7-Day Diet Plan To Lose 10 Pounds - Is It Healthy?

If you clicked on this article, then most probably you’re searching for ways to lose weight. Indeed, how great it would be to shed all the weight that you have been gaining over the holidays or the last year in the blink of an eye. Well, no matter how amazing this might sound, let me tell you that it’s just wishful thinking.

I’m sure that ads that promise you to “quickly shed weight,” or “get that firm, flat, stomach in 5 days” are constantly appearing in your newsfeed on your Facebook or Instagram profile. They wrongly lead you to think that being on a diet is a piece of cake and that you can see results right away. They make you have unrealistic expectations about the process. So, the main question raising here is:

What To Expect From Weight Loss Diet?

The fact is that losing weight isn’t something that can happen overnight. It’s a difficult process – a process that needs a huge amount of effort, time, and sacrifice.

You need to be especially careful about what you should choose to sacrifice so as to shed pounds. Your health, both physical and mental, should never be on the list. So, instead of choosing to go on a strict diet, try to achieve this goal by developing healthy eating habits and regularly doing physical exercises.

Losing weight in a healthy and efficient way also requires patience, perseverance, and confidence. It requires you to choose from the innumerable types of weight-loss diets existing out there the type of diet that it’s going to be the most beneficial one to your physical and mental well-being. It requires you to trust the process the whole time and to be confident that you can see results if you have the right amount of willingness and motivation.

Furthermore, losing weight quickly and focusing on this as only a short-term goal is not healthy at all. Unsafe and unsupervised methods of losing weight for a very short period of time can harm your overall health. In addition, even if you manage to lose weight for a short period of time, you will most probably regain any lost pounds with time (1).

So, whether this is your first time starting a diet or you’ve already followed some diet plans, you need to carefully pick a weight loss diet plan, especially since there are many of these out there.

In this article, we’re going to discuss the 7-day diet plan to lose 10 pounds – a type of diet that many people consider to be healthy and easy, but …

Is A 7-Day Diet To Lose 10 Pounds  Really Healthy?

Losing weight over a short amount of time can affect your overall well-being quite negatively. And the 7-day diet plan to lose 10 pounds is a type of diet approach that can have exactly this influence.

To follow this diet, you’re required to limit the amount of food you eat and your daily calorie intake (around 1,100 to 1,400 calories). It also requires you to stop consuming red meat, full-fat dairy products, refined sugar, fast food, and unhealthy fats. Rather it requires you to eat foods that are low in calories, such as vegetables and fruits, legumes, and low-fat meats and dairy products. In addition to this, this diet does not include doing physical exercises because consuming low-calorie foods doesn’t give you enough energy to exercise regularly.

So, if you’ve ever thought about going on this type of diet, I understand you. I mean, who wouldn’t like to shed 10 pounds over such a short amount of time? It does sound pretty exciting and doable, doesn’t it? The name might catch your attention so quickly that you can easily overlook the consequences it might have on your physical and mental health. So, let’s explain this a little bit in detail:

To better understand the reasons why the 7-day diet is problematic, you first need to know what weight loss plans actually mean. The answer – they mean burning off more calories than you eat. As a result of this, a caloric deficit is created. If it is adequate, then everything is okay. It means you’ve chosen to follow a healthy diet which is beneficial to you. But, the problem is that the caloric deficit can sometimes be inadequate, meaning it can negatively affect your health. So, the question raised here is: What is adequate caloric deficit and what kind of caloric deficit does losing 10 pounds a week diet plan create?

Most nutritionists say that shedding 1-2 pounds over 7 days is normal and healthy. To lose 1 or 2 pounds over this amount of time, you’re required to burn off 500-1,000 calories more than you eat daily. So, if your goal is to shed 10 pounds, then this means that you need to burn off 35,000 calories over 7 days. If we compare this number to the number of calories an average woman and man need per day to maintain a healthy weight, i.e. 2,000 and 2,500 respectively, we can conclude that losing 10 pounds per week is an unrealistic and completely unattainable goal. However, you can make this goal achievable if instead of the 7-day period, you try to shed 10 pounds over 5 to 10 weeks. So, how can you achieve this? Read on to find out.

How To Lose 10 Pounds Over 5-10 Weeks

1. First of All, Set a Realistic Goal

Instead of focusing on shedding 10 pounds a week, focus on achieving this goal steadily and slowly. Choose a healthy eating plan which will be in accordance with your preferences, overall well-being, and lifestyle. You might even consider working with a registered dietitian nutritionist who can help you develop a healthy and sustainable weight loss plan and guide you through the process.

2. Exercise

In addition to losing weight, doing physical exercises regularly can greatly benefit both your physical and mental health. One analysis has found that higher physical activity may help maintain weight loss. Set a goal to go to the gym or go hiking 4-5 days a week and you’ll see positive results. Not only will this help you lose weight more quickly and easily, it’ll also make you feel more energized and enthusiastic (2).

3. Assess and Understand the Reasons Why You Want to Lose Weight

You’ve decided to shed some pounds – that’s great. But, be sure you know why you want to do it and what your motivation is. So, if’ you’ve made a decision to lose weight because you believe this will improve your overall health, make you feel and look more beautiful and attractive, improve your mood, or boost your self-esteem, go for it since these are pretty sound reasons. 

Studies have indicated that when a person wants to shed pounds and their physical appearance is not the reason behind this, they have a higher chance to succeed in losing weight (3,4).

So, if the reason behind your decision to lose weight is that you want to show that flat tummy on the beach this summer or just look more attractive on your photos on Instagram, perhaps you might try to reconsider your decision because even if you succeed in shedding pounds, chances are it’ll only be a short-term weight loss.

4. Limit the Amount of Calories You Consume Daily

Instead of spending hours without eating and starving yourself, slowly and appropriately reduce the amount of calories you eat a day. Reducing calories suddenly and significantly can have a negative impact on your energy and mood and make you feel extreme hunger. A professional nutritionist can help you decide how many calories you should consume a day so as to lose weight and stay healthy at the same time.

5. Treat Yourself with Kindness and Patience

No matter how much you weigh, never let your weight determine your worth, happiness, and beauty. You’re way more than the number showing on the scale every time you step on it. You’re way more than your physical appearance.

Shedding a few pounds can definitely better your health and make you feel more confident, but it should never make you treat yourself badly, compare yourself to others, and feel like you’re going through pain. Your overall health should always come first and nothing nor anyone should compromise that.

What To Eat To Lose Weight?

1. Healthy Fats

Perhaps you’re thinking that completely excluding fats from your daily diet is the key to losing weight, but let me tell you – you are wrong. Healthy fats are beneficial to your body.  To get this straight – I’m not talking here about fats that can be found in processed foods or junk food, or sweets and cakes. Rather I’m referring to those found in nuts, cheese, avocadoes, dark chocolate, fish, olives, and chia-seeds.

2. Fiber

If you’re the type of person who is constantly feeling hungry and you can’t satisfy your appetite no matter how much you eat, you need to make sure you consume foods that are rich in fiber because not only can it enhance your digestion, it can also make you feel full for a longer period of time. Whole grains, nuts, beans, legumes, pears, avocados, raspberries, beets, and carrots are all a good source of fiber, so don’t hesitate to make them a part of your diet.

3. Lean Proteins

Whether you prefer to consume dairy products, beans, eggs, poultry, nuts, legumes, fish, or lean meats, make sure you consume them regularly because they are a rich source of protein, which your body needs in order to function properly.

4. Minerals and Vitamins

By limiting the amount of food you consume, you run the risk of limiting the amount of vitamins and minerals you consume. To prevent this from happening, make sure you consume salad, fruits, vegetables, beans, lentils, legume, nuts, and low-fat dairy products on a daily basis.

What Food To Avoid Eating So As To Shed Pounds

1. Refined Carbs

No matter how tasty they are, you should avoid eating foods that contain refined sugar. Pastries, bagels, cereals, bread, pizza, and tortillas are just few of this type of food. One study has found that diets which are low in carbohydrates are effective in decreasing weight in non-diabetic and diabetic people (5).

2. Unehalthy Fats

Not only do unhealthy fats boost the number of calories you consume, they can also be the reason behind many heart diseases. So, make sure you replace them with the healthy fats described above.

3. Caloric Drinks

Sugary, fizzy drinks, energy drinks, juices, and alcohol are all beverages you should avoid consuming. They don’t contain any vitamins and nutrients and they can only make you gain weight.

In what follows, I’ve presented some exercises that can help you lose weight more easily.

Weight Loss Diet vs Exercise

1. High-Intensity Interval Training  (HIIT)

Perhaps this type of exercise is not easy to do, but it’s really helpful when it comes to burning off calories. HIIT also helps you tone your body, it lowers carb stores, and it improves your digestion.

2. Cardio

If you don’t like going to the gym, then this is the perfect exercise for you. You can do cardio at home, in a park, or anywhere in nature since it doesn’t require any equipment (of course, there are cardio exercises that include this too). This type of exercise is beneficial to improving your cardiovascular health, burning off calories, and bettering the flow of your blood.

3. Be Active Regularly

Doing physical exercises is not the only way you can be physically active. Hiking, jogging, cycling, playing volleyball or tennis, or swimming, and the list goes on, are all activities you can do in your free time. They can help you shed pounds and make you feel energized. Plus, you’ll get to spend some quality time with your friends.

The 5-Minute Rule For Weight Loss Diet

Going on a healthy diet and exercising provide a successful formula for losing pounds. Sticking to a 5-minute workout plan regularly will help you get that flat tummy and slim body you’ve always wanted to have. Moreover, it’ll benefit your mental health too since it’ll make you feel more energized, calm, and relaxed.