Yay, me!!!
Earlier this month, I completed Lydia Wente's Beat The Binge program, and HOT DAMN.... I am PSYCHED!
Lydia recently invited me to do an "exit interview" after graduating the program and I was quite honored to be a part of it. God knows that after dealing my wackiness on a daily basis for 8 weeks, I should do anything she asks of me.
The fact is that the whole process was amazing. And I had..... get this..... an incredible time! Yup. I said ‘incredible’, and I mean it!
Granted, there were some tough moments as I tried to find answers to overcoming my eating disorder, but when the answers came, they always left me wanting more. Every step was even more exciting and educating, leading me to WANT to search for more answers. It never once felt tedious or boring. This was self-discovery at its finest AND most enjoyable.
Granted, there were some tough moments as I tried to find answers to overcoming my eating disorder, but when the answers came, they always left me wanting more. Every step was even more exciting and educating, leading me to WANT to search for more answers. It never once felt tedious or boring. This was self-discovery at its finest AND most enjoyable.
And if I had a dollar for every "Ah-HA!" moment that I had, I'd be a happy camper. I always love a good "Ah-HA!" moment.
There is nothing else out there that even compares to Lydia's program. Lydia is so knowledgeable and just brilliant in her field. An extra bonus is that she has such a warm heart and fun personality! Here we are discussing my experience with the Beat The Binge program:
(IF YOU DO NOT SEE A VIDEO ABOVE, CLICK HERE)
If you know anyone who might benefit from Lydia's program, please share this post or her video via social media or email.... or whatever it is that you do to pass on interesting info!
Truthfully, there are probably many people in our lives who WOULD benefit from this but we just don't know it. No one knew how much I needed Lydia's help until I discovered it myself. I would have been so grateful if someone had pointed me in her direction much earlier.
Please share. You may be doing an enormous favor for someone you care about!
Many blessings,
Vicki
xoxox
PS. Part Two of my finding freedom is coming verrrrrrrrry soon. Like, tomorrow!
This ABSOLUTELY is NOT a paid endorsement for the Brain Over Binge Program!! Just the facts....according to me (and hundreds of others 😉)
It is important for people to know this program is several thousand dollars. I was devistated to go through the intake process only to be told this at the very end. After baring my soul and feeling vulnerable, the intake person really pushed me to use whatever means necessary to pay for this.
ReplyDeleteI am SO sorry to hear that you felt misled. Please feel free to contact me privately and I’d be happy to share some of the free or much less expensive ways I found to be extremely helpful. Xoxo
DeleteI also felt really disheartened by this... I generally feel really willing to pay for help, therapy, etc. But putting 8 thousand dollars towards a program I don't know much about is killer... I'm not in debt with my eating disorder right now, so I'm not going to go into debt for this help. I just think that is really unnecessary and was truly the only part that made me feel icky. Really grateful for Lydia's YouTube videos, though! I've learned so much about what things I need from someone to work with as I try out different coaches/therapists this week!
DeleteThank you for this. I was at the point I was willing to drop some money to help beat this, and had the free session which was actually very insightful, but then the pressure at the end to split $8k over multiple credit cards was a bummer. If I had known it was that much I wouldn't have wasted her time. I took to the internet to see if any others had the same experience, or reviews as to what makes it so good to be worth $8k.
DeleteI was devastated as well! I told this woman all of my deepest darkest secrets and felt super vulnerable and at the end she’s like, it’s $8000. I love the ideas, the podcast and the videos. I heard Lydia talking on a business podcast saying she charges so much so people are more invested. I felt put off by that, so only wealthy people can recover this way? Very upsetting.
Delete100% predatory sales - makes you feel heard and while you're vulnerable they tell you the ridiculously inflated price at the end, complete with "join today and save 50%!" pressure. Despicable.
DeleteI had a hung from the very beginning that this was going to be excessively priced so I asked right up front. The actual numbers weren't revealed until the end. "Ordinarily it's 12k but we're running a special right now that's 8k and if you pay it all in one shot it's 7k.
Deletek.
No thanks.
Yep
Delete8K...for 8 weeks..seriously no one is that good
Yes, I had a recent intake and I think it was have been way more honest to share the pricey numbers before asking all these repetitive questions. What are their credentials and Lydia's credentials to put women who she never met in person to dig deep into that intake and asking them how does this make them feel and how would they change when the interviewer is supposed to provide the answers on how they are supposed to help..very fishy.. and certainly the interviewers are out of touch and just making cold calls.
DeleteI had the exact same experience. So ironic that a program that is supposed to teach us to stop beating ourselves up about our food issues, uses high pressure, over the top, almost abusive sales tactics to get us to sign on the dotted line before we hang up. And with a price tag that is more than any therapy or counseling that I’ve ever participated in. Shame on you.
DeleteOh that’s sad. I was trying to find out pricing for her program. Several thousand. 😳
ReplyDeleteI’m so glad I’m not the only one who felt this way! I did the phone call and had this great conversation with someone who was SO empathetic and seemed to know just where I was coming from. It was great. Then it came to what I feel like was the “sales pitch” portion of the call, in which I felt like all the things I shared where in a way “used against me” as reasons that I should be willing to spend $10k on the program (price went up at the new year). I was so disappointed because it sounded awesome, but like I told the person on the phone, I had NO IDEA it was going to cost that much and I wasn’t going to go into debt to do the program.
ReplyDeleteTry beat the binge it's $199 Australian I'm going to do it.
DeleteDid you end up doing this course?
DeleteHi Vicki how may I contact you privately on this platform?
ReplyDeleteHi Nina! You can reach out to me via email if you like..... vicki@xlinxs.net
DeleteI loved my "breakthrough session", I truly felt a lot of breakthroughs and felt like my coach truly cared. In my mind, I was thinking OK...if it's $500, I'm in. Maybe I could swing $1,000. So when he told me the price was for 10K...but he could give me deal for 6K...I was like...um...I need to talk to my husband. He then used my words against me and said- I know your husband would want to support you. Do you feel like he (my husband) would want to hold you back? I like Lydia. I did my research on her and like her approach. However, I am TOTALLY un-impressed with how the call went from caring, empathetic to shaming me with my own fears (which they ask you about) and worries. In essence, they will take away your shame around food, and instead shaming in to paying them. I had to tell the guy SEVERAL times that I wasn't paying money today. He battered me with that decision and said I probably wouldn't make the change if I didn't join now. So, so disappointed. I don't care how good the program is, this was flat unacceptable.
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry that you had an unpleasant experience. This really upsets me to hear because I wrote this blog as a means to guide people to help. I feel like I should make an adjustment to it in someway. I have to say that it is an EXTENSIVE program. You have full access to Lydia and she was so helpful. She gave me tools which I still use to this day and I am no longer bingeing. However, the selling tactics seem to have heated up and in concerned. Again, I’m so sorry that you went through all of this. Thank you fir letting me know. Very best wishes, Vicki
DeletePs look into Summer Innanen! She’s extremely affordable and I like her methods. She’s a fantastic person to boot!
Oh my goodness! The typos! Sorry about that! I’m responding on my phone! 😬
DeleteHi Vicki, I'd be happy to give you some further information on my experience. Do you have an email address where I can write to you? It may be on your page somewhere...but I haven't looked around. Thank you for your kind reply :0)
ReplyDeleteOh jeeze...so sorry, I'm just seeing it at the end of your reply! Yes, I will send you more info there :0)
ReplyDeleteHi Vicki, I sent you an email ☺️☺️
ReplyDeleteNice to meet you Vicki - i am a fellow grad of Beat the Binge and i cannot believe that i can now get on with the business of living my life without being food/diet/body obsessed and harming myself with binges. but here i am - totally free from it. it's truly amazing. both my body and mind are becoming healthier literally every day. much love!
ReplyDeleteThat’s wonderful but most of us cannot spend 8-10k for this. It’s really excessive
DeleteHey all, this is Lydia Knight. I am so sorry to see all the discouragement on this post. But I appreciate people being open. There is also a lot of misinformation here, and I wanted to myself clear a few things up.
ReplyDeleteI believe that everyone should have an opportunity for freedom. It's as simple as that. We know how to end eating disorders and we show people how to do that.
Our program is not full of rich and privileged people. We specialize in helping women who have struggled for over 40 years with food. And it's often drained them financially. We coached a women in 100k of medical debt because of her eating disorder. We have coached many retired women on a fixed income. Many on disability or going through bankruptcy. They have all gotten their freedom and get to not only have their health and life back, but get to have financial wellbeing because they are free from the most expensive problem in their lives. The people we coach would rather invest once in their freedom than invest 100X that for the rest of their life perpetuating the hell they are in.
What people haven't noted here is that if someone is struggling finically to get our help that we also help them with that, that we, for free, help them to get resourceful with resources that women in our very community have shared with us.
Yes, our help is an investment. Here is a fun fact: I used to do this for FREE. And then I used to charge a couple hundred dollars. And everything that we do is based off the data of what actually gets people free. What we found is that when people didn't invest in themselves in a way that felt powerful to them - they wouldn't show up and do the work. We had a lot of people doing just some of what we coached them to do and only getting some of the result. Or not showing up at all.
When the investment matched the value of permanent freedom, we created a community where people were fully committed, did the work, and saw the FULL result. A lifetime of permanent freedom, knowing they were worthy, and getting their mental energy back for themselves and their families.
No one needs to like how we do things. But for the hundreds of women and men that get to wake up every day free of the biggest problem in their life - they are very thankful we do what works.
There are many, many reviews of our program. We have hundreds of testimonials that our grads happily send us. They do freedom stories like Vicki did. I would suggest hearing from real grads of our program if you want a real picture of the results we get.
We only invite those in who we know we can help. Most of our clients are happy and thankful for having their lives back. But no matter how we serve someone and love them - there will always be some people who show up un coachable or more committed to their anger than their freedom. This has happened 0.006% of the time. Yes, that is less than 1 percent of the time where we have had a grad of our program trying to discourage others from their freedom. Crabs in a bucket mentality.
You can spend your time out to discourage people from their freedom, or you can uplift people and encourage their freedom. I choose to spend my life helping others out of a dark place. If you have an issue or complaint, I would hope you would say it to US directly. Lydia@LifeWithLydia.com.
I am aware of each client's journey. I review our Breakthrough Sessions to be sure we are treating everyone with love and respect and what will serve them most to their freedom. We are not perfect, but we deeply care for people and do our best every day to make how we do things even better.
If you want to hear the experiences of REAL grads of our program you can go to www.LydiaVideo.com and see our freedom stories playlist.
I know that many times hurt people hurt people. I appreciate each and everyone one of you that rise above that for your own freedom and those around you.
Much love,
Lydia Knight
Founder of Life With Lydia
You didn’t address the sales pitches. Has that changed? That POV seemed to be the most problematic - most so than the cost.
DeleteHi Vicki I graduated from Lydia's Program three years ago. it's is great you have this blog and that you want to guide people with an eating disorder, but I think it's confusing and sad to read discouragements on Lydia's Program based on money, specially when even the numbers are not correct.
ReplyDeleteI can say that I spent 30 years of my life with the eating disorder that went from anorexia to bulimia, binging and purging everyday several times a day. I spent I don't know how much money in therapy, food and binges. I discovered Lydia’s program on the internet and I watched several of her videos on the youtube channel and I decided to schedule a session with her. After that, scared to hell for changing, I decided to enter into the program. This program changed my life in a way I could not even have imagined. In 8 weeks I was done with binging. I am totally free with food, I feel confortable with myself and I have discovered that me, myself wasn’t the eating disorder or my habits or the kind of food I had…I am in peace, I am not scared of myself anymore or of food. I decide what to eat, I am free, I make my decisions on it.I decide. And this program gave me the tools for continuing practicing the decision making and exercising my freedom in all the aspects of my life. I am thankful for ever and I believe everyone can have the chance to get free.
All the best
Carolina from Paris, France
Hi Vicki. I too am a graduate of Lydia's Beat The Binge program and after almost 50 years (yes, 50!) of feeling imprisoned by my thoughts and actions around food, eating, dieting, restricting, binging and wondering what was wrong with me because I couldn't "permanently keep the weight off, I am finally free from all that pain. I spent 8 weeks and a small investment to save myself from giving up on creating a healthy relationship with food and (over)eating. I have tried every diet on the planet, only to gain the weight back after just months or a couple of years. Again, I am now free from all of that, and I have never felt more safe and relaxed around food.
ReplyDeletewhat was one thing you learned from her program that helped you the most?
ReplyDeleteGreat question. That restricting is not the solution, because inevitably, one will not have the ability to get off this terrible cycle of restricting, binging and overeating, and then to start the horrible process all over again. This program works because it's based on science. Ok, 2 things that I felt were worthy of posting here. Thank you for asking. Freedom after 50 years of misery.
DeleteI have struggled with it for about 35 years. I am sure the program would help but we are a one income family with 5 kids. There's just no possible way we could spend $8000 on a program of any kind. But I am glad you are free! Especially after 50 years! Congratulations! I am listening to her blog and hoping to get the help I need that way.
DeleteMy “coaching” session felt like I was at one of those timeshare seminars, except this experience left me feeling betrayed and vulnerable. Through tears, I divulged my strengths, weaknesses, hopes and fears. I get that it’s a business and people need to make money. My only question to Lydia is why do we have to decide before we get off of the call? I understand the percentages of closing a sale immediately, but this isn’t a timeshare. I’ve read about you and heard your podcasts. I believe that you have an ethical and outstanding product, but this sales pitch format doesn’t fit your brand. I don’t think it is your intent to make people feel horribly after they get off of one of your calls. Thanks to everyone who shared their story, it made feel less lime an idiot, knowing others have gone through the same experience.
ReplyDeleteYes, she did not address that issue. The timeshare analogy is spot on...
DeleteI have also completed the Life with Lydia programme. Overall, I would say I had a lukewarm experience. In my opinion, the essential elements and teachings of the programme are largely good and helpful but the package and the way its delivered and managed left me with a bad aftertaste.
ReplyDeleteGood: I learnt useful ways of thinking about my binge eating/bulimia and came away from the programme feeling that I had learned something, and come in touch with a community of people with similar experiences. I wouldn't say I was 'healed' but I feel I was equipped with useful mental tools for addressing my disorder.
Not so good:
Firstly, the language in every single one of the videos and throughout the programme is centered around and geared towards women. I am a man, and I found this extremely alienating. Simple things like a video might say "Don't worry, I have helped so many other women like you get through what you're feeling." You could tell me "That's OK, just replace the word 'woman' with 'man' in your head as you listen to the material." Yes, I tried this, but it didn't really stop me from feeling alienated and even more marginalised and excluded (not great given the price).
Secondly, we know the price point of the programme is high. Fine. What I didn't like is the transparent sales tactics employed in the free Breakthrough call. You've just poured your heart out and feel very vulnerable, and the Breakthrough coach jumps on this and immediately uses all your own words back at you to pressure you into quickly making a big financial decision. I am an adult and require time to make mature and sensible financial decisions. I wouldn't drop a few thousand dollars on anything without taking the time to weigh up options, timelines and without checking in with my family and people who depend on my income. I felt pushed to decide without enough space and time to reflect on my decision, like when someone hard sells to you in a phone shop. At the end of my Breakthrough session, I decided to go for the programme because I was desperate to be free from this disorder. I had some payment issues with my card. What wasn't fun was hearing my Breakthrough coach on the phone with Lydia, trying to work out together whether I was a 'trustworthy enough guy' (better to mute yourself when you're talking about your client) and then celebrating that I was your 'first sign up'. Hearing all that made me feel commodified and even less valued after having shared my vulnerability.
Lastly, as part of the programme, you are invited to a weekly live Q&A session with Lydia herself and other people who are on the programme. This is a fantastic idea! Except for the bizarre choice of time to hold the event (when I did it): Thursdays at 8am Pacific time. A weekday when many adults need to be at work. There was no compromise on this time. Actually, for my timezone the Q&A was in the middle of the night. I was told "Maybe you should really make the effort to attend the Q&A tonight, since it's really useful!", even after having explained it's at midnight and I have work the next day. As a result, in my eight weeks of the programme, I could never attend this, despite it being part of the package that I had bought. They offer video recordings, which is a mediocre substitute for what I see as actually a valuable resource that you've paid for.
I believe that the programme is overall decent if you're the right client. That would probably be: female, living in the US/convenient time zone, flexible free time to take advantage of all the video resources and Q&A, and wealthy enough to afford a few thousand dollars. Perhaps for me it was a combination of not being the right client and a programme delivery that wasn't to my taste.
Can anyone tell me exactly how much this course costs as of 2021? I'm based outside of the US and due to the exchange rate it would cost me 30% more. There's no way I want to do a Breakthrough Session without knowing the cost upfront, so I can discuss with family.
ReplyDeleteThe sales technique used sounds exactly the same as one I encountered with a career coach a few years ago.
7k
Delete7k
Deletestill 7k on the spot or 12k if you choose to take a breath and think about it
DeleteThe person we see on youtube and the amazing reviews we hear are a far cry from the aggression of the sales pitch which, as stated above, uses yourself against yourself. I have to say a big thank you to Lydia. Only me can bully and pressure me. No one else. No disgustingly gross amount of pressure and sales pitch from anyone against my weaknesses will win over. Thanks for reminding me who the hell I am. The are other ways to present yourself, but the language used which I think you felt were clever, really would never work on an educated person. 'decide now or we will part friends'. Well friends parted as only ME can bully Me. and for the last post - $5k I was quoted.
ReplyDeleteI don't doubt that the program provides life changing opportunity for those who can afford it. It struck me that the free webinar I attended included Lydia stating towards the end that "this program is not for those on disability or unemployed." Not undersanding the cost, I thought that statement was odd. Now that I know the cost, the comment was actually rather mean. There was so much emphasis on how much money dieters had spent trying to lose weight, I never imagined we would be expected to spend another $8-10K. Again, no doubt the coaching is excellent but even if I did have an extra $8,000 available, I would be hesitant given the the statements made to get people to sign up. The 5 points were awesome.
ReplyDeleteAre her principles, etc available in a book or other format that can be purchased for a reasonable price? It seems like a book would be a great $20-$30 investment for those of use who aren't able to afford her program. She could make money off of it and help people. It wouldn't be as in-depth or personal as her full program, but it would be better than nothing! She believes everyone deserves to be free from food prison - everyone except the low income, unemployed or on disability. I guess those people just deserve to be left by the wayside.
ReplyDeleteYes, she has hundreds of videos on YouTube, all helpful, and all free. Plus the 45 minute training video on her website covers the main ideas of her program - it's also free.
DeleteI also feel the same about the sales pitch! 1 hr of baring my soul and vulnerability and then the sales pitch. I should have researched before the call. I requested a refund right after the call - let's hope they honor it.
ReplyDeleteEirene, I'm curious if they honored your request for a refund?
DeleteOh Gosh, I had the exact same experience! I am so angry with myself that I poured my soul out, as I kept being prompted to open up, on that breakthrough session just to then have all that taken and used against me to get me to pay for the program. They went as far as telling me that if I don't make this decision now, if i don't sign up rught that moment, then I might be dead in 6 months! WTF!? To say that to a clearly vulnerable person is just evil (and the coach kept saying she's saying this 'out of love'...BS!). I said I had to think about it, but the woman kept pressuring me. I felt extremely uncomfortable but stood my ground. She then seemed to accept that I won't just hand over 8k and said that she'll do me a deal: I can put down 1k as deposit and that would lock in the 8k rate (rather than the full 12k) for a few days as I decide if I want to go for it or not. I asked if I decide not to go for it after a few says if i get my deposit back- she said it's non-refundable! This whole experience just really made me think these people are only interested in money and not helping people. I couldn't even find any independent reviews of this program - only the ones on Lydia's website (the seller will obviously always make sure they have tons of good reviews on their product website..not a reliable source of reviews duh!).
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad I found these comments I thought it was just me. I feel uneasy after my call. I'm sure it's a valuable program but to pressure someone in the way they do to make a huge financial investment....encouraging credit card debt and even offering an application.
DeleteI found it extremely manipulative. Getting you to examine your most intimate thoughts and feelings about your weight and life and then saying it’s $12000 but you can have it for two $4000 payments or one $7000 payment with a $1000 non refundable deposit and the “resources” for “resourcefulness” is all just ways to go into debt. It’s manipulative and uses diet culture against the vulnerable.
ReplyDeleteI found it extremely manipulative. Getting you to examine your most intimate thoughts and feelings about your weight and life and then saying it’s $12000 but you can have it for two $4000 payments or one $7000 payment with a $1000 non refundable deposit and the “resources” for “resourcefulness” is all just ways to go into debt. It’s manipulative and uses diet culture against the vulnerable.
ReplyDeleteI found it extremely manipulative. Getting you to examine your most intimate thoughts and feelings about your weight and life and then saying it’s $12000 but you can have it for two $4000 payments or one $7000 payment with a $1000 non refundable deposit and the “resources” for “resourcefulness” is all just ways to go into debt. It’s manipulative and uses diet culture against the vulnerable.
ReplyDeleteThank you to everyone who posted their comments. I wish I had read this before I scheduled my free breakthrough session. I agree with everyone's remarks about sharing very personal information and then feeling forced to make a HUGE financial decision. I have two questions I'm hopeful you can answer: 1) @eirene - You indicated you requested a refund. Did you have to pay for your session, or did you sign up for the program and then change your mind?, 2) My intake coach told me the session was being recorded. Do they delete our videos if we don't sign up for the program? That is very confidential information that I would want deleted. How can we ensure this never gets shared? Thanks for any help!
ReplyDeleteI graduated from Lydia's program in 2017 and it sounds like she is still employing the manipulative sales calls. Back then the price was $5K, I've heard it's more now.
ReplyDeleteLike many people here, I spent a lot of time pouring my heart out on the "free breakthrough call" that lasted almost 2 hours I think. I cried, basically admitted I'd die if I didn't change (of course the questions were very coercive). Then the price was revealed at the end, and I too was SHOCKED. I felt desperate and trapped, like if I didn't buy it I'd die.
So I did purchase the 8 week program. All in all I learned a lot and met amazing women who were just like me. However, it's now 5 years later and I am still bulimic. I can also confirm at least half of the women in my program never got free, so I have no idea where Lydia comes up with her ridiculous statistics.
I don't appreciate Lydia's comments herself that some don't get free because they are angry or uncoachable. Eating Disorders are COMPLEX, and to advertise "guaranteed freedom" in less than 8 weeks is bullshit. YES, 100% I know some of her clients DID get free in just 4 weeks, but those results are uncommon. Basically everything she teaches can be found in the (much more affordable!) books Brain Over Binge or The Bulimia Help Method.
---> Knowing what I know, would I go back and not buy the program? I have thought about this a lot. It was the biggest investment I made in myself and honestly, I would do it again. She is right that when you pay a lot you DO show up. However that being said, I could not justifying paying more than $5K for the program. $5K is certainly already overpriced. I think reasonable would be 1-2K but I understand she also needs to make a living.
My biggest beef with Life With Lydia is the false advertising, the high-pressured manipulative sales call, and the ridiculous price. All three together (and my personal experience with Lydia and her program now for 5 years) is that it's really just about the money for her.
Did you read both the books you recommend? Thank you for sharing by the way
DeleteI had my breakthrough call today and I felt like I was at a timeshare presentation. The saddest part was using your own words against you while trying to get you to buy the $12,000 program discounted to $8,000. She wanted to stay on the zoom call and walk me through attempting to get a new credit card to pay for the program!!! Talk about a hard sell, she asked about retirement funds and saving accounts. Shameful! Its bad enough that she twisted my own words against me but also sent information on ways to fund this program. This is clearly for those with lots of disposable income and not the normal person. What a shame that once again our eating disorder puts us in a position of weakness. I feel bullied and no matter how wonderful this program is suppose to be, if it makes you feel this bad, its not worth it. Why not have a scholarship program for a few people each year to help those less able to pay this enormous amount. That would send a message of carring which we could use right now. Good luck and I wish you peace from your struggles.
ReplyDeleteWhat a shame, so sorry to hear that. But honestly, you didn't miss out on anything, it's not a wonderful program. Most of the people I've spoken with say it didn't work for them, yet Lydia manages to keep negative reviews off the internet. It's so sad and disgusting to see all these replies and people made to feel this way. I'd recommend reporting it to the BBB and putting a review on there of your experience. Maybe if enough people do that, the word will get out and save others the heartache. Clearly this is just a money-maker for her. Sure she has a few people here and there who benefited a little, but I'm betting that's not common and at that cost, it isn't right. It only makes her very wealthy while taking from others. It is shameful, I do agree with you.
DeleteFirst, I want to thank Vicki for posting this blog and sharing her positive experience. I in no way want to dump on those who had a positive and successful experience with this program. However, I also just finished my free breakthrough session and this is fresh for me, so I want to share. I also had a poor and disheartening experience with obvious timeshare-like, manipulative, and clearly trained sales tactics. I didn't want to make this long or repeat what a lot of others have said, but it has turned out quite long anyway.
DeleteThe perspective I want to add is in a few points, in case they're helpful to anyone else. The coach I spoke with had me open up, which made me cry. But then said I was sharing my experiences like I was reading the weather and she wasn't quite getting my full emotional breakdown of how bad this was for me and said I should sink down into my heart and really share how devastating it is that I'm going to kill myself from my eating disorder. That was my first alarm bell. She had seen my tears and waited while I got up to get a tissue, but that wasn’t enough.
Then, the repeated questions which had no answer, such as would you be more devastated by killing yourself with your eating disorder or not being free from the daily misery of it? There's no answer for that. It was clear manipulation and scare tactics to put me in the most vulnerable and desperate mindset I could be so that I would think that this was the only answer. If this truly was the answer, as they say it is when they say "we know exactly how to end this forever," then they would make even more money by making the price point affordable for the millions who suffer, and not just the 1000 they continue to quote as the population they've helped. If they truly wanted to help people, they could build an empire that helps even more people and still make their fortune honestly by making this accessible to all who suffer.
All the heart talk and sincere tones from Lydia in her videos and the coaches in their free breakthrough sessions are down the drain when they get to the point where they ask you not only if you can use multiple credit cards to pay the $12K or $7K for an 8-week program (mind you, that's either $1,500 per week or $875 per week - huh? for what?), but then ask you how much is in your savings account and checking account so they can work with you to figure out how you can come up with the money. I've had a car salesman try that with me and at least I knew he was in it for the car sale not to try to save me from myself.
It's irresponsible and predatory to lure people into shelling out their savings or go into credit card debit, for heaven's sake!, with a cult-like messaging of "we have the answer." I felt like I was in a Scientology auditing (for those readers who know that reference and may benefit from it). I'd rather pay a fitness coach, a CBT therapist, and have healthy meals delivered if I had that kind of money, or continue "killing myself with my eating disorder" than blindly pay thousands of dollars to someone while in a puddle of tears.
Sending love and good wishes to all, whether you did Lydia's program or walked away. We are all needing love and support and I will continue on my journey from here extremely grateful that I came upon this blog and all the commenters.
I did a break though today and it was such a disheartening experience. She asked what foods I binged on and I just gave pizza and bread as an example. Once the price was revealed I told her I would need to speak with my husband before making a purchase that large. Her personality changed immediately. She challenged my need to speak with him before the purchase and said to tell him the program is necessary so he won’t be with a “pizza and bread eating freak” anymore.
ReplyDeleteI didn’t even know how to respond after that. They probe, literally asking your worst fears and worst case outcomes related to your eating disorder. When you exhibit any hesitation they throw it back in your face. Horrible experience.