Remarkable work. I am really pleased about the contribution of "sleep" in the whole weight loss experience. I have reached some similar anecdotal conclusions; I bet this is similarly not surprising for many persons.

I am not entirely sure sleep contributes only as "a fasting period". Sleep also means we are relaxed. All the other times of the day (when we are awake) we are relatively stressed, meaning more stress hormones (ie cortisol) which are known to be contributing to weight gain.