How do you guys feel about fasting?

Eat when you are hungry. Dont eat when you're not hungry. Yes sounds simple and dumb, but it works. 3 squares is also a myth, listen to your body. You may find when you wake up after sleeping you just don't need breakfast and wait until lunch, and have now fasted for 16-17 hours. Just eat high quality natural whole foods and it's all good.

And if you choose to IF midday, say skip lunch or so, just chug water all day.

Ok I'm trying it and it fits well with myfitnesspal and its in line with the leangains method. Does fasting mean not eating for a whole day? NO! does it mean not eating for a period during the day? YES. I tried both fasting for 24 hours twice a week, didn't really help no real weight loss at all. However when I tried the leangains method of 16 hours no food and 8 hours eating the weight started to shift. Ok why does it work with myfitnesspal? because I have only 1200 kals and eating normal meals is difficult on that target. So now i dont eat BEFORE 12pm (skip breakfast) then I stop eating at 8PM. that means I get to eat 2 "normal" meals and when I do eat I'm full no hunger at all!. Is it a detox? absolutely if all you drink is liquids for the period between the food I'm sure I dont have to explain what that does to you :-)

lets get back to the original post here, this isnt about religion as i can tell:-

"I have been looking up a few sites that say fasting is good for you AND your weight loss.
I'm very curious to know if this is true or just a scam."

How can it be a scam, what are you going to buy if you don't eat anything certainly no one in the IF world has tried to sell me anything, it's not a scam the guys that I mention have written papers and studies based on medical fact!

"I was planning on doing my MFP 1200 calorie goal, 5 days a week, and fasting 2 days a week (Tuesday and Thursday.)
Is this a bad idea? "

Don't take anyones advice! there are people in this thread that really know about IF (you know who you are!) and there are people who are talking cr*p. Read, Read and read some more. try looking for Lyle McDonald and Martin Berkhan to name but a few. Then make an informed choice after what you read.

"I have a very busy schedule and usually don't have time to work out until after 8pm, which is bad?
(that's what I've been told anyways.)"

more rubbish, working out at anytime is fine, better than not working out at all which is probably why many of us need to loose weight. You need to find something that works for you because IF like many things will work for many but the problem is often people want to mess around with things and "try it their way" then complain when it doesn't work.

"So I usually do a 15 minute work out on my lunch breaks, but it doesn't seem to be getting me anywhere.
Will fasting help me get to my goal a little quicker?"

Without going into the science, the principle of IF is it helps to move the fat stored in cells into energy to be used during workouts. As you can see the body building world is loving IF but most of us guys and even the girl here are lifting heavy weights, squats, bench pressing etc. I'm not sure what your doing in the gym for 15 mins but I doubt it would help you get you your goals quicker.

IMO I.F. is still underground and not in the main stream yet so there are many that will dismiss it because it goes against what everyone has been told about metabolic rates and insulin and other stuff. What I know to be true after 20 years of training with weights is this. If your talking to natural body builders about weight gain and weight loss then your probably talking to people who know more about the subject than most. Why because if your thin and cant put on weight (like I was) then you'll know how hard you have to work to do that. If you go below 10% bodyfat or 15% for a woman that's pretty far below what other "normal" people would try. If you managed that without drugs then you probably did it by learning an awful lot about diet and excercise.

Now go read and find out what some of us already know ;-)

You can watch this video about water only fasting. It is short and incomplete but you will find some useful information.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4m3yLwN1fcM

I TOTALLY AGREE. FASTING ONLY PUTS YOU BODY INTO STARVATION MODE WICH THEN YOUR BODY WILL HOLD ON TO THE FAT CELLS INSTEAD OF EATING HELTHY CHOICES IN SMALL PORTIONS THROUGHOUT THE DAY TO SPEED UP YOUR METABOLISM.

Wrong.

One other aspect to consider before fasting. Your heart needs certain nutrients to keep a steady rhythm; and to keep beating. You can't just stop and start eating without the potential to damage your body....permanently! Like I said in my earlier post, go see a professional and have a plan other than the one of drinking water one day and eating light the next.

Also, this type of dieting often exposes health problems in people who were previously thought to be healthy.

OM EM GEEEEE, the comments are getting more ridiculous as I read through them.

Your body stores nutrients from previous meals and such.

not a good idea because your body will not lose weight in a healthy way. It will hold onto fat because it will go into starvation mode. Good luck.

I was planning on doing my MFP 1200 calorie goal, 5 days a week, and fasting 2 days a week (Tuesday and Thursday.)
Is this a bad idea?

This part is a bad idea. If you were to try ESE-style fasting (going whole days without food interspersed throughout the week), then you would want to take your 8400 calories for the week and divide them evenly amongst the 5 or 6 days that you DO eat. You still need all the nutrition. Controlled fasting isn't a method to take in LESS calories. It's a way to get the most out of your body's endocrine and digestive systems to make your nutrition work for you.

Exactly!!

The Major advantage to IF is getting to eat 2 -3 big meals, carbs and all ( yes even after 7pm bro) and not going over daily macros, none of this tiny 6 meals a day portions BS. its easier to hit cal deficit thus weight loss. I find snacking and lots of little meals during a 15hr eating window is easier to go over your cal intake.

I would think that the Major {caps and all} advantage is the manipulation of hormonal responses in your body to maximize fat loss while promoting lean muscle synthesis. Maybe that's just me.