My sister did Dr Bernstein for a year or so. She lost weight, looked great but could not afford to keep paying the $600 a month for the shots. As soon as she stopped the program the weight piled right back on plus some.
My godmother did it for a year - dropped 110 lbs., and about $8,000, for the Dr. Berenstein thing. One year later she was up 140 lbs.
I'm sure it can work for some people, but the mental piece has to be there as well or like any diet, the weight will just pile back on plus a little extra.
I forgot to mention the thing with Dr Bernstein is that the calorie consumption is soooo low that you can never live on it once the shots stop. The shots (among other things) curbs the appetite so you don't notice you are eating between 800-1000 calories a day.
I also know two people who did Dr. Bernstein with the same results. It's very expensive, you're almost starving and then people seem to gain the weight back. I know what person who did Herbal Magic with some success but she then got pregnant and gained it all back so I can't say for sure how it would have worked otherwise.
I haven't tried either myself so I only speak from second hand experience.
Ditto with the Dr. B, a friend that did it, lost weight and gained it right back. I do know some people that have done Herbal Magic and have kept the weight off. I don't know anything about it though. I am quite leary of this sort of stuff because I don't want to pay anyone any more money to lose weight, I hate to think of how much money I have spent on books, groups and gym memberships and also because I don't want to do anything that doesn't lead to realistic maintenance.
I know someone who did Dr. B - she lost a significant amount but didn't keep it off. Don't know much else about the program, but I do believe the shots are mostly vitamin B.
I & a close friend of mine have done Herbal Magic. I lost 30lbs on their program alone & have since lost another 40lbs with it & a LOT of exercise - but that is my body. My friend has lost 50lbs. The best thing about it is the accountability - unlike any program I've ever done. You check in with them at least 3 times a week but can go in every day. That was the best part about for me. I did research all of the ingredients in the herbals & they are all legit. Just by doing the Herbal Magic plan my blood sugar dropped significantly (it was at the high end of normal before). PM me if you have any other questions.
My inlaws did DR B. For one, it literally saved his life as the pretesting found that he had something wrong with a gland or something and had to go immediately into surgery (within 3 days of finding it). He lost a lot of weight and gained it back.
Herbal Magic is a centre based weight-loss program that I believe is only available in Canada. The actual food plan is very similar to the diabetes program but you also take additional supplements that are a combination of stuff but mainly ginsing & B vitamins. You check in at least 3 days a week & they look over your food journal. Once a week is your official weigh-in day & they also do measurements on that day.