Hi All,
Last week I fasted for 96 hours (Mon-Thur) and then I broke the fast. I then faster for 36 hours. In total I lost 7 lbs but gained 2lbs during my refeeding.
This week I wanted to do another 96 hour fast.However today when I weighed myself I gained 2 lbs which is bizarre because I have not eaten for the past 48 hours. I can it could be water retention plus I went to the gym yesterday but I can’t help but feel disheartened and it makes me want to break my fast.
I just wondered if anyone had/has similar experience maybe I’m naive but I expected to be losing weight whilst water fasting not gaining.
Thank you reading
Yes, this is normal. Unless you are doing something particularly horrible during your refeeding windows I would not worry about it.
I do my fasts on a weekly basis during my work days; it could be a 4 day fast, it could be a 32/32/24, it could be OMAD, or something else. It is hard to track progress when you are doing different things that affect your water retention differently. Looking at my log I see a period that at first may look weird:
Week X: 4 day fast. Start weight 205.4, day after weight 196.6
Week Y: 32/32/24. Start weight 200.4, end weight 198.
Week Z: 4 day fast. Start weight 200.2, end weight 192.6.
You see the start weight on week Y vs. week Z? where it looks like I didn’t lose anything? In reality I was probably still running low on water going into that fast, but because of the intermittent fasting of that week I was able to regain more of my usual water weight. For all we know my true weight at the beginning of week Y was 203 pounds, and my true weight at the end was closer to 201, not the 198 it registered.
Weight yourself in the morning, after going to the bathroom, with the same amount of clothes or lack of thereof. Then don’t worry about the numbers, they will jump all over the place. Over weeks the trend should reveal itself.