Apologies for the long delay in writing this. Honestly until part 1 no one was even reading my blog so it didn’t seem important. And I spent a lot of time debating whether to take advantage of the grant or not.
I decided not to. Here’s why:
I can’t afford it.
How can I not afford to use a grant? This weight loss grant is supposed to be in place to help those who can’t afford a professional weight loss program. But you have to pay for the program yourself, and then are reimbursed if and only if you meet your weight loss goals. The program they connected me to includes genetic testing and metabolic testing and has a workout plan and food plan for 2 years. This whole thing is right up my alley- I love the science. But the two year program costs $2400 up front. Sure the weight loss grant would reimburse me 80% (about $2000) once I’ve lost the weight (IF I lost the weight). But I don’t have that kind of money to just toss around right now. If I did, I wouldn’t need the grant…
The Verdict
In the end I don’t really believe that the grant is a scam per se. They may reimburse people who see results. They work with programs that I trust, like WeightWatchers. And as my boyfriend pointed out- if you end up getting the results you want, then maybe it’s worth spending the money even if you never end up getting it back. I do think that the grant setup is flawed- they’re not helping the people who can’t afford the programs, they’re just helping the people who ultimately can afford to help themselves.
So what am I going to do? I still have weight to lose.
I found the science aspect of the clinic I was sent to very intriguing. I found a DNA company that tests your DNA and gives you a report that includes advice on what to eat and how best to workout for your unique genetic profile. And best of all, I can have the testing done for $300. Since this is less than what I’d be paying for the super expensive program even after reimbursement from the weight loss grant, I call it a win. I may contact the weight loss grant people again to see if they would reimburse me for this program instead. They may not, but at least it won’t destroy my finances if I don’t get their help.
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