The theory we immediately gain weight after sudden weight loss is a false and heres why.

Over the past 3 months I have lost 2st 10lb in body fat and have been documenting almost daily my diet, cardio at the gym and gradual weight loss.

The fact that I have lost nearly 3 stone in 3 months has caused quiet a few friends and family to A) Comment on how much better I look and B, say when they have lost weight they have put the pounds straight back on when following a similar regime to myself and have said to expect immediate weight gain should I stop training.

In fact this is popular belief that should you all of sudden drop 8 pounds over a period of time, the faster you lose the weight the faster you will put it back on. This is a complete misconception and I will argue based on my findings that your body does not cling on to extra calories when weight loss is rapid.

To start with, a brief introduction about where I was and where I am now. I am 29, 6ft and in January I decided to buy some scales after they were flying off of the shelves due to many peoples' New Years resolutions to lose a few extra pounds. Being conscious of how I look I was shocked to find I was 15 stone 4 pounds and 30% body fat.

I joined the gym and started training 4-5 times per week with a very simple strategy. Eat less, train more and keep away from sugar and eat a low carb diet. Yes by sugar I also include fruit in this category.

Not to move away too much from the title of my post but thats where I was and how I started.

Before weight loss I also believed that strict calorie diets will lead anyone to put on more weight should they stop training or to go back to square one. With realisation I was too heavy I knew I had to follow a strategy and stick to it to be more comfortable with myself.

Over the past 3 months and weighing myself almost daily I found that when I did treat myself whether it would be two days consecutively or without training for an extended period of time. Not necessarily staying away from the gym for weeks but 3-4 days and not sticking to my diet and after easily eating 3500 - 4000 calories per day I would put on 4-6lbs. This has happened to me several times.

Now it is important to note that I found I was putting a lot of weight fast when not training probably from week 3-4, when I had lost 12-14lb. Then when I started back at the gym after two days training consecutively with a restricted diet, I had lost the 4-6lbs I had put on and after day 2 the pounds continued to melt away. Please also bear in mind my cheat days consist of Pizza, Doughnuts, Take Aways, Alcohol, copious amounts of 'bad' food, basically anything that I shouldn't eat but love to eat, which now days is pretty much everything.

When others go to the gym, workout or follow a diet plan they lose weight, which is great! Some faster than others depending on diet / body fat etc etc. They lose 4lb and stop the workouts and all of a sudden the weight is back on. For us to be overweight our relationship with food is already questionable. You cannot maintain the 4lb weight loss forever, but why is it the pounds seem to hit us faster than what we lost them or at the same rate?

The reason for immediate weight gain when we lose weight is for 2 reasons.

Firstly: Water Weight.

Our bodies are 70% water, eating high carbohydrate foods stores water in the body as does alcohol and high sugar and salty foods. The 4-6lb's I put on is pure water and if I were to share my progress graph you would see a declining line in body weight with sharp increases and decreases almost weekly, because although I am strict with what I eat, I do still enjoy my food and will be glutenous on cheat days and why not.

I challenge anyone to eat without a strict diet for 3-4 days and weigh yourself. Then on a strict, limited sugar and low carb diet with 45 - 60 minute per day cardio (get yourself sweating so you are dripping wet) for two days, weigh yourself again I will put money that you would of lost 1,2,3 or maybe even 4lbs+. Then eat without a strict diet for 3-4 days again, weigh yourself and see the weight loss you had achieved disappear. Then repeat the limited sugar, low carb diet with the cardio again and see that weight loss reappear as if by magic.

We lose water initially and then fat.

So next time someone or it might be yourself who thinks strict diets are a bad idea when excising because the weight loss will reappear in record time, please note in the first week 60% or maybe even 100% of what you have lost is water. If you do eat high sugar and carbs and have not seen any progress then you have your answer, cut them out or significantly decrease them. You do not need the extra sugar from fruit either but the odd piece is fine. Any sugar will heavily hinder your weight loss goals when eaten with Carbs. It is one or the other.

Secondly and finally the other reason why people put the weight back on is because they think I have lost weight, I am happy and now I don't need to train or watch what I eat anymore. So as a result the pounds that have ''gone'' suddenly reappear.

It is a known fact when there is a 3500 calorie deficit in a diet we should lose 1lb of fat but for some reason people seeking to lose weight do not think about what happens if they over consume by 3500 calories. You guessed it, you will put on 1lb, this is how we got to this stage in the first place right, by eating too much?

Think about averages - my recommendation for anyone aiming to lose weight is to not be hard on yourself if you have a meal out planned or you want a takeaway. Aim to have an average calorie consumption of 14,000 per week. So if you have 2 cheat evenings with an estimated calorie consumption of 4000 calories on each of those 2 days, you know you need to expend 4000 calories over the next week.

This is easier than it sounds. Eat 500 calories per day less than the RDA for 5 days that = 2500 calories then burn 1500 at the gym which is 300 calories per day if you train for 5 days or 500 calories if you train 3 days, with a 5 day diet for being healthy. Pretty much how the 5:2 diet works.

Too often those people who have said to me they end up putting the weight back on immediately after losing it, is simply because they do not realise how much water weighs. 1 pint of water = 1lb on the scales.

If you are new to the journey of weight loss, there is no quick fix! You must be consistent and add exercise both cardio and toning at least 3 times per week with a calorie count under 1900 calories per day for at least 5 days to see any results, if you do not have an active job, like me.

Good luck everyone and feel free to add me or comment and I will happily reply.