Why can weight drop so quickly during a two-week short-term diet?
Early weight loss can be driven largely by glycogen depletion and the water released with it. This is different from fat loss, and restoring usual meals can replenish water and weight, so a maintenance plan is also needed.
When food intake, particularly carbohydrates, is sharply reduced, the body first uses stored glycogen. Glycogen is stored with roughly three to four times its weight in water, so using it can release water and cause a rapid early drop on the scale; not all of this change represents reduced body fat.
When restriction ends and usual meals replenish glycogen and water, some weight may return. Excessive short-term restriction may cause low energy or dizziness, and focusing only on rapid numerical change can make eating patterns and weight harder to maintain afterward.
Korean medicine may view reduced digestion, absorption, and energy after abrupt restriction as Spleen qi deficiency, heaviness and fluid retention as phlegm-fluid accumulation, and circulatory discomfort as blood stasis. Even with a short-term goal, consider energy, digestion, fluid versus fat change, and maintenance, and use a pace the body can tolerate.
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