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Tips to Lose Weight Fast in a 7 Day Food Program

Vacations, weddings, dates and holiday events can leave people feeling self-conscious about their weight. Bloating or water retention from diets high in complex carbohydrates and sodium will promote belly bulge.

A seven-day food program can flush out excess toxins and wastes and help you lose weight fast.

  1. Two Days

    • Spend the first two days giving yourself a full detox by sticking to fruits. Poor diets can lead to acidic blood chemistry, strain on the colon and stored waste. Fibrous fruits can flush toxins out of the body and create an alkaline environment in the blood. Eat as many fruits with fiber as you want , especially dates, figs, blueberries, mangoes, apricots, prunes, raisins, bananas, dried fruit and apples with their skins on. If you begin to feel extremely fatigued, drink some chicken broth. Your digestive system with thank you after a healthy detox.

    Five Days

    • For the rest of your diet, try to limit yourself to around 1,500 calories a day. Avoid eating less because it will push you body into starvation mode, which makes calorie burning difficult. Eat five small meals a day to keep your blood sugar from fluctuating. When your blood sugar dips, a signal goes to the hypothalamus region in the brain. The hypothalamus controls the amount of food you eat. By eating low- calorie but filling meals, you can prevent yourself from becoming ravenous.

      Examples of small meals include an egg white omelet, fruit with non-sugar yogurt, spinach with 3 oz. of white fish, black beans on a whole wheat tortilla, salads filled with shrimp and balsamic dressing and whole wheat pasta and marinara sauce. Make the majority of your meals vegetables with little starch or meat. Check food labels for caloric and sodium content to reach your goal and prevent bloating.

    Sodium

    • According to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, most people should eat fewer than 2,300 mg of sodium a day, which is one teaspoon of table salt. A diet high in sodium leads to hypertension and weight gain. The majority of sodium-rich foods are processed. For example, one can of Campbell's Chunky Chicken Noodle Soup has 1,740 mg of sodium. Even if you eat one serving or one cup, you have consumed a large percentage of your maximum for the day. Avoid canned soups and products unless they indicate that they are low sodium. Use lots of herbs to spice up foods, like chives, parsley, oregano and rosemary. Chili powder, jalapenos, lemon juice and garlic can add heat and zest to avocados and fish.

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