How Much Weight Can You REALLY Lose In One Week?

The question: You always hear plans promising to help you lose 5 or 10 pounds in one week—but how much can you realistically lose in seven days?

The expert: Lauren Slayton, M.S., R.D., author of the upcoming The Little Book of Thin

The answer: In general, when you’re pulling out all the stops, you’re probably not going to be able to lose more than three or four pounds a week. Granted, this stat varies depending on your baseline factors, including your starting weight (people who begin at a higher weight tend to see more dramatic losses) and what your lifestyle was like to begin with (if you’re already eating pretty healthily and exercising, it’s going to be harder to see a big drop than if you completely overhaul your diet and fitness routine). Some people may report losing even more pounds on cleanses, but that’s most likely inflated by changes in water weight (which is different than losing fat and/or muscle mass).

That said—what you can lose and what you should lose are two different things. “If you want to lose weight and keep it off, you want to do it more in the one to two pounds per week range,” says Slayton. That’s ultimately going to be more sustainable—and easier to stay on track with—than going to extreme measures to drop three pounds in one week, only to see them come right back on.

MORE: How Keep the Pounds Off—For Good!

If you really want to step up your weight loss—without sacrificing long-term results—Slayton suggests intermittently cutting back on calories (more than you would on a typical day). Similar to doing intervals on the treadmill, this should help you slim down without your having to completely overhaul your schedule—and without slowing down your metabolism.

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