Milk it for all it's worth

That's exactly what I'm going to do.

So in my quest for motivation, I stumbled upon this group.  It sounded perfect.  For a small fee, you could join this 12-week program and lose weight.  Each week there would be a meeting where a different topic would be covered in order to learn how to live a healthier life.  There would be weekly weigh-ins and a registered dietician (the person running it) would also call you weekly for a consultation in addition to the meeting each week.  The person that lost the most weight won a prize too.  It sounded too good to be true.  I knew there was probably a catch, but I decided to try it anyway.  I figured it was another way to hold me accountable and hopefully the information alone would be worth the fee I paid.

A few weeks ago, I went to the first meeting and discovered the catch.  The dietician just happens to be a salesperson for a company that makes various herbal supplements and protein products.  So she (and the literature she provides) is constantly referencing the products.  I went home that night and did a little research; apparently, this is one of the ways that the company suggests salespeople build up clients.  Now, it really bothers me that people are making money by brainwashing others who are desperate to lose weight.  Some of the people in the group have done the 12-week sessions multiple times and are still trying to lose weight!  I'm not trying to say the products are bad; I'm just irritated that they never mentioned the company in the description of the program.

That being said, I'm going to milk it for all it's worth.  I will take the information with a grain of salt and do my own research to see if it is legitimate.  I also plan to really work the dietician and see if I can get her to give me the advice promised in the description.  I'll take the free samples of her products and if I can't find anything better, I might buy it, but then again, I might not buy one darn thing the whole time.  But the part that will benefit me most is the accountability.  Each week, I have to step on that scale and record my weight.  It will be worth it for that aspect if nothing else.  I don't regret signing up, but I can tell you that you won't catch me signing up for a second round.

I guess the moral of the story is that if something seems too good to be true, make sure you do your research.  So my friend, what are you doing to lose weight and keep yourself accountable?  Have you ever had an experience with something too good to be true?