Jul, 12, 2010

How to Lose 10 Pounds in a Week

I often get emails asking me how to lose 10 pounds in a week. Chances are you have a beach vacation, high school reunion, or hot date coming up next week and you want to look mega foxy.

First, let me ask you, why the heck did you wait so long?!

Actually, I’m surprised that people still even consider this to be an option! I blame it on all that confusing advertising from fat burner and diet companies that want to lead people to believe that this kind of quick weight loss can be done, and in a healthy way!

But sorry, I’m here to tell you that losing 10 pounds in a week is just not realistic or healthy, and even if you did lose 10 lbs in a week it’s not going to be purely from fat. And if you did lose 10 lbs in a week chances are you lost some muscle mass and now have slowed down your metabolism. What a nightmare!

So scratch the idea of finding out how to lose 10 pounds in a week and instead focus on maximizing the time you have to look as good as you can by the end of the week! Don’t give up hope yet because there are some changes you can make to look leaner and even lose 1-2 pounds of fat.

But before I give you the hot juicy details, let’s look at the reality of losing 10 pounds in a week a little more closely.

Consider this: To lose 1 lb of fat you must burn or cut out 3500 calories from your diet. So for 10 lbs that equates to eliminating or burning 35,000 calories in a single week. Whoa! That’s a lot of friggin’ calories! Actually, that’s 5000 calories a day. You would essentially have to stop eating and then burn off an extra 3000 calories a day with 5 or more hours of vigorous exercise. See where I’m going here…This goal is actually a bit ridiculous when you think about it that way.

So if you have some awesome event coming up soon and want to lose the weight quickly then here are a few steps you can take to lean up and look better. I know it’s not 10 pounds, but every little bit helps right?

First, you can still lose 1-2 pounds if you eat super clean and exercise. So clean up that diet and hit the gym like an Olympian all week. Need tips to drop the pounds quickly? Then be sure to get my free fat loss e-book with quick exercise and nutrition fat loss tips in the boxes below!

Second, flattening your belly by de-bloating can be your best friend especially for a beach trip. De-bloating won’t make you lose fat but can help to flatten out that stomach and make you look leaner. So start de-bloating right away by following these tips:

Cut out carbonated drinks. The fizz can cause gas to get trapped in your stomach and extend that belly.
Watch sugar-free foods and drinks. The sugar alcohols can cause you to bloat, so cut these out completely or at least keep it to 1-2 per day.
Watch the sodium. Limit highly processed foods, condiments, and fast food and look for food with 500mg or less of sodium per serving.
Cut out certain veggies. Beans, broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower are known to be gassy, so you may want to cut back before the big event.

So, although you’re not going to lose 10 pounds in a week, you definitely can be on your way to creating a better body over the next 7 days. But for next time, plan ahead and start getting ready early! If you want to lose 10 pounds give it at least 5 weeks so that you can have plenty of time to lose the fat.