It’s inevitable that some weight will be lost during a fast.  Fasting, by definition, means that your caloric daily intake goes way down, so simple body thermodynamics dictate that your body’s energy expenditure will exceed the food supply and will start turning to inner fuel stores.

I usually welcome the release of a few pounds here and there when I fast.  That said, I have commented that I’m careful to avoid losing too much weight while fasting (even if I think I’m a little pudgey).  Fitness experts agree that weight loss of more than 2 to 3 pounds per week is rather unhealthy.

If you are losing more than that, a few things may be occurring, but one of them almost certainly is not that you are dropping fat.  It’s more likely that your body is catabolizing proteins, and in the process dropping water weight.  That’s a bad scenario — it means your body’s decided that, in the grand scheme of things, muscles aren’t all that important, and you’ll find at the end of your fast you are much weaker and flabbier than when you started.

What’s more, your metabolism will slow down considerably, since muscle mass is responsible for a large proportion of energy usage.  Fasting does bring the metabolism down already — this is unavoidable (though not necessarily a bad thing, which is a concept that will be addressed in a future post) — so it’s important to do what you can to avoid any further slowdown.

To avoid your body consuming your own muscles for fuel, you need to make sure you drink tons of your chosen Elixir.  More than you think!

Most people on their first fast of longer than 3 days don’t realize that the body shuts off hunger after a certain point.  It varies per individual, but generally people’s appetites just fall away during or just after the 3rd day of fasting.

Since the hunger signal more or less goes away, many people on their 3rd or 4th day literally forget to take in enough fuel to meet basic energy requirements.  And that’s when people get headaches, take unplanned naps, and just feel like they’re dragging through the day.  When that happens, there will be loss of muscle, guaranteed.

During a fast, you will definitely lose some weight.  But you’re barking up the wrong tree if you’re hoping that fasting will be a shortcut to rapid weight loss.  Yes, you might achieve the loss of 5 pounds in 10 days, but it will probably be pounds of muscle you’ll wish you hadn’t dropped.