While it's easy to be swayed by fad diets, quick promises, and cleanses, it is actually possible to lose 5 pounds in two weeks through healthy eating and exercise.
But do you really know what's realistic? Over the long term, it's smart to aim for losing 1 to 2 pounds (0.5 to 1 kilogram) a week. Generally to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week, you need to burn 500 to 1,000 calories more than you consume each day, through a lower calorie diet and regular physical activity.
How long should it take to lose 5 pounds? It generally takes 2-3 weeks to lose 5 pounds in a healthy and sustainable manner. So it's important to know why this is important to you.
Unexplained weight loss can be a symptom of a serious condition or illness. For this reason, it is important to seek medical attention if you (or a family member) have weight loss that cannot be explained.
Yes, it is possible to lose weight fast and within two weeks healthily and realistically. One way to do it is simply by reducing your calorie intake by 500 to 750 calories per day — you can create a calorie deficit to stimulate weight loss. Another excellent way to shed kilos faster is by being physically active.
Adding aerobic exercise is a good way to burn additional calories so you can drop close to 5 pounds in your two-week time frame. Higher-intensity aerobic exercise burns more calories in a shorter period of time than low-intensity exercise.
Drinking Water Can Make You Burn More Calories
Drinking water increases the amount of calories you burn, which is known as resting energy expenditure ( 4 ). In adults, resting energy expenditure has been shown to increase by 24–30% within 10 minutes of drinking water.
Five pounds per week is an aggressive, unrealistic, and potentially unhealthy weight-loss goal. You did not put all the weight on in one month, so you should not expect to lose it all in one month either! As a general rule, you should aim for 1 to 2 pounds of weight loss per week.
Water makes up 60% of your body weight, and it's one of the first things you lose. Weight decreases as a change in muscle, fat and water. Fat mass doesn't change quickly, but you can lose as much as five pounds of water in a day. The average 24-hour urine loss is about 1.8-4.4 pounds because water is heavy.
Losing 5 pounds in 2 weeks takes some hard work and patience. A healthy weight loss is considered 1 to 2 pounds per week, so losing 5 pounds in two weeks or 2.5 pounds per week is a bit more ambitious. You will have to modify your diet and add regular exercise to make this weight loss happen.
When you're trying to lose weight, it's natural to want it to happen very quickly. But people with gradual and steady weight loss (about 1 to 2 pounds per week) are more likely to keep the weight off.
Losing 5 pounds in a week is doable, that doesn't mean you should do it. It's still safest to stick to the expert-recommended pace of one to two pounds of weight loss per week, according to the Mayo Clinic [4].
Drinking at least 64 ounces (eight cups) of water every day may help with weight loss. Downing liquid is not the only way to meet this goal. About 20 percent of your hydration needs can be met through your diet, says Caroline Susie, RDN, a national spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
But the average weight loss that most people see on the 1200 calorie diet is about one to two pounds per week.”
Lemon water can promote fullness, support hydration, boost metabolism, and increase weight loss. However, lemon water is no better than regular water when it comes to losing fat. That being said, it is tasty, easy to make, and can be used as a low-calorie replacement for high-calorie beverages.
In general, if you cut about 500 calories a day from your usual diet, you may lose about ½ to 1 pound a week. But this can vary depending on your body, how much weight you want to lose, your gender and activity level.
The first stage of weight loss is when you tend to lose the most weight and begin to notice changes in your appearance and how your clothes fit. It usually happens within the first 4–6 weeks ( 1 ). Most of the weight loss in this stage comes from carb stores, protein, and water — and to a lesser extent, body fat.