to think that Lighter Life is a big gat waste of money!

[macdoodle]

One of my colleagues has just signed up to this and has gone off in a huff because I have said she is wasting her money!

FWIW I too am overweight and I know the only guaranteed way is to eat less and exercise more - I have done it before I got pregnant and yes its bloody hard work but this is one area where I am pretty sure there is no quick fix!

Also FWIW I am a GP and she is one of our nurses

So AIBU anyone prove me wrong??

I think that honesty is crucial here. You can buy a lighterlife franchise and get a quick start-up and train on the go, as it were.

Nothing wrong with the offering of support to help to identify the issues surrounding food, but it should be sold as that - support and not counselling.

Because people with really serious food issues (and we're not just talking addiction here, but other issues can lead to dependence on food iyswim) might be taking up this diet in the misguided belief that they're receiving professional help, from a genuine counsellor, when that is actually not the case.

And apologies for the housewife comment

Oh, I can't do that howto - I don't know. And to be honest, I'm not that interested in fighting the corner of LL counsellors. Mine helped me - that's all I can tell you. They probably do a very basic course. Mine is personally fascinated about it so is constantly doing extra reading, scientific studies, new books, new thinking etc, but that's because she's in recovery herself.

As I said earlier, it's unrealistic to expect highy trained professional for a low income career. Same as a WW counsellor would be ill equiped to deal with a bullimic or anorexic client, of course there are limits on what they are professionally trained to do. But that is why they always refer you to your GP.

syc- I understand the mindset 100%.

what I am asking is how do you differentiate between people who eat too much, simply because they like the taste of food- and those who are genuine addicts.

It's a bit like saying anyone who drinks a lotis an addict- they might not be at all- they just like to have a bottle of wine a night cos they like the taste.

I think the point I am trying to make- and you seem unwilling to take it on board- is that whilst some overweight people have deep emotional issues with food, others don't. They simply overeat. Greed to me is having more than you need. It is an excess of what should satisfy.

Ok if someone is addicted to food they will eat when they are not hungry, they will often base the days activities about what they are going to eat, they will often eat when happy or sad, sometimes both. They may spend a large amount of time thinking about food to the extent it impacts on them doing their job or going about their daily life. These are just some examples. Like all addictions food addiction can present in many different ways.

Wannabe - forgiven

But my counsellor is always handing out names of trained professionals to help people with their journey. She sees one weekly herself. 4 members of my group I know of are actively seeking professional help outside LL. Mainly those dealing with real self image issues etc.

I just need to stop using food when I am feel low, for whatever reason. But I do need help with it, and the NLP strategies as put over by my good counsellor are as much as I need.

There will always be individuals whose needs are greater, but there needs aren't being met by staying at home not even joining any Weight loss Programme either, are they?

howtotell - your last post pretty much sums up why you have no idea. You say that you understand the mindset 100% and then you say that it doesn't apply to some people, that some people are just greedy. Who are these people and how do you know that?

Howto - I simply just don't know anyone who overeats just because they like the taste of food, so I can't comment.

My suspicion is, those people do not exist. If they do, they are probably only a stone or two overweight and then because they don't have real issues with food, simply go on a conventional diet and lose it again.

That's my best guess/answer to your question.

I never intended this to become yet another thread about overeating and being fat - my god I am obese myself and would love to find a quick fix but I know there isnt one! I do understand how it feels to use food as a emotional crutch, to be obsessed with eating and be desperate not to be fat!
This thread is about LL specifically and my concerns about a VLCD mostly and their so called counsellors, and the amount of meony they take off their clients!! WW and SW are not the same they do not take so much dosh nor do they advocate an essentially unhealthy way of eating!

I have emailed LL and asked them specifically - what training their "counsellors" have/are they accredited, do they warn their clients of the risks of VLCD, and what their 1yr and 5yr success rates are - I also asked something else but cant rememeber oops sent it from my work email so cant check, will see if they have replied tomorrow!

Well done all you have succeeded very well done but you are the minority, there are lots of faulire stories too am afraid

On LL you have to drink about four litres of water a day or something?
that is why you have more energy and good skin. It is probably why you are able to survive on so little calories as well as you are getting full up on water!
Surely if you are 'emotional eating' to an extent that you are obese then there are some bigger issues going on here! the over-eating is a symptom not a condition in itself.

I would have thought it would be more useful in the long term to deal with what ever the underlying issues are and have some counselling/CBT/whatever for that - and it won't cost £66 a week and you can know for sure it is a properly qualified and experienced practioner.

lisasimpson "the over-eating is a symptom not a condition in itself."

YAY! Somebody gets it!

my mother is obese and she is not a food addict - by her own admition. She simply has no willpower.

Tbh I can see how that happens - we've all been there in terms of eating that extra bar of chocolate, and then another one, and then you buy the bigger size clothes and then you're comfortable in them again so you have another bar of chocolate and before you know it you're far more overweight than you want to be.

Yes of course people use food as an emotional crutch but there are also people who simply enjoy eating, and eating is far more pleasant than dieting.

I think what Sycamore is saying is that for HER, LL takes the overeating out of the equation completely so she can deal with WHY she overeats in the first place? Is that right Sycamore?

risks

It does make me laugh that people are slagging off LL counsellors for not being proper counsellors when there are many so called "professional" counsellors around who spout all sorts of crap!

londonone- I think I can safely say my neighbour- who is a dear friend- and who simply over eats by eating bigger portions than she should ( her words, not mine) and the wrong foods- (her words not mine)cheese sarnies rather than something lower calorie. she must be about 2 stone overweight.

Please don't insult my intelligence by telling me what you think I understand and what I don't understand. It is not that hard to imagine how an overweight person eats more because they are disgusted with themselves for eating too much in the first place, or because they are unhappy, or that they are using food as an emotional crutch.

If you bothered to read properly what I have posted and not just picked out the bits you disagree with, you would see that I did have a weight problem as a teenager, so I can understand what you are talking about.

Macdoodle - I'm impressed, and would be interested in looking at their response, and in your professional opinion on it.

Don't worry, it was a good thread you started, done out of a genuine interest in a diet you are naturally suspicious of.

You are a credit to your profession and to MN that you can actually hear another side to an issue on a thread and at least make an effort to understand or find out more, even if you're conclusions are the same.

I'm not a medical professional. It's not my job to safeguard the health of others. It's my job to make sure I'm healthy and alive into my old age for the sake of my kids.

It's my job to keep my mental health positive and strong for the sake of myself, my husband, my marriage and my family.

And I kind of owe to to life too, to seize it and make the most of it.

That's why I am a defender of LL, but I'm not someone that is going round advocating it. IE. telling people it's something they should do. I'm just defending my decision to do it, and highlighting how it can be successful.

howtotell - If she's only two stone overweight she wouldn't qualify for lighterlife. So exactly as sycamore was saying not the type of person it is aimed at.

I am not sure that your description of being a bit chubby really qualifies as a weight problem in the context of this thread.

4 l of water....that seems a lot....and I am sure, that whilst drinking plenty of water, one shouldn't overdrink neither....I am sure that I have read about people dieing because of drinking to much water....

lo- it might not qualify in the context of this thread in your opinion, but it nevertheless means that I have fought with being overweight.

I am sorry that you seem to want to keep banging on about the fact that I do not appear to understand what you are talking about- it is perfectly obvious, fgs!

You don't HAVE to have experienced something at its most extreme to have some idea of the emotional connections surely?

I am afraid I think that whatever I say from now on you will simply disagree with it.

Yes Morloth, that's right. But I should mention I only did the packs for 16 weeks. I've been eating normally for the last 14 months or whatever.

howto - we will just have to agree to disagree. You are within your right to take what your neighbour says at face value.

My experience would lead me to believe they aren't completely giving you the full picture. And sometimes if you don't do the counselling, LL or some one more professionally qualified, you may never hold the mirror up to your over eating and discover what is actually behind it.

You seem determined to believe some people are just greedy - that's your right. I have run out of ways to try and convince you otherwise.

Some women in my group have only just come to terms with what is going on psychologically behind their eating a year into the programme, such is the taboo of being fat and the pressure on one from society not to put your hand up and say "I have problems with food".

but my mother is seriously overweight. Morbidly obese in fact.

And she is not a food addict.

Not everyone who is obese has a food addiction.

sycamore thank you
I must admit my OP was a bit flippant, I have a good relationship with my friend/colleague and didnt expect her to get upset TBH - so I guess her weight must distress her more than she lets on, as I suppose mine does

And yes it is not your job to advice others you can only give your experience which i think you have quite fairly done, as did ilove! It is however mine, and my prior readings/experience has led me to not feel that VLCD are safe or advisable (for me as a GP)- I am always prepared to learn and proven wrong and will happily admit it if so - my further quick readings today have not changed my mind, but I will wait to see how LL respond!

TBH your whole hearted positive attitude has made me even vaguely consider it myself - but I think thats more down to you than the diet itself

The fact that you consider being a bit chubby as comparable to people who are 10 stone overweight shows how out of touch you are. The two are not the same thing. It's like comparing full blown alcoholism with someone who overdoes it sometimes at the weekends! One is an addiction that may have all sorts of psychological roots, the other is not!

syc
You seem determined to believe some people are just greedy - that's your right. I have run out of ways to try and convince you otherwise.

no more than you are utterly convinced that everyone who has a weight issue has an emotional isssue behind it.

Are you actually bothering to read what I post or have you got a mind set that holds onto your original opinion no matter what I post? Maybe I have not made it clear, but I was sure that in all my most recent posts I had acknowledged loudly and claerly that emotional issues can be behind weight gain- anyone would be a fool not to know that. But at the same time, it won't apply to everyone.

Maybe it would have helped this whole discussion if you had decided in advance what weight/BMI you had to be in order to qualify as a food addict? It seems that in your opinion, and LO that being 2-3 stone overweight is not really overweight at all.

If you had said right at the start that anyone who weighs 25 stone, for instance, must have emotional baggage that is linked to over eating, i would have agreed with you 100%.