You can lose 5 lbs or more in 5 days if you have a special event like a wedding or vacation fast approaching, but it’s going to take some discipline and planning to execute.
I use the term weight, because you won’t be able to lose 5 lbs of fat in 5 days… but you will be able to lose some. The rest will be stored glycogen in the muscle and water weight. It’s a great way to lose any bloating and flatten the stomach out in a short period.
- Eat Half of your Meals as Liquids
- No Starchy Carbs
- Fasted HIIT Workouts
- Eat Less Calories (500 less)
- Consume Negative Calorie Foods
1. Eat Half of your Meals as Liquids
The goal is to feel full, digest your food efficiently, not leave you bloated, and yet still have a nutrient dense value with overall less calories. How do you accomplish all of this at once? The easiest way is to change half of your meals to liquids, i.e. protein shakes/smoothies. If you eat 4 times per day then you will have 2 shakes and 2 solid meals. Example of what this looks like:
Breakfast – Protein Smoothie
AM Snack – Fruit & Nuts/Seeds
Lunch – Protein Shake
Dinner – Fish & Asparagus
An aspect of this liquid is going to be drinking tea (1 litre) and the rest filtered water. You can drink green tea, but even better is a good decaf herbal tea that contains dandelion root (which is a great natural diuretic).
2. No Starchy Carbs
Gone are the starchy stuff, your bread/pasta/potatoes/oatmeal and instead you will get your limited number of carbohydrates in per day through fruits and vegetables (see #5 for the approved list). By reducing overall carbs and cutting out the starchy ones, you have just enough to support recovery and energy needs for your HIIT workouts each day, and to reduce muscle volume by depleting stored carbohydrate in the muscle (glycogen).
3. Fasted HIIT Workouts
Doing High-Intensity Interval Training in a fasted state (not eating before your workout for a specified amount of time) you’re maximizing the body’s need to use stored energy (glycogen and fat) first… where it would normally also utilize the meal or two you just ate before. Keep the workouts short, 30 minutes or less and do one 5 days straight.
Women – Fast for 14 Hours
Men – Fast for 16 Hours
See the post about Fasted Workouts for the detailed protocol.
4. Eat Less Calories
Using an online calorie calculator or an app like My Fitness Pal you can determine how many calories you need to maintain your current body weight. From this number reduce 500
5. Consume Negative Calorie Foods
These are the foods that provide less calories than the body requires to digest, therefore you will actually be in a caloric deficit after eating. With the starchy carbs out, these are the fruits and vegetables you want to fill up on.
Vegetables
Asparagus / Beetroot / Broccoli / Cauliflower / Celery / Cucumber / Garlic / Spinach
Fruits
Apples / Apricots / Cantaloupes / Cranberries / Grapefruit / Papayas / Oranges / Blackberries / Raspberries / Watermelon
