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.


Hi there, I like the idea of your fast weightless technique but I need more details! I’m almost 300lbs and I want so bad to lose weight but I think even if I do this and I eat the wrong food it can make it go down the drain.. So what are some 800 calorie meals? Is it good to eat the same thing everyday or switch it up each day? Also what are some exercises from home without equipment I should do with this process?
Things like salads with lean protein (chicken, turkey), soups, protein shakes. It doesn’t matter if you eat the same thing as long as you’re in a deficit. You can do exercises like pushups, squats, pull ups, etc…
Hey! I’m 5’0″ ~127 (heaviest I’ve been all my life, I’m usually ~115) and would love to get to my goal of 105 lbs. But since I have such a small frame/short height I was wondering if I could do 500 calories instead of 800, because 800 feels like a normal day for me. Also, after some time of low-calorie diets, I am told a lot that I will gain all the weight back just as fast as I lost it. Is there any way to prevent this, if this is true? Thanks!
Ya you can do 500. No, it’s only true if you end this diet and binge on food like crazy.
While doing this should I be taking protein powder or just get protein naturally? Also how much water should I be drinking during the week?
when on this diet, try to get it naturally through whole foods since protein poweder doesn’t really fill you up.
Suppose that you haven’t worked out in over a year, do you still recommend using heavy weights? I can foresee myself being extremely SORE doing that… What do you say?
Also, what about taking a weight loss supplement with this… to burn fat and cut appetite ? Along with providing energy.
You can ease into it, but be sure to be lifting heavy within a week and be wary of fat burner supplements, they may suppress appetite but many of them carry nasty side effects. Try some coffee or tea instead.
Thanks for the reply.
Hey, I’m trying this diet next week, when would be the best time of day for the meal? What sort of food groups should you maintain to eat? How many calories should you eat after the original week? Given that I want to lose about 20 kilos…
Thanks – mark
It all depends…
The time of day is largely dependent on the person’s preferences, although I would suggest eating only 1-2 meals per day since you’re consuming very few calories. Aim for higher protein foods and after the week aim to only lose 1 pounds per week.
I’m 5’5 165lbs and I want to lose 30 lbs. I need to lose 20lbs in 2 weeks, though. If I completely fasted for 1 week with juices and protein shakes, and then did this diet the following week, would that be possible?
20 pounds in 2 weeks is not possible. Just do this diet for 1 week, and plan to lose 1 pound of fat/week after that.
If this should be done no more than seven days, how long should I wait to do it again?
please don’t. It’s just not worth it.
When you say you would lose 15 plds what part of the body you lose the plds from i want to lose inches in belly fat is this tge program to use
It is impossible to choose where you lose the body fat. Over time fat will come off all areas of your body.
I dont have a gym membership but i do have in demand that hasworkout vidoes if i just do the ab workout in cardio everyday for 7 days would that help mehave better chances to lose weight on my stomach
I just read ur blog no cardio okay
This sounds like exactly what my mother would recommend, and she is pure muscle, looks 25 and is 55 and a punk rocker. Sometimes she needs to lose weight before a gig, as she is still popular and still works. I looked it up to double check that it’s alright to lose around the amount she recommended a day. Mum’s way is about 1.5 a day, making it around 10 in a week. Thanks! And yeah, she always said NO cardio. So… here’s a thumbs up to the article!
Hey
I’m 5’7 , weighing 200 lbs, about 30% body fat aiming to be 140 lbs, if I do your extreme weightloss programme, how much weight can I expect to lose in a week?
about 10 pounds, a lot will be water weight
Hi Fitmole! Love your site! I’ve skimmed over most of your articles and love every one of them. I’m 17 and trying to tone up for a major upcoming event in about 7 weeks.
I’m 140 lbs and 5″2, and want to get back down to my most comfortable weight of 110-115 within this 7 week time frame. Do you think I can achieve that? I started this two days ago with each day looking like this.
Coffee in the morning, One meal a day between 400-600 calories usually around 5-6pm, and 500 Jumping Jacks, 40 wall ups, and 5, 15 second planks.
What do ya think? Thanks again! LOVE your site
-Ambs
30 pounds in 7 weeks? No that’s too much weight in too short a period of time.