Re: Ended fast a few days ago, will start again in a few days

"Ok, so a few days ago I ended my fast, been eating around 1200-1700 cals per day and I've been steadily gaining around 1 lb per day...

... Anybody know how long it takes for the metabolism to start catching up again? I can live with not losing on 1500, but GAINING a lb a day, is quite annoying. ..."

Hi FastingGuy,

I feel for you in your discouragement, but it is important to understand a couple of things.

To gain a pound per day in fat your caloric intake would have to exceed your caloric expenditure by 3500.  Since you are consuming only the amount you are burning and not 5000 calories per day, this is not an issue of metabolism and clearly you are putting only temporary losses back on, primarily water and intestinal content.

In breaking the long fasts i have done, while eating in moderation, exercising, and avoiding excess sodium, i have consistently put on about a pound per day for the first 2 or 3 weeks until the water levels returned to normal and the gains stopped.  In my case, especially in my most recent fast, the return of about 20 pounds of temporary loss within 3 weeks was welcome. 

While fat burning in a fast is certainly taking place and this fat can absolutely be kept off post-fast with the right combination of diet and exercise, the amount of fat weight we lose in a fast is not to be confused with the much larger amount of overall weight.  While a portion of our water loss can be permanant since it is a part of our overall bodily down-sizing, it is not possible to keep the temporary portion of these water losses and intestinal contents from returning and once we come to embrace this reality and the pound per day return of the temporary losses is expected, it should go a long way in eliminating our anxiety and discouragement.