I believe there are great benefits to fasting.Calorie restriction by any other name is still calorie restriction. There isn’t any magic to eating only one meal, meat only, or intermittent fasting. If they work for you that’s fine, but they aren’t universal fixes for every individual. There’s more to weight management that just the food, you are literally fighting your body’s natural urge to consume a caloric surplus which is difficult for a lot of people in an environment full of highly palatable caloric dense food.
Exercise is a wonderful addition to a weight loss program, but you’re not going to burn nearly the number of calories you think that you will. The main benefit of exercise is directing where your metabolism spends the calories that you consume.