my diet. I gained 10lbs. When I came back and started working out again I had
lost 7lbs in the first 5 days? How is this possible?
A. This is a common occurrence. Our body has a "set point" which it seeks to
maintain. It's been called "muscle memory" and various other names but basically is all the same. How many times have we seen someone go on an extreme diet and lose 20, 30 or more pounds rapidly and go off the diet just to gain it all back? Our body seeks to maintain a certain amount of stability. Any extreme shift in activity or nutrient intake "shocks" the metabolism, muscular and nervous systems which then will invoke a response ie. weight loss. The body panics and will seek to regain the muscle lost or weightloss when the stimulus or stress is removed. This is why it is recommended to lose between 1-2lbs per week as to not create an unstable environment for your metabolism or body. The body won't miss a couple pounds each week and can adapt to the new change easily. The same holds true when building muscle. People who take steroids will gain a lot of muscle rapidly. When they can no longer take them for financial, health or legal reasons, they rapidly lose the muscle they built.
So basically, you have conditioned your body to adapt to strength training, cardio conditioning and a nutrition program over a period of time. When away on vacation your body was shocked by the lack of structured activity it is used too and the extra calories and various high fat noncalorie dense foods. Hence you gained weight. you consumed more calories than your burned and shocked the metabolism. When you returned to your regular diet and exercise program, the body recognized what it was conditioned to do and quickly sought to return to it's "set point". Your strength and cardio conditioning was no doubt where it was when you returned after two weeks. But with a week or two your body, due to "muscle memory" regained its equilibrium and you were back on track.