| | Water Fasting

Fasted for three days and goddamit my weight increased by 1.2kg!!

F23/5’6’’ So I weighed 93.2 kgs before my three day fast which started ten days ago. Only consumed water and green tea during that time. At the end of the fast I weighed 90.7 kgs. I was happy. Now I’m back to eating a moderate carb high fat diet with never more than 1200 calories per day. My TDEE is 2100 calories. My weight is 94.4 kgs now!! I guess it has to be mentioned that my period ended just yesterday and I also picked up weights after a long time during my fast to increase metabolism coupled with some high cardio days post fast that stressed my glutes. I also upped my protein intake from a meagre 20g per day to almost 50g per day. I still eat under 1200 calories though. I feel like crap, the fast wasn’t hard but the last time I did it, I effectively lost 1.5 kgs ten days after my fast. This is literally the opposite! Any thoughts? Am I hitting a plateau, or do I still wait for my period weight to come off, or is it the strength training? Or is it all of them?

Answer

One possibility is because you were working out. When you exercise your muscles will retain water to keep you hydrated. Your body will eventually release the water and you’ll have a better idea for your weight.

In term plateau, it’s definitely the carbs. I experienced this as well. Start eating with no or low carbs consistently and you will see a difference. Carbs also encourages your body to retain water.

Answer

That’ll be water weight. You’re still alive, so your body must’ve been burning something for those 3 days, and you’ve remained in a calorie deficit since then, so you couldn’t have put any actual (solid) weight on. So in short, you’re retaining over 1.2kg of extra water compared to when you started the fast, which could be down to any number of reasons (my weight fluctuates by more than that every day, so it’s nothing to be worried about).

Keeping track of your overall weight is fine, but don’t get hung up on the numbers, if you’re burning more calories than you’re taking in, you’re going to lose body fat, even if it doesn’t always show on the scale.