I'm not a doctor, but here's my take on things. I find excess sugar consumption is the key factor to avoid. The blood is amazingly sensitive to sugar. Too much, and your body will store it as fat. It does so as a defense response. I don't know why the blood is so paranoid about excess sugar, but it is. If you put too much sugar too fast into your blood, your body will be forced to use insulin to store it as fat. Sugar is like fire in your blood, and insulin is the fire extinguisher. The result is stored fat. Very strange. A habit of excess sugar also stresses your system and increases your odds of developing diabetes. A healthy weight-loss rate for many people is 1-2 pounds per week. For me, the key is to stay active, get regular exercise, and be reasonable with sugar consumption. Note: breads and simple carbohydrates count as sugar (they get converted almost immediately into sugar). There is something called a glycemic index. The higher the number, the faster it gets absorbed. I find staying low on the glycemic index is good. It also directs me to good foods. There are other factors to consider like how natural the food is. But make no mistake, sugar is one to watch. You can be 100% organic and still stress your system massively with profuse sugar consumption. You also want all three macro-nutrients (fats, carbohydrates, protein). If you deny yourself fat, you could overeat 600 calories of sugar, when you should have just ate 100 calories of fat (if you deny your body a macronutrient, it will keep telling you that you are hungry until you give your body the macronutrient it looking for at that moment in time). And those extra 600 calories of sugar will go toward fat storage, since your body had to use insulin to get them out of your blood. So, ironically, avoiding fat just made you more fat.
Virtually all nonsense. Sugar is fine to consume in the context of a 'healthy' diet and as long as you remember that it is 'empty' calories i.e. has no nutritional content. The Hazda are a hunter gatherer tribe in Africa. 80% of their daily energy needs are from carbs (their fave food is honey) and the men have an average bodyfat level of 13.5%. No Western medical problems of obesity , diabetes, heart problems etc. So your average Hazda dude is ripped, muscular (these guys hunt) and survives mostly on (simple*) carbs. *simple v complex carbs...the distinction is meaningless since all complex carbs are broken down to glucose (simple carb) by the body in order to digest. I suggest a basic biochemistry course!
first food is noon to 1 pm. I have been done eating by 6 7 and 8. It varied. It does seem if I am done by 7, I can even have a bit of ice cream and lose weight. (half my previous portion.) But, its still early in the process for me. What I have learned previously is if I snack at 10 pm I probably cancel my weight loss.
Fasting is no solution. You are looking for a fad solution when simply hard, regular cardio work in the gym ( as little as 2-3 session a week ) and cutting out the empty calories in juice/pop/beer is enough for many people. Long term health issues are a problem for some but most just lack the willpower and dedication to put in the work. It takes 6+ months to build up some stamina ( maybe requiring more frequent sessions ), but then you can settle into a routine. I wonder if the majority just never get through the 6 months.
It doesn't really matter whether you finish eating by 6pm or 8pm. It is not hard science. But keeping your "eating window" limited to about 6~8 hours per day is a good rule of thumb.
I don't know if anyone has mentioned this but when I want to lose any excess weight i.e 20 pounds I gained over the winter I will simply stop drinking alcohol. I can usually drop 20 pounds in 90 days or so with no other changes to my diet/lifestyle. I should also mention that when I am drinking I will have 3 to 5 beers/drinks a night so the absence of those calories is significant.