I'll add my single datum here. I lost a bunch of weight using the Hacker's Diet [1] when I was in university. I've occasionally put myself back on it as I get o

I'll add my single datum here. I lost a bunch of weight using the Hacker's Diet [1] when I was in university. I've occasionally put myself back on it as I get older, but there are two things that I believe are true about the way that I personally lose weight: 1) Losing weight while exercising is tough. I usually choose diet or exercise at any given time (or just light exercise so I'm not completely unfit by the end of the diet). I've had poor luck with exercise to lose weight, but it is very effective for maintaining it. 2) Fasting at the start of the diet -- and only at the very beginning -- seems to be critical to my success at losing weight [2]. Perhaps this has something to do with gut bacteria, metabolism or some psychosomatic factors. I'm not sure, but I basically cannot lose weight without that start. As an aside, I've been very tempted to start an intermittent fast (even while not losing weight!) after seeing Michael Mosley's program on BBC a few years back. [3] [1] https://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/www/hackdiet.html https://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/www/hackdiet.html [2] https://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/www/subsubsection1_3_3_0_3_4.html#SECTION0330340000000000000 https://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/www/subsubsection1_3_3_0_3... [3] http://www.bbc.com/news/health-19112549 http://www.bbc.com/news/health-19112549