• 2 plans to choose from make it likely you'll find something that works for you
• group support can be very helpful
• you eat normal food
• they strongly emphasize healthy eating, exercise and moderation
• their website (unfortunately full access is not included in your membership) is excellent.  They have good tracking tools, recipes, support tips, etc.

Cons:

• this may be just me, but I was ALWAYS hungry and I had a high points allottment.  The only way I made it through a day without going over on points was by exercising like a fiend.
• group support is not all that useful to the 25% of the population who are introverts (like me)
• the meetings are not always at convenient times
• their excellent website needs to be paid for separately.  I think this should be included if you are a meeting attending member, with an option to pay if you are not attending meetings
• it is fairly expensive (like all commericial weight loss programs)
• I hate the idea of counting points.  You do get used to it, but it is a real pain.

All in all, I think if you're going to sign up for a commerical weight loss program, Weight Watchers should be your first choice.

However, I remain convinced that losing significant amounts of weight and keeping the weight off, for most people, is a losing battle.  I still have yet to meet a single person who has lost a great deal of weight and kept it all off over the longer term.  I am fairly convinced that for people with a significant weight problem, surgery may be the only real solution.

• I like the one-on-one support.  For an introvert like me, group meetings are not all that helpful.
• The timing is reasonably convenient.  Most centers have decent hours and you can stop by whenever is best for you.  I've had to wait to see a counsellor only once (I waited 30 minutes).  Every other time I've been seen right away.
• You're using your own food, which I believe is the only way to go.
• The LA Lites bars are pretty good.
• The meal plan includes restaurant choices, which is nice.

Cons:

• I find the program restrictive.  Now, some people would probably argue with me on this one, and I know FOR SURE that the counsellors at LA Weight Loss find this impossible to believe.  I find it unrealistic that the program doesn't account for things that happen in every day life, such as a party where you're going to want to have a piece of cake.  There's no room for that in this program.  As well, the starch and fat servings are extremely limited.  After 3 weeks on the plan I was still finishing each day hungry (after eating all the food on the plan), so I asked the counsellor what foods I could eat when that happened.  I was basically told that I couldn't eat anything.  That I needed to shift when I was eating and drink more water.
• They want you to visit the center 3 times a week, 2 times minimum.  Although the hours are reasonable, if you have a job/kids/life, it can be difficult to manage this.  I live/work about 15 minutes away from the center.  So, I have to factor in 30 minutes driving time, 10 minutes to get to/from my car, 15 minutes visit at the center and up to 15 minutes waiting to see a counsellor.  This is over an hour that I need to take out of my work day twice a week.  Hard to manage.  I had originally planned on going early in the morning, after dropping the kids off at daycare, but on the days that was possible for me, the center changed their opening hours from 7:30 to 9:00 am.
• They weigh you every time you go in.  So you're getting weighed 2-3 times a week.  I find this can be demoralizing.  Weight fluctuates enough during the course of a day that if you don't manage to go in at the same time of day each time, wearing similar weight clothing, etc., you could see a gain, or no change on the scale.
• Your experience will be very dependent on the counsellor you see.  All of the ones I've seen have been very helpful, but one in particular was quite overzealous and made me not want to go back.  On this particular day, I had lost 3 pounds since my last visit (3 days earlier).  I was quite pleased with this.  The counsellor starting reviewing my food diary and told me that I had made bad choices -- choosing all of the highest calorie options and that I should NEVER do this.  When I told her that I had done this on purpose since I find I'm very hungry if I don't eat that way, and that in fact, another counsellor had recommended that I make these choices because I was hungry, she basically told me that I had not understood properly.  When I told her that I was hungry all the time and found the plan very restrictive she looked at me as though I'd grown 2 heads and said "I've been working here for 4 years and never heard anyone say that before."  After lecturing me, she finally said "well, you're losing weight so it isn't really a concern right now."  Which left me wondering why she brought it up.
• While the cost of the program itself is not so bad, the cost of the bars (although technically not required) is insane.

On the whole, I think LA Weight Loss is probably, along with Weight Watchers, one of the best programs out there.  I'd give Weight Watchers the edge for the flexibility of their meal plan, and LA Weight Loss the edge for the one-on-one support.  If you don't buy the bars, which in retrospect, I probably wouldn't do, the cost of both programs is comparable.

I was going to save this one for the end since this is the program that I'm currently following (the Weight Watchers at work session was cancelled, so I decided to go another way), but due to popular request, here it is.

Unlike Nutrisystem, on the LA Weight Loss plan, there are no prepackaged foods.  You get a menu plan that tells you how many servings of various types of foods to eat each day and you prepare all your own foods.  Before I decided to join, I did some research on this one.  LA Weight Loss will tell you very little about the plan over the phone, other than they have provide personalized menu plans and you use food you can buy the grocery store.  Online, there are tons of forums that have lots of negative feedback about the company.  They seem to be known for high pressure sales tactics and having certain "required" supplements in addition to their base program.  I decided to check it out for myself.

Here's how it works.  You go into the center and fill out some paperwork -- background information, medical, etc.  Then you see a counsellor who sort of explains the program to you.  The basics of the program are the "personalized" (more on that later) menu plan, supplements, and protein bars called LA Lites.  The supplements and the LA Lites are supposedly optional, although I've read that this may vary from center to center.  The counsellor talks to you about why you want to lose weight, how committed you are to losing weight (you rank this on a scale of 1 to 10.  I put 8.  The counsellor asked why I only put 8, since most people that come in put 10.  I said "people who put 10 are lying.  To me 10 means I would be prepared to do ANYTHING to lose weight.  I'm not".) and how much weight you want to lose.  Unlike some organizations, at LA Weight Loss, you can decide how much you want to lose -- they don't work from standard height/weight charts or BMI or anything like that.  When you decide how much weight you want to lose, they divide that by 2 to determine how many weeks you'll be on the program, add 6 weeks of "stabilization", and then add a maintenance phase which lasts anywhere from the same length as the weight loss phase to double that length.  So, for example, if you say you want to lose 50 pounds, they'll say you need 25 weeks to lose the weight, 6 weeks stabilization and 25 to 50 weeks of maintenance.  So, essentially, at least 56 weeks to lose 50 pounds.  Then they multiple that by their weekly fee, which to the best of my understanding varies by center and what sort of promotions they have going on.  That's the amount you pay, up front.  They have financing available for those that can't afford to pay -- of course, you will be charged outrageous interest.  At the end of it all, to lose 50 pounds, you're probably looking at somewhere in the order of $400 dollars (CDN).  This might seem expensive, but it is fairly comparable to something like Weight Watchers (actually, I think a year at Weight Watchers will cost you more).  In addition, LA Weight Loss offers a guarantee.  If you don't lose the weight as the rate of 2 pounds a week, they will continue to work with you, without additional cost until you lose all the weight.  However, there are some conditions on this, namely that you visit the center 2-3 times a week and that you don't deviate from your food plan.  Believe me, if you have 50 pounds to lose, sometime during that weight loss time frame, you will deviate from the food plan.

Once you decide to sign up you're weighed, measured and your picture is taken.  They then try to sell you supplements (but these are optional).  These include things like essential fatty acids, vitamins and other products which are supposed to boost metabolism.  One month's worth of one of the supplements is $80.  There are (I believe) 6 recommended supplements.  They do offer package deals if you buy all the supplements and pay for multiple months in advance.

The next day, you start the first phase of the program -- a cleansing phase which lasts 2 days.  During this phase, you can eat protein, green vegetables and drink this juice provided by LA Weight Loss.  On day 2 of the cleanse, you go back to LA Weight Loss.  You are weighed, given your "personalized menu plan" and food diary, a scale (you are meant to weigh all your food), a cookbook, samples of the LA Lites protein bars and given pricing options for purchasing the bars in bulk.

The "personalized" menu plan turns out to be not so much personalized if you ask me.  Basically, they have several different pre-fab menu plans.  The one you receive is chosen based on your weight.  I don't believe activity level is taken into account when the menu plan is selected -- if it is, that certainly is not obvious.  As you lose weight, you move to different menu plans that allow less food.  The book you get with the plan lists all the foods and how much of each constitutes a serving, as well as how foods from certain restaurants (mostly American, but major Canadian ones are include) can be counted on the plan (the choices are extremely limited).  The diet reminds me of the very old days of Weight Watchers, where you had a certain number of food "exchanges" every day.  On my particular plan, for example, I get the following each day:
2.5 servings of protein (1 protein = ~7oz cooked chicken or 3 eggs or 3 T peanut butter)
3 starches (1 starch = 1 slice Weight Watchers bread or half a bagel or 1/3 cup of noodles/rice)
3 fruits (1 fruit = 1 cup watermelon or 1 small apple or 12 strawberries or half a small banana)
4 vegetables (1 vegetable = 6 baby carrots or 1 rib of celery or 1 small tomato or about a cup of salad greens; and yes, the vegetables are limited to 4 per day, even the green ones)
1 fat (1 fat = 1 tsp butter or 1 T fat free mayo)
1 dairy (1 dairy = 1 cup fat free yogurt or 2 oz of low fat cheese)
2 LA Lites (these come in various flavours -- mostly chocolate like.  Interestingly enough, each LA Lite is around 200 calories.  400 calories a day in protein bars seems like a lot to include in the plan.  If you choose not to use them, I don't know what they replace this with, if anything).
You also get a certain allocation of condiments -- 3 per day.  A condiment is something like 1 tsp of mustard or 1 T of bbq sauce.  All the foods must be low sodium and you can't add salt.  1/4 tsp of a low sodium salt replacement is allowed each day.  And of course, you will need to drink 8 glasses of water a day.

At this point your counsellor will discuss with you the options for purchasing your LA Lites bars in advance, in bulk "at huge savings."  They make it clear that this is only time you will be offered this special pricing.  The bars might as well be made out of gold.  To cut to the chase, one years worth of bars (2 per day) will cost you around $1100 CDN.  Some people by the bars on eBay for cheaper, and some find other protein bars that are comparable.

On your third visit, which takes place a few days later, you are once again weighed, the counsellor reviews your food diary, makes suggestions, asks if you have any questions, challenges, etc., and you decide which LA Lites bar package you want to buy, if any.  You're also given some samples of other LA Weight Loss products you might want to use -- protein shakes which serve as a meal replacement, snacks (which count as a starch serving) and stuff to add to water to give it some flavour (essentially like Crystal Light).

This concludes your start up phase.  These first 3 visits are scheduled and you see the same counsellor.  After the first 3 visits, you attend when it's convenient for you (the hours are pretty decent), and you see whatever counsellor is available.  You may have to wait to see a counsellor.  One time I waited 30 minutes.  Every other time I've been seen almost immediately.  I didn't find the person I dealt with initially to be a very high pressured sales person.  However, I have read that all the counsellors at the centers are paid commission on sales of the LA Weight Loss products.  I'm guessing that's true in Canada as well, because whenever I buy something at one of my visits, the counsellor I saw that day has to ring it in for me.

There is also an online component, called LA at Home which seems to be marketed to people that don't live near a center.  Apparently, clients from a center can use it too, but it isn't obvious how to sign up.

In the next entry I'll give my thoughts on the pros/cons of the program.

• The pre-packaged food is a pretty good thing if you're a person obsessed with food, you don't have a lot of time to cook, or you just don't want to cook.  It takes some of the thinking out of things.
• The plan includes snacks/desserts.  Some of chocolates were pretty good.
• They have a nice website where you can track your weight, an interesting little 3D visualization tool that can help you see what you might look like at different weights (although I question it's accuracy), forums and message boards where you can connect with other members for support.  Actually, you may be able to use these features, even if you aren't a Nutrisystem customer.
• I had really excellent experiences with their customer service people.  They have a good return policy -- they'll take the food back, no questions asked.  However, since everything comes from the States, it turns out they can't take food back after it's been shipped to Canada.  When I tried to return some food, I was told that they couldn't take it back, but they refunded my money anyway, no questions, no hassles.
• They have an auto-ship program which ensures that you get your monthly food shipment without any action from you.  A week or so before the food ships, they send you a reminder email so you can change or delay your order.  You get some kind of discount if you sign up for the auto-ship.

Cons:

• Price.  You'll pay somewhere around $300 US per month for food if you follow their plan exactly.  In addition to that, you still have to buy a significant amount of groceries.  You need to add a salad, dairy or protein to almost every meal.
• The food, in my opinion, just isn't that great.  It ranged from acceptable to gross.  None of it was "wow".  The chocolates were pretty good.  However, I read opinions of lots of people on the forums who claim to love the food, so your mileage may vary on this one.
• I'm one of these people that tends to think that you shouldn't do anything to lose weight that you aren't willing to do for the rest of your life.  With that in mind, pre-packaged food seems a bit unrealistic.  What happens when you're done losing weight?
• The portions were pretty small.  You have to eat A LOT of salad to stay full.
• There was no real accomodation for things that happen in real life, like going out to restaurants.
• No accountability.  You're doing this on your own.  However, they do offer counselling, which may negate this, but I didn't try it.

• People who have any kind of significant weight problem probably already know what types of foods and how much of these foods to eat.  They have been on a million diets.  They know this already.
• People who have any kind of signficant weight problem generally continue to have a significant weight problem because of emotional issues that they are using food to help medicate.  This is why the "just eat healthy and exercise" advice is useless.
• The majority of weight loss comes from nutrition.  It is absolutely possible (though not advisable) to lose all the weight you want to lose by changing your eating habits and never increasing  your exercise.  Just adding exercise and not changing your eating habits will most likely have a neglible effect on your weight (although it may change your fat/muscle percentage and your clothing size, and it is undoubtly a good thing to do).
• Any weight loss program will work if you stick with it.  Finding one that you can stick with seems to be the challenge.

I'm going to provide a summary of the weight loss programs I've tried, including my opinions of the good and the bad about each of them.  If you've tried them and have comments, corrections or anything to add, please don't hesitate to leave a comment.  If you want to remain anonymous, email me your comment and I'll post it.  If you have tried something that I haven't, I would be more than happy to have you provide your feedback which I will post as an entry in this category with attribution (unless you want to remain anonymous).  I'm particularly interested in hearing from people who have tried surgery-based solutions (gastric bypass, lap-band, lipsuction), some of the seemingly more stringent commercial programs such as Dr. Bernstein, and some of the 12-step type programs (Overeaters Anonymous, Food Addicts Anonymous).

Alrighty then.  Onward.