I thought I'd start this as a separate thread so those who are genuinely interested can post their views/hints/tips/links ..etc
Firstly a disclaimer: I'm in no way medically qualified to recommend any form of diet and you should consult your GP..etc..etc. You get the picture.
My experience of reduced-calorie dieting (Weight-watcher, Slimming World and other such regimes) is like 99% of everyone else's, 6 months of success followed by ending up where I started after a year....repeat cycle for 20 years.
I first became interested in Fasting after watching Micheal Moseley's BBC documentary where he used it to completely cure himself of Type-2 diabetes (he was in the early onset stages, even though he wasn't overweight). It was actually the beneficial side-effects that interested me more than weight-loss, obviously preventing diabetes is a huge benefit but also the Atophagy aspect (where fasting triggers a "clearout" of damaged/mutated proteins), enhanced brain function, growth hormone release..and so on.
Recently I discovered Dr Jason Fung videos. Jason Fung treats the morbidly Obese in his clinic, dealing with Type-2 diabetes sufferers as it relates to the Obese.
His research into the way Insulin affects diabetes AND fat regulation was eye-opening.
So, I'm not going to preach, I'm not qualified. Here are some links to videos, watch them, don't watch them, whatever. Your choice. I find the reasoning and research equally compelling. He explains why continual calorie reduction is almost certainly doomed to failure, with medical research to show why. He explains why Fasting is not doomed to failure in the same way.
The only observation I will make is that I get starving hungry, cold and lethargic on reduced calorie diets (and end up where I started a year later). I am none of these things when Fasting (actually the opposite, I feel alert, satiated and "normal", even after 3 days without any food (my current maximum)).
I should also point out that I am only 8 weeks into a Fasting regime/lifestyle.
Video 1 - A Summary by Jason Fung >>>>
https://youtu.be/ETkwZIi3R7w <<<<
Video 2 - A discussion with Jason Fung >>>>
https://youtu.be/v9Aw0P7GjHE <<<<
Since dieting is a world full of "Old Wives' Tales" (OWTs) about "Starvation mode", Muscle loss, "Breakfast is the most vital meal" (most put about by food companies) I would recommend watching the videos fully before commenting with any more OWTs because the videos seems to be based purely in Science.