I lost about 1/2 the 92 lbs I’ve lost thus far with 16:8 and exercise, so I’m a fan. It is the bare minimum you need to do to see results, imo. Any shorter fasts just won’t cut it. I’ve since moved on to 18:6 and feel like that’s my sweet spot.
I ate only dinner on almost every weekday of 2019. Had a few extended fast that year as well and I felt fantastic. You get used to it and it gets waaay easier if you stick with it. I think adding an extended fast(24/48hr+) makes your transition to IF easier. 16:8 definitely helps if youve been eating a normal diet and snaking all your life but of you push a little harder you can work yourself up to 1 meal a day. 24:1, 21:3. If not for weight loss the time saved but not eating so often is very beneficial.
I started on Jan 1 2023 with 15:9. Quickly realized it wasn’t that hard and moved to 18:6by week 2. Maybe it wasn’t hard for me because I was low carb before and during IF. But I have had some good success going from 203 to 178 in about 10 weeks. I have pushed myself a bit here and there and my longest fast was 23.5 hours. But usually I am around 19 hours. I feel fantastic and really do not miss eating like I used to. Now it’s fairly easy. I may feel hungry here and there but it always passes in about 15 minutes.