Last Updated on January 5, 2018 by Michael Brockbank
How much weight can you lose in a week? That really depends on many factors. It’s next to impossible for anyone to guarantee you’ll drop “X” amount of pounds within a certain time frame. However, there are things you can do that will help improve your chances of shedding fat inside seven days.
It all boils down to your own motivation and personal physique. Because everyone is different, you need to find the best plans that work for you.
Reality of Losing Weight in a Week
A lot of things can cause the scale to fluctuate. This means gauging progress in a week is quite difficult. You could be retaining water or even experiencing irregular bathroom breaks.
Too many things can keep a scale saying the same number over a 7-day period.
Losing weight isn’t something that is going to happen instantly. It’s an ongoing procedure that will require a great deal of motivation and effort from yourself.
Also keep in mind what works for one person may not work for you.
With that being said, here are the best ways I personally lose weight in a week.
Monitoring Your Intake
The first step to maximizing your weight loss in a week is to keep an eye on what and how much you’re eating. One of the biggest problems for obesity, especially in the United States, is overeating.
The human body needs a certain level of food to sustain itself. When you consume more than you’ll use, it’s stored as fat. Simply altering how much you eat in any given day will adjust how much you weigh at the end of seven days.
Mix in healthier alternatives in your daily eating routine. Instead of a sugary cereal, whip yourself up a couple of eggs and sausage links. Have a nice bowl of Cream of Wheat. Replace fattening foods with something that is more conducive to health.
Personally, I am partial to actually cooking my dinners. I have an amazing Chicken Carbonara that is nearly half the calories of the dish you buy from Dominoes Pizza.
Watch your portion sizes. Try to stick with the “suggested” servings printed on the labels of products. For example, one Lean Cuisine or can of Progresso soup is a meal, not two or three. Like Oreos? Eat two cookies instead of an entire row.
I like using MyFitnessPal to monitor my intake. It’s through this tool that I easily lost the first 20 pounds inside of two months.
I still eat a lot of the same stuff I did 40 pounds ago. The biggest difference is that I eat far less of them. I also try to make sure I get the nutrition I need from various meals. Proteins, vitamins and other nutrients are required if you want to be healthy.
Man cannot survive on cupcakes alone.
Getting More Physically Active
Burning the foods you eat is imperative to losing weight in a week. This means you need to get up and get more active if you want to shed those extra pounds. And in reality, any physical movement will do as long as it’s sustainable.
The longer you move, the more calories and fats you’ll burn. It’s all about keeping the heart rate up for long periods of time. Something as simple as walking around the neighborhood for 30 minutes could do wonders for burning excess calories.
Do anything that has the potential to work up a sweat. Shovel snow, clean the house, do some aerobics…anything. The point is to be as active as you can throughout the day. I often dance around to music…much to the entertainment of my cats.
This is one of the reasons why I love my Fitbit Charge 2. It gives me an idea of how physically active I am throughout the day. With how many wearables that are on the market right now, I’m sure you can find one. In fact, there is a health watch at Walmart for $10.
I gained six pounds over the span of the last two months because I stopped my daily 10-minute walks during breaks. Because it’s colder, I didn’t feel the need to walk. Unfortunately , I didn’t reduce my intake. The end result was starting 2018 at 240lbs instead of the 233.8 I was before.
I’ll be doing a case study on myself next week involving the Xbox Kinect and how much weight I can lose using it as an exercise machine. I already know how effective it is, but I don’t have my original data available. Plus, I am going to mix up the study with a few new additions.
Better Ways to Measure
Like I said, trying to gauge losing weight in a week is difficult because of variables. Scales can be misleading, especially if you’re replacing fat with muscle density. This is because the meat on your bones weighs more than fat.
Here are a couple of methods I often find better for weight loss.
Photos
This is why I take selfies, even though I hate them. It gives me a visual recording of progress. So even if the scale says I didn’t lose anything in a week, pictures don’t lie. That is, unless you’re handy with Photoshop.
You don’t have to slap them up on social media. Use photos as your own personal motivator. However, I’m not really sure how much of a difference you’ll see in yourself only after a week.
Measuring Tape
A measuring tape can work wonders as a method to gauge fat loss. Well, until you start building more muscle mass. But then you can visually see muscle definition in your photos.
The more mass you lose, the lower the inches will be around various parts of the body. Just make sure you record all of your measurements in tools like MyFitnessPal. It’s a much more accurate way to see if you’re actually slimming down as opposed to what the scale says.
It’s a Process…
No one can really guarantee you’ll lose a specific amount of weight in a week. There are just too many things that can influence the end result. The best you can do is put in the effort to make sure you’re burning more than you’re eating. Everyone is different.
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