I have been doing intermittent fasting for a couple years now. I forget which resource I happened upon first, but we’ll start with Angus Barbieri.
Scottish man Angus Barbieri (1939–7 September 1990) fasted for 382 days, from June 1965 to July 1966. He lived on tea, coffee, soda water, and vitamins while living at home in Tayport, Scotland, and frequently visiting Maryfield Hospital for medical evaluation. He lost 276 pounds (125 kg) and set a record for the length of a fast.
Next comes Dr Jason Fung with his Ted Talk on solving the 2 compartment problem. Calories in / Calories out as a single compartment is how I used to think it worked, but fat storage is a second compartment regulated by insulin!
But how does fat actually leave the body? I found this excellent breakdown in yet another Ted Talk where Ruben Meerman did the math and found that we exhale something like 80% of the waste matter from burning fat.
I found several resources on YouTube about fasting, but one by Dr Pradip Jamnadas of the most concise, entertaining explanations I have heard about the insane benefits of fasting: growth hormone increase, nootropics release, brains run better on fat, cell recycling (autophagy), cancer risk reduction.
I have committed to eating only between 9a and 2p daily and only eat a single big brunch on Sundays. Other common windows are noon to 8p so you don’t have to go to bed hungry. I haven’t been sick since I started intermittent fasting.