I typically fast 14 hours per day; the leangains approach is 16 hours a day; the old Robb Wolf style intermittent fasting was, I believe, 18 hours a day.

My "fasting" is from after dinner (done eating by 6:30 pm or 7:30 pm) until after training the next morning (breakfast by 8:30 to 9:30 am). I still eat three meals per day. Occasionally, I extend the IF to 16-18 hours. I find that creating a baseline of a DAILY fast of well more than 12 hours makes the occasional longer fast much easier.

If I do consume calories during the fast it is typically less than 100 calories, and the calories are 100% protein (i.e. BCAAs and/or Glutamine) pre- and sometimes post-workout.

Yes I am fully aware that such things are not "paleo." A paleo version of what I do would be to eat some lean meat pre and post workout, e.g. no more than 2 oz. of very lean chicken breast (= 7-14g protein, which is like 28-56 calories).

A small number of calories, from protein if you are working out, from fat if not, will likely not ruin the benefits of the fast. The benefits, after all, come from: increased HGH output, increased insulin sensitivity, and increased fatty acid utilization.

If you only consume 28-100 calories during a 14-16 hour window, and you also work out during that window, you're still in a "fasted state" which is just another way of saying you're starving yourself.

Physiologically, there is very little difference between zero calories and radically low calories.

Someone posted this link to Intermittent Fasting 101 the other day. I really liked the information.

http://www.fitnessspotlight.com/2008/02/27/intermittent-fasting-101-how-to-start-part-i/

They also have a free ebook, I didn't download it yet.

When I fast, I do have coffee and/or tea. My coffee usually has a little bit of milk or cream in it. I don't think it affects the fast at all.

I fast when I am trying to fix some bad eating habits that have crept back in, to get me back on track. Or I fast when I am specifically trying to lose body fat. I would do it one day a week for 14/16 hours.

I've stopped having cream or even half & half in my coffee for my fasts, and I find following something approaching leangains has worked well - in fact I think it's working better than my previous fasts where I would still consume heavy cream or half & half.

Granted, I feel a little more hungry from time to time, but I recently busted through a plateau I had been having trouble with.

I'm also making sure I prefer protein over fat (yes, heresy!). An example day (yesterday, in fact) had about 40% of my calories from fat, 10% from carbs, and 50% from protein.

And for the record, this plateau busting fasting only lasts from about 9:30pm to about 1:00pm the next day, give or take.

I would venture to say that the salad would negate the effects, mainly due to the cranberries. I have also been trying to apply a leangains approach, and noticed I have better results with little to no cream.

I think ideally, there would be no consumption of anything other than water. But this just seems like it takes a lot more dedication with minor added benefits.

I am definitely still tweaking and adjusting to see what works best for me. Trying to get my last 5 lbs off. Been spinning my wheels here for about a month or two

Fasting can rightly mean differnet things. There was a study showing weightloss with just reduced calories on two 'fasting' days a week. And, many people think that juice fasting is a good idea, i.e. drinking piles of sugar.

When I fast it is partly about 'doing without' (i.e. exercising restraint in a time of excess) and not just for physiological reasons. So, when I do fast I go 'all the way' and don't have any calories during the fasting period. Eating something really healthy, like the salad the perfecthealthdiet guy made, is interesting. But you can just eat that salad during a normal feeding period.