There are lots of different weight loss challenges, as a challenge can be a great way to jumpstart a weight loss plan, increase motivation, and get you excited about moving forward with a healthier lifestyle.
This leads many people to start with something doable like a 7 day weight loss challenge or a 1-week weight loss challenge.
But, you may be asking yourself, how many pounds can I lose in a week? Is it possible to lose 7 pounds in 7 days? What is a good 7 day weight loss meal plan?
In this “lose 7 pounds in 7 days challenge” guide, we will discuss if you can lose 7 pounds in 7 days, how many pounds you can lose in a week, how to lose weight at home in 7 days, and tips for meal prep to maximize weight loss.
We will cover:
- Can I Lose 7 Pounds In 7 Days?
- What Is the Best 7 Day Weight Loss Meal Plan?
Let’s dive in!
Can I Lose 7 Pounds In 7 Days?
So, how many pounds can I lose in a week?
We all want to lose weight quickly, but according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), you should only aim to lose 1 to 2 pounds of fat per week for healthy, sustainable weight loss.
However, this refers to true fat loss, which requires creating a caloric deficit.
This means you are burning more calories per day than you are eating.
You will lose 1 pound of body fat for every 3500 calories that you burn above what you are consuming; therefore, to lose one to 2 pounds per week means that you are creating a daily caloric deficit of 500 to 1000 calories.Losing 7 pounds in 7 days is, therefore, unreasonable because it would necessitate burning 3500 cal per day above your caloric needs.
However, there is an important caveat: this refers to 7 pounds of fat loss, not overall weight loss.
You can easily drop a significant amount of water weight if you’ve been generally following an unhealthy diet, consume a lot of carbs and processed foods, regularly drink alcohol, have a lot of chronic inflammation or hormonal imbalances, and eat salty foods regularly.
In these cases, your body may be storing a lot of water weight that you can shed quickly if you want to lose 7 pounds in 7 days and are less concerned about true fat loss and are mostly interested in overall weight loss.
According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, an endurance-trained athlete can store up to 1,800 to 2,000 calories of fuel as glycogen in the muscles and liver, or about 500 grams.
Because the body stores about 3 to 4 grams of water for every gram of glycogen, if you go on a low-carb diet in your 7 pounds in 7 day weight loss plan, you can deplete this glycogen and lose the water weight along with it.
If you have 500g of glycogen in your body stores, just 3 g of water for each of these, you have 2000 g of glycogen and water.
This is a total of 4.4 pounds.
Therefore, if you lose 2 pounds of true fat and the 4.4 pounds of water weight with your glycogen, decrease your sodium, and remove alcohol, you can probably lose 7 pounds in a week, but most of it will be water weight.
What Is the Best 7 Day Weight Loss Meal Plan?
There isn’t a best 7 day weight loss meal plan or 7 day meal prep for weight loss that will necessarily meet the dietary needs, food preferences, and budget for everyone.
We all have different caloric needs, and if you want to follow an ongoing, healthy, sustainable weight loss meal plan, you should only aim to create a 500 to 1000-calorie deficit every day.
This is between your weight loss diet and exercise program relative to your total daily energy expenditure.
However, we have created a 7 day weight loss meal plan that is intended to jumpstart weight loss by helping shed extra water weight and reset your pallet, steering away from high-sugar, high-sodium, fatty, processed foods so that you can make healthier weight loss diet choices moving forward.
This 7 day meal plan for weight loss is not intended to be a long-term diet as it provides too few calories for almost all adults, according to the USDA.
Many people fall off programs where they try to lose weight in a week, so one of the best tips for how to lose weight at home in 7 days is to remove some of the common barriers and obstacles of following a “lose weight in 7 days challenge.“
One of the best tips for how to lose weight in a week is to do a 7 day meal prep for weight loss so that you do not have to keep making every individual meal or think about what you are going to eat.
Preparing weight loss meals in advance will help reduce the time and energy you have to spend cooking meals for weight loss and can cut back on impulse purchases or bad food decisions when you haven’t thought out what you will eat.
Therefore, we have streamlined this 7 day weight loss meal plan to include the same meals every day so that you can do some weight loss meal prep in advance.
Wake up: 12 ounces of lemon water with half a lemon squeezed in
Breakfast 400 calories, 60g of protein, 10 grams of net carbs, 13g of fat
- Egg scramble with spinach: one whole egg and four egg whites, one cup of spinach, 1 teaspoon of olive oil, a dash of salt, pepper
- 1 cup of low-fat, low-sodium cottage cheese with 1/2 cup of raspberries
- Black coffee, plain tea or unsweetened herbal tea, and at least 12 ounces of water.
Snack: 100 calories, 20 grams of protein, 2 gram net carbs
- One 3-ounce can of light tuna in water, 2 celery stalks chopped, 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
- 8 to 12 ounces of water
Lunch 275 calories; 30 grams of protein, 15 grams of fat, 5 grams net carbs
- Baby spinach and arugula salad with 1 cup of each leafy green, one plum tomato chopped, 1 tablespoon of walnuts, 1/4 avocado chopped, 1 ounce of low sodium feta cheese, 3.5 ounces of lean protein of choice (chicken breast, turkey breast, tofu, tuna), with lemon juice dressing.
- 8 to 12 ounces of water
Snack: 200 calories 28 grams of protein, 5 grams of fat
- One cup (8 ounces or 227 grams) of plain, low-fat Greek yogurt, 1/4 of a medium cantaloupe, and 1 tablespoon of hemp seeds.
- 8 to 12 ounces of water
Dinner: 268 calories, 22g of carbs, 18g of protein, 12g of fat
- Mason jar Greek salad: 1/2 cup of chopped kale, 1/2 cup of chopped spinach, 1/3 cup cherry tomatoes, 1 ounce low-sodium feta cheese, 1/2 cup chickpeas, 1 tablespoon of pumpkin seeds, dressing made from 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard, and 1 teaspoon of extra-virgin olive oil.
- 8 to 12 ounces of water
Snack: 125 calories, 25 grams of protein
- Chocolate protein shake made with one scoop of clean whey protein or plant-based protein powder, 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, 1 tsp dark cocoa powder (unsweetened), a dash of liquid stevia
Total: 1,268 calories
You will follow this low-carb 7 day meal plan for weight loss each day of the plan. You can meal prep most things in advance.
For example, meal prep the lunch and dinner salad by chopping the veggies and preparing the salads in mason jars.
For the lunch salad, pre-cook your lean protein by baking and slicing chicken breast or turkey breast, or dicing and steaming tofu. Rinse and drain your chickpeas for the dinner salad and assemble the salads in the mason jars without adding the dressing.
Pre-mix the dressing and put it in little to-go containers, or leave it in your refrigerator and serve it over the salad right before you eat it.
The breakfast scramble requires very little meal prep.
Simply crack one whole egg and then use either liquid egg whites measured out or separate four eggs and use the egg whites. Chop your tomato and wilt your baby spinach.
The cottage cheese simply requires tossing in the fresh berries.
You can do some 7 day weight loss meal prep on the tuna salad. Chop up 14 celery sticks and rinse and drain tuna packed in water. Combine with Dijon mustard and seasonings such as pepper, cumin, or paprika.
The dessert protein shake does not require any preparation and should help you feel satisfied both emotionally with the sweet taste of chocolate, and the 25 g of protein before bed will help you stay full overnight.
Additionally, liquids are filling because they are heavy in your stomach, helping you feel full.
Because there are no carbs or very few carbs in the bedtime snack on this 7 day meal plan, you won’t experience sugar crashes or an insulin spike before bed.
Overall, this is a low-calorie, high-protein 7 day weight loss diet plan.
Again, it is NOT intended for long-term adherence; it is likely to be low in total calories for most adults, according to the 2020-2025 United States Dietary Guidelines, depending on your current body weight and activity level.
Remember, to lose 2 pounds per week, which is the upper-end range of what is recommended for the amount of weekly weight loss that is healthy and sustainable, you should create a caloric deficit of 1000 calories per day.
This does not need to be generated entirely through a low-calorie weight loss diet plan; you can also increase your physical activity to burn more calories. Therefore, alongside this 7 day weight loss meal plan, you should exercise every day.
Here is the suggested 7 day workout program for weight loss to accompany the 7 day weight loss meal plan:
- Monday: At least 8000 steps and 30 to 60 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio exercise
- Tuesday: At least 7000 steps and 20 to 30 minutes of vigorous-intensity cardio exercise
- Wednesday: At least 10000 steps, full-body strength training, and stretching
- Thursday: At least 8000 steps and 60 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio exercise
- Friday: At least 7000 steps and 20 to 30 minutes of vigorous-intensity cardio exercise
- Saturday: At least 10,000 steps, full-body strength training, and stretching
- Sunday: At least 7,000 steps, 30 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio, plus do the 7 day meal prep for weight loss diet plan moving forward
Note that this is a very aggressive and intensive exercise program that exceeds the minimum recommendations for physical activity for adults for weight loss.
However, this weight loss exercise plan is designed to be part of a kickstart weight loss challenge.
Above all, you need to listen to your body.
If you have been physically inactive up until this point, just start from where you are. Begin increasing your step count every day and trying to reach at least 7000 steps per day. Then, try to layer on additional cardio and resistance training workouts.
For a more sustainable healthy diet for weight loss, check out the Mediterranean diet here.
