Tuesday, June 30, 2009

6 Ways to Lose 6 Pounds in One Week

By Patsie Adams

All you need to lose 6 pounds is seven days - and some effort. It's a quick amount of time, but it is still possible to lose those pounds this fast without hurting your health. This article gives 6 sensible, effective strategies that you can totally do.

First, let's make the calorie formula clear. To lose 6 pounds in a week you must burn 3000 more calories than you eat. The math says you have to burn about 475 extra calories a day to achieve this. You can burn the calories through diet or exercise. The best approach, of course is still a combination of both.

Here are some ideas to get your body moving to burn up those calories:

1. Get busy spring cleaning. You won't just get a clean house, you will burn some serious calories in the process. Clean the house intensely for some five hours and you can burn up to 575 calories . At this rate, a little over 5 hours of cleaning will allow you to burn all the calories needed - and some extra. But, beware that you dont want to compensate by eating more. Like we already said, the calories expended have to exceed the amount eaten.

2. Hit the slopes. Skiing is a great winter sport that also burns major calories. A 165-pound person can burn more than 12 calories per minute. Four hours of actual ski time will help you lose 6 pounds in a week. Another great reason for a ski holiday!

3. Dont be desk-bound. Many Americans sit in front of a computer to do their work. This doesn't have to be the case all the time. For example, when you are making phone calls, stand up and walk around. And walk over to your co-workers office instead of sending an email. Fidgeting at the desk burns calories too. While these kind of strategies wont help you in one week, they will be effective over the long run. Every little calorie burned counts.

Aside from getting more active, you can also reduce calorie intake by controlling what you eat. Here's how:

4. Try the Cabbage Soup Diet. On this diet, many people have lost up to at least 6 pounds in a week. You won't go hungry for it though. You can have all of the cabbage soup you want each day and a specified group of secondary foods. The cabbage soup staple is made of clear broth or V8 Juice, lots of cabbage, and your own choice of non-starchy vegetables.

5. Try the Grapefruit Diet. On this diet, you eat no starchy food. Its also called the grapefruit diet because you have to eat a half grapefruit at every meal. At breakfast you have bacon, eggs and coffee; at lunch you have salad and meat; and at dinner you have meat and non-starchy vegetables. To cap every meal you have to eat some grapefruit. Right before bed drink 8 ounces of milk or tomato juice. You can eat until you are satisfied. The diet is supposed to run for 12 days and most people lose 10 pounds or more. However, seven days into it, you should have lost your 6 pounds.

6. Go vegetarian for a week. Eliminating all meat and as much other fat as you can will cause you to lose weight quickly. Try to substitute meat with legumes or beans, eat as much fruits and vegetables as you can rather than starchy pastas, rice, and bread.

Now go ahead and try to lose those 6 pounds in one week. It can be done!

About the Author:

No comments: