Since early October I lost almost 30lbs and got down several lbs under 200 by skipping breakfast and dinner. (I already eat very low carb) That’s the good news.
For the past 3 days I have *not* skipped breakfast or dinner. I haven’t eaten anything out of the ordinary - an avocado and fried egg for dinner, for example. But I have gained back 5lbs.
I appreciate in advance all the ‘it’s just water weight’ comments, but I haven’t eaten anything unusual, just an extra 2 meals. I already consume a lot of salt and buckets of water due to low blood pressure, so it’s not a ‘more salt/water retention’ thing.
This just happens to me - It takes me 2 weeks of strict IF (2 hour eating window except for coffee with cream in the AM) to lose 4 lbs. I eat an extra meal or 2 OR eat something non-low-carb in my eating window, and I gain that 4 lbs back in a day. Then, It takes 2 more weeks to lose that 4 lbs again. Every time. I actually can see myself IF for the rest of my life, so it’s not like ‘OMG will I be stuck with this forever’ - but I would like to lose this weight, and it’s frustrating. There’s just no way to IF with a kid cooking for the holidays and ‘Taste this!’ and ‘Try some of that’ all day long, lol!!! So I’m just going to close my eyes, enjoy the holiday, and start fresh on Sunday. Probably won’t weigh myself for a week or two though. Sigh.
I guess this is a rant. LOL. I hope this doesn’t happen to anyone else, but I’d be grateful to hear from anyone to struggles with the same issue.
Edited to Add
In retrospect, I suspect it may be an inflammation issue, since I have an autoimmune condition. I was thinking more along the lines of “What about eating extra meals could cause inflammation” but I think it may be more along the lines of - eating only ONE meal REDUCES my chronic inflammation. So when I eat a regular schedule, I get the normal amount of inflammation back. 3-4-5 lbs. And it takes a few weeks of healing by eating only 1 meal a day to reduce inflammation again.
Edited again to add that whatever jerk who reported my name to Reddit as someone who needs the suicide/crisis line because I’m a whiny baby about gaining 4 lbs - suicide isn’t a joke. Find a better use for your time. That crap isn’t funny.
Believe it, or not, to gain 4 lbs in one day you would need to eat at least 14,000 calories plus your basal rate in a day.
Not gonna happen. Hence the only answer left is that yes, it is water weight.
You are not gaining 4 lbs of fat back from eating a few extra meals. Food has weight and the contents of your meal take some time to move through your body. Once you’re back to your regular IF schedule the scale will go back down. Don’t stress it.
It literally is water weight. I don’t know why you can’t understand that as it is physiologically impossible to have gained 5ths of body fat in a few days. You don’t need masses or carbs to have big fluctuations in body fluids and you don’t need excess salt to have that happen. Fluctuations of ~5 lbs are nearly meaningless in short spans of time. Stop weighing so often and concentrate on longterm weight instead of small changes.
I would suggest forgoing the scale for a bit. As others said you are not gaining physical weight by eating small amounts of food, especially 4 pounds every time. That’s not how IF works even if your metabolism is absolute crap.
It sounds like you’re getting a little obsessed over the scale so maybe just don’t do it. Your body itself will tell results.
Sorry this happened. I get what you are saying about the two weeks to loose what you gained and feeling like it’s a step back when you are still following your plan. I think staying off the scale and maybe measuring is a good idea. The scale can be so upsetting but great work on all the weight you have lost and the discipline to IF and eat very low carb. I’m new to IF and resolved I’ll becomeMindful of what I eat in my window after the holidays. Just too hard right now so maybe give yourself a little Grace. You are doing the work!
That must be frustrating. My personal experience is that if my rapid weight gain is associated with drinking alcohol, even though the extra weight may be basically water retention, it takes bit longer than a couple of days to lose it. This may not be true for you through.
Have you tried starting back on IF with a full-day (36h) fast? Maybe also do some light cardio on the fast day? This kind of “water weight” is mostly from rebuilding glycogen stores, and a longer fast and workout like that would help deplete those glycogen stores quickly and get you back into fat burning mode.
What are you so annoyed about? You should re-read your post. There’s several keys to your frustration that you need to pinpoint and correct.
I think it best to really read your post. You’ve already answered your own questions.