Anyone know how to get rid of 5-10 lbs in a week?

Question

I would like to jump start my wieght loss. I think if I lost about 5lbs, then I could get motivated to keep going. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

You'll do better in the long run if you don't rush your body. Changing faster than the body can adapt is almost the definition of stress.

Don't target losing more than about 2 lbs per week. If you try to lose faster, your body will go into "starvation mode" and get very stingy about burning calories while at the same time very efficient about storing any calories that you do provide. And it will make you feel awful.

First, for all of the "quick and easy" weight loss diet pill suggestions, remember, if something sounds too good to be true... it probably is, particularly if you have to pay for it.


On Yahoo!Answers I find certain questions being asked repeatedly which is simply a reflection of new people participating. A couple of common questions amount to "How do I lose weight," or more specifically, "How do I lose abdominal fat?" I have gotten very positive responses from my answers when I paused to reply (and now beginning to get "It works!" emails that are very gratifying. I like helping people)... so have recently decided to put a good solid answer on my Yahoo!360 Blog (September 10) that I can point people to. These are my thoughts as a physician and athlete.

There is no site specific way of losing fat... the old myth about working your abs to burn belly fat isn't true. To get rid of love handles, you need to lose overall fat. That happens with exercise and watching your diet. More on that below.

The most effective way to lose fat is aerobic exercise in the "moderate" fat-burning range, ideally first thing in the morning before you eat. When you wake your body is ready to burn fat and your levels of growth hormone are highest at that time. Later in the day it can take up to 30 minutes just to put your body into a fat-burning mode.

Another overlooked way to burn fat is by lifting weights. Skeletal muscle has very high caloric needs... almost twice that of adipose (fat) tissue. Put on a little muscle and you will burn calories all day even at rest. Be aware that skeletal muscle weighs more, so with this approach you may see your weight increasing while your body fat is melting away. Not realizing this often stresses folks who think they should be losing weight as a measure of fitness. Forget the scale, look in the mirror and you will be happy.

To lose a pound of fat, you need to eliminate about 3500 calories. You can do this by burning more with exercise or by modifying your diet to reduce intake. If you do a Google search on say, "swimming calories" you will quickly find a website with tables of calories burned for a given exercise. You can use such lists to estimate how many calories you are burning up with your routine.

For diet, keep a diary for a couple of weeks counting calories, grams of protein, and grams of fat intake. It is easy with online sources of nutritional information (type the name of the food and calories into the Google search engine) and packaging labels. That will let you quickly figure out where the fat is coming from in your diet.

Fat gives you 9 calories per gram. So take the number of grams of fat, multiply by 9, then calculate what percentage the fat calories are of your total daily calories. Restricting the calories from fat to about 20% of your total intake is ideal for a maintenance diet... that isn't overly restrictive. Of note, you need some fat in your diet. For instance, the body uses fat to produce hormones. Once you have a picture of how to modify your diet, you can drop the diary and just go back to it occasionally if you are wanting to tweek things further.

There is a subset of questions that goes further and asks about "How to get a six-pack?" The answer is the same. Six-packs are 20% abdominal exercise and 80% diet. There is one caveat... abdominal muscles will form in the position that you work them, so be certain to pull them tightly toward your spine while doing crunches, etc. Also, during most lifting, the "core is active" which means that you should be stabilizing with contracted abs then too. Fail to do this and the abs will form, but bulging outward and the result is not attractive.

If you are trying to build muscle as a way to lose fat, then you may need to increase total calories and specifically your protein intake. I target about 0.8 g of protein per pound of body weight each day when actively building. That is far more protein than most people need in their diets.


Aloha

Answer 2

By cutting out carbs, some people claim to lose the water weight. I am not sure how it all works.

Do you really want to lose at such a drastic pace ? Drastic weight loss can put the body in starvation mode and can hinder future weight loss. A slow but steady approach involving lifestyle changes is a lot healthier.

To jumpstart, get yourself an exercise buddy and track progress. Make yourself accountable to someone ( I am assuming you are a woman - pick a woman as a buddy) and that itself will get you motivated.

Instead of going on a fancy diet, every time you put food in your mouth, ask yourself - is it healthy ? Is it empty calories or real nutrition ?

Cut out the empty calories, add a gentle exercise regimen ( walk the dog, run around with the kids) and you will lose weight without even thinking about it. And for every milestone, reward yourself - a small slice of cheesecake on weekend can be a reward for being good all week.

Answer 3

Loosing that much meight in one week isn't healthy...but there are ways to achieve it.

#1 Drink only water and drink at least a gallon a day.

You have to keep eating or the moment you start eating again, all you lost will return....so,

#2 Reduce your fat intake to less than 10 grams in a day.

#3 Eat 3 servings of lean meat a day 9do some online research into quantities and caloric counts)

#4 Instead of starchy type foods and veggies (ie. corn and potatoes), eat lots of colorful veggies like carrots, tomatoes, and anything and everything GREEN.

Your body will naturally burn around 2000 callories a day, and the trick to loosing weight is to burn more than you put in. So counting those calories and fat grams is a must for success. Also, add some simple floor excersizes to your nightime routine (leg lifts worked for me) because the more muscle you build the more your metabolism works for you and speeds up.

If you haven't been working out or dieting for a while, you should be able to loose at lest 7lbs the first week doing this. i was very overweight and I lost 8 lbs. simply becasue I had the excess water wieght to loose and the heavier you are the faster it comes off in the begining. (I also used some Stacker products in the begining, but it was more for mental motivation than anything)

Just make wise choices and be good to your body. (sorry this was so long...the right answer couldn't be shortened)

Answer 4

If you want to be healthy about it, it's ALMOST impossible. Anything short of starving yourself will take at least 2-3 weeks. A healthy goal would be 1-2 lbs per week. Start eliminating calories until you are eating 5 small meals a day with 500 less calories than your normal diet. Don't eat less food, eat healthier food. Then exercise in the morning before you eat and at the end of the day. And drink at least a half a gallon of water a day. Get rid of all your high starch carbs like potatoes, pasta, white rice, white bread, cereal (all processed carbs). Eat a lot of lean meat like fish and chicken and fruit and vegetable. You'll lose water weight at first but that will transfer into fat in about a week of consistent exercise and diet. Good luck

Answer 5

Eat no more than 2500 calories, and do some exercise for about 45 minutes to an hour each day. Even if the exercise is only walking at a leisurely pace for 45 minutes. If you restrict your diet to 2500 calories, and you spread those calories out throughout the day in several small meals instead of 2 or 3 large ones, you will jump start your metabolism and burn more calories than you take in.

You should also consider a good multivitamin supplement each day; and you should drink one ounce of water for each pound of body weight that you have. For instance, if you weigh 100 lbs. you need 50 ounces of water. For 200 lbs. you would need 100 ounces each day, and so forth (I think you get the idea!)

If you are consistent with your diet and exercise, the weight will definitely come off. It's an easy formula, it just takes consistency.

Good luck and God Bless!

Answer 6

Starvation may work but then again you'd be thin but look horrible. My motivation for weight loss was the fact i was overweight. I used a photo of myself wearing a pair of shorts and no shirt and resolved to get as close to that as possible.

Anyone who wants to lose weight must visit their doctor first. I've lost more weight with my doctor guiding me than i did on my own.

5-10 lbs. in a week is impossible without causing health problems. Jump start programs are bull they only provide short term effects and the weight always comes back with a vengance.

Answer 7

The Best Exercises To Lose Weight
Exercise that pushes your heart rate closest to your targeted heart rate is the most suitable exercise to get rid of fat. You should exercise with sufficient intensity to raise your pulse rate, which in turn speeds up the fat loss process. The exercises that bring your heart rate close to your targeted heart rate will boost your metabolism, which will lead to fat loss.Besides, making you look better, weight loss offers hosts of other health benefits. When you reduce 10-15% of your weight, your chances of suffering from heart attack, diabetes as well as cholesterol levels go down. Hence if you are thinking of getting started, the best time to get started is now.Commitment is the most crucial factor to get any exercise program started.

Do cardio exercises for 30-60 minutes at least 3-4 times per week. Regularly working out for a month will increase your energy levels, improve your mood and reduce your waist size. Commitment will also help you to choose the best exercise that will aid your fat loss.Vary your exercise routine. This will make your workout exciting, thus increasing your motivation. Choose any exercise to burn fat. The most popular types of exercises are running, walking, hiking, playing basketball etc. But ensure that you do this chosen activity with enough intensity to raise your heart rate. You can also choose a combination of two or more activities.

For maximum fat loss, get a full body workout. This means adding a weight training session to your workout. Choose a combination or either walking, jogging or running and weight training to tighten the arms and shoulders to make it a total workout. Select a few exercises you love and then alternate them to get a routine that will excite you. This ensures you will remain at it for a long time.

Answer 8

Start smoking and washing down diet pills with Red Bull. OK, that will work, but it will put you in an early grave.
It's healthier to shoot for 2 pounds a week, but 5-10 can still be done.
Atkins will really dig the fat out of you, but it's not very healthy and you will just gain it right back after you quit.
Do this instead:
-Eat much less fat and sugar and drink a lot more water.
-Eat 5-6 smaller meals instead of 3 larger ones.
-Do 30+ minutes of cardio before breakfast every morning (anything that keeps your heart rate up will do).
-Work out with weights every other day.
-Be consistent. Most people don't have enough time or self-control to really get in shape and lose weight. Good luck.

Answer 9

The atkins diet is HORRIBLE for your body. Don't do it. THe SoBe diet is a good one. You have to majorly cut your cal intake and work out a lot to lose 5 lbs in one week. That will be very hard on your body, I wouldnt recommend it. The faster you lose the weight, the more likely you are to put it back on. You need to change your lifestyle to lose weight and keep it off. A diet should be a permanent change, not for just this week. Working out should become part of your weekly routine, not something for just this month.

Answer 10

I lost 8 pounds in the first 10 days of my weight loss program. I have lost a total of 35 pounds since July 15, 2006. It was the first 10 days that sold me. I have a pastor friend who lost 15 pounds in his first 15 days. We were both using Stack Body Tune Up weight loss system and Advanced Cell Therapy energy drink.

If I can be of further assistance, let me know.

Answer 11

I've heard drinking lots of fluids and wearing those plastic suits while working out works. Try eating really small meals every 4 hours, including protien, carbs, good fats. Little things like cutting out condiments and staying active throughout the day helps a lot.