Lots of our readers want to know how to lose 20 pounds in a week. This is a challenging target, and you will probably find it difficult to lose this amount of weight healthily within this timeframe.
However, losing 20 pounds will make a noticeable difference to your appearance and may offer various health benefits, depending on how overweight you are to start with. While we can’t guarantee that you’ll lose 20 pounds in a week, we will reveal how to lose 20 pounds quickly using a diet plan, exercise, and a few sneaky tips.
Weight Loss Supplements to Lose 20 Pounds in a Week
If you’re searching for how to lose 20 pounds in a week without exercise, weight loss supplements could be a suitable option for you. While we can’t guarantee that you’ll lose weight this quickly, there are plenty of safe, healthy non-prescription weight loss tablets that can speed up your weight loss to help you reach your 20-pound target as fast as possible.
Over-the-counter fat-burning products generally work in one or more of the following ways:
- Speeding up your metabolism to help your body burn fat quicker
- Making you feel fuller or less hungry so you eat fewer calories
- Giving you the energy kick you need to get physically active
- Treating stress and anxiety to tackle the root causes of comfort eating
If you want to find a weight loss supplement that answers how to lose 20 pounds in 7 days, you should look for a brand that offers a combination of these fat-busting effects. Therefore, your chosen product will help maximize your weight loss rate and get you one step closer to losing 20 pounds in a week.
Weight loss supplements are unsuitable for people under the age of 18 and pregnant and breastfeeding women. It’s important to note that they may cause various side effects, and we recommend reading the literature from the manufacturer carefully to check that the supplement isn’t associated with any dangerous symptoms. Fortunately, there are several products available that don’t cause any known health risks.
Please bear in mind that some supplements are unsuitable for individuals with pre-existing health conditions like diabetes or cardiovascular disease. If you suffer from any illnesses, we recommend checking with your doctor that it’s safe to take any fat-burning products before buying them.
If you want to find out how to lose 20 pounds in one week with dietary supplements, you should check out our list of the top ten over-the-counter fat burners here.
How to Lose 20 Pounds in 1 Week with Exercise
If you’d rather chill out on the couch than hit the gym, it’s time to rethink that strategy. The fastest way to lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks is to create a large calorie deficit, which means you need to burn off far more calories than you eat in your food.
To create a large enough calorie deficit to lose 20 pounds in 7 days without exercise, you would need to restrict your food intake dangerously low. This could cause serious health problems and nutritional deficiencies, so it’s much safer to use a combination of diet and exercise to maximize your weight loss. Furthermore, there are plenty of health benefits to getting fit and active.
However, you don’t need to spend your life in the gym to lose 20 pounds through exercise. Of course, vigorous workouts that burn through vast numbers of calories quickly are going to be the best option for losing 20 pounds as soon as possible. However, if you don’t have or can’t afford a gym membership or expensive fitness equipment, you still have plenty of options available to you.
So, what exercise is best to lose 20 pounds in a week? Let’s take a peek at some of the most effective physical activities to burn off those extra pounds as fast as possible.
How to Lose 20lbs in a Week with a Weight Loss Program
If you’ve spent time researching weight loss methods, you may have found several subscription programs that promise to show you how to lose 20 pounds in a week without dieting or lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks guaranteed. While these offers may sound like an attractive solution for quick results, are they worth the money?
Any weight loss regime that promises to help you shed as much as 20 pounds in just a week is probably a fad diet that may not provide the essential nutrients you need for good health. It may also be merely making bold claims without the data or evidence to back it up.
While there is no single weight loss program that can guarantee this amount of weight loss, there are plenty of good options to show you how to lose 20 pounds fast. Here are some of the features you should look out for in a weight loss program that is safe, healthy, and effective:
- Balanced meal plans high in essential nutrients
- Flexibility to fit the diet and exercise regime around your preferences and lifestyle
- Clear, detailed instructions for meal preparation and exercise routines
- Affordable enough for you to purchase long-term
- Created and supported by experts in exercise and nutrition
- Selection of meals that suit your dietary requirements and tastes
- Proven results
- Good feedback from genuine users and weight-loss experts
Although it’s essential that you can afford to buy the weight loss program for as long as you need to diet, it’s also worth being wary of bargain-basement prices. Weight loss programs that are dirt cheap yet make bold claims that they will show you how to lose 20 pounds without exercise in 2 weeks are unlikely to be healthy or effective, making them poor value for money overall.
Meal Plan to Lose 20 Pounds in 7 Days
How long do you starve yourself to lose 20 pounds? The answer is that starving yourself is never a safe or healthy way to lose weight. The key to lasting, safe weight loss is a sensible, calorie-controlled eating plan backed by sound science.
If you want to lose 20 pounds in 14 days or even a week, we believe that a ketogenic diet is most likely to help you reach your goal. Research shows that eating keto leads to faster weight loss than a regular, reduced-calorie meal plan high in carbohydrate and low in fat. Even better, a ketogenic diet shouldn’t cause any significant side effects for the majority of people.
When you eat keto, you limit your daily carbohydrates to just 20g-50g. While this may sound difficult, there is an upside too. A ketogenic meal plan allows you to eat plenty of tasty meat, cheese, avocados, cream, eggs, and other delicious foods high in protein and fat but low in carbohydrates. It also allows plenty of high-fiber vegetables, so you don’t need to worry about lacking any of the crucial nutrients your body requires for good health.
So, how does a keto diet help you lose weight fast? It puts pushes your body into a state called ketosis, which means that it starts breaking down fat into ketones for energy instead of burning carbs. Therefore, it allows you to reduce your body fat percentage as quickly as possible without feeling deprived.
1. High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
Why does HIIT hold the top spot when it comes to losing 20 pounds in a week? In short, it’s probably one of the most effective ways to slim down as quickly as possible without spending hours sweating it out in the gym.
High-Intensity Interval Training involves doing exercises for short periods but at the highest effort level you can manage. You’ll need to put all the energy you can muster into the exercise periods, which should last roughly 20-90 seconds. However, you’ll have a short break in between sets to catch your breath and recover. HIIT workouts offer lots of variety, with some involving just cardio exercise and others using resistance from weights or stretchy bands to increase your lean muscle mass. So, there should be a HIIT workout routine to suit your preferences.
So, does HIIT-style exercise really help you slim down faster than a regular gym workout? The evidence suggests it does. Studies show that individuals who incorporate HIIT into their exercise routines lose significantly more weight than people who stick to traditional cardio.
Scientists don’t yet fully understand precisely why HIIT is so great for weight loss. One theory is that HIIT workouts temporarily increase your resting metabolism after you stop working out, so you use more calories in the following period. This style of training may also make you feel less hungry, encouraging you to consume fewer calories.
We highly recommend HIIT as part of any ‘lose 20 pounds in a week’ weight loss regime for all these reasons. You can ask your local gym whether they run any HIIT sessions you can join. If you prefer working out at home, there are plenty of free, high-quality HIIT workouts available on YouTube from expert fitness professionals.
2. Resistance Training
Coming in a close second is resistance training using weights, resistance machines, or elasticated fitness bands.
Contrary to what you might have heard, resistance and weight training doesn’t just build muscle- it burns plenty of calories too, helping you lose weight. However, bear in mind that you may gain some muscle weight, although you should also shed plenty of unwanted body fat if you do it regularly.
Besides burning calories during your workout and toning your body, resistance training may also allow you to burn off more calories at rest. Your body may also continue burning off calories faster for a temporary period, even once you’ve finished your workout. Therefore, resistance workouts are a great way to burn maximum calories and lose weight as fast as possible.
3. Swimming
If resistance training isn’t an option for you because you have a painful joint condition, you should consider swimming. Swimming isn’t just pleasant and relaxing- the water also provides low-impact resistance for a toning and calorie-burning workout without straining your joints.
While swimming is gentle and low-impact, it also gives you all the health benefits of a cardiovascular workout and burns a significant number of calories. In fact, Harvard Health says that you can burn off between 223-366 calories in just half an hour of swimming, depending on how much you weigh and which stroke you choose. High-effort strokes like the butterfly will burn off more calories than a sedate breaststroke, for example.
4. Walking, Jogging, and Running
If you don’t have the money to spend on a gym membership or pricey equipment, there’s a solution. Walking, jogging, and running are all free and provide an excellent cardiovascular workout without setting foot in a gym.
This type of exercise also packs more of a punch than it might imagine when it comes to burning off calories. According to Harvard Health, a person weighing 155lbs can burn off 167 calories walking or 298 calories jogging in just 30 minutes. However, these amounts are even higher if you have a heavier body weight or increase your pace. Running or walking on hilly trails can also help improve your overall calorie burn.
So, which is better for weight loss- walking, jogging, or running? The truth is that the faster the pace, the more calories you’ll burn and the more fat you’ll lose. So, if you don’t want a gentle, low-impact workout, jogging or running is probably your best option.
However, walking is an excellent way to lose weight if you have a joint condition or a low starting fitness level because it is gentle on your joints and suitable for beginners. It’s also easy to fit around a busy lifestyle as you can do it in short bursts or even during the working day without getting too hot and sweaty.
Increasing your overall steps is a great way to burn off some extra calories during the day while working around a busy work or family life. Some ideas for fitting in some extra walking exercise during the day include:
- Walking around your home or up and down the stairs during ad breaks or while waiting for dinner to cook
- Taking a short 15-minute walk on your lunch or comfort breaks at work
- Treating your dog to a second walk
- Using the stairs instead of taking the elevator to your office
- Walking instead of driving whenever possible, or parking further away from the shops or your office
Quick Tips to Lose 20 Pounds in a Week
The above methods are the quickest and most effective ways to lose 20 pounds as quickly as possible. However, we’ve got a few other useful and straightforward tricks up our sleeve to help speed up your weight loss even more.
None of these tips will help you lose 20 pounds in a week on their own. However, using several of these techniques might just give you the edge to shift those pounds within your deadline.
1. Take Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar contains high levels of a substance called acetic acid. Some studies suggest that consuming acetic acid may help you lose more weight or make you feel fuller. While the evidence on apple cider for vinegar is relatively small-scale, many dieters swear by it. For most people, taking apple cider vinegar is harmless and affordable, so it can’t hurt to try.
What dose you should take varies according to who you listen to, although the majority of proponents suggest one or two teaspoons before you eat. Bear in mind that drinking neat vinegar could damage your tooth enamel, so it’s best to dilute it with water.
2. Take a Probiotic
The link between digestive bacteria and body weight is complicated, but there is scientific evidence evidence to support the theory that probiotic supplements can help weight loss in humans. Therefore, we recommend adding a probiotic to your weight loss regime when you want to lose 20 pounds in a week.
The easiest way to get healthy bacteria into their digestive system is to take a supplement for many people. However, you may find it more affordable to add foods containing probiotics into your diet, such as yogurt and fermented foods like miso, kimchi, and kombucha.
3. Spice Things Up
While adding cayenne pepper to food and drink features in many fad diets, there is some solid science behind adding more chili to your diet. Capsaicin, a compound found in spicy red chilies, can help improve your metabolism and speed up weight loss.
There are several other benefits to using chili as a weight loss aid. It can enhance the flavor of your food and is cheap and easy to purchase. As long as you take moderate amounts, it doesn’t have any significant side effects compared to medical weight loss treatments. However, if you can’t stand spicy food, you may prefer to take it in supplement form. Many of the weight loss supplements available over the counter contain capsaicin as an active ingredient.
4. Drink Lemon Water
While you may assume that drinking lemon for weight loss is just a social media weight-loss trend, studies suggest that it can help you shed the pounds. Scientific research in mice and humans shows that adding lemon to your diet can help you lose more weight than a lemon-free diet.
Lemon comes with an impressive range of other health benefits too. It can also help reduce your risk of stroke, high blood pressure, and cancer and contains high vitamin C levels. It can also give your immune system a boost and improve the appearance of your skin.
While chewing fresh lemons isn’t anyone’s idea of a tasty snack, you can get the same effect by adding slices of fresh lemon to water and drinking it regularly. Make sure you use pieces of the whole fruit, including the peel, for maximum impact.
FAQs
Q: Is it bad to lose 20 pounds in a week?
A: Losing 20 pounds in one week is significantly faster than the recommended safe and healthy rate. Therefore, we don’t recommend trying to lose weight this fast for long periods, or you could risk nutrient deficiencies and other health problems. However, many people find that they shift the pounds a lot faster than the recommended limit at the outset of a weight loss regime, especially if they are very overweight or obese.
Q: How long does it take to lose 20 pounds?
A: If you lose weight at the recommended safe rate, it will usually take a few months to lose 20 pounds. However, eating a calorie-reduced, ketogenic diet, regular exercise, and taking fat-burning supplements may allow you to lose 20 pounds quicker than this without risking your health. Very overweight or obese individuals may find they lose 20 pounds relatively quickly, especially at the start of a weight loss regime.
Q: Can you lose 20 pounds in 3 days?
A: Losing 20 pounds in 3 days is usually impossible and isn’t likely to be safe, although some professional boxers and martial arts fighters shed vast amounts of weight before a big fight. Ultimately, we don’t recommend attempting to lose 20 pounds in 3 days. However, using the methods in this article, you can lose 20 pounds quickly and safely.
Q: Is a 20lb weight loss noticeable?
A: Losing 20 pounds is a considerable weight loss and should be noticeable on any physique. However, exactly how noticeable your weight loss is depends on various factors, including how overweight you were to start with.
Q: How can I lose tummy fat fast?
A: There is no way to lose tummy fat specifically, so the only sure-fire method is to reduce your overall body fat percentage. Losing body fat will make you slimmer all over, including on your belly.
The Bottom Line
While losing 20 pounds in a week is ambitious, you can use the tips in this article to shed the weight as quickly as possible. Whether it takes you one week, a fortnight, or even a couple of months, a 20-pounds weight loss will make a significant, noticeable difference to your appearance.
The best ways to lose 20 pounds fast is to eat a healthy, ketogenic diet, burn off calories with exercises such as HIIT or resistance training, and taking weight loss supplements. However, you may be able to lose 20 pounds even faster using some of the other handy tips in our article.
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