Not sure why I lost during a long break?

Hi there,

I'm very curious about this. In trying to shed a few pounds and tone up, I restricted my calorie intake and hit the gym pretty hard for about 2-3 months straight. I did see results, but then I plateaued. About two weeks ago, I started feeling the beginning of getting sick and I was already quite stressed out and tired from other things, so I decided to take a one week break - which turned into two. During this break, I didn't really restrict eating so much and actually indulged myself every so often. There was really no exercise aside from getting to work (30 minute walk maybe in addition). And surprisingly, I ended up going past that plateau and losing another 3-4 pounds that were ordinarily proving super hard to lose.

Is there any reason for this? Is it actually advisable to take a 1-2 week break after hitting the gym hard for a few months? Coming back to the gym today, I definitely did lose some fitness in the meantime, but I'm sure I'll be able to gain it back. Or was this a fluke?