I started the plan the second week of June....
....and just weighed in today and have lost just over 32 pounds. I love the plan. I did Nutri-System about 16 years ago. I think LA Weight Loss is better because you eat your own foods rather than pre-packaged and don't have to learn to make a transition and essentially at that point are on your own. I have had no cravings and I'm always full. My blood pressure is way down at an optimal level, which I don't remember it ever being. So far I haven't been able to start a regular exercise program and I am averaging 2.7 lbs a week. I do walk a lot a work. I've gone from a size 20 so far to a size 14. I'm ecstatic! I don't feel deprived at all. Yes, it is expensive! You're expected to buy the LA Lites, which are costly. I also take their vitamins and supplements. I still go in 3 times a week, although that's not a requirement. I truly believe that you have to be ready to make a change in your life. It's not about just losing the weight. It's not magic. I think that's why there was a stack of folders on my counselor's desk the other day. She said they were people that had started the plan and didn't return. A lady once asked in the center what I was doing to be so successful and the counselor told her I was following the plan. It's that simple. It absolutely works, but you have to follow it. It allows for a great variety and I'm discovering ways to cook and new things to eat that I was not including in my diet. I was severely addicted to fast food and sodas and not drinking much water. Me being on this plan has also benefited my two children and husband. Everyones eating healthier, the sodas have been cut out, and we don't really do fast food anymore, although the plan will allow it. My children and husband aren't feeling deprived or complaining.
YOU HAVE TO BE READY THOUGH TO MAKE CHANGES or it won't work! I was ready. My Mom had me one day away from going to a seminar about weight loss surgery. I had seen an ad earlier for a new LA Weight Loss Center opening within 5 minutes of where I live and had saved the ad. I called my mother the day before the seminar for the surgery and told her I wasn't going that I was going to try something else. I knew that if I would even consider surgery that I was ready to make changes. I don't think I would have been a candidate for surgery since you should be 100 lbs. overweight. Surgery should be a last option for anyone.
I plan to lose 40 more pounds. But I'm already feeling great, getting all kinds of compliments, have tremendous energy, and am confident and feel good in my clothes! After 40 pounds, I will feel good without my clothes! But I'll spare the public that.
I need the "hand holding" and someone to encourage me and the weigh-ins to keep me on track. I truly believe that after I complete the weight loss and one year of maintenance (that's when you get back half of your enrollment fee), I'll have learned to eat properly and made the changes in my habits to keep this weight off. I know not eating right was a problem. I also know now that my portions were really out of line. I'm full now with what I eat. Since being on the program, I have moderately overeaten twice and truly hated the feeling I felt. Eating until I was stuffed was always the way I ate my meals before.
I'll stop now. But I do love this plan! :whoopie:
P.S. I just went back to see where you're from, Jeni; we're both in Hampton Roads!