How can I lose 20lbs. in 4 weeks?

Question

I had a baby 8 weeks ago and have to go back to work in 4 weeks and need to be able to fit back into my work clothes. I am 5'5" and 160lbs. Does anyone know of a way to lose 20lbs in 4 weeks? Has anyone been successful in doing this? I have been trying the South Beach Diet and I am not losing the weight.

Answer 1

Consume fewer calories (balanced diet) and exercise more (walk 10,000 steps a day, get a pedometer, it pretty easy to increase from your current walking to 10,000 steps/day if you have a pedometer).

Answer 2

Congratulations on the new baby.

The closest I've come to 20 pounds in a month is 16 pounds. I did it using the weight loss program at Curves. I lost about 9 pounds the first week, which is a kind of a detox week, and then I lost about 3 pounds a week. I believe the program is open to non - members, you might try your local Curves.

I'm not sure losing twenty pounds in one month is a completely reasonable expectation. If you want to lose weight AND keep it off most of the "experts" say stick to losing 1-2 pounds a week.

What if you hit the gym hard between now and then and see where it gets you. Maybe you could pick up just a few outfits in a size that fits you now .Then in month 2 or 3, when you do lose the weight, you can call them your fat clothes and get rid of them. It's very satisfying.

That way you won't have all that pressure to hit 20 pounds in one month or lose miserably. Dieting and losing weight is hard enough without setting yourself up for failure. If you're like me that'll just send you into the arms of Ben & Jerry, and that will not help you hit goal weight. Believe me, I've tried. Repeatedly.

Good luck to you.

Answer 3

I went from 170lbs to 150 in four months and Im really proud of that the most you can do is 20lbs in 2-3 months but thats an insane amount of work and control. Your not that big aim at 2lbs a week the first month and then 1 lb a week after. If you try for more youll probably wind up diossapointed.

Answer 4

There are more diets than ever and more people dieting than ever and yet we have the fattest society ever. So a lot of these ideas about losing weight, make you fatter. Cutting calories, carbs and fats can cause you to have a weight problem for life.

It is better to eat differently. See site below (under fastest weight loss possible) and learn why meat and non-fat yogurt are so fattening. Also salt has no calories but makes you fat. Cure your weight problem and be thin for life. You can lose 20 pounds in a month.

http://www.phifoundation.org

Answer 5

I was 240 and lost 120 pounds in less than 3 months, with minimal additional effort. I stopped drinking soda and juice, cooked all my meals from scratch, snacked only on fruit, and went on an average of 5 cross campus walks a day including 4 flights of stairs while carrying about 20 pounds in books.

That sounds like a lot of work, but the exercise was out of necessity (class, and the communal kitchen was downstairs). I am a chef, I doubt I could stop cooking as long as the opportunity was there. As for the soda and juice, I just got sick of it.

I do not think you need to do the exact same thing, and before reading on, I apologize if it sounds like I made assumptions on your lifestyle, they are just based on mistakes I have seen over the years and various conversations with my sister and cousins.

Exercise, aerobics and jogging are best for this...there is no way around this. Adding weights can help, but that should not be your focus unless you want to build up or tone your muscles. Without exercise, any diet you go on, especially a crash diet, will leave you worse off than you started once you resume normal habits. In your case, I would suggest taking the baby on a stroll in the morning.

Drink water, and lots of it
Eliminate sweet drinks, especially sodas. If you must drink juice, if you can see through it, it is a soda without the fizz. If it has a texture, that is better.

Fiber, eat lots of salad and fruit, whole grains (whole wheat bread does not count unless it says whole grain wheat). Avoid white bread at all costs!

Try to replace refined sugar with brown sugar or honey. Try not replace sugar with artificial sweeteners (aspartame, saccharin, sucralose, etc) or sugar alcohols (sorbitol, maltitol, etc), though reduced calorically, still produces the glycemic response...sugar crashes and increased conversion to fats, but without the sugar rush.

Avoid refined flours. Unbleached is best. The words "bleached and enriched" are a red flag...unfortunately avoiding it nowadays is impractical.

If you like milk, try to avoid ultra-pasturized. It will cost more but it tastes better and is better for you. 2% is not much better than whole (~2.5%). Skim milk may as well be water. Either buy whole (tastes best) or 1% (best balance of fat to value).

Do not be afraid of fats.
Avoid trans-fats, shortening and anything fried in shortening. Just because the label says 0g trans fat does not mean it is true, read the ingredients and look for the word hydrogenated.
Avoid saturated fats, ie meat. Red meats and organ meats are the worst.
Prefer cream cheese (66% saturated) over butter (85% saturated) over margarine (~100% trans).
Fish contain omega 3s which are actually really good for you.
Polyunsaturated fats such as olive oil are also good for you.

Avoid prepackaged foods
I would recommend cooking your own food. You will burn calories while doing it. It may take too long though.

Do not eliminate one calorie source. Completely remove carbohydrates, fats, or proteins and you will regret it later.

Above all, do not starve yourself. If you do, your body will go into starvation mode and conserve energy which means reducing your metabolism, making it harder to lose weight in the future, and storing more calories as fat, making you gain weight now.

Answer 6

I dont think you can count on losing five pounds a week. Start weightwatchers. My first week, I lost 6 pounds. Without even exercising!

If you stick to it, It may take a little while, but you will get the results you want.

Answer 7

I lost 35 pounds in 30 days..... you have to stick to a low to no fat diet and exercise twice a day, 25 minute sessions of cardio. My diet is no fat, carbs and protein only. No snacking and no eating after 6PM. Eat fruits and vegetables, rice, shrimp, fish, salads....stuff like that.

Answer 8

stop eating...worked for my friend. I, on the other hand, am still a fat slob...cuz I like to eat :-P I haven't changed my diet much, (cut out all caffinated soda) but regular PT every week day has trimmed quiet a bit of fat off. I'm still the same weight but only because my muscles are getting back into shape since my lazy days of pregnancy are over!

Answer 9

Yes,
1 qt, of water an hour & no whites(starches,chips,ice cream,rice,bread,potatoes,maybe on sweet potatoe a week.
Just keep drinking water 4 8oz. glasses an hour or more and it will come off trust me have I ever lied to you before?
Peter

Answer 10

nicely i lost like 30 kilos in 6 weeks...and that i honestly did not starve myself... it is what i ate... the 1st week breakfast: a low fat granola bar, and a low fat yogurt, with 16oz water lunch: the two a lean delicacies or sensible ones frozen meal and 16oz water, with a apple dinner: i ate El Polo loco, or 0.5 a subway sandwich, with a weight loss software soda, and a fruit i persevered this same weight loss software for the 1st 4 weeks...then the final 2 weeks i ate. breakfast: Snickers potential bar, with a banana and 16oz water lunch: fruit, grapes, apples, cantaloupe, honeydew...decrease up and that i placed low fat yogurt on perfect, with granola...16oz water to drink dinner: fowl without epidermis, with rice, and vegetables and familiar i might do one hundred take a seat united statesand that i might journey the table sure motorcycle for 30min.... have confidence me in case you preserve on with this, you will easily shed extra pounds rapid!