Last Updated on September 2, 2019 by Michael Brockbank
A lot of people are looking for the quickest way to “buff” or “slim.” In reality, health and fitness isn’t something that spontaneously happens. In most instances, it takes a bit of work. However, it may be possible to lose 10 pounds in a week depending on certain variables.
One thing you need to keep in mind, though, is that everyone is different. Diets and exercises that work exceptionally well for one person may not work well for you.
In reality, pushing to lose 10 pounds in a week has potential to cause harm. It’s better to focus on something like losing 10 pounds in a month. Pushing yourself too hard to lose as much as possible in a short period of time will have lasting effects and might lead to various deficiencies and physical complications.
Before trying any diet plan or exercise routine, always check to see if there is scientific evidence to support the claim. It can save you a lot of problems later on.
What is Needed to Lose 10 Pounds in 7 Days?
Don’t assume that you can simply hop on some diet or exercise routine and lose 10 pounds in a week. In many instances, it’s just not going to happen. It’s not because you failed, but because there are a lot of things that come into play.
Understand the First Few Days
If you go from being obese and lethargic to dieting and exercise, you’ll undoubtedly lose a lot of weight in a very short amount of time. For one thing, you’re intake is modified which means your taking in less than you were a few days ago.
Secondly, your body needs to flush out all the junk – this means trips to the bathroom.
Here’s a good example. When I tried the Lean for Life diet, I lost 16 pounds within three days. Was this all fat loss? No. For the most part, it was my body digesting food from that weekend. Which I piled up because I knew it would be my “last meal” of junk food for a while.
I also flushed my system by being in ketosis and started to build muscle mass while revamping my metabolism.
Many things will contribute to a scale remaining at a certain number over the week. The scale will fluctuate as you begin to take a slimmer shape. Things like water retention, muscle development and bathroom visits often cause the scale to bounce around within 3 to 5 pounds quite often.
If you weigh 290 pounds today, don’t expect to “weigh” 280 by next week. If you’re exercising and getting into weight training, muscle weighs more than fat. You’ll be burning inches, but gaining muscle density.
So, don’t put too much emphasis on the scale.
Counting Calories
Experts believe one pound is the equivalent of 3500 calories. So if you want to lose 10 pounds in a week, you’ll focus on burning about 24,500. This is above and beyond simply living.
Humans will burn calories just by being alive. It’s the energy and components your body uses to keep you breathing, blood flowing through your veins and even processing food.
For instance, I burn about 1.4 calories per minute sitting idle or sleeping.
The number of calories you’ll burn is related to your physiology. Obese people will burn faster than those who are skinny. It also depends on your age, physical condition, height and sex.
If I was to stick to a 1000 calorie diet, I would still have to burn about 2,484 calories just in physical activity alone every day. Now, let’s take into account that I can burn about 12.6 calories per minute with aerobic exercise.
According to the numbers, it would take me 3.29 hours of intense exercise each day to lost 10 pounds in a week. It’s not impossible, but it’s highly improbable.
You also need to take into consideration the quality of foods you eat while trying to lose 10 pounds in 7 days. Things that are higher in carbs and sugars will definitely make it more difficult.
That is, unless you plan on going into some form of weight training.
Determination and Motivation
Any diet requires a degree of determination to succeed and motivation to continue. In order to lose 10 pounds in a week, your patience is going to exhaust rather quickly. That’s because of the sheer work you’ll put in to reach caloric and fitness goals.
One of the more important aspects to consider is your well-being. Pushing yourself to lose so much weight in a short amount of time is going to wear you out quickly. This is because your body still requires certain components to operate. A lack of these will surely weigh on your mental state.
Personally, I doubt I could do something this extravagant. I have a problem with low blood sugar, and I easily go into shock if I work out for more than 45 minutes at a time without a snack of some kind.
Healthiest Ways to Lose 10 Pounds in a Week
To be perfectly honest, I’m not convinced there is a healthy way to lose 10 pounds in a week. Most diets I’ve researched on the Internet state how any longer than seven days puts you at risk of various deficiencies.
Even the military diet advises warning and caution.
So, the following is more based in personal experience. The most weight I lost and kept off was about 15 pounds within a month. That was after losing 16 within the first few days of the Lean for Life diet.
It takes longer than seven days for the body to adapt to a new way of living.
Monitor Intake vs Output
The important thing to bear in mind is your intake versus your output. You need to eat less than you’re burning. So if you don’t want to exercise to lose weight, you need to decrease the amount of food you consume.
Think of it like a car. Sitting idle, you’re still burning gas. Periodically, the tank will need to be filled as you’ll still need gas to keep the engine running. If you drive around a bit, you’ll need more gas in a shorter period of time. The more active you are, the more you need to eat to give your body the nutrients it needs.
I like using the tool, MyFitnessPal. It’s great for keeping an eye on what I eat, and my Fitbit data keeps the calorie burn updated throughout the day. This way, I know if I can “afford” to eat something outside of my normal meals.
Healthier Selections of Food
Another way to lose weight relatively fast is to make better choices in food. Instead of a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, my favorite cereal, I now have 2 eggs and 2 links of sausage for nearly half of the calories and twice the protein.
More fruits and vegetables are an excellent way to fill the stomach on fewer calories. It also ensures you’re getting a lot of nutrition for the body. After all, you don’t want to break down internally just because you want to lose 10 pounds.
Increase Physical Activity
I know a lot of people don’t like the idea of exercise. Sometimes it seems mundane and more like a chore. However, you can still burn calories without doing push-ups or jumping jacks. Exercise is just another term for “physical activity.”
I play the Xbox Kinect on a daily basis. I love Kinect Sports Season 2: Tennis to this very day. I also burn more calories playing it than many people doing intense aerobics or gym workouts.
It’s all about keeping your body moving to burn off as many fats, carbs and calories as possible without making yourself sick.
In fact, I burned a lot of calories going up to the mountains and tubing through the snow in Faser.
My point is you don’t have to submit to workout DVDs to get “exercise.”
Don’t Fast
In my opinion, fasting is one of the worst things you can do to your body. Denying yourself nutrients, carbs and even sugars can have devastating consequences depending on physiology.
Case in point, I suffer from low blood sugar. After a grueling workout without eating properly, I’ll go into a mild shock. I get weak, dizzy, cool to the touch and on the verge of passing out.
Fasting is not the answer, and I hope you’re not considering it. Even obese people need to eat to replace the elements the human body cannot store on its own.
For example, vitamin B12 is an element we cannot store which helps in the creation of energy and the development of red blood cells.
Possibilities of Losing 10 Pounds in a Week
I cannot say with certainty that losing 10 pounds of fat in a week is possible. Unfortunately for myself, it’s not something that is feasible. I simply cannot do what needs to be done because of my physiology.
With that being said, I cannot say it’s impossible either. I am sure there are people out there who can sustain low-intake and high-burn to drop the weight. Just bear in mind that you might not be one of them.
And if you’re not careful, you could cause some severe damage to yourself over the course of seven days.
Weight Loss Isn’t an Overnight Change
Not everyone loses weight at the same rate. Don’t assume that some magic pill or popular mainstream diet is going to fix everything. The best course of action is to find a diet and activity routine that is perfect for you.
It’ll take a bit of trial and error, but the results are worth the effort.
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