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.


An also tey say females should nt lift weights cz ten tey wil hv broad shoulders can’t I use to walk or jog instead
I am trying to achieve a very low body fat. I was doing a diet and it worked well at beginning; however I achieved plateau. I simply stopped to lose weight. Do you recommend for me follow this diet for one week as one way to break plateau?
You can try 🙂
When you say, “workout 2-3 times per week with weights”; can dumbells be used?
yes
If you intend to reply then reply to this post and do me a favour by deleting or not publishing the previous comment. It’s hard to explain.
Hard to say what happened, maybe your diet wasn’t on par. But yes monthly cycle can affect weight loss but according to many women I’ve spoken to, it all balances out in the end.
Can I exercise more than 3 times during the week, and maybe do cardio as well as weight training? xx
did you read the article?
Yes I did, love. But wouldn’t combining them kinda be okayish?
no just follow the article, stop trying to add stuff to it.
I would like to do this for 4 weeks. I’ve done this in the past, exactly as you describe but I split it into 3 meals. Example:Yogurt and apple. Chicken salad. Steak salad.
I’ve done it for 6 weeks once years ago and got to ideal weight. Since then I’ve only done it two weeks at a time to try to lose SOME of what I had regained. Now I’m heavier so want to go for 4 weeks. Any tips?
I don’t recommend it for 4 weeks so I won’t provide any advice on how to do it. Sorry, too dangerous but it’s your body. Do it if you want but I take no responsibility.
The standard- done for you everything out of pouches diets average 850kcals per day and after the first 3 days which always seem the hardest its quite easy to keep it up for months if need. Weight loss is around 19 pounds on the first month the regular weight loss of 14 pounds each month thereafter which is quicker than the average healthy eating plan. Please don’t forget that humans only store fat as a natural process to help them through the leaner times so having much reduced calories is something our bodies can deal with after all people who have their stomachs stapled are on probably less than 800 kcals per day and no one would argue about it just because a doctor has recommended it. We are intelligent people reducing calories to 800 per day until you reach desired weight loss isn’t dangerous being overweight is potentially. As long as you didn’t start off with an eating disorder and you have a goal weight that you stick to then go for it.
Well it seems you just want my permission to go on an extended 800 cal per day diet. I would never tell someone to do that, sorry. If you really want, go ahead but it’s not something I approve of.
I did following the purchased weight to go diet and got to goal 2 years ago and stayed there. As I said before it averaged 850 kcals per day so what you are suggesting for short term I can tell from experience works longer term also 🙂
Started this diet today. I can already feel the hunger but I’ll manage. I’ll post up my results in a week.
did u lose anythinfg?
If I don’t eat at all but drink juice or a drink with some sugar and get calories that way (like maybe 450 a day) will I lose more weight and faster? And do I have to do the weights? I hate lifting weights. 🙁
No, then you’re not getting protein and you’ll lose a lot of muscle. Yes I recommend lifting weights, but if you hate it you can do bodyweight exercises as well.
I’ve been on a 4 month 1100kcal ketogenic diet and having read the article I’d only say two things: green tea and coffee is definitely a great appetite killer so it’d be great for a diet like this. The other thing I’d suggest is perhaps a multivitamin? Though if someone were to follow this guide for the recommended two weeks I suppose a multivitamin wouldn’t be needed…
Do i eat the 800 calories before or after working out.
P.s i lost 13 pounds last time,so thank you
Doesn’t matter.
Why can’t i do any curl exercises? and if i really can’t what workouts do you recommend?
Are you referring to bicep curls?
yep
It’s fine but I wouldn’t make it the main focus of the workout.
Would it be safe for a 16 year old?
No absolutely not.
Thanks for this post! I’m going to try this out and see what happens. One question: are there any PHYSICAL drawbacks to doing this longer than a week? It sounds like you don’t recommend it for mostly mental reasons (i.e. people might lose control and binge eat). But I assume that as long as a person follows the plan and then slowly transitions to a more moderate plan once they’ve reached their goal weight, then they should be fine. Do you agree/disagree? I only ask because I have about 80 pounds to lose so while 10-15 pounds in 1 week would be great, I’d love to follow it for longer to accelerate the rest of the weight loss.
No also if you do it for longer than a week, you risk damaging your metabolism.
I’ve got an old back injury that bugs me, and lately I’ve been trying to lose weight to help curb it. The only catch is that a lot of good workout options tend to aggravate it, so I’m hoping to “crash” lose some weight to give me a bit more wiggle room.
The question I’ve got is are body weight exercises enough to work with this plan? I find a lot of the basic stuff doesn’t irritate my back too much so long as I pay a ton of attention to form. With the limited time I have, getting to the gym for weight training is a real problem. I can generally manage to salvage 30m of time out of my schedule at home most any day of the week though, so I’m wondering if body weight based ideas aren’t my holy grail. The good news is that the same lack of time will certainly keep me away from the kitchen, so as long as I keep tanked up on green tea I should be fine.
What would you suggest here?
Yeah sounds like you just need to get back into the groove of exercising so BW stuff if a good way to start.
Are you a doctor or nutritionist? This is a starvation diet and you’re giving out very bad advice. I suggest people move on to a more reliable information source or consult with your physician. I’m on a lightly ketogenic diet through ITG Diet I started at 217.6lbs and after the first week I had lost 11.6lbs. BUT I was eating protein meal substitutes 3 times a day that they offer. LOTS of vegetables and salad. Not counting calories. Eating 8oz of lean protein for dinner with more salad and veggies. No fruit (your body holds on to the sugars and converts them into fat), certain vegetables (no corn, no carrots, etc), no nuts, no juices, no dairy. This is until you hit your goal. I was completely stuffed every day the first week, went into ketosis on the 3rd day and gained energy. Not working out. Very low muscle loss (get weighed on a TANITA each week). Once I attain my goal weight I get to incorporate certain food groups back into my diet gradually. If anyone is interested check out It’s been 20 days and I’m down to 201 lbs!
If you’re going to call me out, it’s probably best not to pimp your ITG diet in the comment section.