7 Healthy Ways to Lose Weight in One Week

Have you ever been in a situation where you realized you’ve got one or two weeks left until a special event but you’re not in your best shape? Maybe you got a short notice party invitation or just failed to watch your diet and abandoned your exercise program before a special occasion?

I know, this situation sucks, but have no fear.

There are steps that you can take to look your best without starving yourself, going on a weird crash diet, or spending hours on a treadmill.

I am going to be completely honest with you – for most people it’s not possible to lose more than 2 pounds of pure fat per week, however, you can lose a lot of water weight. If you currently eat salt, sugar, processed carbohydrates and packaged foods, I can assure you that you have a lot of water retention, so you look heavier than you actually are.

An amazing thing about these tips is that they will not only make you look slimmer and toned, but will also give your skin a healthy glow! It is a sustainable way to lose weight so, if you’ve got more than one week, that’s even better! If you follow these tips for one month, it will do wonders for your figure.

So without further ado, here are the tips and proven techniques that will help you get into a smaller dress and look stunning:

1. Hydrate your body

This may sound counterintuitive but, in fact, excess salt and toxins make you retain liquid in your tissues, so drinking enough pure water will help you relieve bloating. The more dehydrated you are, the more your body will try to hold on to water. So make sure you keep your water bottle next to you all day long!

Start your day with warm lemon water. It helps you get rid of toxins in your fat tissue, aids digestion, helps you become regular, and makes your skin glow. Simply drink at least 1 quart (1 liter) of warm water with freshly squeezed juice of half lemon.

2. Eat a lot of vegetables

You have to make sure you do not starve yourself and that you get all the necessary nutrients, so use vegetables to bulk up your meals. Instead of pasta, white rice or potatoes, get yourself some raw or steamed broccoli, cauliflower, pumpkin, green peas or cabbage.

You can also bake your veggies in the oven, but make sure you do so without any oil. Make sure to eat loads of raw leafy greens, like spinach, kale, chard, collard greens, watercress, lettuce, etc. They provide your body with vital nutrients, help eliminate toxins, alkalize your body and are extremely low in calories.

Add raw salads (leafy greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, etc.) to all of your savory meals to make sure you get the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and live enzymes. Avoid store bought dressings; use lime or lemon juice instead.

3. Sweat like a pig to look like a fox

I cannot stress enough the importance of sweating! It not only alleviates water retention, but also helps get rid of toxins, thus helps you burn fat and make your skin look clearer and younger. Sauna, hot yoga and any cardio exercise are great ways to break a sweat.

4. Eliminate salt, refined sugar and chemicals from your food

As mentioned above, these substances cause water retention and make you look a lot fatter than you actually are. So eliminate salt, refined sugar (including agave syrup, maple syrup, honey and other sweeteners), and all flavor enhancers, preservatives and other chemicals.

Basically, avoid all packaged processed foods because almost all of them contain salt, sugar and other chemicals. Use stevia, ripe bananas and dates to sweeten things up. If you’re craving saltiness, use seaweed and celery to enhance the savoury flavors.

Another trick is to use natural herbs and spices to flavor your food. It might be a little hard in the beginning, but you’ll get used to it and your taste buds will adapt – you’ll appreciate natural flavors a lot more.

5. Eliminate gluten, soy and dairy products completely

What do these foods have in common? They are extremely allergenic and cause chronic inflammation, which prevents you from losing fat. A lot of people experience dramatic weight loss only by eliminating these products from their diet.

If you’re not vegetarian or vegan, and at this stage are not willing to become one, at least reduce eating meat. For best weight loss results, avoid factory farmed meat (it’s packed with hormones and antibiotics) and get your “meat fix” from wild caught fish and organic lean poultry.

6. Exercise! Move your body at least an hour per day

Exercise improves circulation and helps get rid of toxins.  It also burns fat, speeds up metabolism and makes you feel more vital! Cardio exercise works the best in the short term. If you really have only one week until a special event, focus on running, dancing, uphill walking, etc. If you want long term results, make sure to include resistance training into your exercise routine because building muscle speeds up your metabolism and your body burns more calories, even when you’re resting.

7. Strategic calorie and carbohydrate timing

Timing your meals is a vital strategy to lose and maintain weight! Eat most of your calories in the first part of the day, so that you have the energy to work, exercise and go about your day. You will burn off those calories and they will not get stored as fat. If you want to maximise your fat loss, avoid eating late at night, especially carbohydrate and fat rich foods. It’s best to close your kitchen door after dinner and not return until the next morning.

The largest, most calorie-dense and carbohydrate-rich meals should be your breakfast and your post-workout meal. It’s important to eat a decent meal after your workout because it replenishes your glycogen (stored energy) levels, improves your metabolism and helps repair the muscles. The best sources of carbs are fruit, starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes and naturally gluten-free whole grains like quinoa, buckwheat or brown rice.

Why stop here? Make it your lifestyle!

So there you go, you’ve got the strategies that will help you alleviate bloating and look slimmer. These are pretty easy steps, especially if you are just going to do it for a short period of time. However, for those of you who want to lose weight permanently, I’ve created free weight loss video training series where I teach everything I did myself to lose 40 lbs and keep it off.

Make healthy lifestyle your priority, and you will have an amazing, fit body all year round!