How to slim down quick for an event? (in 3 - 4 weeks)?

[Anonymous]

Hey! Ok so I have some events to attend that’s coming up. I’ve been preparing for it to fit into my dresses and so far I’m at a standstill and I’m so frustrated. I’ve been intermittent fasting, eating low carb high protein, and working out everyday. I didn’t loose any weight in 3 months and I’ve seen minimal results in terms of physical changes in my body. I looked a bit slimmer but now I seem to be super bloated and my belly and face is bigger than ever before! I just wanna cry.

I know quick fix weight loss is never good for the long run but I’m not looking for that right now. I absolutely need to slim down a bit in 3-4 weeks. I have 2 separate events to attend. One is in 3 weeks and the other is in 6 weeks. What can I do? When (or if) I slim down I understand I may put it back on but I’m okay with that, I’ll go back into my slow and sustainable weight loss journey afterwards. Thanks In advance!

[Sonorous]

Well, I'll say what I would do if I were you. And I actually did this recently & still do some of this. Last month I was bloated & was trying to do an aggressive mini cut so that I could start my bulking phase sooner. I needed to see what my true weight was, but the 10lbs of water weight was really making me think I was heavier than I actually was. I was actually 154lbs but weighed 162lbs+ due to the water bloating.

• Track your calories - If you really want to make this process a lot easier, download an app like "cronometer" & track everything you eat in the most accurate way you can. I've been doing this everyday for the entire year so far & it's really helped me a lot. And now that I have a kitchen scale, I can log the food (especially fats) with even more accuracy. It's how I discovered that my caloric deficit for my goal weight is anything below 2,000cals & a surplus is anything above it. So when I'm trying to lose weight very quickly, instead of eating 2,000cals per day, I'll drop it to around 1500-1800cals per day. Anything below 500 calories & I start to really mess up my metabolism, sleep quality, energy levels, recovery, mental health, etc.

• Eat more protein - Get at least.71 grams of protein per lb of your goal/target body weight. Since my goal bodyweight is around 155-160lbs with a bodyfat percentage of 12-15%, I know that I'd ideally want to eat more than 110grams of protein per day. With at least half of that coming from really high quality sources that contain all essential amino acids needed for muscle growth & optimal body cell regulation.

• Do more low impact cardio - You want it to be something easy on the joints & fun to do. Could be something as simple as going out for a walk everyday or dancing in your room. Doing this will allow you to be able to eat more food & still be in a deficit. Allowing you to lose more weight than you would have by dropping into a significant deficit & not doing cardio. Because when we eat less, we have less energy to move around throughout the day.

• Drink enough water - Try to drink around half to the full amount in ounces of your bodyweight in water each day. I weigh 156 right now so I know I shouldn't go under 78oz per day or much over 156oz per day. Never drink more than 24-33oz of water per hour due to the kidneys inability to filter out more than that within an hour. Always be sure to drink at least 16oz of water as soon as you wake up. It has metabolic benefits, will help hydrate you, will help you flush out unwanted retention, etc. And generally, try to drink more than 8oz of water around 15minutes before you eat anything. It will help bring up satiety levels, allowing you to be in a deficit more easily. And when you feel hungry through the day, drink water.

• Be sure that you're giving your body enough time to digest foods - I like intermittent fasting, but somedays it just doesn't well work for me depending on what I eat. For instance, if I'm eating higher fat diets or trying to hit fiber goals, somedays I just need more time. Fiber is hard for the body to digest & fats only start digesting around 3-4 hours after eating. So, if I don't give my body the at least 4-6 hours to digest my food properly, I'll overwhelm my stomach which will lead to bloating. So when I'm doing intermittent fasting, I usually like to eat a meal when the eating window starts & one right before it ends.

• Try to aim for an optimal potassium to sodium ratio - a P:S ratio of 2:1 or 3:1 seems to be really good for me. For optimal results, be sure electrolyte intake is somewhat equally scattered throughout the day as well. Unless you're taking an aquaretic like parsley, the body is going to flush out potassium and other minerals everytime you pee. Also be sure you have enough of the other electrolytes: calcium, magnesium, chloride, phosphate, and bicarbonate. For fastest flushing, stick to liquid electrolyte drinks & small meals. Trying to get it with food is a slower process & overwhelming the stomach only forces the body to hold on to more water for digestion.

My face & body hold on to water so easily. I can wake up lean looking, but if I eat anything that has more sodium than it has potassium, my body doesn't want to get rid of the salt. I don't eat low carb either so the sodium I eat is usually paired with glucose, causing my body to hold on to even more water as they work together in a way.

So some days I wake up hating the way I look & need a quick fix. Here's an example of a method I do if I really want to look leaner by 4-6 hours. I wake up, drink 20oz of water, eat a banana & three eggs, next hour drink 20 more ounces, hour after that drink 20 more & that's it. My body at least will flush out a good amount of unwanted water & I'll usually know what my actual bodyweight is by the time 6hours is up.

Here are videos that helped me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_HkyUHTE0o&pp=ygUVaG93IGJveGVycyBjdXQgd2VpZ2h0https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pui3UaKI2Pk&t=612s&pp=ygURZHJvcCB3YXRlciB3ZWlnaHQ%3D

[Sonorous]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpRrD58Ah3Q&t=1243s

[Sonorous]

I forgot to mention the importance of not going over 2,300mg of sodium per day. I notice that the optimal range for me is anywhere above 1,000mg per day to 1,900mg. Anything more than that without at least 3000mg of potassium will only lead to bloating with me

[Asker]

Hi there, thanks so much for your advice, it’s very detailed and I appreciate it!

I’ve never considered the potassium and sodium ratios in my food, I will definitely start tracking that now. I tend to cramp up a bit and get some muscle twitching, so I’ll look into that and perhaps up my vitamin intake like magnesium as you suggested.

Thanks for the video links, they’re very helpful 😊

[Anonymous]

Have you tried tracking your calories via a calorie tracking app? If you haven't been losing weight maybe it's time to reevaluate your calorie intake.

Its either that or you can meal prep yourself a diet to hit a certain amount of calories every day and then stick to it.

[Asker]

Hey, thanks for the response.

Yes I have, I use Lifesum to track my calories consumed, and I use my Apple Watch to track calories burnt. So far I’ve been on a deficit. I’ve also been doing intermittent fasting for 12 - 14 hours a day. At the beginning Iooked a bit slimmer (weight was the same), I’ve been doing everything the same and all of a sudden i look much bigger, my face and belly specifically. So I’m super frustrated and confused.

[Opinion Owner]

Smartwatches aren't great for tracking calories burned as they tend to overestimate the amount of calories burned.

I'd recommend using a site like
https://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html

And putting in your details to get an estimate of how many calories you burn and how many calories to consume each day to hit a certain weight loss target.

[Opinion Owner]

How many calories are you consuming and how many calories are you burning out of interest?

[Asker]

Thank you. I will look into that site.

On most days, I consume almost the same foods. So today I ate 996 calories and according to my watch I burnt around 1100, and I took barely 5,000 steps. My daily job is sitting at a desk so I hardly get much activity in, other than my workouts.

[Anonymous]

If you’ve not lost weight in 3 months then you’re not at a calorie deficit. Even if you work out and eat healthy food you have to watch calories as well or you won’t lose weight. It could also be that you have lost a little bit of fat but gained more muscle from the work outs so it balances out on the scale.

Either way, weight loss shakes. So meal replacement shakes. Pick a low calorie brand. I’ve been on them for 2,5 weeks and I’ve lost weight. I don’t know how much as my scale is out of battery but my clothes fit again. My shakes are 5 a day for a daily total of 750 calories/150 calories each. I’ve not worked out. I’ve replaced some shakes some days with protein shakes (that have the same calories) or small meals with some meat, chopped up cucumber and cottage cheese bread. Had some fresh berries some days too (like a small handful). Over all I’ve had 600-850 calories per day. Most days I’m not hungry because the shakes fill me up (I add more water than it says so it’s bigger volume) and I’m not tired or out of energy or anything. I actually have more energy now than before my diet. If I am hungry I drink a huge glass of water and the hunger usually goes away, if not I have half of a meal replacement shake and that helps. I’m taking multivitamins, iron and omega 3 supplements as I always do.

[Asker]

Hi, thank you for the response.

Your advice is really great, I will implement them in my daily routine. I love that you’ve been seeing results, keep it up!

[DryGermanGuy]

The simplest and still somewhat safe German method is called FDH („Friss die Hälfte“), which translates to „Eat the half“. So, short-term this is your best bet.

[Asker]

Thank you, I will check up on it and try it out

[Firestar01]

You only need to do two things: monitor your calory intake and excercise.

[Asker]

Thank you for the response.

[Firestar01]

Also, do it consistently. Religiously.

[Anonymous]

i'm afraid to say.

[Asker]

Haha, you’re free to say anything 😊

[Anonymous]

Fasting.