From September 27th until December 10th I was on Medifast, for those of you not familiar with that its a low calorie (800-1000 calorie) meal replacement plan, also its low carb. I went off plan 3 times during that period (out of town for a week, out of town again and thanksgiving), each time I went off plan I gained a HUGE amount of weight.

First time off (2 days off plan with avg. caloric intake of 2000 calories per day on those days) gained 3.5lbs
Second time off plan (off plan 7 days, avg caloric intake unknown/unrestricted) gained 9.8lbs
Third time off plan (6 days off plan, caloric intake unknown) gained 7.4lbs

From December 1st until December 10th I was on a regular calorie restricted diet (not meal replacement and not low carb) with an average calorie intake of 1300 calories and I lost 4.2lbs

From December 10th until December 19th I didn't count calories but tried to stay on a sensible diet. I did not weigh during this time.

From December 19th until January 3rd I ate pretty much whatever I wanted, including pies, cakes, cookies, etc. I gained 3.4 lbs.

From January 3rd to January 9th I was on restricted calorie diet (1300ish) and lost 4lbs

From January 10th to January 15th I was on meal replacement only (max 900 calorie per day, average 750) and lost 3.8lbs

From January 16th to today I have been on restricted calorie (1300) and have GAINED 2.6lbs.

So, all of this data leads me to this conclusion. When on meal replacement/very low calorie, you lose weigh very quickly, but when you eat real food or go off plan it has a slingshot effect and the weight comes back hard and fast. However if you eat a restricted calorie diet and go up in calories you may gain some weight but it will not be as much.

This is not scientific in any way, its my own observation and may well be wrong.

from an outsiders perspecetive, it doesnt see like you were on *any* plan long enough to see any real fatloss..... just water and glycogen loss (that is the easy come-easy go weight)

any time you go low carb, especially, your body will release (use) all the glycogen it is storing (carbs) along with the glycogen, your body ALSO stores 3 grams of water for every gram of glycogen, that is why they are called carbo HYDRATES

my point is, when looking at time spans og going on and of programs over a WEEKish, the onlt weight gained or lost will be water weight, and YES< its possible to gain 7 pounds of water weight in one week of eating off plan as your body refills to the brim, so to speak.

even going up from an avg of 750 a week to 1300 a week will cause a slight increase (as you saw) its your body evening out again, and also the extra weight of THE FOOD ITSELF. for every couple hundred extra calories(ish) count on an extra pound (ish) youve shown that as well...... food eaten still has weight in your body!

I appreciate your input, but I have lost 23 pounds since end of September,pretty sure at least some of that is fat as 20+ pounds of water weight seems like a lot.

What I was trying to point out was the BIG gains seemed to come after going off the low carb super low calorie and the smaller gains from coming off lower calorie only. This is not the first time I have seen this happen.

EXCELLENT experiment!!! I think this will help alot of people who think the road to success lies in the "fad" "quick fix" diets!

Thanks for sharing your experiment with us.