Worth £66 a week (Lighter Life)

Member Name: kestilly

Product:	Lighter Life
Date:	02/11/09 (591 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fast, consistent weight loss

Disadvantages: hair loss, constipation, expensive, some of the food packs taste awful!

I am still on lighter life and have been for 6 months at the time of writing this review. As indicated by the length of time I've been on it, I had a considerable amount of weight to lose.
In its favour, LL does provide some element of counselling but I have a feeling after discussing with other "lighter lifers" that the usefulness of this counselling largely depends on your counsellor's approach. The couselling I've experienced has been patchy, but in the beginning - especially during the first 14 weeks - known as Foundation - it was very helpful.
I've seen good results on the diet - average weight loss of 3.5 lb per week.
I've also suffered some of the side effects of any very low calorie diet - most worryingly hair loss, most annoyingly, constipation. I've not had the burst of energy reported by others on the programme - in fact I've felt lacking in energy. This may however be down to the fact that my blood pressure has also dropped since starting the diet - going from the low end of the normal range to the low end of the low range!
When I researched the diet I found it difficult to find out the cost, so here goes:
Cost: £66/week (this goes up to £70 in Jan 2010)
This includes a weekly session of weigh-in and counselling plus your 28 foodpacks that last 1 week. The counselling is in a group session.
Foundation is the first stage which last 14 weeks (for women) and is complete abstinence from normal food.
Developers (if needed) is where you go after Foundation if you want to continue abstinence for longer.
Route to Management is where you go when you've reached your goal and want to reintroduce food.
Its been expensive, its been difficult at times, but it does work and I think its been worth it (despite the shedding hair and dwindling bank balance). I was aware that the success rates for people keeping the weight off was low before I even started LL. I think it might also be true that the LL success rate is better than most other diets. Despite the fact that LL is a "last chance saloon" for a lot of people, so the success rates may be affected by the fact that those who do it are the ones for whom nothing else has worked.

Summary: If you stick to it, it works!