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.


If I eat absolutely nothing and only drink water for 4 days will I lose weight and if so how much?
Don’t do that.
Am really sorry can you clarify what exercises we should be doing. Thank you for sharing this, looking forward to starting tomorow.
There are so many.
But focus on compound movements that work multiple muscles – bench, squat, pull ups, military press, etc…
How many grams of protien do you suggest daily with the 800 calories?
I would say at least 100 grams, really you should be getting as much as possible that still allows you to get veggies and enough vitamins/nutrients.
Hey Keith, I just started doing this program today and currently I cooking my 800kcal meal 🙂 What kind of macro ratio should I aim for? Is carbs 45%, fat 14%, protein 41% alright or should I increase my protein intake? Cheers, Soeren
it should be very low carb, high protein
What if I do this for 1 week then the next week instead of 800 calories I jump it to like 950-1000 so it won’t mess with adding weight back . Could I loose 20 pounds in 2 weeks ?
No I don’t recommend that.
Did a little rebalancing now and tuna, chicken, champignons and some oil now resulted in 2% carbs, 31% fat, 67%. Hope that is getting closer!
I’ve started today! Thanks for the great advice, I’ve been looking for someone to tell the truth about weight loss and muscle loss. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! High protein, not more than 800 calories and stay the hell off the treadmill and pick up those weights 3 days a week. 🙂
Question: If you are female height 5’6 weigh 171 and plan to do this diet for a week then take a week off with eating right, could I try this diet again for the third week? I know that you said it should be done every 3-4 months. What would it do that is so bad? Also, Can I use protein shakes? They are 280 calories, 6g fat, 21g carbs and 36g protein. I usually aim to have 1-2 a day. Is that way to many carbs? How many carbs a day? Please let me know your thoughts. Thanks for all the helpful advice! 🙂
800 calories, 100g protein, ??? carbs
As long as you stay within the calories and get enough protein, you’re fine. Don’t worry about counting carbs.
Thanks! Started yesterday and already down 2 pounds.
How have you got on?
How are you getting on?
Any advice on my question is greatly appreciated??? Thanks
I can’t believe there are morons out there like you. Your message sucks and so does your blog. Don’t tell people who obviously have low self esteems that this is a good idea, They will regain all the weight and feel even more awful. Way to go ass lick! Try to get a real job and go fuck yourself
Why would you say they’ll regain all their weight? This is just for one week.
I will definitely try to fuck myself later. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Dude. You’re awesome.
Lol!!!! This made my day!!! Hilarious reply from Keith !!! 🙂
If I drink two protein shakes from herbalife is that ok??
as long as you’re not over the 800 calories.
Looking forward to starting this
Also I have 14lbs to lose howuch will I see gone after a week doing this
Hey, what do I do the following week? to make sure I don’t gain it back? 🙂
Multiply your bw in pounds by 12. That is your new daily intake.
The link to the study from the American College Of Nutrition doesn’t work. Do you have a better link? Thanks!
That’s weird I’ll try to find another link. Thanks for the head up.
Hi there..I really need to loose weight…I’m currently 154kg and hating myself. If this works..it will be the kick start that I need. But I would like to ask…are there any excersises that I can do to substitute weight lifting? I have no access to the gym and no weights at home. Also, how many times a day should I work out and for how long?
Many Thanks
workout 2-3x per week.
Can some people lose more weight than others? For example in 5’3 and I weigh 118 can I still lose about 15 pounds In a week?
No you would probably lose 5-8 pounds.