I did a 21 day fast and around the last week I was a bit too eager to go back to food when it ended. Yes, I know what I did was incredibly stupid but I ended up eating too much. Of course, I reaped the consequences (weight gain, bad diarrhoea etc). I’m now back to eating normally with no problems. Still craving foods and all that. I haven’t regained all the weight but I have noticed is that my face legs and fingers are incredibly puffy. I’ve never had problems with fluid retention before but it has been like this for a couple of days at least and I am worried that I may have done something permanent. During the fast all I did was drink water and tea (black and green) to the point that I was sick of it by the end. Even though my urine doesn’t indicate dehydration, I don’t know what to do. My face, legs and fingers were also all the places where I visibly lost most of my weight, so I wonder if there is any relation to that and why those places look so swollen now.
I’m currently thinking of doing a 3-7 day fast again to lose some of the new weight I got back and then break the fast again properly with soups. I will also try to accompany this fast again with electrolytes.
I had a similar thing happen after a 25 day fast. I had it for a couple of years before I started to fast again, and that finally helped bring it down, though it’s not entirely gone yet. It would be best not to overdo the liquids, and make sure your electrolytes and trace minerals are in balance. Some moderate fasting, even intermittent fasting, with a correct refeeding would be a good idea. Some herbal support for the liver would also be good, like milk thistle and Tudca.
You didn’t gain some of the weight back, you never really lost it. This is why it is important to understand the difference between fat and water weight loss.
Not using electrolytes in a 21 day fast was very irresponsible and possibly dangerous, you literally could have died. I would guess this is what causing the puffiness - you depleted any storage of electrolytes and then filled your body with electrolytes and carbs, creating an imbalance.