How to Make Your Body Shrink

Shrinking your body can improve your health and overall appearance. The trick is to shrink your body the right way, by losing excess fat and water. Losing excess fat can put your body within the recommended body fat percentage. Losing excess water can make inches around your waist disappear within days. Shrinking your body permanently will take a combination of proper diet and exercise. As you get noticeably smaller, your motivation to continue on your new regime will keep you going.

Instructions

• 1

  Reduce your calorie intake. A safe amount of weight to lose is 1-2 pounds per week. To lose this amount of weight, you should reduce your calorie intake from your maintenance level by 250-500 calories and burn 250-500 calories in exercise per week. To find your calorie maintenance level, use the calculator linked to in the resources section. A calorie deficit through a combination of diet and exercise of 500 calories per day will result in a 1-pound per week weight loss. A calorie deficit through a combination of diet and exercise of 1,000 calories per day will result in a 2-pound per week weight loss.

• 2

  Eat the right kinds of foods. Making your body smaller means giving your body enough fuel to make it through your workouts. It also means eating the right kinds of foods to stave off hunger. Lean protein and fiber increase your satiety. You should eat about 0.4 grams of protein per pound of body weight. Women need between 21 and 25 grams of fiber per day. Men need between 30 and 38 grams of fiber per day.

• 3

  Focus on losing fat rather than muscle. Fat is more voluminous than muscle. This means that if you lose 5 pounds of fat, you will look much smaller than if you lose 5 pounds of muscle. To ensure you are losing fat instead of muscle, eat enough calories and weight train to maintain your muscle mass. When you reduce your calorie intake too sharply, your body can begin to break down your muscles for energy. The minimum number of calories recommended for an adult is 1200. A beginning weight training routine can help you maintain the muscle you do have, so your body will turn to fat for energy.

• 4

  Lose excess water by drinking more water and avoiding foods that cause bloating. Though it may be counterintuitive, the more you drink, the easier your body can flush out excess liquids. Drink at least 64 ounces of water a day. Foods that cause bloating are high-sodium foods, drinks with carbonation such as soda and dairy, if you are lactose intolerant.