Thanks for your reply. I too started experimenting with intermittent fasting this Spring. I started with trying for 14 hours/day. It was initially tough, but doable. As I adapted to it I went up to a 16/8 schedule. Then I read about the possibility to induce autophagy by fasting 18 hours so I set that as my goal. For the past few weeks I've been on a pretty steady 18 or 19 hours/day fasting schedule. Basically I just wake up and don't eat until I have dinner around 7:00 pm. I sleep late (I'm retired) so at 7:00 pm I'm usually at about 19 hours of fasting. I spend a big chunk of my day exercising and meditating so it's actually become a lot easier than it was initially. I can't tell if the autophagy part is actually happening, but my weight is certainly OK if nothing else. I too have always struggled with gaining weight easily.

@johnbishop. Thanks for posting this. The surgeon who is going to do my surgery in May said things would probably go more smoothly if I lost 40 pounds. I started a 16-8 intermediate fast eliminating sugar, processed carbohydrates, fried food, etc. in October and have lost 20 pounds. My weight loss has slowed dramatically, in spite of tracking calories and staying between 1000-1200 calories a day and tracking points through WW. I need to do something different and am am glad I came across your post. I downloaded/uploaded? Dr. Fung's book this morning and will check out the other sites you mentioned. I've also been reading about the 20-4 Warrior Diet on the internet to see their eating plan.... I haven't gotten that far in Dr. Fung's book. All of the totally contradictory advice about weight loss is baffling, so I hope this will work for me. You've inspired me -- thanks! Nancy