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 have exams all next week, will I still be ok if I attempt this diet, which I highly doubt I will be able to do anyway.
Ya, why not.
Well you know it’s med school and the whole thing with food/carbs are fuel for your brain ordeal….thanks for replying!! 🙂
Hey this looks good and i will start it from tomorrow until next monday! Im a tall person and weight 90-97 Kg. I´ve noticed that i´ve got a what u call a “small beer belly” even tough i never drink alcohol. i know that in this week i can only train dumbells and so on, but can i also train my abs? i can see some of my abs are slowly coming because ive been training all week but the bit fat in my belly makes it imossible for my abs to be seen better. can i train abs in the gym machenes and so on? along with the dumbels. 3 times this coming week.
yes train your abs.
and is it okay i run 2-3 km the three times im in the gym? or is it asking too much from my body
I think that’s advised against in the article.
Great article! Done in a very entertaining way & quite interesting! Ill be doing this for 4 days starting 2mo. Oh lordy… haha! 🙂
I wanted to do this to kick-start my fat l loss and it has been good so far, i started on April 8 at 225 today is April 14 and weighed in at 213. Im 23 yr old guy 5’11”.i only want to do this for 1 week so I’ll start eating “normal” tomorrow. My question is should i go straight into say a 500cal deficit or should increase cals slowly? Since i done some calculations and a 500cal deficit for me would be around 2400cal this being a big jump from 800 would i gain back a lot of weight if i make the jump from one day to the next?
Thanks.
Either way is fine.
Hi! Im 21years old girl with 51kg and 156cm. Im not overweigh nor underweigh. But i weighed 44kg until i ate a lot this 3months (hate myself for this) . So am i be able to loose 7kg in a week? I heard the more u weigh , the more u’ll lose and since im not underweigh, will my weigh lose rate will be slow? Thanks!
It’s impossible for me to tell you the exact amount you’ll lose. The only way to find out is to do the diet.
Hi kitt , do you end up trying this diet? I’m in a similar situation- only needing to lose around the 8kg mark. from 68 to 60. 176cm.
thanks
Yes I have.
I am attempting this extreme diet but must ask, would yoga or Pilates be a decent alternative to weight lifting ?
No, but it’s better than nothing…
hi there, i have been on atkins for about 6 months and have only lost 18lb do you think i could still lose that much since im already kind of on low calorie no carbs
It’s impossible to say but probably not. If you’re already doing atkins I don’t recommend this diet.
so i did this for a week and lost 5lb so im pleased with that result considering i have been dieting, im thinking of doing this once a week every 5-6 weeks, what are your thoughts of that?
I suggest once every 10-12 weeks to be on the safe side.
ok well thank you for your help, heres to that last 15lbs 🙂
Hi my name is april i have a question i see we are to stay under 800 cal is it ok if u go over ur cal like 810 will that still work..
Yes
Hi I wanted to kn will any of this weight lost be from my mid area…
Yes, but you can’t choose where you want to lose fat, you will lose fat all over your body
Hey nice article, so i´m going to be doing internships at a hotel pretty soon in a beach area, i leave in about two weeks, i was wondering if i could use this program sort of as a jumping off point for a beachbody type workout. For example use this method to lose fat and then go back up to moderate caloric consumption and try to bulk and then cut again using this method. I have a relatively wide body frame and know i can pack on muscle pretty easily, the problem is being able to cut my fat reserves. I´m 20 years old male 5´11 185 pounds.
I wouldn’t use this program to cut immediately after a bulk. The swings in calorie intake are too drastic.
Hi, I’m about 98 Kg 22 years old and 180cm and not really in good shape, and there’s no gym nearby. Would you recommend me doing the “bodyweight cardio” exercises you linked earlier Even though I’m out of shape.?(this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhWjPYdu_qk ) And if I did those exercises would it cover all the body parts.?
And have you followed this weight loss plan while working a job (if so, go any tips?)? Should I just get by on coffee and water while I’m at work ?
Thanks on beforehand.
Yeah you might not be able to the entire workout but just keep at it and try to do a little more each time. Coffee and water is great.
would 10 days be safe?? I’m 18 yrs old 5ft 10in and 160lbs I was wondering if just 3 more days would be safe and if the extra days would be effective at all
No.
This is ridiculous. I’m a female, 5 ft 9inches and I was 149lbs last week. I have been dieting for the last 7 days – 1500 calories a day, one 30 min workout 5 mornings a week – and I’ve lost 5lbs! My goal weight (from my modelling days!) is 131lbs. That is on the skinny side of the perfect bmi for my height. Please don’t do this crazy diet, it won’t work!
I ate crunchy nut cornflakes and skimmed milk for breakfast – 160 cals
Ham sandwich with light mayo and bowl of veg soup for lunch – 305 cals
microwave fish and pasta and veg meal for dinner – 300 cals
Glass of wine 140 cals
snacks of banana (90ish cals)/ handful nuts (150 cals)/ protein brownie (90 cals)
It works! I stayed well below 1500 a day but still had 3 meals a day plus snacks!
So eating 1500 calories works but anything less will not…
Please explain…
Ciao, thanks for the article, had to sift through a lot of crap till i finally found your, direct and straight to the point.
I plan on doing the insanity workout soon, once it comes in the mail.
I need to lose as much weight as possible this week, as i have to get new head shots done, and i need to look thinner now if i plan on losing more weight later on, as these head shots have to last me a minimum of 6 months.
So my question is, can i up the workouts, similar to insanity workouts regime of 40 minutes 6 days?
Hell no.
lol ok, thanks for replying even if it’s not the answer i was hoping for
I have read your article and the comments (well as many as i could until i gave up and scrolled to the bottom) and ill be giving it a go for sure. Forgive if this question has been asked earlier in the comments but do you have any particular recommendations on the one 800 cal meal and what it may include? would you orientate it around a higher protein percentage or equal amounts between that and carbs? any particulars which can sustain energy levels for the day between the evening meal?
Thanks in advance
Nothing particular but definitely aim for more protein and more voluminous foods like salad and low cal soups.
Hi ~
I really enjoyed reading this article.
But i’m wondering is it a good idea to do this by cycling calories, like 800 cals a day for 2 days and then eat at maintainence for a day and repeat ? Will it be as effective as the 800 cals a day 7 days straight ?
Hope this makes sense. Sorry for my English ~
No sorry that’s not the same.