We know that sometimes you have to lose weight fast, maybe it’s for an upcoming event, a party or even reunion. We have come up with a fat-torching strategy that actually will burn around 5 pounds from your bod in seven days — without starvation, eccentric supplements, or cutting out whole food groups. How? It is all about small sacrifices.
Drink Only Water and Tea
A sports or power drink, “healthy” fruit smoothies, juice, alcohol, even “vitamin” waters are packed with sugar and unwanted calories, we advise that you avoid these drinks completely. Water and tea are the perfect slim down drinks! They have zero calories, zero sugar, and zero carbs! To make your water really work for you, consider drinking teas, like Get Lean, which has been proven to help increase metabolic rate and improve energy. Or even try a Teatox Kit which comes with two teas, one that helps lose weight, and another that helps detox, these are a powerhouse combo when wanting to shed unwanted pounds.
How much water should you drink a day? Take your weight and divide that number in half (160lbs/2=80). So for a 160lb individual, 80 ounces of water is ideal.
- Drink 16-20 ounces of water with lemon right when you get up, this will help waken your organs, and jumpstart your body.
- Brew a pot of tea, again add lemon if you like (lemon is fabulous for you!). Enjoy at least one 8 ounce cup in the morning.
- Approximately an hour before lunch have another 16-20 ounces. Don’t drink water right before eating as it messes with your digestive enzymes and can cause indigestion.
- Late afternoon have a hot cup of tea, this will help curb cravings when you are searching for a sugary or salty snack.
- Drink at least 20 ounces while you’re exercising, adding lemon helps balance electrolytes.
- Pamper your body in the evening with a hot cup of detoxing tea, this will gently cleanse your body while you sleep and with time, you will find you sleep much better.
Avoid all white breads and pastas
Nothing good comes out of white bread or pasta, they are nutrient deficient and just convert into sugar when you eat them. “Simple carbs wreak havoc on your weight as they are digested very fast, leaving you famished and much more possible to overeat later,” says Jana Klauer, MD, creator of The Park Avenue Nutritionist’s Plan. Instead enjoy whole grains, wild rice, quinoa, cous cous, are all great choices. Bake a sweet potato and add a tablespoon of olive, coconut, or even hemp oil with fresh herbs to combat a carb craving.
If you are really trying to lose weight fast, we recommend avoiding all grains for a week, and replacing them with vegetables. Mashed broccoli and cauliflower with healthy oil, garlic and herbs is a great substitute. How about baking a sheet of Brussels sprouts, zucchini, carrots, mushrooms, onion, garlic cloves and broccoli. This is a delicious and hearty alternative to grains at meal time.
Throw away all the processed foods
We’re not just talking about the chips, candy and snack cakes. We are talking about the frozen dinners, healthy (even organic) granola or energy bars, these appear to be healthy… sorry to break it to you, those are mostly unhealthy too. Read the labels of all of your food!! Do you recognize all the ingredients? If you don’t, it’s probably crap. How many grams of sugar is in it? Sodium?
Here are a list of seemingly healthy foods that cause weight gain:
- Vitamin or enhanced drinks
- Smoothies
- Trail Mix
- Frozen diet Entrees
- Bars
- Muffins
- Frozen Yogurt
- Fat Free Sweets
- Granola
- Nut Butters
Do Cardio 30 Minutes a Day
Any work out which gets your heart rate up will burn off more calories. We are strong advocates in making exercise fun, you will have to find what works best for you of course. Some of our absolute favorites are Zumba (found in nearly every city), cardio kickboxing (most gyms), skating (rollerblading or quads) while listing to super fun music, boot-camp workouts, and spin classes. If you can’t get outside or to the gym, then find an indoor workout, our 7 Minute Scientific workout is fabulous, we also love the Workout Trainer App, and almost every Beachbody video (Brazil Butt Lift and TurboFire are our favorites).
Drink a cup of coffee prior to a workout
This is actually the one exception towards the stick-to-water only rule: Caffeine is a stimulant. It gives you extra stamina and increases your heart rate, improving blood flow from the heart to the rest of your body. Caffeine is thought to help endurance athletes by reducing the muscles’ consumption of glycogen, the stored energy used up during exercise. There’s only a certain amount of glycogen available, and once it’s used up, muscle fatigue sets in.
Unfortunately, habitual use of caffeine reduces all the above effects. The body treats caffeine like any other drug, so while the initial effects of caffeine are large, they are reduced over time. So skip the morning cup of coffee, drink tea instead, and use the benefits of coffee before you workout. Cool huh?
Have more safe sex, yes we went there!
Not that you needed an excuse to hook-up with your lover nightly! Your best position is with you on top, being on the top means you do the rocking and grinding, and the more busy you are, the more calories you burn — as many as 144 for 30 minutes.
Sexual activity also pumps degrees of feel-good chemicals, endorphins, enabling you to ride out food cravings. Plus it is proven to lower stress, which is also proven to help lose weight. Boom, two in one baby!
Do 30 Push-Ups and Lunges (or squats) Every Other Day
Do 3 sets of 10 every other day. 10 push-ups, 10 lunges or squats and repeat 3 times. This will help build lean muscle, and lean muscle helps to burn more calories, which in turn makes you lose more fat. Plus lean muscle will help you as you grow older, to reduce injury and keep your body in tip top shape. Our favorite time to do this is first thing in the morning, before your shower. 16 ounces of water with lemon, 30 push-ups, 30 lunges or squats, brush teeth, shower. Good morning body!
Get a Great Nights Sleep
Plan your sleep, and shut everything down at the time you need to be in bed. Be sure to allow yourself 9 hours to fully get the REMs your body needs. It has been proven that people who have a regular sleep schedule are thinner.
Make One Food Sacrifice
Eliminating one indulgence — including the chips you have with lunch or even the chocolate dessert you eat after supper — may subtract a couple of hundred calories from your own diet, which means less fat. Don’t create sugary habits, and if you already have, break the habit. Dessert isn’t necessary every single night. Make it a treat, pick one or two nights a week to enjoy that cup of frozen yogurt or dark chocolate.
Stand Up Straight
Shoulders back, head up, tummy in. Maybe you aren’t losing weight by standing up straight, but you sure look a few pounds slimmer!
Lastly… do something nice for yourself at least once a week. Something to relieve stress. A walk listening to your favorite tunes, a mani-pedi, a lunch or dinner date with an old friend, read a book for pleasure… Be good to yourself, and your body will thank you.
Fitness trainers know what they’re talking about, but sometimes they miss these key exercises that you can do at home while watching TV. For the best results, do these exercises every other day. Eat a clean diet that is filled with fresh vegetables, lean proteins, beans, nuts, seeds and whole grains. Drink a minimum of 60 ounces of water and 
1. Ice cold water