If you can keep the weight off, then this is a successful approach, I guess. But why not consider just eating smaller portions, vs skipping meals?
I have played a bit with IF. I mostly use 5:2 having 2 days of the week that I eat lower calories than the others. I don't necessarily get all the way down to 500, although sometimes I do. The past Friday I did 827. And quite often it is closer to 600. I don't always do it twice a week, just depends on schedule.
I read the Michael Mosley 5:2 book. Basically you do the 500 to 600 calories 2 days a week if you want to lose weight and 1 day to maintain. In my case, I lost about 60 pounds getting to the top of my normal BMI range about 2 years ago. Yes, I have been able to maintain it. I do want to lose a little more although that isn't nearly as urgent as it was to lose the 60 pounds.
So, if I can maintain a normal weight why do 5:2 or 6:1? Basically for 2 reasons.
First, I've read some of the research on intermittent fasting and it seems to have some real benefits to it from a health standpoint (note - there are some people who shouldn't do intermittent fasting so I advise consulting with a doctor first). Second, IF makes the entire rest of the week easier.
I've mostly settled into a fairly set way of eating that suits me and 1 or 2 low calorie days really help with that. On the weekends, I pretty much eat whatever. I do track calories and WW points. I haven't missed a day in tracking my food on MyFitnessPal in over 4 years. But, on weekends I don't pay too much attention to calories. I do pay some attention to it. I don't want to make the whole week difficult, but I eat pretty freely. Then Monday may be a lower calorie day for me. Monday tends to be my sort of optional day. I don't usually get down to 500 calories on that day although I do occasionally. It is more likely to be 800 calories or something like that.
Then Tuesday through Thursday or my days where I do pay quite a bit of attention to the calories that I eat. It isn't like the weekend. I basically eat on those days what will end equaling my average calories eaten per day for the week. SO, those days are just sort of the middle days.
Friday is usually my low calorie day (Occasionally due to schedule, I will do it on another day of the week). I usually will eat between 500 and 650 calories although it can be a little more depending on situation and how the rest of the week before that has gone.
But doing this on Fridays (and Mondays to a lesser extent) just makes the entire week easier. Just one day where I have a huge calorie deficit makes it so easy for the rest of the week.
I do eat quite a bit on my low calorie days. I will often have a salad with low calorie veggies and some chicken or salmon in it. I usually eat chicken breast or some sort of fish. On a low calorie day I don't usually eat until mid-afternoon so that makes it easier.
16:8 was mentioned. On my low calorie days I usually do this. That is I fit my eating into an 8 hour period starting sometime in the mid-afternoon.
I have not done Eat Stop Eat yet although I have read Brad Pilon's book on it. Remember that a 24 hour fast is not a 36 hour fast. That is some people this of at you eating dinner on, say, Monday night and then not eating until Wednesday morning. It doesn't work that way. For example a 24 hour fast can be eating a normal amount of calories until 2:00 pm on Monday and then not eating again until 2:00 pm on Tuesday. And, then eating your full calories.
Another reason to do this is that I've learned from it. I've always been the type to want to eat every couple of hours. I always had 3 meals and at least 3 snacks a day. Now, I think that is fine. I lost over 60 pounds eating that way.
But, one reason I tried this was to see if I could just not eat. That is, I often felt like I just had to eat every couple of hours and I couldn't tolerate the least amount of hunger. And, always having food every couple of hours just became a habit to me. I found that sitting at my desk I tended to always want to have something there to eat (or drink -- non-caloric of course). Now, I counted the calories so it was fine. But, I was intrigued by the idea of simply finding out if I could just not eat. And, I found that I could. At first, it felt weird. But, I became aware that eating was often just habit. And, I didn't have to eat at the first pang of hunger.
It has helped me to be much more in tune with true hunger and not just habit. The other day I was really busy the whole day and realized I hadn't eaten yet. This was in mid-afternoon. I had not planned that to be a low calorie day. But, I wasn't hungry so I ended up making it a just over 500 calorie day because I realized I just wasn't hungry.
Conversely, this Friday this week was to be a 500 to 600 calorie. But, I ate a little over 800 because I felt true hunger and decided to do that.
I am not sure that I will stick with 5:2 since I am doing more exercise now and that makes me hungrier and it doesn't work as well with my current schedule. But, I am thinking about trying out 16:8 on more days of the week and trying out a 24 hour fast. I would probably stop eating at about 5:00 PM one day and then start eating at 5:00 PM the next day.
I actually lose weight eating the chocolate w/almond bars.
