science

If you already have clinical depression it fits in quite well

I don't do intermittent fasting because I think it's superior, I do it because I'm lazy.

Eat normally 4 days a week, eat nothing 3 days a week, boom, calorie intake dropped by 40%. No counting meals, portioning broccoli, or cutting carbs.

No, it says "particular way of attempting to achieve X no more likely to be successful than other ways of attempting to achieve X". That's a totally different thing to what you said.

Right, but it's not special is all, or innately more effective.

However one can control their intake, that's what works.

Weight loss is a measure of taking in fewer calories than you burn. That's the formulae.

That's how people usually think of it, but there are other, faster, ways. Such as amputation.

The real benefit of fasting is feeding one's precious akkermansias. But it doesn't do any good if you then carpet bomb the poor things with sugar during your feeding window, which is possibly where a lot of folks are going wrong. Not all calories are equal because you aren't the only one eating.

One thing that isn't talked about enough with IF is that it's very easy to pick up an eating disorder. Once you learn how to be hungry, it's very easy to say "I can wait another 30 mins" and do that 5 times and then it's been 24 hours since you've eaten. Or to get obsessive about waiting so you lose just a little bit more. When it's time to eat, you need to eat. If you already have a bad relationship with food, this isn't going to make it better. Just be aware that it's not foolproof.

It works as long as you reduce your calorie intake. If you fast for 16 hours, but then pig out on 3000 kcal during the next 8, you're not going to find a lot of success.

I’ve never been seriously overweight but sometimes my pants get a bit tight, combining intermittent fasting and keto is usually a pretty quick and ”easy” way to drop some weight. It works if you stick with it

It works for me. Been accidentally doing it since I was 13. Parents didn't give me an allowance, but they did give me lunch money, so if I wanted to buy games I had to skip lunch. Never went back and I've always been a healthy weight without much exercise.

Coffee for breakfast, water all day, and a double serving size of dinner. Lately, with the rising cost of food, I have been doing a lighter dinner and supplementing with a protein shake for lunch.

From the article

is barely more effective than doing nothing

Yep. 16-8 fasting is just, skip breakfast and don't snack at midnight. It's just an easy way to restrict calories.

And I know that there's no science behind this, but anecdotally I feel better when I give my digestive system a bit of a break.

If you find it easier to skip a meal than to stop eating, go for it.

I do it all the time. I eat around 7:30pm and don't eat until 1:00 p the next day. Usually have only 1 or 2 meals a day. Breakfast is bullshit. Most important meal my ass. I do just fine without it.

Yup. Works. I'd suggest looking at the types, which are basically schedules:

https://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-nutrition/diet/types-intermittent-fasting-which-best-you/

I'd also suggest looking into some charts that help you decide how much you can lose based on your height/weight/age/sex.

https://simple.life/blog/intermittent-fasting-by-age-chart/

Trial, error, stick to a schedule and it works; yes.

It's not terrible after you get used to it. I just naturally started skipping breakfast when I moved out, read the meme, thought there might be something to this. Did a little reading and was on the daily type for about two years and have fallen into the weekly type in the last year or so naturally. I lost tons of weight, granted I started working out too. But I've been maintaining it just fine without being too strict with myself.

It's not for everyone, but it was a good fit for me.