[stripline]

You are correct that IF works because you eat less calories, there's no real magic there. The key though is that it is mentally easier than other diets to actually eat less calories.

Most diets fail because people need to make a decision about what to eat at the worst possible time - when they're hungry. Whether ordering at a restaurant or looking into the fridge at home, a regular diet expects you to make the healthy choice when your body is craving the bad food. With IF hunger is easier to tolerate because you can simply look at the clock and remind yourself you can eat in X hours. I also feel that it turns hunger into a good feeling, like a sore muscle after a workout, it feels like progress.

An added side effect I noticed when pairing IF with weight lifting is that when it was time to eat, my body actually craved the healthy food like protein.