How much weight can you lose from 3 days of not eating?

Question

Just wondering, this is a HYPOTHETICAL question.

Answer 1

Are your walking about WEIGHT or FAT? My brother-in-law went on a crazy fad diet and in three days he lost 8 lbs....of water, which he put right back on when he started eating again. So you can lose weight by not eating, but most of it is just water and is temporary.

Answer 2

Okay, hypothetically a really fit person doesn't eat for three days.

Say this fit person is a woman, 5'5" 120 lbs. She's athletic and probably burns 2200 calories per day. She maintains (or tries to maintain) her normal routine while food isn't available. In three days she would burn 6600 calories, which is not quite two pounds of fat.

BUT, it's more complicated than that. She will loose water weight like crazy, maybe as much as five pounds. She will also loose muslce, because the body can catabolize muscle more easily that body fat when it is in a starvation state.

I'd say at the end of the three days she'd be weak, shakey and fer face would look a little sunken (from water loss.) She'd have lost a little muscle tone, and maybe a pound or two of body fat. It would probably take a couple of weeks to get her full athletic performance back because her metabolism would be all jacked up. She could still do stuff, but just wouldn't feel as strong as usual.

Answer 3

It really does depend on your body type. At most, it would only be a few pounds, nothing that would really make a difference. More importantly though, you would be losing "muscle weight," instead of "fat weight." When you don't eat, your body starts to break down its own natural reserves in order to get nutrients, and it goes for the muscle first. Obviously this is unfavorable, as your body fat percentage would go up.

Believe it or not, you could probably lose more weight by eating consistently for three days rather than by fasting. Eat smaller meals, spaced out more evenly throughout the day, say about every three hours or so. Even a snack between meals would benefit you. This keeps your metabolism up, and your body will burn more fat. But make sure you keep the portion sizes smaller than usual. If you eat large meals every three hours, your body won't be able to burn off all that weight!

Answer 4

It probably does depend, but it is never a good idea to stop eating completely. Not only is it unhealthy but you will probably gain the weight back very quickly. I have a friend who recently stopped eating and lost 20 pounds, BUT she gained back 12 within 2 weeks. Just try to limit your calorie intake and work out more. I created an excel spreadsheet for myself that tracks how many calories I take in and how many I burn off. I try to burn off more than I eat and so far it has worked great (I've lost 10 pounds and kept it off).

Answer 5

ok not eating will not lose you weight in 3 days. because if you dont eat, ur brain will go find some food from deposits of protien in your body. muscles have protien and thats where the body break down nutrients to feed itself. after those protiens are gone, your bones are next. there are protiens in your bones as well. your body will try to find nutients in your bones. after all of that, your body will finally go to the fat storages after it runs out of everything. and this takes weeks too. but after you start eating again, all the carbs will build fat up again in your body, not anything else at first. i would recommen eating about 5 small meals a day and working out 3-5 times a week. that is the best solution.

Answer 6

Probably less than if you eat small amounts. When you don't eat at all, your body goes into what I call "Famine Mode". In other words, it acts as if you're not eating because there is nothing to eat. Therefore, it retains as much fat as possible. It's unhealthy and counter-productive.

Answer 7

it depends on the person but an educated guess would be from 5-10 lbs. it would all be water with no loss of body fat

Answer 8

you can lose alot depending on your body. cuz i got sick one time and didnt eat for a week. originally i weighed 174 and by the time i was better i weighed 140 something

Answer 9

5 to 10 kgs plus the stomach (ulcer).

Answer 10

You're not gonna lose fat...you will be losing muscles and as soon as you will put something back into your mouth your body will not turn it back into muscle but into fat...so it`s a lose lose situation.