How to Lose 10 Pounds in Just 1 Week
While losing 10 pounds (4.5 kg) in a week is technically possible, it is not recommended.
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Short-term, intense eating plans are considered crash diets — meaning that your weight is likely to rebound after you finish the program. Furthermore, because of their restrictive nature, these diets aren’t appropriate if you have a history of eating disorders.
Thus, these diets aren’t a healthy, sustainable, or long-term solution.
With rapid weight loss, most of the weight you lose is water weight, not body fat. That’s because you can’t safely burn through 10 pounds (4.5 kg) of body fat in just 1 week (1Trusted Source).
Rather, fast weight loss lowers your insulin levels and flushes out stored carbs known as glycogen, which hold around three times their weight in water. Reduced insulin levels also make your kidneys shed excess sodium, which leads to a drop in water retention (, , ).
Instead of quick weight loss programs, we recommend checking out these tips or trying one of these diet plans.
However, if you still decide to pursue short-term weight loss, the following steps can help you achieve it. Keep in mind that this is not a long-term program or solution.
You can lose several pounds by following a low-carb diet for just a few days.
In fact, lots of research has shown that a low carb diet is a very effective way to lose weight and improve health (, , ).
A short-term decrease in carb intake can also reduce water weight and bloating.
That’s why people who go low carb often see a difference on the scale as early as the next morning after starting the diet.
It’s essential to eliminate or drastically reduce all starchy carbs and sugars for the week. Replace these with low carb vegetables, while also increasing your intake of eggs, lean meats, and fish.
Check out this article to learn more about how to set up a low-carb diet and which foods to include.
Summary
Reducing your carb intake can lead to a significant amount of weight loss, from both body fat and excess water weight. Eating more protein also helps.
When you’re trying to lose weight quickly, it can be helpful to eat a simple diet based on whole foods.
These foods tend to be very filling and make it easier to eat fewer calories without getting too hungry.
During the week, you should aim to eat mostly whole, single-ingredient foods. Avoid most foods that are highly processed.
Eating mostly lean proteins and low carb veggies can be incredibly satisfying even if you’re not getting that many calories.
Summary
To achieve the 10 pound (4.5 kg) goal, you should try to eat only whole foods during this week. Base most of your diet on lean protein and low carb veggies.
Reducing your calorie intake may be the most important factor when it comes to weight loss.
If you aren’t eating fewer calories than you expend, you will not lose fat ().
Here is a calculator that shows you how many calories you should eat to lose weight.
Here are a few simple tips to reduce calorie intake:
- Count calories: Weigh and log the foods you eat. Use a calorie counting tool to keep track of the amount of calories and nutrients you are taking in.
- Eat only at meals: Reduce all snacks and don’t eat anything after dinner.
- Cut your condiments: Eliminate calorie-dense condiments and sauces.
- Fill up on veggies: Fill your plate with vegetables and limit starchy carbs and added fats for the week.
- Choose lean proteins: Choose lower-fat proteins, such as chicken and fish.
- Don’t drink your calories: Instead, opt for water, zero-calorie drinks, tea or coffee. Protein shakes are fine if you count them as a meal.
Summary
Reducing your calorie intake is a vital factor for weight loss. You may need to do this aggressively in order to lose so much weight in just one week.
Exercise is one of the best ways to burn fat and improve your appearance.
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is another very effective training method.
Research suggests that 5–10 minutes of HIIT can lead to similar or greater benefits for health and weight loss as five times that amount of regular exercise (, , ).
You can perform HIIT three to four times a week after a workout or as part of your normal training regimen. It is very important to do this with 100% effort or intensity. Most sprints should not last more than 30 seconds.
Here are a few protocols you can try. These can be done running in place or outside, or applied to a cardio machine like a bike, rower or treadmill:
- Session 1: 10 x 20-second sprint with 40 seconds rest
- Session 2: 15 x 15-second sprint with 30 seconds rest
- Session 3: 7 x 30-second sprint with 60 seconds rest
- Session 4: 20 x 10-second sprint with 20 seconds rest
Summary
Lifting weights and doing high-intensity intervals are among the best ways to lose weight and deplete muscle glycogen stores. They can also boost your metabolism and provide other benefits.
To burn extra calories and lose more weight, you can also increase your daily activity.
For example, the difference between a desk job and a manual job can account for up to 1,000 calories per day. This is the same as 90 to 120 minutes of high-intensity exercise ().
Simple lifestyle changes such as walking or biking to work, taking the stairs, going for walks outside, standing more or even cleaning the house can help you burn a lot of calories.
Summary
Increasing your daily activity is a great way to burn extra calories and lose more weight.
Intermittent fasting is another effective and proven tool for dropping fat (, ).
It forces you to reduce your calorie intake, since you are limiting your eating to a short window of time.
There are many different protocols, such as a 16-hour fast with an 8-hour feeding window, or a 20-hour fast with a 4-hour feeding window.
If you’re combining fasting with exercise, it may be wise to do the fasting at a different time than your workout.
Summary
Intermittent fasting is an excellent method to reduce calorie intake and lose weight.
Several other methods can help you drop water weight and appear leaner and lighter. These include:
- Take dandelion extract: A supplement called dandelion extract can help reduce water retention ().
- Drink coffee: Coffee is a healthy source of caffeine. Studies suggest that caffeine can help you burn more fat and lose excess water ().
- Mind your intolerances: Eating things that you are intolerant to, such as gluten or lactose, can lead to excessive water retention and bloating. Avoid foods that you think you may be intolerant to.
Here are 13 more ways to lose excess water weight.
Summary
Other ways to lose water weight include supplementing with dandelion extract, drinking coffee and avoiding foods you are intolerant to.
The diet and lifestyle changes mentioned here can help you lose weight quickly.
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Just remember that most of this weight loss is due to water-related weight loss, so you are likely to regain weight once your carbohydrate and calorie intake increases again.
In addition, this program should not be performed for a long time, and it is not a reliable solution for weight loss.
However, some of the tips given here, such as weight lifting, HIIT, and a generally active daily routine, can be good long-term habits for building muscle and burning calories.
Overall, long-term weight loss is best achieved through a healthy lifestyle that suits your personal needs. To get the nutrients your body needs, it is important to follow a balanced diet.
When all is said and done, a balanced diet is far more important than the number on the scale.
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Originally published at https://www.healthline.com September 27, 2016
