Need help with LA Weighloss
 

I have been on the program for about 1 year, in the first 7 months I lost 22 pounds, but now I am at a stand still. I don't know what to do, they are not offering me any other advise at the center. They changed my plan about a month ago from gold to blue, and still nothing. I keep teetering between 150 and 153, I have 20 pounds to lose and I don't know what to do..any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

My center has not mentioned anything about a plateau breaker, will ask them about that I am curious now. I did the take off about a month ago and only lost 1 pound! It's just not worth it to do that again.

Thanks so much for the info and let me know how your bil makes out.

Hi. What's the blue plan? Is it more food than the gold or less? I've just started - 1 week now and I'm on the gold. So, I'm not sure about any plateau busters. Are you faithfully weighing everything and counting everything? When I was on Weight Watchers, there was this "Wendie Plan" that a gal started to break plateaus. It adjusted calories on different days - a couple lower, than a high day, then lower. You could probably do a search on the internet for details, but perhaps adjusting exchanges, will shake things up a bit.

Good luck.
diane

The blue plan gives you more food - 1/2 a protein more and 1 more starch. They thought because I was on the go all the time that I needed more. I called my center today and asked them about a plateau buster and they said they didn't do that. I faithfully weigh my food, and eat only what I should, I'm satisfied with the amount of food....but no loss of weight. I will check on the Wendy plan, I think I've heard about that before, had a friend who went to weight watchers.

Thanks
Jamie

Good luck Jamie!

Jamie,
Do you do any cardio at all? Also are you eating different things everyday and not eating the same? Drinking all your water? I'm surprised your center isn't trying to help you get out of your rut. I also stall at certain weights, but my center will help me as long as I go in and try what they suggest. Just wondering.

All the "Wendie plan" is, is "cycling" your calorie intake. This would be equivalent on LAWL to cycling which plan you are on. (Like eating the Gold Plan one day, Blue the next, Green the next, etc.) using whatever plans you have the food lists for. It is so that your body does not get used to eating the exact same amount each day.

Thanks Aphil! LAWL does not do that, you are either on one color plan or the other and don't switch plan colors daily. I guess it would be too hard for them to keep up with.

Yes-I know that LAWL doesn't do it. It WOULD be too hard for them to keep up with. :) If you wanted to try it on your own, then you would just cycle your color plans each day (the ones that you already have). You could even do it by the week-eat blue one week, eat green the next, and so on.

WW has you eating in a daily points range (each food worth a different point, depending on its calories, fiber, etc.) and with the Wendie plan, you are just varying how many points you eat per day, instead of the exact same amount.

Aphil, Do you think that would boost a weight loss on the LAWL plan? I have Gold and Blue plans. The counselors are very stingy with the handout of plans, in fear that we would share the info with a possible paying customer. I know between us chicks on this site we do share them though.

You can try it and see how you do. Some people find that their bodies respond a little better if they switch up their calories a bit, and others don't notice much of a difference. All you can do is try it, and see how you respond.

Aphil - Thanks for you help...maybe I will try it with the Gold and Blue....

I think I'll hold off and maybe try it if I hit a plateau. I'm putting that arsenal in reserves ;)

The only difference between Gold and Blue is 1/2 protein and 1 starch......can't be that big of a deal, right?

That doesn't sound like much of a difference.

It's not really, probably about 150 calories...?

I am going to try the blue one day and gold the next. I am very disappointed in the center that they have not been supportive. They were very supportive till I hit my plateau. I've tried everything they have suggested, which was not much and lost nothing. So I'm going to rotate plans. I get all my waters in, I only drink water. I do not do any exercises, I know that I probably should I guess I haven't because I hadn't done it throughout the whole plan and figured I didn't need to and they don't say anything to me about it. I tried the Luna bars and they are pretty good. I am going to start using them instead of the Lites(they are too expensive).

Thanks for all the tips....keep your fingers crossed for me

Jamie

Time to switch plans??
 

Any advice appreciated. I was doing very well on the purple plan but seem to be slowing down after 11 pounds- this is week 6. I have to admit that I don't always eat all the food I am supposed to eat in a day but I drink tons of water. I am not going to the center but I do have the other plans. Maybe I should switch? Should I try eating more or eating less? I am trying to do cardio about 3x a week.

Nann - I don't know how much you are trying to lose or how much you weigh. The more you weigh, the more you lose at first, the closer you get to your goal the less you lose. Depending on your weight and exercise program, you could be eating too little, especially if you aren't eating all the protions on plan.

Whether or not they say anything to you about it, you DO need to start exercising. Absolutely 100%. Everyone here who knows me, knows my stance on this one.

You lose weight by consuming a little less calories than your body burns each day. Over time, when you have created a 3500 calorie defecit, that is one pound lost.
In layman's terms, say that your body burns 2000 calories a day doing all of your normal everyday things. You eat 1500 calories a day approximately on your plan. This means about a 3500 deficit per week, or about 1 pound a week lost.
Heavier people burn more calories a day on average, because they are carrying around more weight. It takes more for a 250 pound person to go up a flight of stairs than it does someone who weighs 175. So, over the course of losing weight (if you are not exercising) your body will burn less per day as you get smaller. You may be starting to lose your "deficit" and slowing your weight loss.
Your body burns calories all of the time-even through the acts of chewing, sleeping, and breathing. But, when you are exercising and doing active things-you are burning more calories than you would being sedentary. Exercising burns more calories...so if you are exercising, you are creating more of a calorie defecit-meaning you are going to speed up your weight loss.

There are many other benefits to exercise besides just weight loss-the heart benefits, the mood benefits (I actually get a "high" that lasts for a couple hours after a workout), and so many other things that it does to improve your health and well being. This is all just for general cardio exercise-aerobics, walking, biking, etc.

What I suggest that you first do, is get into an exercise regime. Start small, and get into the habit of it first. If you start out with a walk around the block every day, that is SOMETHING. Do that for a couple days, then make it two. We have a walkway in my town that has markers at every 1/4 mile, so I can keep track of my walking and jogging. Start small. Once you are religiously doing it every day, then it is time to increase your distance.

I exercise a lot with my husband and kids. I do my strength training, and dancing without them, but my cardio I do sometimes as a family. My husband and I went last night to the walkway, and we talked and walked 3 1/2 miles together. When the kids are home, we jump on our bicycles (we have a bike trailer on Jason's bike to take the kids for a ride with us) and we will ride 4-5 miles together. Sometimes the kids walk with us, although we do a shorter distance with them. (1-1 1/2 miles-they are 4 and 6)

You really, really need to get active. If you check out the Maintainers forum here at 3FC and read the stories of the women who have lost a lot of weight, and are KEEPING it off...one of the biggest common factors is exercise.

Well, it really depends on the exercise. If you do mainly cardio, then you burn a lot of calories while you are doing the exercise alone, plus get the added mood and heart benefits, among others.
Strength training is where the muscle building comes in. You burn more calories doing 30 minutes of cardio than you do in 30 minutes of strength training, but strength training increases muscle mass, and muscle burns more calories 24/7. Confusing, I know. The best exercise regimes include both cardio and strength training. :)

Plateau buster
 

This is from back in the day when we had limiteds.

5 day plateau buster (probably precursor to ultra express) use your plan but no limiteds. No free foods, frozen or dining out.

Ultra Express (there was a special card for this back in 2001/2002) which is basically your plan without dairy, but some centers also prohibited limited starches and proteins. Ultra express could be 2 days, 3 days or 5 days. Sometimes you used it after TO.

I've also heard that they may be revising the plans to limit carb craver meals to two a week.

Melissa the videochick

switching plans-eating on plan
 

thanks for all the advice. my goal is to lose about 40 pounds and maintain it. i will be more faithful to eating all the food and see what happens this week. :)