I’ve been doing 20:4 fasting for a couple weeks. I find that when I eat carbs during my eating window I can easily stick to my 20 hour fast. But when I go very low carb during my eating window, I feel really ‘off’ towards the middle of my fast and am tempted to break it.
There’s all kinds of science we could talk about e.g. what would be true if 1000 people did 20:4 and 1000 people went very low carb for X months.
But the reality is the one that will be help you lose the most weight as an individual, is the one you can keep up for the long term.
Sure someone on a strict no carb diet might lose weight fast, but if that’s not something you can maintain, then the weight loss will be temporary.
Of course if there is a wedding in 3 months and you just want to lose weight for that, after which you don’t care, yes cut out the carbs lol.
It’s very individual. Low carb (keto) is what works best for me, combined with fasting, but it all boils down to what’s doable for you. In the end, it’s simply a matter of consuming fewer calories than you burn, which is absolutely possible while still eating carbs.
I lost some weight doing MADF. Gained back half or so and then tried to jump back in and start losing with 19:5. That did not work for me, so I’m now doing full ADF and I’m down 7 lbs in 5 weeks. I don’t do low carb, so that’s definitely a factor, too.
My guess is that you’re not adjusted to a low carb diet. It can take a few days to make the switch, and the “low carb flu” is mostly a matter of a lack of electrolytes.
Eating fewer carbs will help most people lose weight, because it helps to address insulin resistance, which often goes hand-in-hand with being overweight. If you have a lot of weight to lose, it would be worth trying a low carb diet. Plus, once you’re adjusted, it’s typically easier to fast because you’re not going through the blood sugar cycles (spiking and crashing) that you will when you eat carbs, meaning you won’t have as many hunger triggers. At least that works for me.