I have something to say about this article in particular, though.

I'm Muslim, you see, and it''s one of my main duties as a Muslim to fast from dawn to dusk for a 28-day period known as Ramadan. Traditionally, Muslims would have a small meal before sunrise called sahoor, and it would usually consist of dates and bread and laban (it's kind of like yoghurt in liquid form, I don't know how to describe it). For the meal at dusk, fatoor, they would also have dates and laban and bread, then would go to pray, and then would come back about an hour later to have some more food.
However, today Muslims don't eat like this during Ramadan anymore. Thanks to the abundance of fast food places, burgers, fries, and milkshakes have become the fatoor of choice for thousands of Muslims in my country. Obviously, this has lead to obesity and health problems for the vast majority of people who eat like this during Ramadan.
Last year I decided to have a traditional fatoor and sahoor for most of Ramadan, and I lost a lot of weight. Not only did I shed the pounds, I kept them off!
It's been 7 or 8 months since Ramadan, and I still fast on Mondays and Thursdays (not for religious reasons, but because I want to).
I can attest to the fact that fasting WILL make you lose weight. However, it must be noted that you have to eat healthy food whenever you're not fasting, and it would also be a good idea to take multivitamins, just in case you're not getting enough of a certain nutrient.
Just my 2 cents!
Keep up the excellent work!
- Sarah Ali

I have something to say about this article in particular, though.

I'm Muslim, you see, and it''s one of my main duties as a Muslim to fast from dawn to dusk for a 28-day period known as Ramadan. Traditionally, Muslims would have a small meal before sunrise called sahoor, and it would usually consist of dates and bread and laban (it's kind of like yoghurt in liquid form, I don't know how to describe it). For the meal at dusk, fatoor, they would also have dates and laban and bread, then would go to pray, and then would come back about an hour later to have some more food.
However, today Muslims don't eat like this during Ramadan anymore. Thanks to the abundance of fast food places, burgers, fries, and milkshakes have become the fatoor of choice for thousands of Muslims in my country. Obviously, this has lead to obesity and health problems for the vast majority of people who eat like this during Ramadan.
Last year I decided to have a traditional fatoor and sahoor for most of Ramadan, and I lost a lot of weight. Not only did I shed the pounds, I kept them off!
It's been 7 or 8 months since Ramadan, and I still fast on Mondays and Thursdays (not for religious reasons, but because I want to).
I can attest to the fact that fasting WILL make you lose weight. However, it must be noted that you have to eat healthy food whenever you're not fasting, and it would also be a good idea to take multivitamins, just in case you're not getting enough of a certain nutrient.
Just my 2 cents!
Keep up the excellent work!
- Sarah Ali

Glad you did the research on your own as well – i think that's super
important before making a big change.

I think you have a good head on your shoulders, and you're going about this
the right way…too much weight loss too quickly could come back to bite you
in the ass, so you're doing it right.

I think trying once a week and seeing how it works for you is a great plan.
Now that i'm not cruising for a while, I”ll see if I can work in one of
these days coming up soon.

Thanks for the progress report, and please keep me posted

-Steve

I fasted 4 days in those two weeks (2/13, 2/17, 2/20, 2/27). I did work out on the morning of the 13th, but other than that, I didn't coordinate workouts with fasting.

The amount I fasted on those days varied. I really tried to listen to my body and figure out when it needed food vs just being hungry. The day before fasting I always ate a little more than normal (200-400 more calories). How much I ate also depended on how I was feeling. On 2/13 I barely ate anything (a total of under 300 calories in the evening) but on 2/27 I ate a full dinner + a little extra (around 700 calories) .

I think I'm going to continue doing this, although keeping it to one day a week. I don't want to put my metabolism completely out of whack but even doing it a little (like this weekend) seems to have worked.

-NF Steve

I'm glad to see that you're taking on this whole health issue with a much safer approach. We're here for ya!

-Steve