I have carefully read this thread from the beginning. You have done a most excellent job of staying on top of it Julia!
I do wonder what happened with Timothy's experiment into vitamin A poisoning as I am curious. I have also read about the Gerson Miracle Diet and that is supposed to help cure cancer and it involves very copious amounts of vitamin A.
I have a decent amount of
experience fasting, but not with IF. I started with many health problems, the main things being that I have a hormonal disease known as polycystic ovarian syndrome (P.C.O.S. or sometimes P.S.O.S.) which went undetected for a long time as I started having severe pains at 11 years old and no one thought to check for that, they told me it was all in my head, and my left leg was irreversibly damaged when I was hit by a car at 18. With these two issues at their peak, I got to where I was wearing a size 28W in US jean sizes, though I have never been one to ever stand wearing my pants tightly. I like breathing too much.... I have lost nearly half my body weight, but still have very far to go. Having tried nearly every reasonable diet there is, as well as healthy eating. My metabolism is so small that even working many hours every day on my farm and only eating the food I have raised with my own hands, I would still gain weight without periodic long fasts. So far, fasting is the only way I have found to really lose weight.
Though I meet with SO much resistance and outrage from family and friends when I go on long fasts. I have done mine with doctor supervision at first, then more on my own. I was always hungry during the fasts but after the 4th or 5th day it becomes easier for me because I know it is dangerous for me to throw anything new at my digestive system. As an example, even if I am tempted to have my coffee with a bit of whole
milk I know better because if I haven't had any dairy for 4-5 days it would be dangerous to introduce it too quickly.
I have a food addiction as well, and sometimes that pushes me off track on my longer fasts before my initial goal for that fast. I find that on the vegetable juice fasts (which I feel is important, while I think fresh pressed
fruit juices make an excellent treat and can bring a lot of vitamins and minerals into our diet, I think they should not be a major diet component because that is a bunch of sugar to be having!) or bone broth fasts I feel much healthier and more vigorous, I get better weight loss results on just water and because I still have a lot of weight to drop, the convenience of just water sometimes works better. (Like if travelling, or under heavy workloads because water takes practically no time to prepare and can almost always be found at zero cost, I just keep a water bottle with a filter on it with me.)
Since you have not exceeded 2 days, and because of the mentally demanding aspect of your job, it may be best to do one of your 2 day fasts on say Thursday through Friday and then extend it through the weekend and see how you feel on Monday. (This is assuming a Mon-Fri work week) though the fasts are harder for you on the weekend, it may be best to get through what many of us experience as the worst part of it on the weekend so you would be clear headed for work.
For my part, this thread has motivated me to try intermittent fasting. I would love an option less severe than going months at a time without eating, especially if I find something that helps me maintain my current weight loss easier. I have managed to keep over 200lbs off this way but it has been an ongoing challenge for nearly 20 years now.... and even after so long, I am not to where I want to be with my health. I focus on my weight because I like metrics and because the lower my weight goes the less hormonal imbalance I experience and less weight on my injured leg helps it significantly. However, how your clothes are fitting is a most excellent metric.
Finally, I just wanted to say that you guys have been extremely motivational and persistent in your endeavours towards better health! I think everyone is different and we need to do what works for us as individuals. And it is hard to find that without individuals brave enough like you guys to document what is working well for them and checking with others to see what is working for them as well. Thank you so much and stay safe all! =)