I thought the other thread was getting a bit long!

I just had my weigh in and I am down 1.2 lbs for the week. I have been losing closer to 1.6 a week, but I am still happy. I had a few cheats this week! I will try and work off the other half pound in the yard this weekend!

On the bright side...I made it to my 30 lb loss!!! WOOHOO

The manager at the center told me they would have the strawberry bars after Thanksgiving. Did someone say they had already tried them?

Hi Jibbelle:
I Tried the mixed berry bars they are not bad they have more of a fruit taste. A bit sweet maybe but they are something different. They are white covered not chocolate. The manager at my center said they are also going to have lemon and carmel she hopefully by Christmas. On the box of the mixed berry they are calling the carmel carmel crunch.
Well I had my frist gain in a week since I started I am up 1 1/2 pounds for the week. I am hoping it is because I ate out last night and the food was really salty. I have not cheated since Wednesday so that iis good. Now I just have to be more careful over Thanksgiving if I am to make my goal in seven weeks.
I stayed OP today thank goodness, but I went shoppeng instead and spent money that I shouldn't have.
Nancy good luck eating out I am going to a Birthday party tomarrow I just might eat before I go there. My brother in law usually has lots of Italian food. It is probably best for me to avoid it.
Have a great weekend

Diane
4/10/01 201
11/17/01 149.5
goal 135

Diane-

I am sure you will be back down soon! I bet the gain is because you ate out and retained water.

I think I will get a box of the berry bars next time I go in. Maybe they would be good for my mid morning snack.

I am having a shake right now. I put a vanilla shake in the blender with some milk and frozen stawberries. OH SO YUMMY!

Just curious... and then I'll go quietly away.
I just came on to see if any of my old buddies were still posting.
I was on LAWL about 2 years ago and found it dreadful and a rip-off. BUT...from browsing your posts it sounds like alot has changed. Do they actually ALLOW canned veggies, other brands of bars, cheese, among others. I was on the Gold plan and found it so restrictive that it was almost unreal. As soon as I wised up and quit I went nuts and put on almost 30 ABOVE what I lost. I also found the costs excessive and the counselors (ie salespeople) well...just untrained and almost fraudulent (dressing as nurses when they weren't). I would never go back in a million years but I'm just curious to see if they changed their tone a bit. I hope so. They had ME so depressed I actually had to be medicated!

Barb-

I am terribly sorry to hear about your horrid experience with LAWL. I have had really great luck with the program. I am on the red plan, which isnt as restrictive as the gold.

As for the program, I do believe that it has changed. I have a LAWL cookbook from a couple years ago and it makes it look as though the program was more complicated and more restrictive.

No one at my center dresses like nurses, with the exception of the Med Techs who draw your blood. My center also has a new manager....and she is great. She (and her staff) seem genuinely concened about you and spend as much time with you at consultations as you want. Now...the manager before her was really bad and the staff turn over rate was huge. In the last couple months...I have been really happy with the customer service at my center. I have also visited another center in the St. Louis area and liked that one even better! Unfortunately it is not as close to my house or office as the one I use.

The program itself is not really that costly, but the two bars a day are what get you. They require you to have two of their bars/shakes/soup/jello/fruit drink a day. As far as I know, you are not allowed to substitute these for anything else. I enjoy them though...yummy chocolate crunch bars and chocolate shakes!

You mentioned canned veggies and you are right that they are not allowed. I have always heard that veggies lose a lot of their nutrients during the canning process....so fresh or frozen are much better for you anyway. And yes, you can have cheese!

I think I addressed most of the questions you had. If you have any more...let us know.

You are welcome to stay and chat with us as much as you like! Are you doing any kind of program now?

I just had interview number 3 of 4 for this position I want. They told me I am interviewing against my old boss! I am SOOOOO angry! Why did they even waste my time!!!

She doesnt want this job...she wants to move back to St. Louis. I WANT this job. ARGH!!!!

Jibbelle:
Do you feel you do not have a chance because it is your old boss. Do you think they will give it to her first? Don't doubt yourself maybe you do have a chance Good Luck!
I saw a councelor I haven't seen before she seemed nice but another one sho does not read the scale correctly. I wish we would get the digital one so there would be no problem. She had me losing 2 1/4 pounds since Saturday I saw 1 3/4 Pound but she insisted so next time I go it will probably be off.
Nancy how are you doing?
Diane
4/10/01 201
11/19/01 147.25 ( 147.75)
goal 135

Congrats on the loss!!!



I am sure this job is hers...she has been telling everyone that she is relocating to St. Louis after the first of the year....so I am guessing she has this job already. They were just interviewing me for political reasons. I am so angry that they even wasted my time. I really had my heart set on this job!!!!

Jibbelle:
I don't want to rain on anybody's parade so I won't be hanging out. I'm in the Philly district and believe me, it was HORRID. Because of alot of hormonal changes and stuff, I was loosing very slowly even though I was following the plan.... not without EVER goofing up, but being pretty darn good. No one ever helped. They would just take my BP and ask me when I went to the bathroom and send me on my way. Even though I complained to the manager(s). When my goal date of 24 weeks came and went and I wasn't even HALFway to my goal... they basically kicked me out. NO, they didn't tell me to leave, but they wanted me to start buying more weightloss weeks even though I had paid up front for a year and no one had said anything about buying more weeks then. I told them...hey...you told me if I wasn't to goal and I was following the plan, I could stay for free until I got there. THAT's when the file came out and they started rattling off all my "red marks"...salmon twice in the same week, potatoes within so many days of beef, etc,.... it was af all those counseling sessions were just to look at my diary and see where I goofed up so they could ask me for more money when the time came. To this day I maintain that it is, or was, as restrictive as it is to MAKE you goof up occasionally (which voids any garantee or rebate deal). Also, it is to their benefit to turnover clients even if that means getting rid of a few, since we pay up front. (it isn't a coincidence that the "take-off" is 3 days...enough time that you can't void the contract after 3 days and it isn't until then that you get to see the plan. To me that is just crooked.) AND...those bars are a joke and their MAIN reason to exist. All that money to add more than 400 calories to your day.... better to give you a few more things to eat instead. I couldn't believe it when one counselor, when I asked about a party I would be attending (ya know, nachos, chilli, beer...the usually football party stuff), I asked what I should eat and like the commercial said, no one would know I was on a diet.... she said..."nothing...just tell them all you are sick...they will never know you are on a diet!" My jaw dropped!

Sorry, I'm rambling, just brings up bad memories. I ended up on anti-depressants. I was hormonal enough from having a baby but then all that soy threw me into overdrive (it contains a natural form of estrogen). I ended up back at Weight Watchers, the old stand by. I am almost down to where I was when I quit LAWL all without ANY suffering. I still loose slowly, but that is OK since I can eat ANYTHING I want to. It will probably take a long time but I'm comfortable doing it and and will be able to live this new style forever.

Like I said, I won't bother you guys...... different strokes.... good luck and happy holidays.....

Barb-
I can not speak for everyone here, but I am interested in hearing anyone's opinion of this plan. Good or bad. It sounds like you had a really bad experience and I am sorry about that. I wish you the best of luck on your current plan of choice!

Thankfully, the program is working great for me, and most everyone here.

So gals....how are things going so far this week? It has been quiet here. Any weigh ins??

Hi Jibbelle:
I weigh in tomarrow. Not sure what I am going to do about Thanksgiving though. I basically want to stick to plan. I bought the Take off juice just in case. I have other plans coming up also, so I can't really fool around at this point. I think my weeks are up the second week of January. I guess it will be as tough as I make it.
How are you doing are you still upset, did you hear anything more.
I think any diet plan works when we are selves are ready for it to work. I also joined LA weight loss twice before and did not have any luck the second time I even asked for money back for the bars it took a while but I got it back. In April WW was not working for me so I tried again for LA and I have not looked back I am excited to finally reaching my goal. What's the saying third time a charm.
have a good night.
Diane

I am not as upset as I was yesterday about the job...but still a bit disgruntled. I am not going to let it ruin my holiday though. I have my final interview on Monday. They are supposed to make a decision next week also. I will keep you posted.

I am also going to try and stick to the plan for Thanksgiving. I am going to my parents house for a couple days...taking my fat free salad dressing and cereal bars with me! She said she would make a tossed salad to go with dinner. I can have turkey and salad and maybe some mashed potatoes. I really want to make my Xmas goal so I am not going to screw this up!

Let us know how your weigh in goes tomorrow! I dont get an "official" weigh in until Saturday. I went today, but didnt look at my weight. I only look on Saturdays! Otherwise I get discouraged from the ups and downs.

I got a box of the new berry bars....ick. They are too sugar sweet for me. I much prefer the chocolate crunch. I am still waiting on those Caramel Crunch!!!

Jibbelle:
If you are going to stick with it on Thanksgiving I will give it a try to and try to get to my Christmas also. I think because I have been feeling good about myself I have not been giving the plan as much effort i do want to get off these last 12 pounds.
I have a question for you, I hope I worded this right. How is your body handling your weight loss? I am finding that I am flabby in certain areas under arms lower tummy. I do use weights when I exercise and I try to do ab work about 4 times a week. I do not want to lower my goal. Maybe the last 12 pounds will make a difference. Forget about plastic surgery my husband would have a fit. I guess I just have to except who I am. I guess I stretched things out a bit keeping this weight on for so long.
Thanks Diane

I do not think I have lost enough weight to notice that kind of a difference yet. I have been thinking about it though. I do not want to be all flabby with extra skin! I mentioned it to my doctor once and he said that since I am young (27) my skin has a lot of elasticity to stretch and this helps it shrink too. I am hoping that is the case because I would never do cosmetic surgery. I think losing the weight slowly also helps. I will just have to weight and see. Sorry I could not be of more help!

We can get those Christmas goals if we try hard to stay on plan! What a wonderful Christmas present that would be!!!

The new counselor at the center told me today that if I HAD to have some stuffing or pumpkin pie to just take a bite and that was it. She said sometimes just a taste will do the trick. For me, that is worse than not having it at all! What a tease! I think I will just stick to the plan and think about next year when I am skinny and can have some stuffing!!!

Hi everyone. I was just reading your thread and saw the comment about flabby skin after losing weight.
It will tighten up with exercise and diet over time.Attached is an example of Pam Brown, who went from being very overweight to body building competition in 1 1/2 years. Of coarse this looks drastic (all the muscles) but she is tightening her muscles for the pic. This was done without surgery.
Other before and afters can be found at www.bodychangers.com