely low pay (barely above minimum wage) and I feel like I am forced to sell products to every client I see each day for counseling. I was told at my job interview that I would make $25 per hour. What a lie!!!!

The products are completely over-priced... LA Lites and supplements. People cannot afford them, but we are trained on how to keep trying to sell them and make clients feel like they are necessary for weight loss. I buy all my products on Ebay because I can get a much better deal than what I get after my employee discount.

The program itself is great and everyone loses weight who follows it. I lost weight immediately when I joined the program and I now weigh 125, which I haven't weighed in over 5 years!!!

You can lose weight without all of the overpriced products. Best of luck to you.

Often a program loses its credibility by touting products.LAWL is an amazing program which teaches you how to be healthy.I recently joined and I weigh now what I used to 5 years back already.Here at our center , the counsellors are nice.they ask if I need anything....no pushing!This is a small place with tight community and publicity is by word-of-mouth. People are not rich...so if they are pushed into buying La-products, they would simply stop coming.

I think the problem with most centers is that they target the wealthy clients. They believe that overweight/obese people would do anything to lose weight.If you can scare them enough....they will blindly buy what you suggest.Being "obese" is not a crime...it is just a "condition".Makes me mad...when "obese/overweight" people are penalized into paying higher prices at "plus" size clothes stores, weight loss product stores ....
as if not finding the "right" clothes/products, hours and hours at the trial rooms are not bad enough...
Some companies just make their profit on others' helplessness.
That is one of the main reason that motivated me into taking on this program in the first place....I wanted to be free to live, do and chose.

Thank god...for a truly caring,helping LAWL center that we have....here is Saskatoon.

I Joined in March '06. I lost 20lbs the first month. Just in time for my vacation. For the 1st 2 months I bought the bars and the shakes. The bars are just an extra half of protein. I stopped buying the bars because I stopped eating them and was still losing the weight. I went to the center 3 times a week and after the 2nd month I gave them a very firm "NO" to buying anything and they left me alone. However, I did enjoy the shakes. I'm a working mom so they substitued my snacks or a meal when i was on the go plus, they were tasty.

I recently gave birth again and I wish L.A. Weight Loss was still around. It really worked, well once you bypassed all the products.

Abouy 6 years ago I was on LAW and lost about 40lbs. Never made it to maintenance because I got pregnant. Went back on the program after I had my son with success. But after my separation I put a bunch of weight on. So I'm back at it. I'm trying to gather all my old information since all of the centers have closed. If anyone has any info, please let me know.

Disappointed
 

In Feb. I mentioned to my husband that I wanted to checkout L.A.W.L...he surprised me and gave me a full year of lawl for Valentine's Day...I was so excited to have a plan of attack...I did my first visit, the counselor was a young overweight girl but very enthusiastic...it's gone down hill since that first day...the second visit I was given the bars to try...3rd. visit came the sales pitch....I had just paid them $780.00 and they wanted me to buy those silly, unhealthly fructose laden bars!!! are you kidding me...it's interesting to me that in their little book they tell you not to buy cereal that has high fructose corn syrup as one of the first five ingredients...helloooo...did they think we're all sheep being led to pasture....did they think I'd eat those without reading the label... there are five sugars listed in one bar...do some research...read the stats on corn syrup ...well, here I am two and a half months later and I dread every visit...I've gone past dread and now I'm angry...I've lost 17 pounds but here is my problem....everytime I go, one of the "counselors", believe me, I use that term lightly, tries to get me to buy some of their useless, unhealthy add-ons....not doing it...I don't like being told what to do....never have, never will....they are no help at all....shame on me for being so stupid and wasting this money....shame on me for not being accountable to myself for my health...shame on them for being so sneaky and shame on you if you fell for it all and have sabotaged your health by consuming those bars and "nutritional" (again used that word lightly) supplements. Anyone kow if I can get my money back....never did get a contract...shame on me again...

You won't be able to get your money back. The diet is working, correct? It IS a good plan-just tell them in no uncertain terms that you will not be buying the bars or supplements. Take a good multivitamin and a Calcium/vit D tablet. Many of us did bars but substituted Luna bars instead-but it's not at all necessary. The carb blocker they sell is crap-no one has made an effective carb blocker yet. In theory it's great-but unfortunately it doesn't work.

Use the "counselor" visit for accountability and nothing more. See if you can find one that doesn't irritate you and only see that one. It's a good solid diet-you don't need any of the gimmicks.

Good luck.

pbhoney- I am sorry that you had a negative experience but I totally agree with Juliemarie.
Any event can be good or bad...you have the power to chose.My Dh gave me LAWL as a gift too, at that time I had reached very low point in my life and felt very depressed about my weight.Here I am....almost 70 lbs lighter and in control once again:)

LAWL is a business and not a social service organization...we all have to remember that. The counselors are not angels...they are human like us who have to pay bills, send their kids to school. They work commission basis...so they would try to sell their products.Truth is...you can follow the diet without bars, you just go up one plan....say if you need to be on plan -2 with bars you follow plan-3 without bars instead.
And you said you lost 17 lbs already...so the result speaks for itself. I don't have to go on about that...

Good luck!

I loved it!
 

LA Weight Loss is the ONLY PLAN that ever worked for me. I slowly lost 110 pounds over about a year and a half. The only reason I didn't lose more quickly was because I went off plan quite a bit. Once I went through a bad breakup and I decided to just sit at home and eat. I was chomping my way through a box of Thin Mints (it was Girl Scout Cookie season) and my favorite counselor called me and told me not to give up. She said "put down the cookies. Eat nothing but chicken and green vegetables for the rest of the night, and drink tons of water. I don't care if you're peeing all night! And come weigh in tomorrow." I did what she said. I was down 4 pounds when I weighed in the next day! And I had been off plan for probably 2 weeks!

I think I was blessed because I had wonderful counselors. Yeah, there were a few stinkers here and there... but some of them had been through the program and knew all about it and decided to become counselors because they liked it so much. The weight loss was slow but it was consistent. About 2 pounds/week, and more if I exercised.

I went about 9 months before I bought the Lites. And it was totally my choice. I was struggling, and I just had this feeling "I wonder if my weight loss would increase if I bought the Lites." No pressure at all. And actually, my weight loss did increase about 50% after adding them to my plan.

In 2007 they changed the plan. They added more carbs. This didn't work for me at all. I liked it when it was more strict. I need structure.

All of the centers in my area are closed now. :(

Has anybody tried going on the original plan from years ago by themselves? I've been thinking about doing that lately, minus the Lites of course.