Quickest Way to Lose Weight in Two Weeks

If losing weight was easy, everyone would be thin. In the long run, keeping off excess pounds (and improving your health) requires a lifestyle overhaul. But let's say you just want to fit into your dress at your sister's wedding. Stay away from fad diets and crazy fasting schemes--they're awful for your health, unsustainable over time, and lead to binging and weight gain when you inevitably go off them. Instead, keep it simple: A few changes in your eating and exercise habits will help you look and feel your best for the big event.

Write It Down

• A 2008 study by the Kaiser Permamente Center for Health Research shows that the most effective dieters keep a food journal monitoring every bite they take (including the nibbles no one else sees). Try it: if you spend a lot of time at your computer, it might be most convenient to maintain your journal in an Excel Spreadsheet or Word Document. Write the type of food, the quantity (in ounces, tablespoons, cups) and the number of calories each item contains. For speedy weight loss, aim to consume 1200 calories per day--if you are very active, you can go up to 1500.

Choose Wisely

• You would probably lose weight if you ate exactly 1200 calories of jelly beans per day--but you would also be miserable and hungry, and your health would suffer. Instead, choose nutritious foods that satisfy your pallet and appetite.
  Fresh vegetables are a must: high in filling water and fiber--not to mention flavor--and low in calories, carbs and sugar, they make a perfect snack and base for salads. Pair a handful of sliced bell peppers with two tablespoons of protein-rich hummus for a 160-calorie snack--that's just over a tenth of your daily calorie allotment.

  Avoid refined sugars: they add calories without nutrition, increase cravings, and slow down your metabolism. Low fat yogurt is a delicious treat for dieters, but flavored varieties are full of added sugar. Try buying it plain, and add your own zero-calorie sweetener along with vanilla extract or a twist of lemon.

  Skip the cocktail: small amounts of alcohol, especially red wine, can benefit your body in the long term. But to lose weight quickly, banish it from your diet. Not only do alcoholic beverages contain lots of calories that don't make you feel fuller, but they also make you a lot more likely to reach for that forbidden cookie.

Get Moving--Now!

• You'll burn a lot more calories on a walk around the block than you will staring at a computer screen. To burn fat quickly, you've got to kick up your level of physical activity. If you are completely sedentary, small steps will make a big difference: try taking a brisk 30-minute walk six days a week (no ambling--you've got to sweat). If you already have a cardio routine, like jogging or biking, add intervals: do 3 to 4 minutes at medium intensity, then ratchet it up to high intensity for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Adding 10 minutes of activity to your cardio workout will also speed up weight loss.