ok, I have struggled with my weight for quite awhile now.
Like most of you, I am informed in what is good/not good for my body in regards to weight loss. My problem is, I can never stick to a plan! even if it seems really easy, after a week or so I start self-sabotaging

So, I was wondering, if people end up being more successful or are more equipped/motivated to stay on plan when they subscribe to one of the weight loss organizations (pay x a week, get weighed once a week , think weight watchers).

Now I am not thinking of going to weight watchers, but we have a local wieght loss centre here that also is lower carb I just don't know whether I should bother spending $120 a month! Although if it helps me stay on plan it's worth it.

I am a very private person and normally like to get things done myself, but although I have tried to lose weight many times, I have never ever gone to any weight loss centre. So I would love your thoughts and feedback on this.

Sorry if this is in the wrong section- I didn't know where the best fit would be

I have never tried a weight loss centre. I am a member of TOPS. The reason it helps me is because of the weekly weigh in. I know I will weigh in every Wednesday so I stay on plan because of it. I also stay on plan now because I feel good.

I used to think after 20 years of dieting I knew how to lose the weight the problem was me. I was wrong. After reading YOU on a diet by Dr. Oz and Roizen I found out it was not me but how our body works when we go on these diets then go off them. I then read Superfoods Rx and Superfoods Healthstyle by Dr. Steven Pratt, these are not diet books. I have changed my healthstyle and I will lose this weight slow and steady and I am healthy for the first time in years. I have been on Atkins, Weight watchers, Juice only, Lean cuisine only, starvation, low fat etc.. I now eat healthy,count my calories, and exercise by walking, weights, elliptical, bike and it is the best thing I have ever done for myself. I hope you find something you can stick with for the rest of your life.

For some people they do work, for some they don't.

Do you want to have someone where you talk to regularly about your weight loss and weight loss goals? With WW, it is more of a group meeting setting but it is where you get to go be with a community of others that want to lose weight.

For me, I think I know a lot about weight loss because I've been trying for so many years and I've done a lot of my own research. I guess I'd get annoyed with someone if they knew less about weight loss than myself and they were trying to be my diet counselor. I'd probably be willing to pay a weight loss doctor money but if it was someone who had minimal training, then I'd be less willing.

So I'd just outline what you want for the amount of money you will be paying. Do you want someone to be accountable to? Do you want someone who will give you tips and advice that you don't know about? Do you want to just be able to talk to someone on a regular basis about your weight loss?

You may also want to ask for credentials of those weight loss counselors if you will be paying to have individual 1 on 1 sessions with someone.

I agree that they work for some people but not for others. I have done WW and I have done Jenny Craig, twice. I had some success with both, but the most success on my second try with Jenny Craig. For the first time in my life I got down to a "normal" weight with JC. Here's my take:

Some people do like the "accountability" aspect. That wasn't really a motivator for me. In fact, I was in a wierd place mentally when I started and I couldn't bear to look at the number on the scale -- I weighed in backwards for the first 6 months, wouldn't let the consultant tell me what my start weight was or how much I'd lost! Why that worked for me is another topic for another day, though. So, those weekly weigh-ins can be helpful or a non-issue, just depends on what you need.

What an org like that does for me is provide focus and committment. As I've written on other threads, I'm a procrastinator and a champion at letting myself off of hooks and doing only what I "feel like" doing. That's what made me 300+ pounds. So, when I made this last-ditch effort, I committed to going to my weekly appt no matter what, no matter how much I didn't want to. Going to that appt was half the battle in being successful for my week. It taught me that just because I had a bad week didn't mean I couldn't follow through on my committment, and it meant that I got some support when I needed it the most. It taught me that pulling my head out of the sand was actually what was going to make me successful. It also gave me a time every week where I didn't have to pay attention to anyone else but ME. It was my time to take care of myself.

Both WW and JC offer very sound, safe, healthy food plans and lots of information and support for the mental aspect of weight loss. For this last try, I chose JC over WW for two reasons: First, I needed time that was devoted to me and only me. As I said, I was in a weird place mentally, and I wasn't in the mood for being in a group. I like WW and it was helpful to me when I partcipated, but this time I needed some one-on-one care. The second reason was the food. JC DOES teach you to eat on your own, the food is just training wheels, so to speak. But it was helpful when getting started to have the food choices taken out of my hands to some degree, to have the planning done for me, and to have super-convenient meals. The less opportunity for me to make excuses and give in to whims, the better.

JC always has a trial membership offer going. You can go to the web site and see what the current one is. If you try it and don't like it, you're not committed to something long-term. I recommend it if you think you can benefit from what it offers.

I have an appt with PHC this week. They said for 12 weeks and me to lose 30 lbs will cost $200-$300. They do all labs, Dr visits, meds (B12 shots), lab work (I still swear soemthing is wrong with my thyroid) and psychological counseling. The director talked to me for an hour the other day when I was getting information. I did it before when I was 5 but i dont remember much about it other than the cookies were really good.

I wanted to try Jenny Craig but it was too expensive. Someone at work tried it and said its no different than buying frozen lean cusine meals. I do know someone that tried medifast and lost alot of weight.

That's really not true. The meals are more nutritionally sound, there's a larger variety, there's lots of non-frozen foods (breakfast bars and cereals, soups, etc.), and on the whole they taste better. And, again, anyone who joins JC for just the food is missing the point. There's no magic potion in the entrees -- it's the whole program that makes it worthwhile.

I personally didn't care for Jenny Craig but I think it is all up to personal preference. I did it for a year. It helps if you have a good counselor but really I don't think their counselors knew how to deal with me. "You shouldn't be on a plateau, you should be losing weight". Also, my first counselor left (she was really good), then i got bounced around between a couple counselors before I gave up on the program.

I also got tired of the food after a few months but tried to stick through it before I finally quit.

I have personally tried almost every program that you can pay for and I will say that thery do help you to lose weight- They work because of the focus and attention you give to eating and accountability and cash- However I am ashamed to say that I am now 40 pounds heavier than I was when I started attending the formal progrmas 24 years ago. Recently, I have found yet another program called Ultra lite weight loss and I am looking for anyone with some experience connected to it- Thanks[/I]

My mom goes to some miracle weight-loss clinic that everybody swears by here. He's in Valdosta, GA, which is way far away from you, but what I'm trying to get at is, it worked for her. Yeah, she's paying out the *** for something I feel as if she could have done herself without the B12 shots and some kind of pill (nothing dangerous, I remember looking into it when I used work at a pharmacy). She was 240, and now she's about 190. November of 06-now.

Like everybody else said, it's all how you are. Some people, it doesn't work, some people it does. Good luck with it. If I had the money, I'm sure I would try it.

my husband did go to a center and it did help him, they did give him some kind of pills though and i wouldnt be able to tell you what they were because i honestly dont remember. i wasnt into the whole losing weight issue back then so i didnt pay attention but the clinic still stands and they still offer that same program. i havent gone because its like $80 a month which i dont have right now.