How am I gaining weight on a strict liquid diet?

xx1chloe5xx · December 2021

Hello. So I’m on my 4th day of a strict diet. I have 3 shakes a day that are 250 calories. Each aswell as 2 coffees 72 calories each and then I eat fruit throughout the day but not an accessible amount maybe just like 1 bowl full then the rest is Water or sugar free juice. I’m definitely consuming under 1200 calories a day and probably even under 1000 calories. However I got on my scales today to find out I have gained weight? I’m so confused and upset. I’m literally not eating properly but gaining weight. I’m going to carry on until the end of the week see what happens but I expected to at least lost something

any ideas or advice Thankyou. Also please some say this this diet is bad for me or a waste of time or anything else. Negative. Because my doctor recommens it to me and I have done it in the past and lost 4 stone. But this time it’s. Not working yet I’m doing the same. Thing

Lietchi · December 2021

Our weight is the reflection of more than just the evolution of our fat mass. Our weight fluctuates also because of fluctuations in our water weight, food waste in our system,... Especially our water weight can fluctuate a lot: from stress, exercise, hormones... I gain around 2lbs during my period for example.
Four days is a short period, weight (fat) loss is something you need to judge over a longer period of time, looking at your weight trend over at least a few weeks to see beyong the temporary fluctuations.

PS: I hope you have medical reasons that justify fast weight loss (higher risk associated with your weight than the risk associated with a very low calorie diet), otherwise I would say that changing doctors is in order.

snowflake954 · December 2021

I'm happy that you're under a doctor's supervision. These diets are dangerous if not monitored. There are many reasons why it may not be working like before as mentioned above. You have to keep going for at least a week (or two) and see if there's progress. In the end, it's your calorie intake that matters for weight loss. You might want to really look at those calories and add them up. Weigh your fruit for a day and just see how much it really is. Some people eat too much fruit. Good luck.

nanastaci2020 · December 2021

Weight change over the course of a few days is easily water weight shifting. This could be due to stress, hormones or a # of other reasons. Has your doctor given you a timeline for following this strict way of eating? The best way to monitor weight loss is to look for a trend over a longer time period than a few days. And if you are female and menstruating, it may be best to compare monthly to eliminate the effects of your monthly cycle on water weight.

ReenieHJ · December 2021

Not even sure if this kind of diet is allowed by MFP standards and I would highly NOT recommend it. I know I'm not a doctor but then not all doctors should have a medical license either.

There's a tag on your post that says 10# or more to lose. How much more than 10# are you talking about??

As someone mentioned, unless there is a medical reason for your liquid diet, you need to look for a more qualified doctor.

Now, with all that said, I put myself on a liquid diet back when I was maybe 21 and was trying every which way to lose weight. After a week I'd, of course, lost weight but felt terrible physically. Can you keep this type of eating up for long; is it sustainable, etc.?

debrag12 · December 2021

xx1chloe5xx wrote: »

Hello. So I’m on my 4th day of a strict diet. I have 3 shakes a day that are 250 calories. Each aswell as 2 coffees 72 calories each and then I eat fruit throughout the day but not an accessible amount maybe just like 1 bowl full then the rest is Water or sugar free juice. I’m definitely consuming under 1200 calories a day and probably even under 1000 calories. However I got on my scales today to find out I have gained weight? I’m so confused and upset. I’m literally not eating properly but gaining weight. I’m going to carry on until the end of the week see what happens but I expected to at least lost something any ideas or advice Thankyou. Also please some say this this diet is bad for me or a waste of time or anything else. Negative. Because my doctor recommens it to me and I have done it in the past and lost 4 stone. But this time it’s. Not working yet I’m doing the same. Thing

If you did it in the past and now need to do it again then it is not a success. You should be aiming to keep the weight off.

cwolfman13 · December 2021

You have a singular weigh in data point...no meaningful analysis can be made of a singular data point. Bodyweight fluctuates naturally for a myriad of reasons so observing actual weight loss or weight gain or maintenance has to be viewed as a trend...a singular data point is completely worthless.

dontlikepeople · December 2021

Four days is not long enough to determine if a diet is working or not.

If it was a "strict diet" as you say, you would know exactly how many calories you're consuming.

xx1chloe5xx · December 2021

@debrag12 3 stone are still off I gained 1 stone over lockdown Thankyou very much. It is and was a success I was just greedy when we wasn’t allowed to do anything in the word other than eat.

Xellercin · December 2021

4 days is nothing. My body weight can swing around like crazy over 4 days. It takes 3-6 weeks to see the effect of a new diet, closer to 6 for women.

elaroch05 · December 2021

Hopefully my graph works...I'm new-ish on posting. Here's a graph of my weight loss over time with daily weigh-in's. I've been tracking my food and sticking within my calorie range. I weigh myself at the same time every morning....AND my weight still fluctuates daily...BUT the trend line is down. That's your goal: that overall, your trendline is moving downwards. You need a lot of a data points to see a trend.

That being said...you may see bigger fluctuations if you aren't weighing yourself at the same time every day, if you deviate on the clothing you are wearing (or not wearing) etc.

ruqayyahsmum · January 2022

I jumped back on my diet Monday, I'm a daily weigher so got to see what happens with daily fluctuations
By Thursday it showed 8lb down....... Purely water from much lower carbs than I took in over the Christmas period.
Then it started to show my weight going up, now 2lb up........ Its not a fat gain, I just really needed to do a poop after several days unable to go 🙈

You need a few more weeks worth of data to say its not working
And if you only have a stone to lose this time round you should expect it to be a lot slower

I still have 5 or 6 stone to lose and still am only aiming for 1lb a week to make it more sustainable into the long future

PAV8888 · January 2022

So.... this is an NHS registered doctor who has issued you with this diet plan in order to lose 14lbs? And doing so and FAST will critically improve your health?

Or is this a privately paid for and accessed non registered "doctor" who has issued you with a diet plan in order to lose 14lbs?

I really love it when people blame themselves for lack of willpower, or other behavioural issues, instead of blaming their weight loss plan that led them to lose weight initially while FAILING TO ADDRESS AND MITIGATE KNOWN AND EXPECTED hormonal and behavioural issues, thus failing to set them up for maintenance.

Setup to fail at maintenance and then blame yourself for failing.

Sounds good... NOT.

PAV8888 · January 2022

With 14lbs to lose (and absent a health threat such that you're choosing the lesser evil between two bad options) you probably ought to eat and move substantially like you're planning to eat and move to maintain while aiming for a 1lb to 0.5 per week loss.

And yes, it will take months to lose that last 14lbs. Though learning how to do that MAY actually help you setup for maintenance if you concentrate on figuring out the TRADE-OFFS you are willing to make long term to lose and maintain your weight.

The trade-off of going on a soup only / shake only / supplement only to lose 10-20lbs fast today and regain it all plus a bit more in a few months to lose it all again because your "personal failures" led you to regain (HINT: the personal failure is NOT the "lack of willpower" that leads to regain; the personal failure, if it exists, is not planning for expected reactions ahead of time)... is a recipe for yo-yo dieting and making someone else some money along the way...

as to your original question, it has been covered.

One data point is your most probable issue. And unknown calories since fruits and juices are far from zero calorie products.

Your diet is also low on protein. That can be an actual health risk with a large deficit and very low calorie diet. Like in keeling over and dying. Or having organs fail type of risk. Assuming the actual implementation of an actual very low calorie diet and low protein. So don't do that.

natasor1 · January 2022

Did you add up your drinks? I ve done it, What I got 4 shakes of 250 Equals 1000 cal, Two coffie cups of 72 cal equals 144 cal, Bowl of fruits...? how much, I just added 1 large apple 125 cal, Two Sugar-free glasses of juice (they have no sugar, but they very sweet with natural fructose) The total is 1419 cal.
Everything is sweet and raise your glucose level to the sky, also, consequentlly raise your insulin level. With glucose and insuline elevated you never get any chance your fat to start burning. With such a liquid diet, you feel like you do not eat at all. Only drinking your calories you feel, not eating at all. The satiety feeling comes only when you chew your calories. You d better find some diet with no sweets, but chewable nutrient rich food, like meet, poultry, leafy greens, fish, healthy fats. Don t eat often, and leave some time for your glucose to drop.

snowflake954 · January 2022

natasor1 wrote: »

Did you add up your drinks? I ve done it, What I got 4 shakes of 250 Equals 1000 cal, Two coffie cups of 72 cal equals 144 cal, Bowl of fruits...? how much, I just added 1 large apple 125 cal, Two Sugar-free glasses of juice (they have no sugar, but they very sweet with natural fructose) The total is 1419 cal.
Everything is sweet and raise your glucose level to the sky, also, consequentlly raise your insulin level. With glucose and insuline elevated you never get any chance your fat to start burning. With such a liquid diet, you feel like you do not eat at all. Only drinking your calories you feel, not eating at all. The satiety feeling comes only when you chew your calories. You d better find some diet with no sweets, but chewable nutrient rich food, like meet, poultry, leafy greens, fish, healthy fats. Don t eat often, and leave some time for your glucose to drop.

The OP has not been back since Dec 8.
However, I don't agree with the above post in that the "fat burning" story is just hype. I do agree that it's better not to drink all your calories.

elisa123gal · January 2022

You are just guessing and not taking control. You say you're eating fruit throughout the day... and sugar free juices.. but are they natural juices with natural high calorie sugars? You most likely are drinking a lot of calories. Count and log your calories and start educating yourself on this site on fitness and health.

Perhaps you're on a liquid diet because you are dangerously overweight and need to lose some weight fast. I have no idea. But it sounds like a fad diet and could be dangerous unless under a doctor's care.

I always tell myself whenever I try to reduce my weight.. "How I lose it, is how I am going to have to maintain the loss." That keeps me on a healthy diet that includes foods I love so I can maintain the loss.

How am I gaining weight on a strict liquid diet?

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