As you are on here looking for all info you can find, I presume that when you say "start next Thursday" you mean you are going for your introduction session? You have to get a medical form signed by your doctor before you can actually get going, the person running it (your Counsellor or "LLC" for short on these boards) won't just give you your packs on the day you go to meet them for the intro session.
Here is my "usual" advice to anyone looking to start / new on the program:
LL is as hard or as easy as you make it.
Go into it fully accepting that you are going to be spending the next 3 months, MINIMUM, not eating anything other than your 4 shakes or soups every_single_day and you will fly through it. Go into it thinking it is "deprivation" to not be eating, and chances are you're not going to last long.
As randomgurl said, this is a 100%-or-nothing diet. Stick to it, and you can look forward to losses of 4lbs or more every single week. Stray even a little bit, and you can lose nothing and feel awful (physically and emotionally) for it. The diet works simply by having your body constantly "running on empty" and having to use the fat stores it has for energy as it recieves no energy from eating. If you put any energy (ie foodof ANY kind!) into it, the losses ain't gona happen.
It's not magic. You have to work really hard, and once the weight is gone then the REAL challenge begins to keep it off. But with LL's guidance and therapy (not as scary as it sounds, don't worry!) you can do it. So many people on these boards are proof of that!
So, it's sometimes a rough ride emotionally, you might feel left out of social situations not being allowed to eat or drink, and the first week can be quite tough physically. But it is SO worth it. You learn about your issues with food, how to deal with them and sort out your crooked thinking, and all the while you are dropping 1 stone every 4 weeks; start up soon, and you could be 3 stone lighter by Christmas. That's all the incentive I need to keep going!
