L.A. Weightloss

This program offers a balanced diet with two supplements (usually bars) a day. You are required to show up to brief one-on-one counseling sessions 2-3 times a week at your convenience. At these sessions your blood pressure is taken, you are weighed in, and your diet journal is reviewed. You are also offered all types of products to help you stay on track.

The price you are quoted is around $8 a week and your cost is based on the number of weeks it will take to get you to your goal. If you need to lose 20 pounds they calculate it will take 10 weeks (2 pounds a week) so your cost would be $70 plus an additional sign up fee. If you follow the program and reach your goal by your goal date you can get half your money back.

Pros: The diet is incredibly healthy and reasonable. People who workout out are on higher calorie diets than those who don't (a big plus). The bars actually help you stay on track and the counseling helps you stay on track.

Cons: The cons are many and the reason this may sound harsh is because I worked there so I know first hand the deception that goes on. The minute you call the center their slick marketing script works to get you to come in that very same day. When you walk in the door you are guided through a wall of client transformation pictures that are incredibly dramatic. You then sit and talk to a counselor about the program and how it works. They guarantee you will lose 2lb a week. Here's the catch. During the consulation they casually tell you you'll be using some supplements to ensure success but the extent of what they cost and that you don't qualify for the refund unless you use them is not explained. The actual information is in very fine print in your sign up paperwork. On your second visit they go over the easy to follow diet, they explain the 2-3 times a week one-on-one counseling where you will weigh in and have your diet log reviewed, and they hardcore sell you on buying your l.a. lites (you'll need two bars a day to last you the entire program and they can cost anywhere from $500 to $1200). At this point you can decide to do the program without the bars but you are not guaranteed to lose 2lb a week.

Every time you visit, your counselor will try to sell you something (pills, snacks, cookbooks, and more) which can be another down side for some. This also results in some counselors caring more about sales than they do about your progress. In addition some food is restricted until you reach a certain weight and the whole ringing of a bell if you lose or not ringing if you don't lose is demoralizing if not juvenile. They also have no real online support.