Hi,

I'm new to 3fatchicks. I picked up their book in the airport one day while I was travelling and feeling hopeless.

I actually joined LA Weight Loss in June of this year for my birthday. It was so expensive, but the sales person was so slick. She said "you will weigh xxx by August xx." Who doesn't want to hear that?! They really sell to your weaknesses. I think I spent almost $1000 by the time I paid for all of the weight loss, stabilization, and maintenance weeks, plus the LA Lites that they push you to purchase. I feel like I was taken advantage of. I sure wish I had stumbled onto the 3fatchicks book before I signed up!

Now it's September and I am basically where I started as far as my weight. I think summer was tough for me, but I also felt that the counselors at LA Weight Loss weren't motivating. I've almost run out of weight loss weeks, but I decided against purchasing additional ones (I think it's a crock that they won't let you use stabilization or maintenance weeks to continue your weight loss - such a scam). I've decided to take up Weight Watchers with a friend instead - it's much less expensive, I think the WW leaders are more professional for the most part, and I feel that it's more motivating to team up with a friend that to depend on a LAWL counselor for motivation. I think the 3fatchicks communities will be great for motivation as well!

Sorry to ramble on and on ... I just wanted to share my experience and see if others have had a similar experience.

I have a bunch of LA lites left that I think I will go pick up and sell on eBay - I've heard people are doing that. Does anyone have suggestions? Or maybe I could use them as snacks even on WW.

I also want to somehow cancel or sell my remaining weeks (mainly just stabilization and maintenance). Does anyone know if this is even possible? I hate that I wasted so much money on LAWL.

That said, I may try the LAWL 2 day take-off from time to time even with WW. I saw some posts of others doing this as well. I liked seeing the scale move when I did that on LAWL. But I will use Knudsen's juice and Luna bars and none of the LAWL products!!

Thanks for reading! I'm so happy to have found this community!

- Marsha

I have done WW in the past it is good program but with any weight loss program you got to do the work. I do like the 1 on 1 counseling because I do feel that I need to be accountable than just to me. I never felt that I really had support from WW leaders

Have you been following the program? Writing down what you are eating? Drinking your water?

Good luck with your weight loss journey

I'm wiith Tree. I like the accountability of the 1 on 1 and the 3x/week weigh ins.

Also, if you read your contract, they "guarantee" a certain amount of weight loss and you purchase your weeks by that. If you've been following the program, you don't need to purchase additionall weeks to lose the weight.

Sorry you had such a bad experience. Like any other weight loss program, it is a business, and the counselors are paid on commission. But you do get a level of support that I have not found with WW.

Good luck

Wow, it looks like you were only trying to lose 14 pounds, and to be out $1000 for a weight loss goal of that size might be painful even if it did work. Sounds like they really tried to suck you dry. I would encourage you to keep looking for a plan that works for you and your budget. Once you have the knowledge you need, you'll have the tools to do this for free. I've never done a commercial weight loss program, but from what I've heard, many people here have learned a lot from WW. Good luck.

Bummer that it didn't work out for you--I personally love the plan and have seen and experienced too much success not to. Maybe it's just not the plan for you.

Hi! I was on la weight loss and they didn't like it because I bought my bars on ebay. There are so many bars out there now that you can go to sam's club or any store and buy them. I found that the la weight loss bars have tons of sugar in them and thats why their so good. The program was a waste of money for me. Good Luck, Penney

I think if you only have 10 or 20 lbs to lose or if you are maintaining, WW is fine. I did lose 37 pounds on WW but it took 18 months! I have lost 52 lbs on LAWL in 6 months. I need the accountability of 2x per week weigh ins and personally, I love the bars.

I think the WW 1-2-3 program of the mid 90s was much better than the Flex or the Core (basically, all you can eat of certain foods) Program. Neither of the current programs are restrictive enough; let's face it..if you can eat a tub of Coolwhip and still be within your "points" for the day, how does that teach one anything about healthy eating? Anyway, I don't intend to bash WW, just wish they had a better regulated programs, not the free for all type of programs.

I am sorry you had a bad experience as well. I do like LA Weight Loss much better than WW, because of the one on one counselling sessions, and that I need to go in 3 times a week for a weigh in. I also like the fact that you are forced to eat from all the food groups. With WW, yes, there is a guideline to do that, but I know I did not follow it as religiously as I should. I am not here to do any WW bashing, because there are lots of people on this forum alone that have success with it. It was not for me. However, to echo what Cassie has said, it is first and foremost a business. They are in place to make money. Believe when I say I have tried them all, Jenny Craig, Nutri System, WW, SureSlim. They all work. You need to find a program that fits your personality and lifestyle. For me it is LAWL, for others it is WW, calorie counting, etc.

Marsha-

Sorry it didn't work for you-as it has for many of us here. If you call the 1-800 # (should be on the box of lites)-you should be able to get back in cash any of your unused weeks (stab and maint).

HI there everyone....got a question...My initial goal wt. is 190..I am supposed to reach this by Jan.2007..which is great..BUT what if I want to lose more....say 20 or so...I pay for the extra weeks,,right..at 2 lbs per week..100 dollars..right//// and what is this issue if you go under your goal wt..a problem???? I don't use the LA lites...thanks for the info..BC

Bahachick-You have only paid for the weeks to the goal you set. If you are lucky and really stay on plan you may go below that goal, thus saving you some money. Then if you still want to lose more you pay for additional weeks for additional pounds. There really is no issue if you go under your goal weight. It is not set in stone and you are free to change it at any time. The only issue would be if you are going for the rebate, then you need to stay within 5 lbs. up or down to get the money back as long as you have followed the guidelines stated in your contract.

Hi all -

Thank you so much for all of the replies to my post – I really appreciate all the support! I have been out of town for work and haven't gotten a chance to respond - sorry about that.

As far as following the LAWL program, I followed it the best I could, but summer was tough for me. I felt that every time I started to make progress, there would be a party or some event that I would overindulge at reverse any progress I had made. When I signed up, I thought that the 1 on 1 counseling a few times a week would really help me, but unfortunately, the counselors were not very good at the centers I went to. Each person would say something different so I felt I couldn’t trust them – I don’t think they were trained very well or very professional. They even lost my file for several weeks so when I would go in, they wouldn’t have my history, etc. So it wasn’t worth the money for me.

I’m not sure if my case would fall under the LAWL “guarantee” or not. I mean, following any diet to a tee will help you to lose the weight. The point is that you need the additional support to stick to it. That’s what I was hoping for with LAWL. I am definitely going to try to get my money back for the stabilization and maintenance weeks. And I should cash in for the bars as well.

I am trying to lose 18 pounds so it’s debatable if the money I spent for LAWL is worth it or not, but like anyone who is trying to lose weight, I was really desperate for something that worked. I’m liking WW because it’s more flexible and much much less expensive I’ve teamed up with a friend of mine to do WW and that is proving more supportive than LAWL counselors. We share recipes, tips, stories, etc. which is very helpful.

I think everyone is right that you have find the plan that works for you. And sometimes it’s your state of mind/timing when you try a weight loss plan.

Thanks again and good luck to everyone!

Marsha

Marsha - Seeing as you only have 18 lbs to lose, WW may very well be the program for you. My only suggestion would be to make sure you go through the maintenance program and then when you become lifetime, keep going for awhile so that you can get your body used to a certain weight without too much fluctuation. You can see how many "points" your body requires to maintain it's new weight.

Good luck. I hope the program works for you.