Have to agree with you Chris.

I can only go by my own experience and those of people I know who have tried both and I honestly can't think of one instance in which RFL for an extended period was a good idea for the long term.

There's also the question of how you come out of that RFL period too.

Current argument about returning quickly to maintenance kcals to return hormone levels to normal vs reverse dieting slowly to minimise fat gain.
Sure it is a trade off (I like the slow and steady approach in both directions for long term success).

But I think if you were to do a RFL for a period, you'd have to go back up slowly by default otherwise it's a massive fat gain rebound risk.

Probably also depends on your starting point and capacity at that time too.

Slow and steady usually wins the race in the end though for most people.

I think the two biggest hurdles with this approach are knowledge and discipline.

Most of us discussing this understand the (at least basic) theory behind fat loss, understand macros and their respective roles, have a handle on what a sound diet looks like, maintenance vs deficit etc etc. The issue is that the vast majority of people do not understand these concepts let alone able to apply them in an extreme diet such as a PSMF.

We know that if you go through this type of diet that supplementation is crucial (particularly EFAs), and that a slow 'reverse diet' is the optimal way to ween off a diet plan like this without significant fat gain. We also know to expect an increase in scale weight as soon as CHO is reintroduced and not panic etc.

In my opinion you need a decent level of nutritional knowledge, and a decent understand of your own physiology and how your body adapts to certain stimuli, to even think of attempting something like this. If you don't have the base of knowledge (and a decent relationship with food) you're setting yourself up for failure with any VLCD or similar crash type diet.

The second aspect is discipline. You can have all the knowledge in the world, but if you don't have the discipline to stick to a strict diet (and lets face it, most don't), then this is a bad idea. I know that I could not personally stick with an RFL or PSMF diet for long enough, and coming off the diet and ramping up my calories slowly would be like torture to me.