Popular Diets Reviewed: LA Weight Loss Program

I was on LA Wgt Loss a while back - I did lose some weight but have several reservations about the plan

 

1.  the "counselors" are off the street - know NOTHING about diet until they are hired - then only what they are told.  No dietitians on staff.

 

2. when I was there they were also pushing "suppliments" which the "counselors" knew NOTHING about as far as the ingredients.  At that time they had one with ephedra and one with Guarana.  When I refused to use the ephedra one, they told me the other had no  "stimulants".  I told them the caffeine would cause palpatations - they said there is no caffeine in it - she had NO IDEA that Guarana breaks down to caffeine.

 

3.  They also said that if you are sick and need to come off the program for a while, if you call in and let them know they will "credit" the time you are off the program and add it to the end of your contract.  I was sick twice during the time I was on the program and neither time was credited to my contract.

 

 

There was a class action suit against LA Weight Loss in Washington State related to the fat blocker supplement they were pushing. 

 

I was on LA Weight Loss several years ago, and I too lost some weight - about 25 pounds.  However, the counselors only have enough training to be dangerous.  One told me that I could replace my blood pressure medication with one of their supplements (which happened to be a laxative tea)!

 

It seemed to me that this program was just a big marketing scheme.  The counselors pushed hard to get you to buy supplements, more protein bars, snacks, shakes, etc. at every visit.  For the first two days of the program, you are told to eat only protein with unlimited vegetables and drink their juice supplement.  Anytime you hit a plateau, they again have you drink the juice supplement for two days.  These items are expensive and if you choose not to buy them, the counselors and managers can become downright rude.

 

Most of the LA Weight Loss centers in Washington are now out of business.  While the diet itself may be nutritionally sound, I would never recommend this program to anyone because of the counselors.

I feel that you neglected to bring up of the fact that the LA Weight Loss Counselors require only a high school degree and some brief training from LA weight loss.  I don't think a program that doesn't have degreed staff or certified staff can really be all that good.

Haven't you heard but f/k/a LA Weightloss n/k/a Pure Weight Loss went bankrupt. They filed Chapter 7? What a shame.  I used their products in 2001 and lost approx. 25 pounds thru their At home program.  When they opened a chapter near my hometown in CT I used to dropped in once in awhile to get weighed and buy their products.

I feel this article neglects to discuss the issue of their counsels not being registered dietitians.  It is a shame that they are able to counsel patients that should be coming into an outpatient dietitian who is able to effectively review their past medical history and point them to success safely with the appropriate science background.  Our society needs to be educated as to the difference in paying for the cost of a program such as LA Weight Loss and their insurances not covering their visit to a registered dietitian.  Typical consumers do not understand credentialing and the importance of someone with a degree in nutrition.  Help support the profession of dietetics and promote the services of registered dietitians in your articles!

I acutally won a free year with this program.  I quit after about 4 months.  While I did lose a little weight on the program each time you went to weigh in, which was more than once a week, and have your counseling session they pushed their nutritional bars on you as well as their supplements.  Their nutritional bars were part of the program - you had to eat them from what I remember.  Also they push the buying in bulk theme.  If you got financed through Care Credit you just picked up your bars/shakes when you needed them.  I got financed for $2,500 and they were trying to get me to use almost all of it.  I finally ended up buying $800 and then when I quit the program they would not refund me for the stuff I did not pick up.  I would not recommend this program to anyone!!  Go try Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers.  Also I received a letter in the mail from the Missouri state attorney general stating that although they can not represent me that if I financed a purchase for LA Weightloss through Care Credit and did not receive all my items to contest it with Care Credit.  It had to be within the 2 month period from the date of purchase though for complaints.  Follow the complaint instructions on the back of your Care Credit statement to get credit.

Hi:

I joined, paid the fee for a year, lost 15 pounds in 8 weeks and then was told that they are no longer in business.  I am hoping to get my $300 back.  I've filed a claim with the NJ Attorney General's office.

BC

I have been going to LA Weightloss for over a year. I live 170 miles from the center and they have been really great working with me since I can't make it in very often. This has been the best program I have ever been on. My weightloss has been very slow but I am finding out that is better than fast like I have done in the past.

I was surprised to see an A rating for the LA Weightloss Program on your website. I would never recommend them, unless you plan on paying a lot of money for "weightloss bars" ie candy bars and other treats. I was very disappointed with the program  and my experience was a disappointing one. The "diet councelors" are not professionally trained, do not offer time with you without an appointment...and were more interested in making sure to sell as much product as possible (they had a sales chart on the office wall with $$s sold by each "sales person"... The products are a very expensive part of the program.

 

When I joined they required I pay for the entire program upfront, and insisted I sign before I left the building to get the "best rate"...which was more than $500 and included all phases of the program through maintenance with the promise of 50% back if I met all the goals....this was in addition to all the LA WL products they suggest you purchase for success.  Of friends that joined LA WL ...few were able to meet goal....so I would rank them disappointing with a C....or cilly me for thinking this was a REAL weightloss program. 

La Weight Loss is out of business. Bankrupcty filed. Lots of clients loss money purchasing the program, not even talking about lots of employees were left out in the cold. I logged on the the LA Weight Loss blogg (AKA Pure Weight Loss), it stated that the employees took a lost as well as the customers (I was a customer). I liked the program, and the one on one counseling.

La is a rip-off and unhealthy!!!It's all about making money!!

They first have you get bloodwork which can only be done at their own lab(God knows where)You have to pay up front and can't use insurance for it.

The  supplements they have you buy are expensive,if I remember $11 a box of 5 bars or 6 hot chocolates,not to mention the overwhelming soy taste.

 I got sick(dehydrated) and had to go to the ER via amulance from my home.I had gotten down to 145lbs ( 5 lbs away from my goal.)

I  wanted to change my goal weight to 145 to start the maintenence phase and they wouldn't let me.I wasted ove $2000 in about 18 months!

Weight reduction symptoms are anorexia disorder, which offers approximate fifteen percent of weight loss of total body weight. Bulimia nervosa is a psychological overeating disorder which leads improper methods of weight control. Extreme weight loss causes colon cancer and stomach ulcers. Clinics are dedicated to help the overweight patients by offering best treatments.

 

http://www.weightlosstreatments.net/

I can't speak for all the different locations or the different counselors, but when I worked there the counselors (we NEVER called ourselves dietitians- and were very upfront with customers when they asked what our training was) tried to do their best in helping their clients and truly cared about them. No, there wasn't a lot of training- but enough to help clients through the program. It was 80 hours in two weeks I believe, and I felt that we had enough information and knowledge about the program to help a client through it. Anything we were unsure of, any nutrition questions a client had that weren't clearly outlined in the information we were given or anything beyond our knowledge was supposed to be referred to a company dietitian- and we did that often. If a counselor had followed what they had been told, no one would have been told to take a supplement instead of their medication- that is ridiculous. Other than Nutrisystem (which requires a bachelors degree- although I dont' think it has to be in Nutrition and Dietetics) LA had some of the most trained people running their program compared to other similar programs. (From what I understand to run a Weight Watchers group all you have to do is have been through the program). The bloodwork was done offsite and there were trained phlebotomists drawing it and sending it in to be tested. 

Now that I've said all the positive things, as a program they were mainly there for sales. As a counselor you were pushed to have an increasingly higher amount of sales dollars, if you were below your quota you were brought in to speak with the manager. You were also told to push different supplements and insist that a client use the bars (which, whether or not anyone else told their clients weren't absolutely necessary to use the plan, there were plans that you could give a client that would allow them to follow it without the bars- and I always mentioned this to clients when they said they could not afford the bars and many did it this way). I think that it is a very healthy way to lose weight, as I had done it before I even worked for the company and had great results. I think that in the goal of making money they overlooked what I'm sure the original idea was, to help people and I think it has helped many, but possibly swindled more. Because of the push to make sales, the limits on time spent with clients, and their way of breaking clients down to make them feel awful about their weight to get them to buy their program, I left. But, I have to say that as a result of working for LA and seeing what good I was able to do even with the restraints they put on me, I'm currently pursuing a degree in Nutrition and Dietetics. So, as with everything else, there was a lot of good with the bad.