[dhotmar]

I am considering the L.A. Weight Loss Plan. I am interested in opinions of others that are using currently, or have used this plan in the past. Good or bad, I want to hear it all !!! Thanks, in advance, for your opinions and time!!

[sammyboy]

dhotmar- Glad to hear you are thinking of joining LA! We have a forum at LA Weightloss #85! The chicks on the forum are so encouraging and a lot of fun! Please join us there! We have all been succesfull for the most part on the plan! We are all still on and a couple of the chicks are on stablization. There is definately a wide variety of stories so please join us!
Sammy

[aphil]

Okay...there was the good. If you want to hear the bad...check for LA Weight Loss or LAWL threads here using the Search link in the purple bar near the top of the page. In particular-you can use the advanced search mode and look for the threads in the Buyer Beware section of the forum.

Mainly-some of the bad things that I have heard are the following:

1-Costs not completely specified up front.

2-Stange rules that make no sense-like certain fruits are off plan-like bananas and grapes-for reasons that don't make sense.

3-The counselors know nothing about nutrition/weight loss-they hire "salespeople" whose wages depend on what they "sell" you. (supplements, bars, etc.) They have an extremely short training period-and are then "experts" on weight loss.

4-Some centers expect everyone to lose 2 pounds a week, every week-and weight loss is not like that. I can be 100% on plan-lose 3 pounds one week-and then none at all the next. There have been some centers who have added on extra cost and such to members plans for not meeting the required weight loss in a certain time period.

5-Juice fasting as part of certain plans...living on juice and a couple small food servings in certain Take Off parts of the plan-very unhealthy and causes muscle loss...not fat loss.

Some centers are notoriously worse than others...some have had good experiences...others have had terrible locations and terrible "counselors/salespeople". I know that it depends on the location-but all of them have things in common that I personally do not recommend myself.

Check out the Buyer Beware forum and any other LAWL info you can get on the internet (NOT on the LAWL site! ) and be informed before you make your decision to sign a contract. That is the best thing you can do before making that kind of commitment IMHO.

Good luck to you,
Aphil

[dhotmar]

Thank you for the honest information! I will defintely check out LAWL in depth before I decide to even give them a call!

[Bride2Be_Diane]

dhotmar,

I joined LA Weight Loss this week and I'll tell you my reasons. I'm not strong enough to lose weight on my own and I felt like I needed to motivation and insight that the center will offer. I've tried many different diets including WW and Adkins and we'll see how this one goes. They offer a 4 week trial progam where you can give it a try and get a feel for the program. That way you're not blowing $700 if the program is not for you. I am pretty determined to lose the weight because I'm getting married in less than 5 months ! The crunch is on . If you decide to join come and chat with all of us on the LA Weightloss #85. Hope to see you there...

Diane

[pinkpenguin]

I joined LAWL a few months ago. Things are going very well for me.

Absolutely check into it as much as you can. Ask friends/neighbors if they have heard of anyone visiting a center nearby. They can give you an idea if the center is any good.

It is true they hire sales people. I think I got really lucky, because the people at my center are not only super friendly, but very smart, too. They don't always have the answer, but they always find out from someone who does.

The best diet/life change for you is the one that you can afford and that you are happy on.

Good luck!

[texasgal77662]

I went to LA Weight center in the spring of 2004. I was told by their representative that if I had a personal situation arise that I needed to temporarily suspend my weight program, all I had to do was call and they would put my account on hold and the weeks I didn't come in would not be charged to my account. About 6 weeks into the program, I had a medical emergency come up and called them and asked to be put on HOLD. I checked in with them every few weeks to keep them posted of my situation. Later, I realized I would probably never get back on the LA program, so I called and asked how much of a credit I would receive if I canceled the program. I was given a figure and later received a call from the manager trying to talk me out of it. She asked me to think it over a few weeks and get back with them. I called back a few weeks later and requested my refund. FUNNY thing is, the manager gave me a MUCH LOWER figure for my refund. She went back and deducted every week I had been on HOLD. It amounted to more than $200. I had to put up some serious protests to get my full amount back and even then, they recalculated the costs I had prepaid for my "nutrition bars". Seems that since I cancelled early, I was no longer eligible for the "discount" so they charged me FULL PRICE for all the bars I had already consumed. I WOULD NEVER RECOMMEND LA WEIGHT CENTER TO ANYONE.....THEY ARE IN IT FOR THE $$$$.