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??

syc Thanks for the endorsements about my personality- I have avoided saying anything personal about you and will continue to do so.

It might just be true though that because I do not eat any of thos things, my weight is low?

What in your opinion is the difference bwteen a food addict and someone whois just downright greedy?

You have made this discussion not simply a thread about LL and its merits, or not, but about food addiction and your personal suffering .

Whether people who are grossly overweight are food addicts in the same way that alcoholics are addicts is another issue and should be on another thread, imo.

It is obvious that you feel very strongly over this due toyour own experiences- well, you know nothing about me, my weight, or any battles I might have with it- so please don't flame me for expressing facts with which you happen to take issue. if you come over so strongly on any thread you risk having people disagreeing with you.

"As a LighterLife Weight-Management Counsellor you can:

list of 6 items
? Proven business format and weight loss programme.
? Fast start-up and support programme.
? Work flexible hours (minimum 35 hours per week).
? High earnings potential.
? Accredited training programme to diploma level.
? Dedicated support to help you grow your business.
list end

I think they should not be allowed to use the word "counsellor" the time will come when they can't, by law, the same way that you cannot be called a dr, unless you are one!

They use it because they feel it gives some credibility and some level of expertise, and therefore makes people want to sign up to the franchise. The "diploma" is a joke- accredited by whom? LL of course!

If anyone wants to spend their money on LL that is up to them- I really don't give a toss. Their money, their bodies.

I suppose the difference between SW/WW and LL is that, whilst those 2 are also businesses...they are not taking quite as much money from people...because you can continoue to eat normal food...
how good they are, that is, of course,is subjective ....
oh, and of course they are trying to raise their earning potential by sellling Cookbooks, Cereal Bars, etc....and in WW case all those ghastly imhoready meals...but it still isn't quite at the level of marketing a diet that you hvae to purely by their products, iykwim

By howtotellmum on Mon 01-Jun-09 16:16:48
syc Thanks for the endorsements about my personality- I have avoided saying anything personal about you and will continue to do so.

It might just be true though that because I do not eat any of thos things, my weight is low?

What in your opinion is the difference bwteen a food addict and someone whois just downright greedy?

Yes, you are slim because you don't eat those foods. Congratulations. Now lets leave the advise on how to get slim if you're morbidly obsese to people who understand the psychology of morbidly obese people, shall we?

howtotellmum - what an unpleasant individual you seem to be.

You are moralising about weight loss howtomum - that is highly personal imo.

Of course I was basically overweight because I'm just not as good as you right? You're just a whole lot less, greedy right? Good for you - go forth, be proud and continue moralising at overweight people because I've seen that work out REALLY well in assisting people lose weight.

sycamore - howtotell weighs under 8 stone and seemingly has a perfect diet. I don't think she has any understanding at all of what you are talking about.

I figured londonone, but really must go now and brick walls and heads don't go well together

londonone pity you can't have a debate without resorting to bitching. At least I argue the point and refrain from calling other posters names just because I don't agree witht hem. shame on you.

I don't believe I have called you names. I have said you seem to be an unpleasant person. I am basing that solely on your contributions to this thread

Howtotellmum - you really can't make a nasty comment like insinuating that overeaters are simply greedy, then get on your high horse that someone points out that's unpleasant.

No one has name called - we're reacted to the kind of posts that if put over in polite conversation with a few mums over coffee would have everyone turning to look at you like you were a very rude and uncaring person. That's just fact. If you can't see that, then I'm sorry.

Oh, and as an insight - those are the kind of comments that make food addicts go and eat a big cake because they would try and stuff down/anaesthetize (sorry, spelling) the hurt that that comment had caused, rather than just telling you, you are out of line.

I think if you haven't been there (or actually known and cared for someone who is/was) then you really don't have any idea how hard it is and how many different reasons there are for being overweight.

If it was easy to lose weight then no-one would be overweight.

It really irritates me that there often seems to be this opinion on MN that overweight/obese people are greedy etc.

Sometimes it really isn't that simple.

Yes, the excess weight is due to consuming too many calories. There can be many reasons for this.

I had no weight issues pre-motherhood but had addictions to both nicotine and alcohol.

Having cut out the fags and booze, I have real issues with overeating which can be very hard to control. I have simply replaced one addiction for another.

But then, according to the consensus from some on this thread, this must all be a figment of my imagination and I should just stop being such a greedy cow right?

macdoodle - you wanted to meet someone who did it and maintained it? Here I am.

I lost over 3 stone and went from a BMI of 31 to BMI 23. That was 3.5 years ago and I have stayed the same.

The CBT may not be one-to-one, or extensive, but you do have 2 hrs counselling each week and for me it helped me to understand why I was overeating.

Many girls on my class lost a lot more, and they have maintained it too.

It was the easiest diet I have ever done - no room for error, and very rewarding fast weight loss.

I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone. I'm not a moron either - IQ of 159 and two degrees say I am not!

Your colleague has taken you into your confidence and asked for your support - you have abused her trust and been entirely unkind.

But don't worry, it is one of the first things LL teaches you - that friends and family, especially if they have weight isssues themselves, can often try to put you off.

I hope your friend sticks to her guns and loses all the weight she wants.

YABU - you'd be a lot happier if you lost weight!

syc- I made a valid point and asked very valid questions.

Isadi that becasue Idi dnot eat biscuits, sweets, choc or alcohol - for health reasons actually which i will not go into here) that enables me to stay a slim size 10. Are you bitching at me because I sadi that?

londonone are you calling me unpleasant because of my size, the fact that I can control what I eat, or because I have asked the difference between addiction and greed? This is a genuine question.

I asked you to explain the differences between addiction to food and being plain greedy- that to me is a fair question as many people do simply overeat until they are FULL not just when their appetite is satisfied.

Not everyone who is overweight is addicted to food, in the same way that not everyone who drinks a lot is an alcoholic. I asked you to explain h ow they were different.

I am being attacked i think because I am slim. I have not always been slim if you care to read all my posts here. I have never been obese, but I have had a weight issue when I was much younger.

If you can't answer questions without getting into a tizzy and name-calling, then you shouldn't post at all.

How dare you call me unpleasant just because I happen to disagree with what you have said?

I know several people who have tried LL and none have kept the weight off. The main problem I have with it is that it provides a short term solution by removing all food. But, as you can't do that forever, it doesn't really help in the long term - becuase at some point you have to start making food choices again. THat is why, although I am not a fan of organised dieting, I would favour ww or sw becuase it involves making choices, within a framework and with limitations.

I have seen my sister get dangerously ill from NOT eating, and it is repellent to me that companies make money from promoting a "diet" in which participants consume as few calories as an anorexic

Howtotell - Of course I am not calling you unpleasant because of your size. I am calling you unpleasant because that is how you have come across. Your post about how maybe your so slim because you don't eat what fat people eat essentially was both smug and rather unpleasant. You are coming across as unpleasant due to your lack of empathy and your simplistic view of food and the relationship people have with it.

I would think so Riven, I think it probably sends the famine/feast cycle into overdrive.

but not everyone who is obese is a food addict.

Having said that, can you not see how claiming to offer "counselling" to people with weight issues is hugely misleading at best, and at worst seriously damaging to people with serious food addiction problems?

You wouldn't advocate selling drug rehab or alcohol rehab franchises for people to buy as businesses would you? So why is this any different?

The food replacement is a separate thing on its own IMO. Yes there are risks, but people are adults and can make up their own minds. But selling a package to someone with the claim that you will be seeing a counsellor, when in actual fact it's just some housewife looking to make a living is grossly misleading and should be illegal.

lo- I have a far from simplistic view of food and fatness. I have asked you or syc to explain the differences between food addiction and merely over eating. Can you?

You are both saying- not incorrectly I am sure- that people do have food addictions- I am genuinely wanting to know more.

I don't think there is anything wrong at all in saying that I eat sensibly in order to maintain my weight. If you interpret that as smug, tha's up to you.

I sort of see your point wannabe, but what else is there, that's the point.

If you could be suggesting a good alternative the counselling offered by LL then I think that would be worth posting.

At the moment, the risk is one just ends up putting people off altogether and intertia sets in. They do nothing.

Of course it's not ideal, though my counsellor is actually terrific - very bright - left her job behind to focus on being a counsellor in order to help her own issues with weight.

She was not some housewife - that's a sweeping statement. She is at least trained in NLP, as they all are. How good they are at their job, like any profession, is of course the luck of the draw.

I would really like someone to come on here and explain all about the training of LL "counsellors" and how much NLP training they have. I happen to know about NLP and am trained in it- and my best mate is a master NLP practitioner- took her 2 years.

howto - I can't really, because IMO greediness IS the same thing as addictively overeating. It's just a accusatory and emotionally loaded term that in my view has no place in the discussion of obesity.

Greed to me is about wanting more material possessions etc. But then, I could sympathise with someone that shopped addictively because they were unhappy, iyswim. It's the same thing as over eating, or over drinking etc .

So maybe to me, greed is only something that involves wanting more, with a wanton disregard for other people who have less.

I think it's hard for you to understand the mindset of someone with this issue. They want to eat more because they think, in the moment, it will make them feel better about something. Which is does, for as long as it takes until you start to feel guilty about it, then you eat to stuff down the guilt etc.