As I view my weight loss as a lifelong thing...that is I am hoping that I will keep up the changes I have made and keep off the weight forever, the idea of "fasting" or any other diet plan that is, in essence, not a "real" way to eat would not work for me. I do not believe that anyone needs a jumpstart to weight loss so much as they need TO start their weight loss...that is to start a healthy, sane, balanced diet that limits calories and to start a lifestyle that includes exercise on multiple days of the week, preferably in the form of both cardio and resistance training.
Getting on track from the beginning, and starting to adopt a "lifestyle" that you can live with for the rest of your life -- with just a few hundred more calories added once you reach your goal weight -- is, in my opinion, a better way to spend your first week. This weight loss thing can be pretty hard, especially in the beginning as your body grows accustom to restricted calories, less sugar and less fat. Making your body subsist on 2 shakes and one meal a day during that time seems like, at its worst, a possible recipe for failure if you get too hungry and can't keep it up, and, at best, simply unnecessary.
Slow and steady wins the race in the world of weight loss. Whether you lose 5 pounds, 2 pounds or 1/2 a pound your first week is pretty much immaterial to the weeks and months to come...just a blink of an eye.
Anyway, that is my two cents worth...
