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Hi, I have been busy, and sometimes I am reluctant to give the advice that I think is right, but here goes.
For losing weight, the best method is a plant based diet. This will add decades of healthy living to your life and make you virtually disease proof.
However seeing as you are fasting, this may be a good way to reset your appetite. I think this is what happened to me. So far I have lost about 106 pounds, and I prefer plant based to fasting/ eating / fasting / eating that I did for about a year.
What's more - if you are not eating half the time, it is DOUBLY important to eat properly during the eating cycle, but most people don't, they do all sorts of things. Then they get undernourished and new problems occur.
You only have to look here to see that posts of success are rare, and most people come back here month after month and year after year. We have lots of sick people here. They all fail to do the one basic thing that will cure them of nearly all ills, and that is eat properly.
Regarding your other two questions, my views are:
1) Just use water. That is what I use now, all the time
2) If you mind your own business, your bowels will mind theirs
Good luck, and I hope your fast leads to a long, happy and successful life