How to lose 4 pounds per week for 6 weeks?

Other than cutting off an arm or leg (obviously not recommending this) there is little chance you can achieve that goal with anything resembling healthy habits.

I’m 5’3 and started at 196 and it has taken me 4 months to lose 30 pounds and I’ve been pretty aggressive.

Your long term health isn’t worth trying to win that challenge. Try to get your money back.

To lose 4 pounds a week, you have to eat 2000 calories fewer every day than you burn, on average. At your current size, with the activity/exercise level you specify (but not knowing your age), you'd probably burn somewhere around 2200-2400 calories per day.

So, you'd need to eat 200-400 calories (total) each day for the 6 weeks, while keeping up daily life and that exercise schedule (which is aggressive in itself, if you're a relative exercise novice). The protein and sugar in your 2 protein drinks (total of 50g protein, 2g sugar, accounting for both, if I'm interpreting your post correctly) will amount to at least 208 calories, assuming the protein and sugar are the only thing in the drinks. You need some fats, and micronutrients, on top of that. If you eat 1200, you'll lose around 2-2.5 pounds per week, maybe.

As I do the math, you can't lose 4 pounds a week and get even remotely adequate nutrition. You can expect to get weak and fatigued. Assuming you keep it up, a few weeks later, you'll probably lose hair, get brittle nails. You will be lucky if you don't cause a much more dangerous health crisis, with things up to heart failure and beyond being among the possibilities.

I'm not trying to be mean to you when I say this. This is just the math, and some implications. IMO, this was not a very good bet. Sacrifice your health for $500? I wouldn't.

I don't believe you can lose 4 pounds a week. However, can you lose 6% body fat?

Let's do the maths. 6% of 191/2.2 = 5.2 kg (sorry Americans). That's a lot less. That's equal to 158,600 KJ or a deficit of 352 large apples. Or 129 hours of walking at 5.0 km/hr, or 53 hours of running at 7.5 km/hr. Or a combination of deficit and exercise.

So yes, I believe that it's possible to lose 6% of body fat. I would not have taken the bet because I am good at half-donkeying things but I admire your courage and I wish you well in your challenge.

This goal is not realistic. So sorry buoy got sucked in.

stevehenderson776 wrote: »

This isn't a healthy way to lose weight.

Can you please explain how this $500 challenge works? You get a refund if you make it, but lose it if you don't? Is this a commercial "service?" A bet between friends? So best case scenario is you win $0, worst case scenario is you lose $500. I don't understand what your motivation is for doing this. It seems like a scam. Somebody explain this to me.

It sounds like one of the weight loss betting sites like dietbet.com or healthywage.com . To use them, you put up money and at the end, you could make a very small profit, but 85-90 % of users lose their entire wager (i.e. the initial deposit). The biggest complaint with those sites is that people say they got trapped in aggressive, unrealistic diets they couldn't execute.

To the OP. This isn't going to work, sorry. You're not going to lose 4 lbs a week for 6 weeks. It isn't just unhealthy; it's unachievable. You would need a 2,000 calorie per day deficit to pull it off. Assuming your TDEE (i.e. your "break even" calories) are 2,000-ish, you would basically have to either eat NO food for 6 weeks, or work off EVERY SINGLE CALORIE of what you eat with exercise. Those are functionally equivalent - trying to do a net zero diet through absurd amounts of exercise is no better than just starving yourself. There's almost no point in talking about whether this is healthy because the main point is, it isn't going to happen. If you manage to do this for a few days, it'll lead straight to a binge. No way will you do this for 6 weeks, nor should you.

This is one of those times in life where it's appropriate to say to yourself "I made a mistake; it happens. I'm going to move on and not cry over spilt milk." Then get yourself on a sound plan, 1 - 2 lbs per week.

lgfrie wrote: »

stevehenderson776 wrote: »

This isn't a healthy way to lose weight.

Can you please explain how this $500 challenge works? You get a refund if you make it, but lose it if you don't? Is this a commercial "service?" A bet between friends? So best case scenario is you win $0, worst case scenario is you lose $500. I don't understand what your motivation is for doing this. It seems like a scam. Somebody explain this to me.

It sounds like one of the weight loss betting sites like dietbet.com or healthywage.com . Unfortunately, while one is not required to enter into a "if I succeed I get nothing, and if I fail, I lose $$$" to use those sites, many people do approach it that way.

Seems rather predatory. Especially this particular case of it.

It's probably a scam gym membership. Fight with consumer protection and better business bureau complaints

Math says you either cheat on your before and after weigh ins using water weight manipulation, stuff a few bars of metal in your bra, or you need a TDEE in the 4k plus range and (still having to apply) an absurdly high percentage deficit!

To lose 4 pounds a week from your current starting weight you would need to gain about 350 pounds first.

You might still be tempted even after all the warnings you have received. If so consider any other responsibilities you may have that will be severely impacted by this plan. I do not believe it will hurt your health because I believe your body will either force you to eat or shut down so much that you are too miserable to continue.

The problem is that initially you may feel euphoric. You may think it is the greatest plan ever. The crash happens soon after. The first thing that will go is your mood. You will be in a perpetually bad mood. You will have little to no patience. You will feel bad and you will lash out at small things that you might otherwise ignore. Everyone around you will suffer too.

If you are able to sustain it that is also not good news because it might suggest you are disordered and in need of treatment.

As @AnnPT77 points out to lose the amount of weight you need to lose you will basically have to fast for the length of time you need. Abandon this completely. Lose your weight sensibly and sustainably and manage yourself properly during and for the rest of your life.

Welcome!!!
Congratulations for taking your first steps toward a healthier you. Unfortunately, I agree with most of what the previous responders have said.
- there is no magic pill
- At your starting weight, there is no healthy way to lose t4 pounds per week consistently for 6 weeks.
- Going from little to no exercise (sorry, I made an assumption there) to three workouts a day is a recipe for discouragement, poor form and injury
- The proven successful method for weight loss is being at a caloric deficit.
- typical weight lose is 1 to 2 pounds per week. And it varies every week with ups and downs.

You’ve found a great app and community to improve or maintain your health and fitness. Don’t think of this is a short term program or a diet, rather think of it is a lifestyle to a healthier you.

We are all here to help each other out and provide inspiration or motivation.

You may find it beneficial to start more gradually, so that small changes, over time, add up to results:
- make a small sustainable change eg., if you like to drink pop, then switch that out for water or sparkling water with lemon or lime in it.
- Once you’ve adjusted to that change then make another small sustainable change eg., if you like to eat rice, switch that out for brown rice
- Track what you eat
- Monitor your macros
- Monitor your metrics (weight and measurements)
- Then adjust as needed
- As you lose weight, your body is going to change, not only in appearance, but also in how it reacts to different foods.

You’ve made a fantastic first step by logging into MFP.

We are all here to support each other.

The basic math of it:

If eating 1200 per day then in order to lose 4 pounds per week, you would need to burn enough to have a 2000 calorie daily deficit. Meaning you would need to burn an extra 2000 daily beyond the 1200 you are consuming.

Your BMR is probably 1600-1650, and if your daily activity (job, hobbies not counting exercise) is fairly light then your total daily burn is probably around 2000-2100. So you'd need to burn 1200 in exercise. At roughly 100 cals burned per 1 mile walked: walk 12 miles a day? But to do that, you'd need more food/fuel to have the energy so then you'd probably need to walk 15-20 miles daily so that you could earn an extra 300-800 calories to keep going. But walking the extra 3-8 miles would require MORE energy, so another few miles to earn a few hundred more calories to keep going. And repeat.

This is why it is not a reasonable goal. In order to exercise enough to burn the extra large deficit, you need to eat into your deficit. Its kind of like a cat chasing its tail. Losing 1-2 pounds weekly, up to 1% of your body weight if you're over 200-300 pounds, is reasonable and safe. You may lose a few extra pounds in the beginning (water weight) but then it will level off.

Accept that your $500 is gone and use it as motivation to create a safe, healthy, and sustainable weight loss routine. In a year or so, the lost money will sting less because you'll have successfully worked towards your goal without hurting yourself.

All I ask is that you come back after the challenge and give us an update about how you did please!!!

Wow, your gym is promoting very unhealthy practices. $500.00 is a big incentive. What did they record your body fat as?