I went through about 4 months of intermittent fasting and some minor extended fasting. First month was 16:8, then dropped to 20:4, then OMAD mixed with one or 2 36 hour fast per week. Once I got into the 20:4 schedule I started noticing mental clarity during the day. Once I hit OMAD and the 36's I really noticed mental clarity during the fast. The longest I went was 42 hours. I was trying to hit 48, but at the 40 hour mark I started feeling really bad and nauseous and by the 42nd hour I decided to eat.
I got to where I had little to no bloat by the end of it. No mid day crash that I normally get after lunch. I also felt that I had a steady stream of energy day after day. And I lost about 50 lbs total.
Weight loss came in cycles for me. I would not drop a pound for a week or 2, then all the sudden see a 5 lb drop seemingly overnight.
Main cons I had were that while I had a steady, consistent energy, I did not have a ton of energy. I could run a 10k at a very mild pace (more like a brisk jog), but when I tried weight lifting, I struggled to recover. I think fasting pairs well with running, but I can't say it pairs well with weight lifting based on what I experienced.
And for clarity, I considered fasting to be water (not sparkling or lemon or anything, just plain water) and black coffee. No lemon added to water or anything.
The biggest cons I noticed besides the struggling with weight lifting was I crashed hard when I did have my meal. Even when I broke my fast with something light like an orange or broth, then ate a real meal a little later, I would get super tired and foggy for a couple of hours. I never found a good solution to stop it, but keeping low on carbs (or none) helped it not be as bad. Another issue was bowel movements. I seemed to have a cycle of spending a lot of time constipated, followed by a short spell of, lets just say the polar opposite of constipation. Lastly, I didn't keep the weight off once I stopped fasting.
If you are going to do it long term, I would recommend starting a 16:8 or 20:4 for a few weeks to a month, then try OMAD, then extend it. If you don't want to ease in, I would at least take a couple of days to really hydrate yourself before kicking it off.
The hardest part early on for me was remembering not to taste test when I cooked for the family. I didn't really have an issue saying no to eating around others, but I accidentally broke my fast a few times early on tasting a sauce in spaghetti to see if the seasoning was right. Having Fast or Easy Fast app helped me track my fasting time and seeing it on my phone every time I opened my phone up helped me out a lot.
