LA Weight Loss

My dear online friend Vickie, who is ever curious and ever lovely in her pursuit of knowing how I'm doing, wants to know what LA Weight Loss is. Let me explain.

Princess Leia's plea through R2D2 says it best : "Help me Obi Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope." LAWL is my Obi Wan. It's my only hope at this point. I've done it all, I've failed it all. I'm done with giving in to the Dark Side and want to be a Jedi Master of weight loss and weight control.

So after seeing a couple of my friends have success there, I visited our local LAWL franchise. I met with a weight loss counsellor, who, much like the obstetrician calculating my due date, put my weight loss goal on a paper disc, turned the dial, and declared I would be at my goal weight of 145 pounds by September 21, 2007.

Then we talked about the program itself. I'm a "Purple," and I get to eat the following every day:
Proteins: 2 (6 oz chicken, 3/4 c cottage cheese, 3 TBSP peanut butter, etc)
Veggies: 4 (1 c raw, 1/2 c cooked)
Fruits: 3 (1 apple, 1/2 banana, etc)
Starches: 2 (35 cal bread, etc)
Dairy: 1 (8 oz skim milk in my daily latte--thank God I didn't have to give that up)
Fat: 1 (tsp butter, tsp olive oil, my personal favorite--15 pistachios)
LA Lites: 2

Awwww, the LA Lite candy bars. This is where they getcha. They are dee-licious and also the main reason I don't crave junk food. They ARE the junk food. They also cost an assload of money. I paid for ~ 2 years worth and it was around $1500. OMG, I know. But listen, I'm desperate, the program Works (seen it first hand in my friends and the skinny people who still weigh in there), and damn it, I'm worth it.

I meet with a counselor 3 times a week, where I weigh in, the counselor checks my food diary, and we chat. Total accountability, every other day (except weekends). This, my friends, is why the program really works for me. If I cheat, they'll know. If I cheat but lie on my food journal, who am I hurting? MYSELF. And, they'll know anyway because I weigh in 3 times a week.

And I'll be wasting an assload of money (didn't I use that already)? In total, I spent $2347. On my emergency credit card. THIS is an emergency if ever there was one. $348 for the program cost (which is a DEAL, since I joined during friends and family) and $1999 on LA Lites and 6 months of supplements.

Here's the other thing about LAWL-- once the weight is off, you go through an 8 week transition phase to maintenance. You meet with a counselor 2 times per week and add food back in, a little at a time until you reach your maintenance food level. Then you are on maintenance for a YEAR. You meet with a counselor once a week for a YEAR. Studies show if you can keep it off a year or more, you're very likely to keep it off.

The fact that I've gone for 19 days now with NO CHEATING, sticking to this program to a freakin T says something. I've never done that before. I've lost 10 pounds so far. I feel great. I don't crave foods now when I used to-- like when I'm stressed or emotional. If anything, I have to make myself eat.

It's an expensive program. It's a big time commitment. It's a pain to have to bring veggies and fruit to work, and not to eat out all the time. But aren't I worth it? You bet your skinny ass I am.