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 found this site and I agree with so much of it. I have lost a lot of weight doing the same sort of things stated here. I remember sitting at a work breakfast with people criticizing me for not eating breakfast. I prefer to eat my calories later. Funny thing though they were all rather fat. Keith is giving good advice and losing weight and then maintaining is not easy. So, one can either live with some restrictions on lifestyle or just be fat/overweight/unfit. If it were easy to look a certain way everyone would.
I am 5 ” 3 and weigh 182 pounds. So very over weight. Will this help me?
yes
So, did you try it? Did it help?
My normal caloric intake is around 1800 a day. At 800 calories a day plus some weight training my deficit would only be around 1200. Which comes out to 2 1/2 pounds for the week. Am I missing something? How does this diet work that it burns more than what I’m figuring?
you lose a lot of water weight, nothing magical.
If lifting weights is good, why no curling?
b/c this is an extreme deficit diet, so focusing on big compound movements is better for most.
Hi i have arthritas and cant do weights ca n i still do this for a week
I’m 13 and I weigh 54-53 kgs, and I’m 165-164 inches. My daily intake is less than 200 calories. Is my weight healthy?
that’s horrible, why are you doing that? Stop please.
Horrible diet. Try taking in 800 calories a day for a week. Exercise daily. For example, my daily exercise routine is: 20 lunges (10 each leg), 10 push ups, 25 squats, 80 star jumps, 60 second wall sit. 🙂 Hope I helped
what if i eat 500 calories a day with no exercise will i lose weight ? and if yes how much ?
that’s stupid, don’t do it.
A question – can I use a kettlebell programme in lieu of weights? Cheers for this article. My weight refuses to budge, so this might be a kick up its bum so I can get into the comfortable part of my BMI.
Will check back in a week! Cheers again!
Yes if workouts are intense enough. Don’t do this if you’ve already been lowering calories consistently for a while.
really nice post!!! and i totally agree that this should be done for ONE week only!!! keeep it upp fhaaam!!!
Can I do this and still lose a lot of weight if I don’t workout?
yes but I HIGHLY DO NOT recommend it.
Can you explain why cardio is bad exercise plz
read previous comments.
Bad b/c you’re in a such an extreme deficit already so cardio isn’t needed.
Ty. So no running… Toning exercises ok such as work outs without weights, sit ups, planks, lunges etc plz?
no such thing as “toning exercises” but yes those will help.
I’m burning about 700 calories at the gym and eating about 450 a day …. I feel fine don’t feel dizzy out I’m also doing protien drinks coffee and vitamin powders so I think I should shed some major pounds
You’ll feel like crap sooner or later, I u guarantee it, plus that’s just not healthy.
Burning 700 cals is a lot of work and eating even less, putting yourself in an energy balance below 0 is really bad.
If I go to a TUFF BOOTCAMP instead of lifting weights. Is that considered cardio?…it’s mainly squats lunges push ups…that type of stuff. but I only use 5lb hand weights…so its not really heavy lifting. Also will taking vitamins and drinking protein drinks help or hurt the process?
depends on the intensity of the bootcamp but it should be fine.
Protein drinks are just a way to get protein. I recommend whole foods, though.
I did this when I was young and it worked. I think you’re instructions are great and simple. I hate it when diets are so specific they leave you no choice. I read the comments hoping to hear others’ results, instead there’s a bunch of silly people acting like middle schoolers talking about sex.
I am 12 and I weigh 97kg I am VERY over weight will this help me ?
No please do not this if you’re 12.
I’m 15 turning 16, weigh 212 pounds and I’m around 5 ft 9. I want to drop down to atleast 205 or 202 by the time I travel which is in 13 days. Is it possible with this diet?
do not do this if you’re 16.
What about loose skin? I’m a 5’10 male and 216 lbs, would like to be around 190 lbs before the year’s end. I’m afraid to lose more than 1 or 2 lbs a week because of the loose skin I see other people who have lost weight rapidly have. Do you think this is a legitimate concern? What’s the max amount of weight I can lose without getting loose skin?