So this weekend was one big party, both in drink and food. I feel like crap this Monday morning and managed to gain 6 pounds in one freaking weekend. Another reason to feel like this is that I was doing great up until Friday night, then family came in from out of town. So now what? What do I do today? Been doing 16:8, do I go back to that, or do a longer fast, or any other advice is appreciated.
Well for starters, you didn’t gain 6 pounds of body fat in one weekend.
A lot of this is most likely water weight caused by glycogen, plus other water retention reasons. The short version, we store sugar water in our liver and muscles which we use up when on a deficit. When we have a treat or surplus the body restocks, but it’s not nearly as calorie dense as fat because it’s mostly water. Once you use the sugar up the body will let go of the water.
I would not advise doing a longer fast as that’s not the healthiest approach long-term mentally. So just get back on your plan as normal.
My three reminders for myself when recovering from a bad IF weekend:
Whatever works for you, but be ready for next weekend so you’re really ready for next Monday.
We’re on the same boat. Family holiday this weekend, messed up my eating schedule. You didn’t gain 6pounds of fat, that’s 21 000 calories, it’s just water weight that you will shred in the next few days.
I stoped eating sunday night and I’m 16 hours deep into a 36hour fast. I was on 20:4 or OMAD and now I’m hungry at 16hours! I’m pissed that I had to wait for other to eat, stretched my eating window and failed to IF.
I decided on a longer fast to clean up a bit and reset. I couldn’t go back to 20:4 as I ate over my deficit this weekend and don’t want to ruin my progress.
Just go back to your routine. You didn’t gain 6 pounds.
If this were happening every other weekend, or there was always some social reason to splurge, then you’d have to rethink how often or how much you can participate in eating. Whether you eat, and how much, is totally up to you.
Going off of IF is something you can’t avoid, life happens. A mental and physical break from sticking to your routine all the time in my opinion in the long run does help burn out and a total crash. I see my going off IF as a good way to give myself some time off from the constant push to stick to something. Even bodybuilders have off-season.
Those 6 lbs won’t be 6 lbs to stay. I would continue 16:8 and not look back. The beauty about IF is, that it’s flexible. The past weekend you didn’t do IF, but you can do today. When I gain weight, and get concerned, I look at my whole diagram. Did I go back up to where I started? No. So I’m still ahead.
So this is common.
When you have a cheat weekend (lots of booze and bad food), your body will retain it. Carbs bond with water molecules, so frankly that’s a lot of water you have in there. Maybe do a 24 hour fast. But up your water intake. As soon as you rebound back to IF, you will lose most if not all of that weight.
Watch, you’re going to be peeing more than normal as you get back, and that’s good. That’s all the excess water from the carbs you are getting out of your system.
Don’t sweat it. We all mess up, and all of your progress is not lost. I gained 7lbs one weekend, but was back to where I was before within 5 days. Just be regimented over the next week. And yeah a full fast (if you’ve done it before and are comfortable with it), is probably good.
just reset! thats your body holding water to process the alcohol and carbs. remember 2.2 lbs of water per 1 full serving of carbs your body needs to process it. then the alcohol bloat and the back up. weekends im generally up later so end up doing a shorter monday to get back to normal times but you may want to clean out, take a few emergenCs to replenish, have big salad then restart
Good for you for recognising your stumble, but that’s all this is. This a marathon, not a sprint. You’re good.
Weight loss and maintenance is a change in behaviour, mindset, (some) carelessness. That doesn’t mean it’s the end of your social life.
Best of luck to you.