Is Mdifast worth the money

I went on the Medifast in 2000. Within 8 months I had dropped 88 pounds. I lost several sizes; there were whole shops I could no longer patronize because I was so much smaller. I went through several wardrobes, and looked better than I had in years. My group leader (you should NEVER go on this diet without medical supervision and group meetings for support!) told me I was his poster child. 

However, after eight months of below-900 calorie dieting, my hair was falling out and my teeth were getting loose. With the help of a physician specializing in weight loss, the group leader trained in psychology, a registered dietician and a personal trainer, I worked out a program to transition back to normal eating. I aimed for 1200 calories a day (I am a small person) and a cardio workout 5 times a week. My goals were approved by my doctors and the others. I stuck to the program as faithfully as I had during the fasting part. 

Every single ounce came back. Every. Single. Ounce. 

Worse, I wound up being one of the 2% of participants that they warn you at the outset about: I lost my gall bladder, and have developed diabetes and metabolic syndrome. I have been struggling ever since with acid reflux so bad it has put me in the hospital. This, in spite of the fact that I adhered to the diet and worked out religiously. When my weight began to come back, I turned to my doctors/support again. They had no answers for me. 

Did the diet work? Of course it did. Restricting your caloric intake to 900 calories a day will inevitably lead to weight loss. There are no fat starvation victims. However, the real problem is that starvation diets put your body into starvation mode, and triggers it to hang onto EVERY FREAKIN' CALORIE you ingest thereafter. The trouble is that science really does not know much about metabolism, does not understand the mechanics of PERMANENT weight loss, and has virtually no real scientific data about the different ways men and women lose weight. But unlike every other area of medical research, weight loss is the only area where failure is blamed on the patient, not the method or the lack of data. (When was the last time you heard of a failed cure for cancer being blamed on the patient?). Since medical science does not bother to actually play by the rules of science when it comes to weight loss (so much more lucrative to serve up expensive fantasy diets), it's no surprise that there has been little or no progress on this front for a century. 

So, bottom line: I do not recommend a starvation diet. It will certainly work (and forget a month--you will need to commit to many months of starvation)--as long as you are on it. What happens after you go off the diet, is anyone's guess.