I did a medically supervised VLCD (HMR) 10 years ago. They work, you'll lose the weight, guaranteed. I would never do one again. I was so grumpy. Lots of headaches. I was tired. My skin was dry and "wrinkly" for awhile. And I think I was out around $3000. I went from 284 to 172 very quickly (within months) - but never made it to goal. I quickly bounced back up to 200-210 for a couple years and then the next year to 220 and the next year to 230 and the next year to 240...so last November when I weighed myself I was exactly at my starting weight of 284. I can't fault the VLCD though. I didn't consistently do what I needed to do to maintain a loss.

I think you can fault the diet, because everything in a person's (or animal's) being fights starvation. Rebounding is the rule, not the exception. I think that needs to be considered when we hear that 95% of obese dieters regain all of their weight. It can't be because 95% of obese people are idiots (we succeed in other areas of our lives).

I think the reason for the massive failure, is that the vast majority of weight loss attempts work against our physical, emotional and psychological natures rather than with them. I think eventually we will have more knowledge about how to lose weight and increase the odds of keeping it off.

I stuck with a 1,000-1,500 Cal/day diet and dropped 105#, but I did slowly regain 70# over a two year period. It works well but is mentally exhausting. I was so burned out it has taken me till now to summon up the will power for another round of dieting. I wish I could just pick up again where I left off, but 280# is still a few months away.


I am now following a 2,000 calorie a day plan (and going to the gym 6x a week) and losing 4-5#/week. So far I am down 18#.