Important note: Please advise your doctor before following any plan. Don’t follow the advice below if you are under 18.
People always ask: “How much weight can you lose in a week?” Well… to answer your question I have good news, awesome news, and bad news.
First onto the good news: YOU CAN LOSE A TON OF WEIGHT IN ONE WEEK
That’s right, you don’t have to be bound to the conventional wisdom of only losing 1 or 2 pounds a week. Extreme weight loss diets can definitely work, but only for a short period of time.
In fact, you can lose up to 15 pounds in one week if you do it correctly.
Now onto the awesome news: ALL THAT WEIGHT YOU LOSE WILL BE WATER AND FAT, NOT MUSCLE
Yup, you read that correctly, if you follow the methods at the end of this post, all the weight you lose during the week will be pure body fat. The conventional statement that losing more than 2 pounds per week leads to muscle, organ, and hair loss is absolute unicorn shit.
How do I know this? Because some awesome scientists from the American College Of Nutrition back in 1999, conducted a study, which tested 2 groups of people for 12 weeks.
One group only did traditional cardio, while the other group only did weight training. Both groups ate 800 calories a day. At the end of the study, both groups lost large amounts of weight, but the one that only did cardio lost large amounts of lean muscle mass, and the one that only did weight training didn’t lose any muscle mass at all.
So there you go, some hard hitting scientific facts that prove that you will not lose muscle during extreme dieting as long as you lift weights.
Note: And if you don’t have a gym membership or if you don’t have access to any weights, then doing a well-designed bodyweight program like Bodyweight Burn is your next best option.
And lastly, the bad news: YOU HAVE TO EAT VERY VERY LOW CALORIES
So yeah…. you have to eat a ridiculously low amount of calories to lose a lot of weight in a week. I’m talking along the lines of 800 calories a day.
The amount that would make any nutritionist hang themselves.
And now, onto the plan, but first, a picture of steaks:

The 2-step plan to lose the maximum amount of weight in a week
Please note that the following plan can be used by both men and woman.
And don’t do this plan if you’re under 18, you’re way too young to be eating such low calories.
I guarantee that if you follow the plan below, you will lose 10-15 pounds(water and fat) in one week:
1) For one week only, eat 800 calories per day.
2) Workout 2-3 times per week with weights. Make sure the weights are heavy and be sure to hit all body parts.
That’s all.
Some notes/tips about the above 2 steps:
- 800 calories is very little food, for any man, woman, or baby walrus. Because of this, I suggest that you only eat 1 meal per day a la Brad Pilon’s Eat Stop Eat. If you eat one 800 calorie meal per day, then you’ll at least feel somewhat satisfied, but if you split that up into 3 or even worse, 6 meals per day, then you’re not going to fare so well on this one week venture. Yes, this means that you will be fasting 24 hours every day for a whole week. Just remember, you will be burning fat, not muscle.
- Whenever possible, eat higher protein and eat foods with high water content such as fruits and soups. Also, drink lots of coffee and green tea, since they both tend to blunt hunger quite well.
- Stick with heavy compound exercises when in the gym. That means no curling and crunching, and if you even step foot on a treadmill, my dumbass radar will go off and I may have to kill you.
- If you can’t lift weights, then your next best option is to do some sort of bodyweight training. You know…exercises like squats, push-ups, lunges, pull-ups, sit-ups, etc..
- This is a mental game more than anything else. When you’re eating very few calories to lose weight faster, your mind starts playing tricks on you. Your stomach is gonna be grumbling more often. And there are gonna be times where you want nothing more than to self-sabotage yourself. Which is why the next point is so important.
- Above all, keep yourself distracted and out of the kitchen. If you’re constantly prancing around the kitchen and thinking about food, you’re going to fail. So keep yourself busy. Read a book, play some video games, take a nap, work on your tan, or shave your pubes. I don’t care. Just do something that doesn’t involve food.
- [EDIT 10/6/2014] I should also add that your protein intake needs to be HIGH. Like really high. In fact, the majority of your calories should probably come from protein, fruits, and veggies if you want this diet to be effective. The protein will help keep you full but more importantly also help maintain muscle.
Remember, this is only for one week
I just wanted remind you all, that this sort of extreme weight loss plan is only a temporary plan.
The results don’t have to be temporary, but the plan is. Please do not try and do this weight loss plan for more than a week.
Doing so is really going to mess with your head and you’ll most likely binge back to your original weight.
After one week, transition to a more moderate weight loss plan for the long haul.
I hope you guys now know how much weight you could lose in a week if went balls to the walls.
Want even better results? Take it to the next level with Fat Loss Boost
Many people have been asking me, “Can I do this for more than 7 days?”
Uh…
Yes and no.
Technically, you could eat 800 cals per day for a sustained period of time.
But sooner or later it’s gonna backfire on you.
If you want a more sustainable rapid fat loss plan…
Then I highly recommend checking out Fat Loss Boost.
This is a more long-term approach than the strategy I outlined in this blog post.
It’s a strategic rapid fat loss diet that works in 14 day cycles.
So you go hard on the diet for 14 days, lose a crap ton of weight, take a break, and repeat.
And the results from Fat Loss Boost are even better:
““I have been able to lose 10 pounds using this program. Starting weight 186. Weight this morning was 176.”
“I lost 12 lbs for my first attempt. Started at 201.7 and ended at 189.9. I am amazed!!! Thanks to everywhere for all the support and great hacks.”
“Ok people I’m done 😀. I hit 171.8 today, my goal was to break 172 on this round which was what I weighed almost ten years ago (lowest as an adult). That’s 30.2 lbs in just under 3 months.“
Pretty crazy, right?
Definitely give it a look if you want a realistic, yet challenging plan that burns fat faster than anything. you ever tried before.
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Questions? Like steak? Let me know down below.
I respond to (almost) every comment, which is pretty crazy considering there’s been over 3000 comments. Sigh…I need a hobby.
ONE WEEK 9lbs. Female 5' 9" age 52- start weight 149. end weight 140. l followed the 800 calories/day- 10am (300 cal) protein shake with tablespoon of MTC . 5pm (500 cal) A protein (fish, chicken, turkey burger, eggs), veggies, piece of cheese. 1 Tbps ACV around 7pm. Exercise- 3 times during the week- HIIT training 20min. treadmill (walk 2min. sprint one minute) . I know I'm a dumbass…you said no treadmill. I'm not good at following all of the rules. Lifted weights for 1/2hour. Walked at least 5miles every day too. Feel great!
congrats!
Hi! Can you split up the calories into a few meals or is part of the point for your body to be in ketosis from the fasting? Thanks!
yes split into however many you want.
It’s better to just eat one meal in my opinion, I think it honestly depends on if you’re a snacker fr. If you don’t have the self restraint to count your calories and eat super small portions with no slip ups it’s not gonna work but like I said it just depends on what kinda person u are. One meal helps me cause I like to snack
Hi
Hope your well
I need to lose the 3 kg which I just cannot seem to do.
Will this work for me
you gotta try it out and see. But it might not be in a week
Okay…Here goes nothing. Today is day one.
I’m totally going to try this.
So I've been reading this post now and again probably for 3 years. Some of the comments are hilarious of course.
Today I got serious. I'm about 50LBS bigger than when I first started giggling at this post. It was way past time. I'll use covid lockdown and stress as an excuse for moving from overweight to obese.
Tonight I fasted all day. Did some weight lifting and heavy housework. Broke my fast at 6pm with 3 wheat bread 360cal, 4 fried eggs 280cal. (Don't wanna add olive oil calories), 2 cups OJ 240cal.
Total calories 880.
Weighed myself, 271.7LBS. Female. 5'7" Oh dear!
Will keep you posted.
awesome, keep it up Gail
This method is proving to be incredibly effective for me so far. I'm on day 5 and have lost almost 8 pounds. My appetite has markedly decreased as well. I am pretty sure by Saturday when I weight myself again I will have lost at least 12 pounds.
However–and big caveat. If you are used to eating 3 squares a day particularly in the afternoon is a living hell the first few days. You just have to use all kinds of mind games and push through it. Your mind will play tricks on you almost every minute because it wants you to sabotage. Remember, you can reward yourself with a nutritious, protein dense meal for dinner! That's what has gotten me through it.
I've found it has gotten much easier in days 3 and 4. I imagine I'll just cruise for the next couple of days.
52 y/o masters athlete–mainly cycling. Looking to eventually lose 35 pounds and needed a jump-start.
Thanks!
awesome job
This worked I started at 132.00 lbs then at the end of the month i weighed 60 POUNDS! THANK YALL SO MUCH
um…what?
Your humor is awesome! Makes reading this so much fun. Thank you
thanks julie
Did you mean 3 workouts per DAY or WEEK?
week lol
Starting today … Start weight 127 goal weight 118. Will keep you posted! Thank you so much for your encouragement, candor and some humor mixed in. Weightloss is such a sensitive topic regardless.
I will check back in 7 days!!
Do NOT do this. This is extremely dangerous and will lead to numerous health issues, as well as weight gain in the long run. If you want to lose weight at a faster rate, the maximum you should be going for is 2.5 lbs a week. Anything faster than that and you’ll risk serious health complications and eating disorder issues. Do not listen to this advice.
so you gain weight by eating 800 calories per day? Amazing
Who wants to take that long too lose weight? I've lost 20lbs in 30days from just eating better without counting calories or working out and it's still taking too long. I can only imagine what I'll shed if.i use his advice and workout every other day and just eat one 800 calories meal a day. Plus fasting has so many other health benefits physical and mental. Only western medicine wants us to stay fat and says its OK..
So excited to try this! Realistically I would love to lose 20 pounds but I have a trip coming up in a couple weeks and if I lose 10-15 pounds by then; I will be extremely happy! I’ll check back in later with results
Starting this now as well but want to see if I can do 1000 per day. I’d say I’ll write back with results, but I’m sure I’ll only report back if I stay disciplined, stay under 1000 calories and avoid that fucking kitchen.
I’m quite confused, am I supposed to have one meal a day or split it up? Am I meant to eat only in the morning? Some people are saying they had 2 meals, one at night and then in the morning, please can someone explain because I’m confused and need to lose as much weight in 4 weeks as I can
1-2 meals is ideal for this
Oh man, this was quite an entertaining article to read. Not only is it funny in a sense but it also contained fact-based truths that you can rarely find elsewhere. It definitely got me motivated to try this plan out. Thank you for this^^
Also, do you reckon bodyweight exercises, such as calisthenics, be just as effective in not losing muscle mass and fat/water instead?
No, weights are preferable to bodyweight exercises.
So a year and a half ago I lost 40 lbs. (not using this btw) and the last 6 months had gained 15 of it back. I started this Friday and now on Tuesday have lost half of the 15 lbs. I had gained back.
wow nice job
Need a Kickstart
Starting this today
Will update on the 15th
Thank you for your advice. Would you still recommend this diet for someone without a gallbladder? I would like to give this a try.