Fast Way to Lose 10lbs in a Week (7 Day Diet Plan)

If you want to know how to lose 10 pounds in a week, then you’ll find a full plan here. And losing 10 pounds in just one week is possible without extreme diets and endless hours in the gym.

I know it kinda sounds impossible to lose weight that fast, but it is doable when you follow the right method. Sometimes you just need to drop 10 pounds fast whether it’s a vacation, wedding, photo shoot, or simply need a jumpstart with weight loss.

But the problem is that most people end up not losing weight at all, even after trying their best. When you work so hard and the scale barely moves, it can be frustrating and demotivating.

So if you’re ready to finally lose up to 10 pounds in a week, then you can make it happen by following this plan. Use my strategies I’ve discovered in my 20 years as a personal trainer and nutrition coach to turbocharge rapid weight loss in just 7 days.

Can You Really Drop 10 Pounds in Just One Week?

So is it even possible to lose 10 pounds in a week…

Yes, it’s more than possible to lose that much weight in a week. How much weight you have to lose in the first place will make it easier for you to drop more over the week.

The good news is that the more weight you have to lose, the easier it will be to lose this excess weight fast. And you can do it rather simply without getting sick or having to cut off an arm.

Of course, losing weight that fast isn’t sustainable weight loss to be doing all the time. But if you want to kickstart weight loss and lose weight fast for an event, then it’s doable in a week.

Studies have even found having great initial weight loss success with dieting can increase the likelihood you are to keep going.¹ It’s super motivating getting quick results.

So, if fast weight loss jumpstarts your success, then all the better. But you’ll probably want to follow this plan only for a week and then move on to a diet and exercise plan that’s more sustainable long term.

How to Lose 10 Pounds Quickly (Without Crash Dieting)

If you want to lose weight without exercise then it’s all about diet, diet, diet.

There’s a saying amongst trainers that “you can’t out-train a bad diet,” and it’s 100% true. You’ll need to stop putting excess calories in your body and make better food choices that push your body into weight loss.

Using multiple dieting strategies can help to multiply their results. This is the basic plan I’d follow for fast weight loss:

• Calorie deficit
• Intermittent fasting
• Cut carbs
• Flush out water pounds
• Increase protein

Adding in some exercise is generally a great idea, not only for weight loss but also for your overall health. But if you’re trying to lose 10 pounds in a week, you’ll be best off avoiding high-intensity exercise.

This is because high-intensity exercise can make you hungrier and stress you out if you’re new to dieting. This can cause hunger and cravings to get out of control, and you’ll likely end up binging and throwing in the towel.

Put Your Body Into a Calorie Deficit

While calories aren’t everything when it comes to weight loss… it’ll also be nearly impossible to lose weight if you’re consuming more calories than you’re burning off.

As a general rule of thumb you have to burn 3,500 calories to lose one pounds of body fat.² So in theory you’d have to burn a total of 35,000 calories to lose 10 pounds of fat.

This isn’t realistically going to be achievable in only a week unless you didn’t eat anything and worked out all the time. That wouldn’t be healthy at all.

But you can still lose 10 pounds in a week if you focus on losing not only some body fat but water weight as well. Losing water weight bloat will help you look thinner and less bloated by the end of the 7 days.

Setting a goal of 3 pounds of body fat loss will require 10,500 caloric deficit. Divide that calorie deficit by 7 days and you’ll need to have 1,500 less calories coming in daily.

Your personal TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) is how many calories your body burns in a day. This includes calories your body needs to maintain basic functions as well as your activity level.

On average, 2000 calories a day is a ballpark number for most people. So consuming 500 calories per day during the 7 days will be needed to help hit your goal weight.

If 500 calories is too low for you try keeping it 800-1200 calorie intake per day. This is usually an easier number to work with that can still produce results. You should bump up your calories after the 7 days are up to ensure you’re consuming a healthy diet.

Make sure you’re measuring and tracking the foods you’re eating to make sure you’re on track. Most people greatly underestimate just how many calories they’re eating each day.³

It’s a good idea to have your daily meals pre-made and ready to go. That way you know what you’re going to be eating and won’t be tempted to go off your diet plan.⁴

The Military Diet Plan

The military diet, also known as the 3-day diet, is a great way to start off the 7 days to lose 10 pounds. With the military diet, you’ll promote rapid weight loss by following a simple cycle:

• First 3 Days: eat a highly reduced calorie meal plan
• Last 4 Days: eat a normal healthy diet

This alternating pattern of the military diet creates a high initial calorie deficit to flush out water weight. It’ll also jumpstart weight loss by a few pounds of fat as you burn through glycogen stores and start burning more body fat for fuel.

When following the military diet, it’s best to consume 800-1500 calories per day. However, you’ll get even better results by combining it with healthy fat-burning foods and continually eating fewer calories.

It can be difficult for many to stick with a strict diet plan for a week. Many will be relieved that they can go back to eating more calories after a few days. This can help them increase adherence and stick with the diet for the entire week.

But if you find yourself going back to eating too much during those last 4 days, then you could easily undo all the weight loss from the first 3 days. So if you can, I would keep calorie intake low as well as carbs, sugars, and starches.

Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting is my favorite way to drop weight fast. You can instantly cut out 550 calories per day just by adding fasting to your diet plan.⁵

You can lose at least 10 pounds in 7 days just by water fasting. But if you don’t want to have anything but water for the week, then follow an easier fasting method like 16/8.⁶

All you have to do is not eat for 16 hours and then follow it up with an eight-hour feeding window. I recommend having your last meal at 8 o’clock at night and not eating until 12 noon the next day.

If you want to take your fasting up to the next level, then try following the OMAD (One Meal a Day) fasting method.⁷ This is when you just have a single meal per day within a 1-hour period. You can generally eat what you want for this one meal as long as you don’t go overboard.

If you find yourself hungry during the day, try sipping on some bone broth or a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil or almond butter. It can help you feel fuller and fight off hunger pangs, which will be the hardest part of fasting.

While you’re fasting, it’s a good idea to consume some calorie-free beverages. They can help you stay hydrated, reduce hunger, and even speed up results.

Some zero-calorie beverages you can drink while fasting include:

• Water
• Lemon Water
• Black Coffee
• Unsweetened teas
• Sparkling waters

Drinking flavored sparkling water like La Croix or Zevia can help curb hunger by increasing the feeling of fullness. Psyllium husk fiber is another great fasting tool to lower hunger without adding a lot of calories.

Adding C8-MCTs (caprylic acid) while you’re fasting can help kickstart the ketogenic fat-burning process. These C8-MCTs are converted into ketones via your liver (without breaking your fast), curbing hunger, boosting energy, and giving mental clarity.⁸

Cut Carbs & Add More Protein

To drop 10 pounds in a week, you really need to cut down on your carbohydrate intake. Carbs spike your blood sugar and insulin, which will put your body into a fat-storing mode unless you burn them off right away.⁹

Most of us are already eating way too many carbs and sugars. This increases glycogen (stored carbs) in your body, which has to be burned off first before your body starts burning fat for fuel.

For every 1 gram of carbohydrates your body stores as glycogen, you’ll also hold onto 3 grams of water.¹⁰ This is why carbs can make you bloated. Dropping water weight is going to be a big part of losing 10 pounds in a week.

By not eating any carbs, your body will start to burn through glycogen, flush out pounds of water weight, and start burning through more fat stores. Many people are able to lose 3-5 pounds in a few days just by doing this.

Cutting carbs, sugars, and starches is going to be of the utmost importance for the week. The only carbs you should be consuming are non-starchy vegetables. Green leafy veggies like spinach and kale as well as cruciferous veggies like broccoli and cauliflower.

Low carbohydrate diets have repeatedly been found to help with weight loss.¹¹ This is especially true if you’re overweight and have trouble keeping it off.¹²

Eating more protein will also help with weight loss as it will increase your metabolism.¹³ Protein has a thermic effect on the body when metabolized burning more calories at rest. Protein has been found to also increase the feeling of being full so it will help cut down on how much food you’re eating throughout the day.¹⁴

An easy way to get more low-calorie protein into your diet is to take a low-carb protein shake. Most people should be getting 0.8 grams of protein per pound of body weight.¹⁵ Many aren’t able to easily reach this protein requirement when dieting, so adding in a low-carb protein powder is a simple way to meet your needs.

Cut out the fattening bad vegetable oils that are full of inflammation-causing omega-6s. These include canola oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil, corn oil, and safflower oil. Make sure you’re eating healthy fats such as salmon, avocados, and pasture-raised eggs.

Flush Out Water Weight

Cutting out the carbs from your diet will do a lot for helping to flush out the water weight. But there are other methods that will also increase your results.

Even though your body generally needs salt to function optimally, it’s important to cut it out while you’re trying to cut down on weight over these seven days. This will help to lower your water retention.

Studies have found that salt increases water retention, which is not good if you’re trying to cut weight fast.¹⁶ Consuming more potassium can help to balance out the sodium in your body making it easier to flush out the body water.

High-potassium and low-carb foods include:

• Avocado
• Spinach
• Kale
• Salmon
• Grass-fed beef
• Dark leafy greens
• Mushrooms
• Zucchini
• Pumpkin seeds
• Broccoli

A little trick I like to use to drop some weight fast is to use the sauna to sweat it out. One study found using the sauna help to sweat out more water pounds.¹⁷

Just make sure after using the sauna that you properly hydrate so you don’t end up passing out. Try jumping in the sauna for about 20-30 minutes every day you’re trying to lose weight this week.

Sweating is your body’s natural way to detox too. Detoxing away some of the junk from your body will help with weight loss in the long run.

Exercise Plan to Lose 10 Pounds in a Week

While your diet is going to make up the bulk of your results for weight loss over the 7 days, you can also add some light exercise to speed up your results.

Low-intensity steady-state cardio is the best exercise you can do over the 7 days to contribute to weight loss.

You’ll maximize the amount of fat you burn by keeping your heart rate in Zone 2 (60-70% max heart rate).¹⁸ Longer workouts in Zone 2 can help your body adapt to using fat stores as the primary fuel source.

While high-intensity interval training (HIIT) can burn more fat in a shorter time, it’s probably not the best option for this week. It can be too intense to keep up with over the week, and you could have higher hunger levels and stress as your body struggles to recover.

Strength training over the next week might not be a great idea either. Exercise in general can improve hunger hormones but starting a strength training routine can also increase hunger making it harder to keep up with your diet over the week.¹⁹

Try adding at least 20 minutes of slow cardio daily over the next week to increase calories and fat burned. Ideally, closer to 40-60 minutes would be great, but go by how you feel. But if you just want to stick to your diet, then that will give you most of the results.

Once the week is over it’ll definitely be advisable to add in a strength training routine to build lean muscle mass. Just dieting and doing slow cardio can cause you to become “skinny fat” over time.

So for now, just do slow cardio like an elliptical, bike riding, or brisk walking. But after these 7 days try adding HIIT and strength training for healthy weight loss.

Get More Sleep

Increasing your quality and quantity of sleep is another one of the hidden ways to lose weight. A healthy lifestyle can be near impossible if you have cortisol wreaking havoc in your body from not getting enough sleep.

One study found those who were getting less sleep were much more likely to weigh more than those who were getting 7-8 hours of sleep each night.²⁰

Not getting enough quality sleep can reduce your self-control making it harder to stick to your diet.²¹ Sleep deprivation can also cause you to crave fatty, high-calorie junk food like pizza.²²

It’ll be a lot easier to stick to your diet when you’re getting enough sleep. Lack of sleep can raise the hunger hormone ghrelin and decrease the “fat controller” hormone leptin.²³

When these hormones get skewed the wrong way, they can cause constant hunger and cravings. Getting your sleep right is key to keeping these hormones in balance so you can more easily stick to your diet.

Your body needs fewer calories when sleeping since it’s in a resting state. This lowers hunger and makes it easier to stick to a reduced-calorie diet.

Summary

Focus on eating foods and beverages that make you feel fuller for longer. Higih-protein, fiber-rich foods can increase satiety making it easier to stick with this diet plan. They’ll curb hunger even though your calorie intake is low. Healthy fats, high water content foods are also good options.

You can quickly lose 10 pounds within 7 days just by following the simple dieting strategies and meal plans above. While diet is the most important over these 7 days for rapid weight loss, you can also do some slow-go cardio walking to burn fat faster.

Since 7 days isn’t a lot of time to lose 10 pounds of fat, you’ll get some quick results by focusing on dropping water weight. Cut out carbs, sugars, and starches to flush out water weight as glycogen stores lower.

You have to put your body into a calorie deficit over the week. Keeping your daily calorie intake between 800-1200 calories per day is a good range. Add in intermittent fasting for a simple way to reduce calorie intake.