Hi Helen...what courage to start your diet before the holidays! I've not heard of the Lindora diet - how does it work?

LA Weightloss is very much like Weight Watchers - you journal your food - right now I'm allowed 2 proteins, 2 starches, 3 veggies, 3 fruit, 1 dairy, 1 fat, 2 LA Lites (their snack bar - many flavors), Lite salt and LOTS (64 oz) of water.
The portion sizes are spelled out - they are fairly small, i.e. 4 oz protein, and in the starch department must be high fiber/low fat/low sodium.

The real difference - you don't go to a weekly meeting, instead you show up when it's convenient for you (during office hours) and meet with a conselour to weigh in and review your journal. They ask you to show up every other day to keep on track, especially at the beginning. The office is near my home so it only takes a few minutes - I try to show up when I'm feeling lightest! :D

Basically you're paying for that time - being accountable to a scale and a human being who will encourage you.

The key is learning new habits and thinking about food choices. You are allowed to have wine but 3 oz. counts as 1 fruits - right now I'd rather have the fruit. I did have some wine a week ago on a special occasion - it was great...but none since then. As Tom says, on the bright side, at least now I know I'm not an alcoholic! LOL

I'm completing my second week today - 7 lbs lighter. I often feel like a rabbit - more salad listed on my journal than almost anything else but it's filling. Learning to keep the protein smaller is hard and finding variety is a challenge, but that keeps me involved, so I guess that's good.

I'm enjoying all of your comments, they sound so much like my thoughts. And heck, laughter must be good for burning calories so this is the place to come for that suppliment!

The one item I think is especially good and should be a life-long habit for everyone - drinking at least 64 oz of water each day.

All I can say is, thank God I don't live near an In N Out! ;)