I weighed myself yesterday morning and again today, hours from finishing a 36-hour fast. I put on half a pound. needless to say that was not what I wanted to see… did I do something wrong? will I ever see the results of my hard work to fast over 24 hours?
You’re fine, it’s just water. Our gut alone can hold at least half a gallon of water comfortably, and that’s 8 pounds. That doesn’t include the liquids you’ve consumed that day either. Not to mention any waste accumulation, those 3 things alone can make your weight fluctuate all over the place.
You’re fine. Just keep going.
This sounds dangerous.
OP has said they didn’t have electrolytes, and if they were drinking lots of water, they could have flushed all electrolytes from the body.
This has been known to cause fluid retention in the body including the brain. Have some salt OP
Obviously your body is holding on to the water you’ve had during the fast. Could be too much salt. Could be your body is trying to heal something. Could be undigested for in your body bulking up from the water. Etc.
Honestly just something you have to stick to, I’ve been rolling 48s and some 72s for the last 5 weeks while weight training 5 times a week and I am down 18 lbs. The body likes to hold onto water due to cortisol or any hormonal changes. If you want to lose weight fasting you have to take your salts if you are fasting longer and do some working out as well. 24 hours honestly isn’t very long at all tbh. I find taking my salts and rolling 48 hour fasts to be the best for me. With 24 hour fasts and 36s you still really need to be careful how large your refeed is too
Honestly, you truly start losing a pound a day starting on the 4th day. Weigh yourself just before starting and then again on the 4th day. Subtract those two numbers, and that’s “water weight”. You will get that back once you break your fast.
I don’t compare my weights from day to day. A half pound weight gain in 1 day is not indicative of a half pound of fat gain. It’s most likely water weight. I would suggest weighing daily first thing in the morning after peeing and taking the average weight for a whole week for more accuracy, or taking measurements. Also look up the Whoosh Effect
Hey OP! I know Im late to this, but check out this amazing podcast focused on women fasting for health and weight loss. It’s run by a doctor and nutritionist who run a fasting clinic in Canada.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fasting-method-podcast/id1593883196?i=1000558725231
Anyway, they say on the podcast that women can expect to lose at least 1/2 pound of body fat for every 24-36 period they fast! I’ve been fasting this way for about a month, and have lost 11 pounds so far! I also count calories when I eat, and don’t eat over my tdee.
It’s a great podcast too with a lot of good tips. But year, you’re probably losing fat now but just holding i to water.
This is maybe just me - but I see results from either daily, consistent intermittent fasting only where the fasting times include me actually missing meals like skipping lunch and or dinner (I never did eat breakfast) OR a longer fast that’s over 72 hours. Those 24-48 hour fasts don’t do much for me in terms of weight loss and they are hard. Too much effort for too little bang. But YMMV. Good luck! We got this.