So the last day of my fast, I weighed 284 pounds, and after three days of eating a pretty healthy and balanced diet where I only ate 1500 calories a day, I weigh 291. Is this a regular thing, and should I be concerned? I am eating some carbohydrates, so my body is out of ketosis, and I assume my body hasn’t gained 7 pounds in 3 days, but it still is super demoralizing. Does anyone have advice? I’m 6’3 for context.
First, not a scientist. Second, I’ve done a fair number of prolonged fasts. Third, not just normal, but to be expected, in my experience. I’ll leave it to the doctors to tell you what ratio of food weight, glycogen whatsawhozits, etc. play into that phenomenon.
Your body stores “water” in muscles (glycogen, which is a source of energy). Fasting depletes your glycogen stores to convert them to energy. Eating refills these glycogen stores.
Glycogen is relatively “heavy” (comparable to water), so depleting and refilling it causes your weight to swing a solid amount in a very short period of time. My weight in the morning after a longer fast vs that night after refeeding is often 5+ pounds different (at 250lbs body weight).
Keep up the good work, you’re doing great!
Yes, that’s perfectly normal (if a bit high). I normally gain 5 lbs or so. A lot of the weight you lose is temporary in a fast. You’re only burning about half a pound of fat per day, so weight loss in excess of that is expected to come back quickly.
When you fast you lose a significant amount of water. You are likely ingesting less water - food is mostly water. Then there’s the water tied to metabolism too, which you will start to lose. Some of this water will need to be regained at the end. However, overall you should have a lower weight after your system has rebalanced to eating again, because you have lower fat mass.
The trouble is there’s also the idea of a set point. Your body has an “idea” of the right weight for you, which I believe is likely due to a combination of lifestyle habits and hormonal signalling. To re-set that point lower takes consistent change over the long term. Many dieters just go back to their original weights after their dieting ends. Your body heads back to that ballpark number.
Go on Youtube and watch several videos from Jason Fung. He explains the difference between fasting and starvation (which appears to be what you are doing on days eating 1500 calories) and you’ll have your answer.
The first weight you lose in a fast is lots of water weight, when you start eating after a fast your body tends to store water again as you eat especially if eat some carbohydrates. So it is normal up to a point.
Yea its normal. Sunday evening i was 238. Did a 48 , and was 232 tuesday evening. Then finished a 72 last night at 225, ate, and im 228 as of this morning. Starting to think i should go 5 pounds below my goal weight to make up for it when i finally get there. But you stuck with the fast and on your feeding days you kept it under 1500 calories. You got discipline so dont get demoralized . Stay consistent and you’ll get where you wanna be.
Yes totally normal, but why not help to try and extend your fast by staying strict keto for as long as you can? This will mean even though your gaining back water weight your likely to still burn fat stores. At the end of the day this is a marathon not a sprint. 1 pound of fat lost is one pound less your heart and immune system have to keep up with. Your doing great keep going and stay on the path!
What do you consider a normal healthy diet? Healthy diets do not need to include sugar of any kind. In fact, it’s best to avoid simple carbs altogether. Complex carbs are great–vegetables. Simple carbs cause you to store fat.