yes it does help. i started at 170 and right now i'm 157 and i'm still going. what's more important then the slimfast though is that through it you learn to keep the calories low- i don't even use slimfast everyday anymore but i'm still losing wweight from what i learned from the website and because it got me started. but it'll definately work if you use it right. the people it didn't work for ids because they didn't do it correctly and they were underestimating their calorie intake. yep so good luck!