Is There Any Way I Can Lose Weight In Three Weeks?

Weight loss is not easy, but it doesn't have to be complicated. No matter the time frame, you can lose weight by reducing your caloric intake and increasing your daily activity, but you must start with healthy expectations. The moment you begin, you are losing weight, so if you have only three weeks to get a little slimmer, you can succeed. However, the numbers may not be what you want them to be. Consult your doctor before beginning any weight-loss program.

The Skinny

Weight loss is a simple math problem. If you take in fewer calories than you burn each day, you will lose weight. Reducing your calorie intake has its limits, however. Men shouldn't consume less than 1,500 calories per day and women should set the bar at 1,200 calories per day to guard against malnutrition, the MedlinePlus online medical encyclopedia cautions.

The Plan

The American Academy of Family Physicians FamilyDoctor website notes that 1 pound equals roughly 3,500 calories. To lose 2 lbs. per week, you'll need to reduce your calorie intake or increase your calorie burn by 7,000 calories per week, or 1,000 per day. That's no easy task, which is why a program of diet and exercise, rather than just one or the other, is the quickest way to meet your goals. If you have only three weeks to lose weight, and you are committed to doing it safely, 6 lbs. is an achievable goal.

The Calories

Every calorie counts. Your first step toward shedding 6 lbs. in three weeks is to analyze your calorie intake, and get rid of the easy ones. The morning mocha you think you can't do without is costing you about 240 calories. Ditto the two sodas at your desk after lunch, and the treat of one cold, imported beer at the end of the work day is another 150 or so. Eliminating those treats may seem harsh, but you've just knocked off 600 to 700 calories without even trying. Imagine what you'll do when you really get serious.

The Science

A calorie is like the head on a coin. You can flip that coin 10 times and get heads each time. There is no less a possibility that the coin will turn up heads on flip number 10 than there is on flip number 1, because a coin has no memory. Similarly, a calorie doesn't know what kind of calorie it is. While a balanced diet heavy on fruits and vegetables with lean meats and heart-healthy fats leads to better overall health, the raw numbers suggest that it's the number, not the source, of the calories that counts in weight loss.

The Proof

The "convenience store diet" is not recommended by anyone, least of all Mark Haub, the Kansas State University nutrition professor who used it to lose 27 lbs. in two months. Haub ate one Twinkie snack cake every three hours, CNN reported in 2010, and supplemented the unconventional diet with chips, cookies and sugary cereals.

Haub, then 41, measured each bite to ensure that he stayed below 1,800 calories per day, and his experiment was wildly successful. In addition to shedding pounds, he ended the diet with lower levels of bad cholesterol, higher levels of good cholesterol and his body fat dropped from 33.4 to 24.9 percent. The point of the exercise for Haub was to prove that pure calorie counting, not nutritional content, is the key to weight loss, and despite his warnings against emulating his experiment, the results seem to indicate he's right.