My weight has gone up and down and up and down in the past six years. I'd start off my diet with a two-day fast of water and vegetable broth, and after that eat half of what I normally ate. After several weeks/months, I'd reach my target weight and then would slowly resume my "normal" eating patterns. Unfortunately, I'd start eating candy etc, again, and within the year I was back at my old weight.
The last time I did this, about 3 years ago, I started off with a one-week vegetable juice fast/cleanse. The goal was to drink 12 glasses of freshly squeezed vegetable juice a day, but I only managed about 8. I was never hungry during that time, and didn't feel too bad either. I lost a lot of weight during that one week. The problem is, a year or so later I had gained all the weight back again.
This yoyo-ing really screws up your digestive system. If you do it too much, you become one of those fat people who claim even drinking water makes them fat. And it does! (Well, maybe not water, but most everything else won't get properly digested anymore.)
Now I've finally realized that it's not about dieting, but about changing your lifestyle. This time around, I hope to make more permanent changes in what I eat. I won't start with a fast, because that puts me into the "quick fix diet" mindset again. I like the idea of regular 24-hour water fasts, though, so that may be something for the future.
Anyway, what I wanted to say is: don't think a fast will solve all your problems.
