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.


I just discovered your blog (after searching for the best way to lose weight for an upcoming trip beginning in February) And I am truly inspired. I agree with everything you say — I have struggled with my weight for as long as I can remember and you are absolutely right — the only way to lose weight is to eat fewer calories. Im not exactly sure the approach I will take — i have about three weeks and im thinking about doing a combo of the intermittent fasting and the extreme dieting (not together but one week on one week off) Thoughts as to which approach i should go for first?
Hey AEB,
In my opinion, you should try the extreme dieting first, since this will create momentum and motivate you to push harder in the coming weeks.
-Keith
im 18 an weight 82kg my target is to get to 77kg you think that if i make this diet i would get what i desire?
also could you give me a meal that has 800 calories please
Possibly it’s hard to say, it really depends on many factors, but you will lose a lot of water weight. As for meal examples, I would stick with stuff like salads and clear soups since those will help fill you up on very little calories. Plain old chicken breast is good too.
Hi,
I am 25, female. I weigh 128 lbs and I am 5ft10. I am slim but I want to loose about 10-15 lbs within the next 11 days. I know it sounds last minute and drastic but I just want to be in perfect shape for the summer as I am moving to a sunnier destination.
There are two things in my way though.
1) I have a going away party at the end of the week and I would like to be able to have a glass or two of some sort of alcohol.
2) I can’t get a gym membership for 11 days so It would be difficult to do resistant training. Could I just use 2 litre bottles of water instead?
Also I started doing 800 calories throughout the day but a piece of fruit usually would calm down my appetite anyway so it suits me this way. I don’t really get very hungry like this as opposed to fasting and eating, that just doesn’t suit me but if better I could try.
Can you give me suggestions/ answers for my above situation.
Thanks very much.
C
1) A glass or two of alcohol is fine, just watch your total calories.
2) If you can’t get access to weight, use bodyweight exercises instead.
Do whatever meal frequency you want, but when going so low calorie, I find that the lower the frequency the better.
does this really work? im 17 but im super short im 5’1 and 130 lbs so ya im fat and by june i want to be 110 so i need to loose 20 lbs will this work for fast results cuz the last thing i need is to starve myself and it not work , when i possibly could of done another type of diet.
yes you’ll lose plenty of weight in the first week but not 20 pounds.
i wanted to ask you that in the diet are we eating 800 calories in breakfast or spliting them!!
I really doesn’t matter, but I recommend skipping breakfast, since increasing your meal frequency on so little calories isn’t easy.
You can split them, and have enormous salads with tomato, lettuce, cucumber, onions etc, and put either tuna or chicken breast on top. If all your calories go into your protein, you can fill up on salad and still get a good meal.
Great advice Kirsten.
hey man im 18 years old approx 218 lbs, 5’7 tall. ive been going to the gym for about 4 years now, non stop, no breaks. i started weight training about 2 years ago and just did cardio before that to help me with soccer. I have a fair bit of muscle on me now, as you can imagine a short stubby buff dude lol.
i used to weigh about 205 lbs before i started the HSC 4 months ago,ive quit the gym ever since for study time. since then ive felt really shit and have put on a gut. was just wondering if this weight loss method would be suitable for me as im very limited to excersise =(
You can do this diet, but remember to only do it for a week. You’ll end up losing approx. 2+ pounds of fat and a bunch of water weight. ANd if you can’t hit the gym, then do bodyweight exercises.
Hey there, just had a couple questions for you
I am 124 pounds and 5’0 body fat percentage is 26 I wanna lose body fat and I do have muscle under the fat I have been trying to lose since I do weight training but I guess mt eating is a big problem I have an event in 7 days and if I follow this plan exact as you say you can legit lose 10-15 pounds for real? I really hope this will help me love it so absolutely no cardio?
Hey Tee,
Yes, you will lose 10-15 pounds. This weight will come from both fat and water. And no, don’t do any cardio.
Hey, firstly, I know you said you dont need to workout more than 3 times a week and no cardio, however if I decide to workout 5 times this week, 20 minutes tread mill, 30 minute pecks and upper body machines with weight and like 20 minutes of ab machines with weights will it hurt? I mean I understand it may not be good to push yourself too much, but its only this week and I’m pretty sure if I do workout alot this week I may lose maybe .5 lb more or just get a tinsy bit of definition before my camp on monday.
Also would you recommend a certain time to eat the one meal during the day, like the middle of the day (lunch time) or dinner, or what?
I honestly don’t recommend it which is probably not what you want to hear, but if you think you can handle the increase in training, then go for it. Just make sure you’re mentally prepared to do this because it’s gonna be tough.
And it doesn’t matter when you eat the 1 meal. Anytime of the day is fine.
Obviously it isnt recommended, cause its only further tiring myself, but if fingers cross i can get through working out that much and the diet at the same time, at the end of the week it wont be worse than not working out as much right?
Yes, if you do what you prescribed, you’ll get better results.
Hi Admin!
This has given me so much inspiration, I’m not overweight however I would like to lose a fair bit before I go to bali in three weeks.. How much do you think I could lose in this time? Thanks heaps!
I have no idea, there are so many factors to consider.
thanks for the reply, ive set myself on a prune juice, fruit and salad diet, with lots of water. ill fill you in with the results by the end of the week =)
I think I fucked it up.. I started Monday to eat 800 cals went a little over and tried to save my stomach and eat one big meal today I went over my 800 and time is running out for me any suggestions?
Well depending on how much you overshot by, I would just lower my calories the following day by the respective amount.
But if you just overshot by a little, don’t worry about it, you’ll still lose a lot of weight.
Mmm I would say like a 200-300 calories? Okay. I will try thanks!
Can u still drink as much water as u want or is it limited?
Ya feel free to drink as much water as you want
So if I weight 130 lbs, how much am I supposed to lose in 2 weeks?
I REALLY don’t recommend this for 2 weeks. You could potentially lose muscle mass, not to mention that you might go mentally insane. But if you were to do this for 2 weeks, I would throw in a refeed on the weekends where you eat 500-1000 calories over your maintenance calories.
Heyyy love the blog!
Im 18, female, 5’5, and weigh 80 kg >_<
My goal weight is 60kg! Any idea how long i should do this for?
It’s tough to say exactly. There are just too many variables to account for. Do this “extreme” diet for 1 week and go on a more realistic dieting approach after that. Realistically, you can lose 1 kg every 1-2 weeks.
What would a 800 calories meal be like?
What would it include?
And, if I don’t enjoy going to the gym, but rather run for one hour a day???
Technically it could include anything, but I preferably it would include plenty of vegetables and lean protein to keep you full. For example, you could eat a large chicken salad.
And no, please don’t go running. I prefer you to do some form of resistance training so that you will preserve muscle mass.
If I do cardio,will bcaa’s help keep my muscle mass or maybe adding a whey protein shake with the 1 meal?
If you’re doing this diet, just stick with resistance training. BCAA might limit the amount of muscle lost, but it’s just not worth it.
So your suggesting no cardio? That is not needed to lose weight on this diet? I’ve actually lost 60 in 5 months not on this diet,surprisingly eating 6 small meals a day but then came to a plateau, I’ve been doing a 18/6 IF and that is not doing anything. I need to break this plateau to get the last 20-25lbs off.
I suggest no cardio when eating 800 calories per day. Other than that, doing cardio while on a more realistic diet is okay. Getting through a plateau is simply about being consistent and dedicated.
I only plan on doing this for a week or 2 so i can try to break this plataeu and then going back to a more traditional diet but still fasting for 16 hrs. I need to keep cardio in my routine because I have a fast pace job that requires endurance,I work on an incentive,the faster I finish my route the faster I can go home and still get paid for the day.
If your job requires you to move a lot, that’s fine. Just don’t throw in any extra cardio.
Hey, this diet looks good, I am going to try it starting tomorrow because I really want to lose some weight before I go back to University in September.
Quick question, so I have 4 weeks before I go back if I did this diet for 4 weeks do you think I would lose 10-15pounds per week? I know you said it’s only best to do the diet 7-10 days but I am pretty strong willed and want to lose as much as possible 😉
I really really really don’t want anyone to do this for more than a week. Trust me, you’ll thank me later.