Hi Nene –
I have similar experiences with fasting. I’ve been fasting from Wed evening into Sat am or afternoon. During that time I can drop 4-10 pounds, then gain most of it back. But I don’t necessarily see that as a bad thing.
I almost always make some of that loss permanent, even if it is a half a pound. But I always weigh myself several times during a fast, and during that time I’m hitting new lows. Now, I may not stay at those lows, but the fact that my body is hitting those lower weights shows me my body is losing more fat every week.
For example, this past weekend, my Sat morning weigh in was 248.3. That is the first time I have weighed in under 250 for over 10 years.
Now, I weighed in this am at 254. I’m okay with that, because I know I’m losing, and I know that a lot of the differential from Sat to today is water weight. And it can be hard at this time of year to get a good reading on your weight because of the heat and humidity and the fluctuation in water levels in your body. When it cools down in another 6-8 weeks, there will likely be lower humidity and less water weight fluctuation.
So this week when I fast, if I hit under 248 when I finish the fast, and go back up to the low 250’s after I eat, I’ll still be okay with that. I track all of this and see the patterns week in and week out, so I know the overall trend is going down.
It might be happening to you as well, so don’t get discouraged. You just need a little more perspective
Try your 36 hour fast the same day every week so you can get a better sense of how your body reacts and weight fluctuates. Hopefully, you’ll see trends that are more encouraging than discouraging.
Cheers,
Q