There are many reasons when your weight isn’t reducing or even increasing. You should figure out why it happened.
Do not stick with your fasting plan. Did you extend your eating time unconsciously? Have you skipped fasting during the weekends? It will affect the fasting process and lead to weight gain.
Weigh yourself in the wrong way. It’s recommended to weigh yourself in the morning on an empty stomach. Weight fluctuation is normal and it can fluctuate up to 5 or 6 pounds per day.
Overeat during the eating hours. Although intermittent fasting has no restrictions on food and calorie count, overeating could cause weight gain. You can try to write a diary, to have a look if you have eaten a bigger portion than when you first started fasting.
Lack of sleep or feeling stressed. Lack of sleep and stress can cause an increase in cortisol, which makes you want to eat more and weight loss much harder.
Your current plan is low-intensity. If you have followed low-intensity intermittent fasting for several weeks and have no changes in weight, the current plan might not be suitable for you now. 12:12 or 14:10 plans are designed for starters to get used to the fasting. You can switch to a more intense method like 16:8 and 18:6.
If none of the above are the possible reasons for your weight gain or plateau, it’s most changes in the water balance, not the increase in fat.
What’s more, there are many ways to monitor your changes during intermittent fasting, such as waist circumference, clothing size, muscle mass, fat mass, your appetite and how you feel in general. Be patient, don’t pay all your attention to the numbers and stay with it. Success will come!