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.


Wow what horrible advice. Is this guy a fitness trainer or doctor or nutritionist? No. You will lose muscle and lower your metabolism starving yourself with just 800 calories a day. Maybe if you are 400 lbs then you’ll lose 15 lbs but not a slightly overweight person. This is just some white guy douchebag. Don’t LISTEN to the article!
Are you kidding me? I’m not white.
Malubay, Are you a fitness trainer or doctor or nutritionist? If you are going to bash him for posting this article, then I would like to hear some of your facts and not just name calling and putting him down. I did this for a week and I was fine. I have been to the doctor for my annual physical since doing this and all my labs came back better than they were last year. I also lost 8 lbs in 5 day. I’m not obese. I am over weight, but I’m not obese. I NEEDED to do this for a week. I am not a strong willed person when it comes to food. I have so many bad habits and just this 1 week of eating an incredibly low amount of calories and lifting weights, I have kicked so many of those bad habits that have been stopping me from losing weight. Which is more unhealthy…..CONSTANTLY DIETING and not losing any weight and still sneaking bad foods? OR putting my body through 7 days of DISCOMFORT to break those bad habits and start off a new meal plan that I can stick to and not sneak those unhealthy snacks? I am glad that I did this. He didn’t put a gun to my head and force me to do it. ANY person that reads his post, should be able to determine whether or not it is for them. I was very careful while deciding if I should do this or not. I read his post MULTIPLE TIMES before I made that decision. People can live with out food for a while. On this “800 Calorie FAST”, you are still providing your body with nutrients. You are not starving it. You are just changing the way it handles it’s food for a week. If you have better facts than what he has provided, I would like to hear them. Otherwise, you are just a not so nice person that puts other people down by calling them names and dropping the “RACE CARD” into the mix. Which by the way, kind of tells everyone on here, what race you are. If this isn’t for you, then move on. Have a nice day.
How much weight would I lose I using treadmill and burning 300 cals aday in 60mi
I am 60 years old and I weight 76 kg.
I am also keeping my daily diet of about 1500 cal aday.
I’m 5’6 and weigh about 135 lots of muscle. How much weight can i expect to lose if i follow religiously?
at least 5 pounds.
I don’t see why you want to loose weight at all. 135 is an IDEAL weight for your height.
So right now, I am at a plateau. Going to try this and see how it works out for me!
would you recommend eating the 1 meal before or after uve worked out? Cuz personally i feel like working out on a empty stomach sucks, but at the same time id really like something after too. I guess it doesnt matter? Anyway, id appreciate a answer.
Again: thanks for all theses guides, diets n workouts theyre really helping me out!
So far so good, I’m on day 5 and I’ve lost 7 lbs! I generally eat healthy and workout to maintain, but wanted to try this to see how much weight I could lose. What is your advice for when the week is over? I feel like when I start eating again, the weight will come back…
Female 5’5 134lbs before and now 127lbs.
that’s amazing. I’m starting tomorrow! I’m just like you! Good for you. (I don’t have an answer but wanted to virtually “high five” you!)
If I weight 127 lbs, (5’3), how much do you think I can lose on this diet?
prob 5 pounds or so.
I am scared of losing muscle mass, is it okay if I bump this to 900-1000 kcal so I can ensure getting my protein, vegetables & some extra fat? I am ready to take this one on!
I am 5’6 and I weigh 115 lbs. I want to try this to lose about 5-10 lbs. how much do you think I’ll lose?
prob close to 5.
You’re already under weight, why lose more??
is it okay to eat less then 100 cals a day or is that unhealthy. i’ve been doing that for 4 days and I feel fine but I want to know if its unhealthy
very unhealthy. STOP RIGHT NOW.
Is it okay use rice protein powder to fill some of those protein needs?
if you have no other option. Whey is better.
Would I lose more then 5 pounds for that week if; I Followed your instructions, drank plenty of water like 1 liter and hit the gym everyday that week? Or would I get the same results as going 2-3 times.
water intake won’t really make a difference.
What is “heavy compound exercise” great article by the way. I am going to try this to jump start getting back to Paleo life style. Thank you!
exercises that work more than one muscle like bench press, pull ups, squat.
I signed onto a weigjloss competition at work last week and lost 15 lbs in 7 days. No exercise, consumed about 300 calories a day. Mostly ate radishes, pepperchini peppers, canned spinich and green beans and the best help was lost of tomato juice, low in calories and fills you.