I have enjoyed talking to Dee the past couple of days about buying LAWL supplies from a reputable company (Costco), and hope to have some good news to keep reporting. I will try to post every day to keep my motivation up, even if sometimes I might be talking to myself.

This LAWL site used to be a thriving, dynamic blog and I'm sorry the company's idiocy that caused the centers to close changed things. Still, it is a great program and I am looking forward to getting going again. I just lost 5 1/2 lbs on the Fast Forward phase and I am looking forward to having the success that I had seven years ago when I went to my much-missed center.

Tip for the day:

If you want to make a good smoothie out of milk and berries, add 1/3 to 1/2 of a pack of sugar-free raspberry or strawberry gelatin to the ingredients in the blender. You will have a much thicker, richer smoothie or shake without any added sugar. I usually use yogurt but it was not on sale this week so I am making do with milk.

That's a great idea! I use protein powder in my smoothies with milk and berries too- it also helps thicken it up

MMM the gelatin sounds good too! I should try it!

Since I have recommitted to the LAWL program, I have to find creative ways to make the food taste not just all right, but great while using ingredients from the program. I was once fixing a smoothie, adding Splenda and thinking about the grainy, boring taste when I had the lightbulb moment about the gelatin. I get the gelatin on sale at Walgreens for 4/$1.00, or about 49 cents a pack regular-price at Wal-mart.

I know a diet is successful when the rest of the family wants to eat like I do. Now it is just me and my husband, since the kids are in college, and he likes to eat more protein and vegetables as well. He is not into the bars, so he just eats more fruit and an occasional serving of crackers.

If I EVER get my pkg from Costco LOL, I'll be right on board with you guys! I love the idea about the SF gelatin! I'm going to grab some today after work!!

Dee, it took me over a week to get my kit. I was surprised, since Costco is usually so prompt. Maybe LAWL was slow getting stock to them.

Well, I'm off to the gym! I'll check back later.

Well, I got in a workout and pretty much all of my water today. I think it's a good start.

One more visit tonight. I had a Chocolate Crunch lite tonight as a snack. It was really good. I was a bit disappointed in the Chocolate Peanut Butter bar I had this morning. It seemed a bit too chewy, without any real peanut butter flavor.

OK I am in for the support! I am trying to decide what plan to start with...

I have the OLD OLD original plans where all your food choices were on 1 laminated card...then I have the colored plans that were books. I also have the new numbered plans.

Any feedback on what plans everyone liked the best?

What plan worked best for you?

I would need to start with the Gold plan or Plan 2. I have about 20-25lbs to lose.

Hi Barri, wow, I just got on the computer and you had posted a few minutes ago!

I went to the center when they had the colored plans. I used Purple and Red. Purple had a little less food, and when I plateaued, they put me on Red because they said I needed the extra food for my gym workouts. I did go on to lose more weight with the extra food.

My center closed before the numbered plans came out. They were just starting to talk about them, but I never laid eyes on one.

I did read a lot on the boards here that people were complaining of a stall in weight loss when they had to switch to the new numbered plans. I guess they had more starch and dairy.

They do have more starch and dairy. A starch is 2 slices of bread instead of 1. The dairy is 8oz instead of 4oz.

I am considering doing the old plan because it did work very well.

There is also a book you can download from Amazon called Counselors Weight Loss Program that is the ORIGINAL old plan with all the food on one laminated card. That plan worked the best for me...more restrictive but TOTALLY worth it because it worked GREAT!

Is that the plan with weekends off? I remember when I was in LAWL, they said any materials that referred to "weekends off" were obselete. I never got a look at the old plan.

I'll check that out on Amazon.

The Red and Purple plans both have dairy at 8 oz.

I don't know about you guys...but extra starch is a no no for me. I think that's WW doesn't work all that well for me. I love carbs! (don't we all??) and given the choice...I'll pick extra cals in the form of a carb every time! I'm not much of a fruit and veggie girl. I'm working on it.

no it is along the same lines as the colored plans but with more restrictive choices. Also there are limiteds...you can only have beef or potatoes once a week and not on the same day etc...

Kind of sounds like the old WW vs. the new, with a lot of restrictions. Funny, I think people take things more seriously with rules written in stone, as long as it is not totally unreasonable or unhealthy.

I was always told by my LAWL counselor that you will lose faster with fish or chicken. I like chicken, but it can get old. Unfortunately, my idea of fish is from Red Lobster or Long John Silvers, LOL. I do like shrimp now and then, though.

Dee, I missed your post earlier. I feel the same way about WW. Way too much starch. I tried it the first time when the points system came out and it worked well, because exercise was mandatory and you could bank points (up to ten a week) but not eat 30 flex points in a day. The more it has progressed, it seems to be about exercising to earn more food. I think of weight loss like balancing a checkbook and staying on a budget.

I like LAWL because you know what you are supposed to eat, the portions are generous, but when you're done, you're done. Also the two snacks built into the program, and a couple of freebies a day, like coffee creamer in my coffee, make it very doable. I am just sorry I let myself get away from the program after the center closed down. I kept it up for a while, but let down my guard.