part of the 16 hours includes sleep, right? sleep 8 hours then it's only 8 hours not eating.

Also remember, "A moment on the lips, forever on your hips."

That sounds like a drastic reduction, and you shouldn't try this if you are at work or doing anything strenuous! Good idea to sleep through it. Good luck!

So you have an 8 hour window out of each day that you can eat?

Are there restrictions on sugar, carbs, dairy, alcohol, etc?

The days cannot be side by side. I get up late so it was easy to not eat until dinner. Then I sleep late. So this is going to be the long part as I am a little hungry right now. Anyhow. I hope to make it a new routine. Will save money. Allows me to eat normally the rest of the time. Men can have 500 calories on one of the two fast days. I ate veggies and a bit of protein for dinner.

A weekly free day, followed by a fasting day. I did have coffee, black, at the start of fasting day because I can't handle caffeine withdrawal headaches. It was a little scary the first time. I had this vision that I would be starving, that it would be torture to miss a meal, all that.

Instead, I found it empowering - even long term, though I don't do it anymore. I learned to be a little at peace with being temporarily hungry, that it doesn't mean I'm going to keel over and pass out or die or anything. It's like feeling tired but having to push through a work day, or being a little cold but not actually freezing til you can get to a jacket. Learning to reinterpret hunger as an inconvenience instead of a life-threatening emergency sounds very much like a first world problem, and kind of silly now, but it was life changing for me in some ways.

Here's wishing you luck - and hoping you get that same sense of control from it!

I've already quit smoking and drinking. Time for another change.

If I quit smoking and drinking beer (that's where most of my calories come from!), I would not have to buy bigger and bigger work clothes every year!! Be careful of the 400 calories thing, since that is way too drastic to do for any length of time. Good luck!

diet I will drink only water.

isn't as difficult if we adapt simple ideas... You"re on the right track with the 2 day a week fast, it's super effective!

Nothing out of a box or a bag or a can if it's processed, pre-prepared 'food'. Fresh foods, carrots are a great way to occupy the mouth and wonderful for your digestive system. Eat seasonally, what's fresh and on the veg shelves at the market. That being said, frozen fruit and veg is fantastic and much more fresh than anything on the shelf. Great for tossing a handful of frozen onions into the pan before you sautee that 100g steak.

Rotisserie chicken or a whole roast chicken is your pal. It keeps for 4 days, you can make a million different meals out of that sucker. High protein, yay! Salmon is wonderful, especially the little boil in a bag portions. With some rice, it's really fast and easy.

Apples are a wonderful snack food and only 25 calories! You're getting fiber and vitamins and sweetness, nearly a perfect food! Granny Smiths help reset your gut bacteria wonderfully.

Beans and rice are a nearly perfect food combination being starch and protein. Humans can survive on beans and rice over a lifetime, not perfectly of course, but it is a good solid base of food. A tin of black beans or nice brown (Mexican style) beans and Uncle Ben's microwave rice with a touch of salt and seasonings takes less than 2 minutes to prepare. Uncle Ben's little microwave bag of rice is awesome, I was shocked and had to be convinced to try it, and fell in love.

Plain yogurt, or Greek yogurt is a perfect snack. Under 60 calories, it's a great go-to snack. On your off fast days tap a teaspoon or so of sugar on top and mix it in. Yummmmmeeeee!

Portion control is a big issue. Remember, the normal portion size for pretty much any serving of food, in particular meat and veg, is 100 grams. A portion size should be no bigger than your fist. We Americans simply eat too much food, by weight and volume.

No diet drinks, no fizzy drinks unless it's carbonated water, which I love. You can mix fruit juice with carbonated water, I do it routinely. Diet drinks kill rats. I'd rather have a full sugar coke than rat poison! I definitely indulge in a coke once or twice a week.

The mantra I TRY to adhere to is "no meat, no wheat, no cheese, no sweets, no alcohol & no fried foods." Clearly that one is really difficult to stick to... But when I'm feeling tempted I start saying that as I dig through the fridge! I end up with a greek yogurt, a handful of baby carrots or an apple instead. If there's nothing else in the fridge, I can't eat anything but that anyway.

It's tough after the age of 30. Our metabolism slows down by 5% per year meaning we have to adjust our food intake accordingly or we end up overweight. I used to be able to eat 3 huge meals a day, now I try to eat just one big meal per day, in the late afternoon and have toast or oatmeal for breakfast, a late lunch, between 2-4. The late lunch is my main meal of the day, and I have a couple snacks in between of carrots, apples, melon, yogurt, etc. throughout the day. After gaining nearly 25 lbs after 40 and going through menopause, I'm back down to the same weight as when I was in my 20's. I definitely indulge, and eat out when I have time, I have cakes and cookies (home made) and love my sweets and snacks, but it's all in moderation. I don't deprive myself, but I sure don't eat like I used to. On the flip side, it's very money saving!

You'll do fine because you want to. You're off to a great start.

Five years ago I was 60 lbs heavier than I am now. I've pretty much beat the odds - or at least what is typical - by losing it and keeping it off. For five years.

To me, the most important things - not thinking of the word "diet" - ever. Lasting weight loss happens because of commitment to a lifestyle change. Diets connote temporary. Lifestyle change is just that....something new and lasting.

Major things I did and still do - increase activity. Portion control. adding lots of grains, fruits, veggies...reducing (not eliminating) bread, cheese, alcohol.

And the biggie for me - because I know myself, my appetite, my tendency to love food that isn't the healthiest. Keeping a food diary - and honest one, as in writing it all down. I make it easy by learning how to approximate calorie count - and convert it to "points" (which I learned doing weight watchers - that was my first six months). I aim for 30-35 points per day - that's about 1500 - 1750 calories - near 60 year old 6 foot male here.

Anyway - I started near 260, and am always around 200.

But different things work for different people - just wanted to share what has worked - and will continue to work....for me.

Good luck!

once I have reached my goal. My goal is to lose 120 pounds. And keep it off. I don't drink alcohol. Cheese will be hard to not eat. I'm already doing more activities to rev up my metabolism. And bread, I don't eat it every day. Maybe once a week already. I just need to eat more veggies and stop ordering out unless I get a salad. The big thing for me is that I'm not good on a strict diet. I've tried to reduce carbs. And thought I lost weight, I then gained it all back and more. So hopefully this is something I can do that I can stick with. Plus it fits my lifestyle.

I know what the 60 lb loss made as far as my self esteem, knees, back, stamina - I am still me, but a more satisfied, happier me. But that is me, and we are all unique, different people driven by different things.

What you are embarking on isn't easy, but is worthwhile....and I truly will keep you in my thoughts as you take the journey!

do walk everywhere so it is good to hear that my joints will likely get better. Nice to hear of success stories too. Something to aim for. It can be done!!!

I have had a bout of sinusitis--no food for three days, unless you count beer.
Years ago, I did a cleansing fast. A week with no food, just water and juice with a psyllium seed additive.
Man, did I get cleaned out.
Edit to add: I also did a Macrobiotic "fast" years ago, based on the book 'You Are All Sanpaku' by Georges Oshawa.
It was a week of eating short grain (organic) brown rice. No seasonings, Each bite was to be chewed 50 times.
My BMs were like rabbit pellets. Very cleansing. When I stopped, I ate bacon.
One more thing: most people carry a few to several pounds of crap inside, mostly stuck in the cilia of the intestines.
The cilia (little hairs) are supposed to help the body absorb nutrition, but when they are clogged with crappy foods, they don't work so well. It's like stuff stuck between your teeth, but harder to reach. That's the purpose of the psyllium seed, or the well chewed
rice, they scrub the crud out of the cilia.

Watch "Fat Sick and Nearly Dead" on Hulu or Netflix.

one called Fast-5.

http://www.bertherring.com/