Something I keep seeing people mention is a window of time when they will eat. Like the above post Hohn mentions only eating between 11 and 7 most days. What is the point in that??
Scientific research has shown that because the body is always burning calories it doesn't matter when you consume food. However, many fitness experts highly recommend consuming carbs early - mid day so the body can utilize the shorter term energy they provide. Likewise they recommend a high protein snack like cottage cheese or greek yogurt before bed.
Not bashing anyones approach just trying to understand
Fasting for 16 hours a day forces your body into ketosis, so it burns fat for energy. Paraphrasing for simplicity. The other benefit for the 16-8 is that for obese people, and people who don't have a track record of healthy living it tends to cut calorie intake without forcing someone to follow a strict diet. The 16-8 plan doesn't actually restrict what you eat at all, I have mixed it with the 5-2 (2 non consec days eating only 2 300cal meals). I have plenty of fat to burn, I am also fixing my diet and paying attention to calories through meal planning and tracking. So when I get to or close to my goal weight I can adjust off of the 16-8 plan, hopefully by then I'll have a pattern of meals and foods that are healthy that are habit.
Fasting is a way to force the body to burn the energy stored in fat, just that simple. that is what i'm using the 16-8 for. 5-2 is a way for me to become conscious of what i'm eating, and aid in my fasting on my 2 days.