How to Reduce Weight in a Week's Time

Restricting certain foods and cutting calories drastically to lose weight can make your body store fat instead of getting rid of it. To lose weight in a week's time, you have to burn more calories than you consume. For instance, one pound is 3,500 calories. If you cut 500 calories from your diet per day, you will lose 1 pound in a week. If you slash 1,000 calories a day, you will lose 2 pounds in a week. According to Medline Plus, the minimum amount of calories a woman should consume daily is 1,200 and for men it's 1,500.

Instructions

• 1

  Don't eat simple carbohydrates or complex carbohydrates during the week you are trying to lose weight. Simple carbohydrates such as pasta, white bread and rice digest quickly, leaving you with a hungry feeling again. Complex "good" carbohydrates are fine to eat during long-term diets, but to lose weight in a week's time, replace them with vegetables. Vegetables digest slowly and help flush your system with their high water content.

• 2

  Eat slowly, since it takes 20 minutes for your brain to tell you that you are full. Eating fast can make you take in more calories than needed.

• 3

  Eliminate stress during your weight-loss week. The stress hormone cortisol feeds off increased stress levels. Cortisol is associated with excess body fat. Every day for a week, meditate and take deep breaths to keep stress at bay.

• 4

  Make water your main beverage for the week. Water has no carbohydrates, sodium or calories, and fills you up quickly. Drink water when you are hungry. Sometimes thirst is mistaken for hunger.

• 5

  Perform interval training for 30 minutes every day during your weight-loss week. Interval training burns more calories than same-intensity cardiovascular exercise. Walk for three minutes and sprint for one minute. Switch intensities from low to high and back to complete 30 minutes. For variety you can also use the stationary bike, elliptical machine or stair-climber.

• 6

  Get eight hours of sleep per night. When you sleep, your muscles grow and your body restores itself, providing you with plenty of energy for the next day. Lack of sleep can lead to lack of energy to work out and cravings for result-sabotaging foods.

• 7

  Avoid drinking alcohol for the week. Alcohol has many empty calories, dehydrates the body and leaves you with no energy to exercise.