[Anfester]

Some time ago, I asked this question about a friend who has lost 50+ lbs on Medifast. She wanted to do hcg to "lock in" a new weight and reset her metabolism. The advice I received (from Grammy, I think) is that she would probably have to load for a week, and would probably gain 10 or more lbs in loading. After that, she could proceed as normal. For now, my friend is sticking to Medifast, but she gains weight if she adds even a piece of fruit to her meal plan so I don't know how her maintenance is going to go.

I believe the advice was taken from this passage of P&I: "Patients whose general condition is low, owing to excessive previous dieting, must eat to capacity for about one week before starting treatment, regardless of how much weight they may gain in the process. One cannot keep a patient comfortably on 500 Calories unless his normal fat reserves are reasonably well stocked."