I have about 4-6 weeks to lose some weight, advice?

Question

i carry it all in my stomach. I also have what I call "arm-pit fat" that I want to get rid of. over-all I'm in shape because I do workout as often as I can. I have about 4-6 weeks to try and lose weight. my goal is anywhere in between 10-20 Lbs. my question is, what are the best ways to lose 10-20 lbs in 4-6 weeks? give me all you can think of from what to eat, how much to eat, what to do exercise wise, how many sets and reps, etc. please and thank you!

kheserthorpe · Accepted Answer

Well, lets start with what happens if you don't eat?

Your muscles will switch from using sugars (carbs) to using fat as their energy source. Since you're not eating, they'll use stored body fat. Perfect!

The problem is that your brain and nervous system cannot use fat as an energy source. In the absence of sugar, they use ketones - a substance made within your body, out of protein. Now you're not eating protein, so your body would get it by ripping it out of lean body mass (muscles). If you were actually starving during a famine, this would be helpful since ripping out muscle tissue slows your metabolism, and hence slows down how fast you use up your fat. This is, of course, the opposite of what you want to do, which is to get your body to blow through fat while leaving muscle tone alone. You would especially like your body to not rip protein out of your heart, which is possible.

So the idea is to do a 'protein sparing modified fast'. Fast means you don't eat. But we modify the fast by adding in protein. How much protein? Enough to support ketosis (ketone production). How much will that be? Get the book I suggested, it will have tables based on your current body fat, weight and activity levels.

What will your typical day look like? Something like 100g of lean protein and unlimited non-starchy vegetables. So perhaps a couple of eggs and a slice of ham with tomato for breakfast, a chicken breast with plain yogurt with dill in it as dressing on salad for lunch, and a half chicken or some lean p*rn with grilled vegetables for dinner.

Lyle's plan in rapid fat loss calls for that type of eating most of the time, with a certain number of carb loads and free meals. I'd guess for your weight, he'd suggest one carb-load and one free meal per week. The carb load means once per week in a 5 hour window, you eat a fair amount of carbs. The goal here is to fire up your metabolism a bit - to make your body think the famine is over ;). The free meal is for psychological reasons - once a week you can have reasonable portions of whatever meal you want, including desert. Since the normal diet is well under 1000 calories a day, eating one unhealthy meal per week (lets call it two including the carb load) is still going to leave your calories WAAAY under maintenance.

I didn't use any fat burners, but I did use fish oil on the diet.

I actually found it easy, after the first two days. The fact that twice a week I could eat anything made it psychologically easy. If I craved something, I knew I could have it in a couple days. And the weight comes off, which keeps your motivation up. Protein is the slowest thing to digest. I was hungry by meal times, but really not between.

As a note (and as explained by lyle) you'll drop a serious amount of water weight when you go non-carb. You add that back every carb load, and it drops off about 48 hours later. I seriously gained and lost 5-8 lbs every Saturday based on water weight.

WoIIie · Accepted Answer

Whether or not you can lose 10-20 pounds depends on your current weight. Obese people can pull it off. If you are 20 pounds overweight, that's a stretch.

Realistically you can lose 8-10 pounds in one month. If you tried really hard, you could maybe get 12. Get rid of the simple carbs, processed sugars, sodium, hydrogenated oils, and saturated fats. Those ingredients go straight to the belly and do nothing for your body (well, sodium kind of does).

Get in 45 minutes to 1 hour of cardio in every single day. After 4-6 weeks, you'll be quite lean.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

If you STRICTLY want to go about the best way to lose weight, 6 weeks 10lbs (if you are of normal weight) is achievable without imposing any negative impact on your body. Here are the simple rules to lose some weight:

Food:

1) No mayo, no mustard, no butter, no cream, and cut down on the sauce.

2) Avoid cheese, or at least cut down on it.

3) No coke, no diet coke, no fizzy drinks.

4) Portion control.

5) Use olive oil instead of butter in your cooking.

6) Choose fresh over processed food.

7) No fast food, avoid eating out, avoid fish&chips,burger and pizza, pack your own lunch or dinner.

8) Cut down on sweet and salt.

9) Soba, miso soup (be careful of the sodium content), and some decent Asian (chinese/japanese/korean) food are healthy are good, not as fattening (but filling) food to eat

10) CUT DOWN on snacking! (that's my vice :P)

11) Breakfast eat something good (such as a decent oatmeal, a good portion of half boiled egg etc.) that will keep your sugar and energy level high to kick start your day!

12) Lunch eat whatever you want (but practice some of the rules I've laid out earlier, and eat in moderation)

13) Dinner eat something light that makes you 50% full, with plenty of vegetables and fruits.

14) Eliminate constipation.

15) Use soy milk (check the sugar content first) or skimmed milk.

Exercise:

1) Do stretching exercises. Pilates is going to help you a lot since you mentioned about the arm pit fat. You also need to do proper sit ups daily (not about the quantity but quality)

2) What exercises do you like? Mix up your exercises. Swimming, jogging, speed walking and a bit of strength training will be good for you. Allocate 30-60 minutes a day (depending on how strict you are) for at least 3-4 days a week (again depending on how much you want to push it). Allow your body to rest at least a day too!

Overall: Make it a habit. Don't do something you can't sustain in a long run. Don't make it an obsession either.

Note: Sometimes we weigh slightly more or lesser on a day because of the gain/loss in water mass.

martyfellow · Answer

You can't lose that much that fast without hurting yourself, so don't try. Shoot for 10 lbs in 6 weeks IF you are working out a lot and regulaly. Even that is pushing the issue a little.

Think how long it took you to put on that 10-20 pounds; it won't come off a whole lot faster.

kheserthorpe · Answer

Protein sparing modified fast. Read up before doing it. I'd suggest Lyle Macdonalds (you can get it as an ebook) 'rapid fatloss handbook'

I have about 4-6 weeks to lose some weight, advice?

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