Anyone have experience with LA Wieghtloss? ? ?

[niudog]

I am new here, but have been LC since May 03. My wife and I have both done very well on this WOE. I wasnt sure where to post this, so I put it in the War Zone.

My subject concerns my mom who I have seen lose and gain 100 pounds at least 3 times that I can remember. She is proud of Sue's and my LC weight loss, and even bought but failed to read DANDR. She is going to LA Wieghtloss tomorrow and I want to support her, but I dont know anything about the LA Wieghtloss program.

Have you been there, done that? Can you help me?

Thanks,
niudog
(Scott)

[Lisa N]

I haven't used it personally, but one of my co-workers went through their program. She lost a great deal of weight, but as soon as she stopped going she gained it all back within the same year. It seems to me that it either isn't sustainable for a lifetime or they don't do a very good job of teaching you how to maintain once you reach your weight loss goals.

[Galadriell]

As a volunteer consumer advocate I am very familiar with LA Weightloss - from the complaints I read day by day.
They are very aggressive, pushing you to buy more and more overpriced supplements, bars, etc. If your mother the type of person who can not or feel very uncomfortable to say NO, please do not let her to go there.

Try a search: "la weight loss"+complaints on google.com.

Here is a typical complaint:

"I payed almost 400$ for LA Weight Loss Centers. I was confused at this, because from the TV comercials I was under the impression that you could pay 7$ a week. I joined because I don't want to grow older and be overweight.

The ladies were all so nice.... At first. When I payed them my money, I was under the impression that the LA Lites were included, after all; I had just payed $400. Alas the LA Lites were not. I almost crapped my pants when they had the audasity to urge me to buy some "Nutra-Grain Bars" 2 boxes at 14$ EACH.

When I read the contract I was disheartened to realize that if you do not consume the $14 per box LA Lites you will not get your money back, because "you were'nt following the program correctly, and I guess that's not their fault. Throughout the diet that they claim "You're never hungry on," I have been absolutely miserable. Not only has my weight been creeping off at an amazingly slow pace, I'm also cranky and HUNGRY.

When I go to weigh in, the ladies are usually quite rude to me once they find out that I opted not to purchase the LA Lites. ALL IN ALL I have to say that LA Weight Loss Centers Diet does not work, and it absolutely sucks to be on. Now I'm hungry, broke and still chubby. Thank You LA Weight loss Centers. I Love to be screwed out of money."

[niudog]

Thanks for your replies. . .Anyone else? ? ?

My wife went with my mom this morning, I guess just for support, but my wife says she will "talk to me later " about the LA weightloss visit.

I hope this works for mom, but I am very sceptical.

BTW. . The first 2 days appear to be LC, but I dont know how she will eat from day 3 and on. How can a phase of a program be just 2 days long? I guess they are trying to trick or jump start the metabolism. Mom didn't know either, so how could she really sign up for this prgram?!?!

Thanx

[pha1226]

My mom started LA Weightloss in August 2003 and loves it. She does think it's expensive but she's been able to stick to their program without much difficulty (even through vacations and the holidays) and she looks great. She's lost 50 lbs. (and she's 5'1" so that's a lot on her), she walks/runs 5 miles a day (she's 61) and says she feels great. After my sister lost a lot of weight on Atkins, my mother tried it and was unable to stick with a low carb woe. I think everyone needs to figure out what's going to work for them and stick to it!

[mess1320]

I actually interviewed for a job at LA Weight Loss. While doing research on the company, everything I read was negative. I think it is a glorified Weight Watchers, but they want you to buy the food. They are very hesitant to disclose any information until you actually pay the $400 and the "nutritionists" are really sales people. They make commission based on if you buy those Lite bars or not.
I did not take the job. I walked out of there thinking "What a scam".
I hope your mother can find another woe that she can stick to.
Good luck!

[adkpam]

There's an excellent book called "Feeding on Dreams" that describes the business practices of these weight loss centers, and they all tend to be the same:
You are encouraged to buy their food.
The "counseling" comes from slim people who have no training in counseling, and no experience in not being slim.
Any problems or setbacks are blamed on the consumer for "not doing it right."
These are all warning flags. Often, they do work, for as long as someone can hang in there, but since they are invariably based on low calories (typically 1200 a day or less) hunger is a constant problem. As is the low quality of the food, which is often in tiny portions.
And they do not teach you how to eat in the real world.

[TAK]

My sister-in-law has done LA Weight Loss for one year. She lost 40 pounds within four months, but then stalled out for the rest of year (typical of low fat dieting, and typical of my own story although I did it on my own). She doesn't talk about the workers, but she was glad to lose the 40 pounds - however, she signed up to lose 100. I, too, will be interested to see if she can keep it off or lose more. I wish her the best, but it looked to me like so little food, that I can't imagine sustaining that lifestyle for long. It also looked boring as she almost always ate chicken and lettuce.

Best of luck to you and your mother.

[flynnlee]

tak--you look beautiful in your wedding dress!! congradulations!

[niudog]

Thought I'd give an update and bump this thread.

Mom has been going to LA Weightloss for a month now and has lost 10 el bees. (Happpy Dance for Her!!!)

I dont think she is really following their eating plan, but just making the most of talking with the councelors.

Her meals seem to be a combo of Atkins for Life and S.B. Lots of meat and veggies with low carb cereals, muffins and breads.

[niudog]

April 2004 update:

My mom has stopped going to LA weightloss for her meetings with the councelors. She has gained back the 10 el bees she lost and probably a few more.

Mom and dad both eat LC breads and dont eat as many potatoes, but thats about the only changes they have made. I really do wish I could convince her to give Atkins a try. . .

[Vanity3]

Yes, before I switched to the LC woe, I tried LA weight Loss back in early 2001. I stuck with it for about a few months, but I was starving to DEATH! I had a friend who just needed to lose about 15 pounds. She tried the Atkins diet and lost the weight fast. I critized her, saying the diet was unhealthy and that LA Weight Loss was the right answer. Well after I crashed off the LA bandwagon. I went back to binge eating. I read websites on the LC woe and decided to give it a try. That was June 2001 and 102 pounds ago.

[niudog]

Update on my mom and her weight gain/loss...Its been nearly a year since she quit LA Weightloss. She says she is at her heaviest weight ever. She says my dad "forced" her to go to LA Weightloss, and it was just a waste of $$$.

She needs knee replacement surgery, but her doc wont do it until she loses some weight - I applaud him for that. However, he is a believer in Dr. Weils way of eating. So now my mom is trying to eat organic, as well as follow Dr. Weil. I have my doubts, but I'll support her and I'm hoping the best for her.

I did a search here and read some posts concerning Weil, but different posts seem to contradict each other - No red meat...Oprah should eat low carb... So what is the latest concensus here about Dr. Weil? Is he involved with Peta/PCRM? Is he WACKED? Is his plan really healthy? Is it something a peson can stick to?

Thanks,
Scott

[quietone]

His plan is not easy. And you have to be able to get to an organic food store because he believes everything should be organic.

He doesn't believe in using dairy products. Or white flour. Or white sugar.

That part's good.

He believes that if everyone would just walk 30 minutes a day, Type II diabetes would be almost non existant.

He's not whacked! But he is a naturalist. He is an MD, who is also a medical professor in Arizona, who also believes in altnerative medicines It's called integrative medicine. I know he won't drink or swim in chlorinated water.

He's got a new book out. And he is going to start a sort of marketing place. He has never advised anyone to use a particular product, but now he is going to test products and tell people which are the good ones.

You can go to his website www.drweil.com and get a personalized vitamin advising and other health related information.

[Citruskiss]

Scott,

While I don't have any information or experience to share about Dr. Weil, nor have I run across LA Weight Loss, I wanted to share something that made all the difference in being able to try Atkins and stick to it (so far..).

I was highly resistant to the idea of Atkins, because I had the perception that it was unhealthy, and could possibly even be dangerous. I hadn't read the DANDR book, or really looked into Atkins at any point in time, because I was so sure it was unhealthy. I thought it was all about bacon, eggs, cheese, cream and steaks all the time. Not sure where I got that idea, possibly the media.

Anyway, my husband had tried Atkins years ago, and when he saw me struggling with silly things like the cabbage soup diet and others of the same ilk, he suggested that I try Atkins. Like I said, I was highly resistant to the idea.

However, I agreed to just try it for "two weeks". I went out and bought the paperback DANDR, but didn't read it all at first. My husband was my biggest supporter in this "try out".

Those first two weeks were tough, and I was so scared that something bad would happen to me...because I really and truly believed Atkins was unhealthy. I think that came from years and years of conditioning toward the firmly held belief that low-fat was the best and healthiest way to go. Grocery stores were stocked with lots of products proclaiming "low fat", the media was constantly filled with stories of how bad animal fat was and so on. But, I'd promised my husband that I would at least try Atkins before attempting another low calorie, low-fat diet.

Now here's the important part - because my belief that Atkins could be unhealthy was so ingrained (forgive the pun), I needed a ton of support and encouragement while I gave this WOE a whirl. As I mentioned, I didn't read the book at first, so I relied on my husband, and what little of the book I managed to read in the first week. I felt awful...had the induction flu and so on. I was sure I was going to keel over with a heart attack - this, despite the fact that I'm only 36 and have never had any issues with heart health. I know this sounds silly of me, but I really did believe in the low-fat, heart-healthy concept that's been around for years.

Back to the support part - I'd made a promise, and I was going to stick to it. Even though I was scared, and I felt yucky those first several days, I kept on going. During this time, my husband did practically all the shopping and cooking. He also did things like bring me peppermint tea when I felt nauseous, and ran out to the drugstore to get me potassium and cal-mag supplements when I first noticed the leg cramps. He'd come home with things like bacon-wrapped filet mignon, blue cheese dressing and crab, along with a bouquet of flowers. He kept telling me, "it'll go away" when I complained about how lousy I felt. We'd go to the grocery store together and he and I thoroughly enjoyed searching for low-carb foods - scrutinizing labels and loading up the cart with all kinds of goodies for the week ahead. He's not on Atkins, but he'd do things like give me the extra portion of chicken because he was having rice or a potato.

Sometimes he'd bring me a relish tray - a pretty plate with slices of cold turkey breast, swiss cheese, a couple of pickles, a few cherry tomatoes and some ranch dip. He'd plant a kiss on my lips before saying, "Here's your lunch sweetie".

:rheart:

Without his support, I doubt I could have stuck it out for that first two weeks. Without him saying, "Try Atkins, it might work for you, I hate seeing you struggling with these diets", I would never have tried low-carb in the first place.

Sooo..if you want to help your Mom, I'd suggest something radical - particularly since she's experiencing some terrible side effects from being overweight (joint issues and the like). Since she can't have this surgery until she loses some weight, this is pretty important. It's also important to find a plan that she can actually stick to, without feeling deprived.

My radical suggestion? Become your Mom's diet coach for two weeks. Ask her to try it for two weeks and see how she does. Grocery shop with her, make up some meal plans, phone her, get her a couple of cases of spring water and the supplements. Go stay at her place if you have to. Cook for her if you have to.

The reason I suggest this? Because I needed lots of support, coddling and babysitting during that first couple of weeks as I battled cravings for carbs, the induction flu, and this nagging worry that I was doing something really unhealthy.

Best wishes to your Mom in her quest to lose weight for her surgery. :)

Citruskiss

PS - I don't need babysitting anymore, and I do most of the cooking now :lol:

[BabyPhat]

Hello.. not sure if you are still looking for information on LA weight loss, but here is my story.

About 2 months ago, I went in for a consultation. I only wanted to lose about 50 pounds on the program, and the rest I would have did on my own once I got the "hang" of everything. The sales representative ( that's what they are to me) told me because I was 100 pounds over weight, my program would HAVE to be no less than 12 months in order to recieve the FULL benefit of the plan. In all my fees would have been 943.00 and some change.

She even tried to get me or my husband to fill out a credit application to apply for a line of credit so that we could CHARGE the 943.00. The 943.00 did not include the weekly supplements, bars, or shakes which range from 14.00-25.00. The supplements last about 30 days and the bars and shakes only last for a week or less. So if you add the 943.00 plus about an average cost of 30.00 per week for bars and shakes I would have been paying almost 2000.00 for 12 months on the program.

IT IS A SERIOUS RIP OFF.. in my opinion. In the back of my mind, I thought.. why pay some one to tell me what I already know. With all of the thousands of forums on the internet like this one, and with all of the self-help dieting books and web sites it boggles my mind to think that some one would pay that kind of money for a program like that. They know the average person that is over weight is "desperate" and they prey on that.

And just like some one mention earlier.. the sales reps are VERY agressive, they apparently have sales quotas to meet. They are fake, and in my opinion they are not geniunely concerned. They are just there to work and get paid.

ONCE AGAIN.. this is just my opion....

I've been low carbing now for about a month and a half and I've lost 15 pounds.. and I did it for FREE.. LOL

[LiliJ]

I am new here, but have been LC since May 03. My wife and I have both done very well on this WOE. I wasnt sure where to post this, so I put it in the War Zone.

My subject concerns my mom who I have seen lose and gain 100 pounds at least 3 times that I can remember. She is proud of Sue's and my LC weight loss, and even bought but failed to read DANDR. She is going to LA Wieghtloss tomorrow and I want to support her, but I dont know anything about the LA Wieghtloss program.

Have you been there, done that? Can you help me?

Thanks,
niudog
(Scott)

I quit after being offerd Management position becuase I didn't believe in the products or the sales pressure and actually became very ill from pressure placed on myself.

[DeborahD]

Sorry for the Late response: I tried La weightloss. The program does work.
they give you a program to follow based you your weight of a certain amount of fruits veggies and dairies you can eat. this program MUST include THeir Bars. which i found to be very Very expense. approx. $30-$35 a box- one box is good for a week. I left the program because it got very expensive for me. i am a college student that works part-time. I paid for the Program and i was expected to additionally purchase Bars. that was waaay too expensive for me. I also was very uncomfotable with the fact that almost every time i went in for a weigh-in the "weighloss coaches" would try to sell me one of their products. another issue was i thought that their scale was fixxed- meaning that i would follow the plan to the "T". and their scale would be way off. as I stated before the plan works if you are have the funds to support it.