Re: Post-Fast Concerns...

"Broke the fast as I felt true hunger was returning, though I do remember thinking that this was quite difficult to discern"

If it was difficult to discern, it's unlikely that true hunger returned.

"My energy definitely dipped noticeably in the last three days of fasting and this led me to feel that I didn't have the energy to continue fasting."

The opposite may be true.  You felt you didn't have the energy to continue fasting, but your drop in energy could have likely been that your body was demanding you rest as it was deep in the cleansing/healing process and needed as much rest as it could get to aid this.  It's best to rest when fasting, doing some light stretching and activity as you feel the need for.  If this was the case then it was a very bad time to break the fast.  Your digestive system would have had the least amount of available power during this time.  As well, if your body was entering a deep cleansing period it would be reluctant to give up on this.  And this may still be the case, and why you are not gaining more weight despite your nutritional intake.  More to support that you didn't reach true hunger, If you had reached true hunger, then your body would be receptive to nourishment and gain more rapidly.  Your body is likely still trying to detox and carry on with the fast to some extent at this point, which is normal, and you are trying to force it the other way.  It's not worried about seeing your weight jump back up over a few days, as it knows you're in no danger. 

I think you're over doing it with the amount of food you're eating.  As you said, that's more than enough to see gains in weight, but you're not seeing them.  What then must be happening?  You're not assimilating all of what you're eating.  By the sound of your eagerness and frustrations to gain back your lost weight I'm guessing that you're eating a little extra than what you actually feel, so scaling back some there should be easy. 

As Chrisb1 said, best not to be exercising in any intense amounts for now.  Firstly your body is already unreceptive to the nourishment that you're giving it, as it clearly isn't ready for it in terms of your digestive capabilities, and you're compounding that by further draining the available energy you have with some intense exercise, that's likely more intense on your body that you currently perceive, being in the delicate post fast condition you're in.  And you say you're doing it before your meals. 

"Maybe it was because it had exhausted its supply of fat, due to my low fat reserves? Should I have broken my fast before this started to occur?"

I don't think you depleted your fat reserves.

"I don't accept that it's too early to be having these concerns... If I was gaining even a little weight day by day, I might be inclined to agree, but the fact is that I haven't gained a single pound in over a week of decent caloric intake. Also, I don't consider that my current exercise programme is excessive - I am doing only very short bursts of load bearing exercise to stimulate growth. How else can I expect to regain lean muscle mass?"

I understand your mentality, but the fact is that it takes time.  23 days with no food, 23 days to readjust is fair.  And sometimes much more time is needed.  Babies don't do short bursts of load bearing exercises to stimulate growth (at least none that I know.  Admittedely I don't know a lot of babies, but a few.) and they grow just fine (and are growing just fine).  You don't need this type of exercise right now, my friend.  You need to slow down, pushing things like this is only going to slow down what you want to happen.

I'm certain that you broke this fast at a poor time, and that because of this you were met with a little extra reluctance from your body than otherwise would have been the case.  But no worries now, just focus on what you should be doing currently.

Don't eat more than you really feel that you need.  And combine your foods properly, this will help you a great deal at this point.   Stop the exercising for now, your daily activity of moving around will be sufficient.  And try not to get worked up about it, and believe me I understand, and I'd be upset right now too, but you're still in a sensitive state and staying calm, not worrying; it will make a huge difference.

There was a poster on this site, for instance, sometime back who finished a rather lenghty fast and broke it with juice, but that same night she had a scare for her son who had an asthma attack I believe.  So of course she was concerned for him, and because of this emotional worry it caused her delicate digestive system some problems with refeeding even on juice.  After calming down however, she was fine after a couple of days.  So instead of exercises before your meals, a time of meditation or prayer would be more beneficial.

"Would be good to get some practical suggestions as to what I can do to rectify my situation if anyone has any ideas?"

I hope you understand this, and reread what chrisb1 and NH.is.Scientific have posted.  As a lot of what I've said is just a reinforcement of that.  I think it's practical and sound advice, as you said yourself: The intake of calories coming in isn't adding up, and with our responses you have a  reason for that, and now a plan to approach it with.

Hopefully (and likely) after you follow this advise, you will soon see improvements in your situation.