Fast weight loss, such as losing 10 pounds in a week, is possible — but it's usually not worth it. In fact, it could be detrimental to your physical and mental health. In reality, plans and programs that promise rapid weight loss or extreme results are best avoided.
We recommend losing no more than 1 to 2 pounds per week for sustainable weight loss, which means you could potentially lose 10 pounds in five weeks. However, a more realistic timeline is 10 to 24 weeks, since most people don't have hours to devote to walking every day.
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.
Although it is impossible for you to lose 10 lbs in 10 days, losing weight more slowly and sustainably is, however, achievable. However, you are asked to only start a weight loss program under professional and medical supervision and guidance.
According to ProHealth, one pound of fat is equal to 3,500 calories. This means you will need to reduce your diet by 500 or so calories a day to shed a single pound in a week. This means you can lose about one to three pounds in 10 days.
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].
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.
While losing 7 pounds or more per week is possible, it is certainly not safe and healthy. If you lose weight rapidly, you will only eradicate water from your body and not your body fat. You can't safely burn 7 pounds in just a week (5). Fast weight loss also flushes out stored glycogen and lowers your insulin levels.
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.
The average person burns 100 calories walking a mile. That means you need to walk 35 miles to lose a pound. The average person needs 2,000 steps to walk a mile. That means the average person needs to walk 700,000 steps to lose ten pounds.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that one to two pounds in a week is a safe amount to lose if you're doing it gradually and steadily. 1-2 pounds in a week is a safe amount to lose, per the CDC.
The military diet, also called the 3-day diet, is a short-term, rapid weight loss diet that claims to help you lose up to 10 pounds (4.5 kg) in a week. The diet plan involves a 3-day, calorie-restricted meal plan followed by 4 days off.
The first place men typically lose weight is the belly, while women tend to lose weight all over, but hold onto weight in their thighs and hips, Dr. Block explains.
Rapid weight loss diet is a type of diet in which you lose more than 2 pounds (1 kilogram, kg) a week over several weeks.
As you sleep, your body burns calories, causing you to lose between 1 to 4 pounds of your weight overnight; this weight loss can be regarded as temporary weight loss because you need to consume fewer calories than you burn to avoid weight gain.
So what is the magic number to lose weight and keep it off? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) , it's 1 to 2 pounds per week. That means, on average, that aiming for 4 to 8 pounds of weight loss per month is a healthy goal.
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.”
You need to burn 3500 calories a day to lose one pound a day, and you need anywhere between 2000 and 2500 calories in a day if you are doing your routine activities. That means you need to starve yourself the whole day and exercise as much as to lose the remaining calories.
Is it safe to lose a pound a day? Generally, experts recommend losing around 1–2 pounds (0.5–0.9 kg) per week, which may involve reducing your calorie intake by around 500–1,000 calories per day ( 12 ). However, losing 1 pound (0.5 kg) per day would likely require you to limit your intake even more.
If you look at the science, you'll usually hear that the maximum rate of fat loss that CAN realistically be achieved, for most people, is around 2.5 – 3.0 lbs of fat per week. Even that will be a stretch for petite women or anyone who is short and / or small-framed.