Losing weight is never easy, whether you’re looking to lose just five pounds or a little more. It demands not only a lifestyle change but also a lot of patience. What is even more difficult is losing 20 pounds in just two short weeks.
One of the biggest challenges is the fact that losing so much weight in such a short time may be dangerous. Despite this, some people find themselves in an unusual situation where they have little option but to do this the hard way. As we already know it is possible, let’s take a look at how you might lose 20 pounds in two weeks.
You may know from talking to family or friends that people lose weight for different reasons. Some do it for the sake of their health, some for the shape of their body, and some do it just for fun.
All these people have a range of options to choose from to help them reach their goals. Many people opt for surgery or weight loss pills so they can drop a large amount of weight quickly. However, a diet and lifestyle change is a healthier and long-lasting option, but to do it in two weeks may require you to consult a doctor or expert.
Is there a limit to the number of pounds a person can lose in two weeks? It is actually surprising the amount of weight a person can lose in just two weeks without effort. It is truly possible to lose 20 pounds or even more in just two weeks.
If you have a lot of excess weight, losing 20 pounds may seem doable. However, it will be difficult and unhealthy if you are only a few pounds overweight. (6). It’s important to remember that such a fast weight loss should only occur under strict medical supervision by a doctor.
Losing any number of pounds comes down to burning more calories than your daily energy requirements. The best way of achieving this is to eat less and move more.
Furthermore, many smaller strategies can come in handy to help maximize your effort. If you have a hectic schedule, you may want to know how to lose 20 pounds without exercise in two weeks. Below are some strategies to help you lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks:
You may see this as obvious, but losing weight will be a difficult nut to crack without commitment. As you will be adopting a short-term diet, you need to be disciplined in your approach. The aim is not to lose 20 pounds in a month but in just two weeks. You don’t have the pleasure of even one day off because that would mean the weight loss would take you more than two weeks.
The moment you start, you must commit to seeing it through. There are strategies to help you with your commitment, such as telling other people your plan so that they can hold you accountable or even have them do it with you (15).
There is no better strategy for losing 20 pounds in two weeks without exercise than reducing the amount of calories you consume. Basically, losing weight is made possible when you burn more calories than you consume. Therefore, it makes perfect sense to start by reducing the amount of calories you eat. This can only be made possible by cutting back on the amount of food you consume.
A pound of fat equals 3,500 calories. This means that you will need to burn the same amount of calories in order to lose a pound. An intake of approximately 500 fewer calories will get you on the way to your weight loss journey as you will be able to cut one pound. Alternatively, eating 1,000 fewer calories per day could help you lose 2 pounds per week (14).
However, as you are looking to lose about 10 pounds in a week, you may be forced to further reduce your caloric intake. Consuming 1,000 fewer calories in a week is categorized as being in crash-dieting territory. This is never recommended as the body may react badly to the change.
Protein is one of the foods that are recommended, particularly for people who think about food all the time. Protein helps you feel full for a longer period. As a result, you won’t eat extra calories because your food cravings will be reduced, resulting in helping you reach your weight loss goals.
There is evidence that high-protein diets lead to a decrease in belly fat while also increasing muscle mass. It also results in higher metabolism during weight loss. Therefore, increase your protein intake, as this will definitely curb your appetite and cravings.
Fiber is another thing you should increase your consumption of as you try to decrease your total food intake as it works well for weight loss. Fiber takes a long time to move through the gastrointestinal tract, meaning you feel full for the entire period.
By doing so, you won’t have any cravings for food or snacks. In addition to aiding weight loss, fiber helps trim inches and prevents weight gain (5).
There is a close relationship between sleep and weight. If you don’t get enough sleep, there is a greater likelihood of having a higher body weight. Several factors contribute to this, but the biggest is that sleep deprivation makes people hungry. Somehow, people in this situation tend to opt for less-healthy foods rather than healthier ones.
A good night’s sleep should be approximately 7 to 9 hours of restful sleep every night. Doing this will make it a lot easier to lose weight faster. In addition, you will be getting enough rest, which means you’ll wake up feeling energetic for the next day’s workout (8).
If you have chosen to adopt a healthy lifestyle, then baked foods shouldn’t be consumed on a regular basis. You should also reduce the consumption of white pasta, white bread, and white rice if you aim to lose 20 pounds in two weeks.
The reason for avoiding carbohydrates is because they spike your blood sugar. When the blood sugar is high, this tends to cause cravings that may lead you to eat more than you need, thereby defeating the purpose of your weight loss plan. Furthermore, people who consume a large amount of refined carbs are at a higher risk of having more visceral fat than those who eat whole grains (16).
You must engage in cardio in order to burn calories. The best form of cardio for your weight loss needs is high-intensity interval training (HIIT). HIIT involves short alternating bursts of speed with slower recovery periods and is the best exercise for losing weight. This type of workout will help you burn up to 30 percent more calories than other types of cardio.
To achieve even better results, you may consider incorporating HIIT into any other type of workout that you are already doing. If your normal routine involves walking, you could add HIIT by alternating between walking and 30 seconds of sprinting (3).
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Many people tend to eat a snack between dinner and bedtime. People who eat late in the night tend to consume approximately 500 calories more than those who eat their dinner earlier. To achieve your goals, you should eat early and keep away from the kitchen after dinner.
Water is good for quenching your thirst and also serves as a hunger booster. By drinking a glass of water when you feel hungry, you can temporarily satisfy your rumbling stomach until the scheduled time for your next meal. Therefore, drinking a lot of water will reduce your food cravings and act as a replacement for unhealthy snacks.
Don’t forget that water occupies space so after you drink it, you will eat less during mealtimes on account of the water already in your stomach. It is not surprising that people who drink water before meals tend to consume fewer calories (4).
In addition to high-intensity cardio, strength training is another weight-loss exercise that is good for burning calories. It aims to preserve and build lean muscle mass, which means that the body can burn more calories throughout the day. Other workouts for losing weight include jogging, cycling, swimming, pilates, and yoga.
Water and sometimes unsweetened coffee or tea are the only liquids you can drink comfortably. All other things you drink may give you liquid calories that don’t make you feel full but add to your waistline. For example, drinking a 5-ounce glass of red wine gives you approximately 125 calories and a 12-ounce latte made with whole milk gives you 150 calories.
This doesn’t mean that you should cut out these drinks forever, but you should avoid them for two weeks while you are trying to lose weight. Whenever you have one of these drinks, make sure you factor it into your total daily energy requirements (17).
When you eat your food quickly, it is easy to take in more calories than you need. This is because the signal from the stomach to the human brain takes as long as 20 minutes before it notices your stomach is full. Therefore, when you eat quickly, there is a risk of overeating. At the same time, eating at a leisurely pace results in greater feelings of satisfaction when you leave the table. In this way, you won’t crave snacks after meals.
There is no shortage of supplements you can take if you are keen to lose 20 pounds in two weeks. You need to know the right supplements to take for accelerating your weight loss. One major advantage of supplements is that you will not have any nutritional deficits for the two weeks.
You may wish to continue taking the supplements after the two weeks are over. This is important because you will continue losing weight and fat as you desire. Some of the best supplements include Omega-3 fatty acids, which lower inflammation and promote weight loss even without exercise. A whey protein shake is a protein supplement that is low in carbohydrates and helps fill your stomach, so you won’t feel too hungry.
Athletic greens are supplements that provide the body with vitamins, minerals, and powerful probiotics and antioxidants. By consuming them, your metabolism will be increased as your weight loss is accelerated (13).
In addition to helping you lose weight, intermittent fasting has been proven to increase the body’s metabolism while maintaining lean muscle. The problem with losing a lot of weight so quickly is that you may end up ‘skinny fat’ (appearing to be thin but your body is mushy and soft). As a result, you may be unhappy with how your body is shaped or toned.
You can have as many as 16 hours of fasting between meals. During intermittent fasting, you only consume drinks that will not break your fast, such as unsweetened green tea, cold lemon water, black coffee, and branched-chain amino acids. This will reduce your daily calorie intake (1).
Unchecked tension or anxiety can certainly make it more difficult to reduce your weight. This is because the stress hormone cortisol, which is secreted in excess, can trigger cravings for snacks while simultaneously signaling the body to store more fat. Therefore, you should engage in things that make you relax and unwind in order to lose 20 pounds in two weeks.
Don’t overemphasize the things you should do and forget the things you shouldn’t do. One of the things to avoid is alcohol. For starters, alcoholic drinks contain plenty of empty calories, in addition to slowing down the body’s metabolism.
Drinking alcohol can also cause disruptions to your sleep and you know that if you are not sleeping enough, then your body will store more weight.
Read more: How To Lose Hip Fat and Keep It Off for Good
Eggs may be the last thing you would think of to help with weight loss, but they actually help. If used appropriately, the boiled egg diet is perfect for temporary weight loss goals as it makes you adhere to a low-carb, low-calorie but high-protein diet.
That being said, you should be aware that the boiled egg diet is not a long-term weight loss solution, so it must not be adopted as a permanent method for keeping your weight off. You shouldn’t follow an eggs-only diet as you try to cut weight and you should incorporate boiled eggs with some vegetables and other protein sources (9).
There are different versions of the egg diet, but they all require you to drink only water or beverages with zero calories. In addition, your meal routine is breakfast, lunch, and dinner with no snacks in between.
The minimum requirement for a how to lose 20 pounds in two weeks meal plan is to consume two or three eggs per day.
Below is the how to lose 20 pounds in two weeks meal plan:
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Having seen the how to lose 20 pounds in a two weeks diet plan, there are several things you should consider. As there are no carbohydrates but plenty of proteins and exercise, you will be able to lose weight in the shortest time possible. Most importantly, you need to make sure you consult your doctor or dietitian before you start your diet plan. There are many elements that only medical practitioners can explain to you.
After the two weeks, you should slowly introduce other foods back into your diet so you provide the body with all the nutrients it requires. You should be able to maintain your new weight by continuing to drink plenty of water and eating lean proteins with vegetables and healthy fats.
Read more: How to Lose Weight After 50: Discover 23 Ways to Lose the “Dad Bod” or Menopause Belly After 50
It’s neither realistic nor healthy to lose 20 pounds in just two weeks. A safe and sustainable weight loss goal is 1-2 pounds per week through a combination of diet and exercise (7) (11).
An extreme drop in weight over a short period of time could result in:
A safe and healthy rate of weight loss is 1-2 pounds per week. This means that it could take anything from 10 to 20 weeks to lose 20 pounds through a combination of diet and exercise.
It should be noted that “quick” weight loss methods that promise to help you lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks will lead you down an unhealthy path and could potentially harm your body.
Foods that burn fat don’t exist. However, some foods can boost metabolism and help with weight loss when they are combined with a balanced diet and exercise (12). These include:
Remember to focus on making nutritious food choices rather than looking for “miracle” fat-burning foods.
Losing 10 pounds in a week is not recommended as you’ll need to employ extreme measures such as drastically reducing calories and engaging in intense exercise (10). This can be harmful to your body and difficult to sustain.
Instead, you should aim for a steady weight loss of 1-2 pounds per week through a healthy combination of diet and physical activity. This approach will be more sustainable and will also lead to long-term success in maintaining a healthy weight.
The journey on how to lose 20 pounds in two weeks is never easy and is certainly not for the faint of heart. You only have 14 days in which to drastically change your appearance and you must work hard to achieve it.
Most importantly, you must have the inner drive and willpower to push on no matter how hard it gets. This approach doesn’t promote healthy weight loss and results might not be sustainable in the long term.
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