No matter how little you eat or how much you exercise, there is a limit to how much weight you can lose in 10 days. Theoretically, you could lose the maximum amount of weight by going on a 10-day fast and exercising intensely. How much you could lose under these circumstances would chiefly be a function of how much you weigh and how much time and energy you could dedicate to exercise.
Caveat
Such a drastic approach to weight loss would be unhealthy and unwise. Your body would go through significant stress, and the weight you lost would likely come back once you returned to your usual diet and exercise pattern. To create sustainable weight loss, you must change your lifestyle to include a calorie-wise, balanced diet and daily exercise. For educational purposes only, consider the theoretical limit, the supervised limit, and the healthy unsupervised weight loss limits.
Theoretical Maximum
Every day your body burns calories to fuel the operation of your brain, organs, tissues and cells. The number of calories your body needs to cover these basic functions is referred to as your basal metabolic rate. Muscular exertion and movement burns additional calories. The more you weigh, the greater your metabolic rate. A 40-year-old, 5-foot, 8-inch tall woman who weighs 180 lb. burns 1,567 calories in the basic operation of her body. A woman who weighs 240 lbs. burns 1,831 calories per day, and a 300 lb. woman burns 2,092 calories per day. During a 10-day fast the 180 lb. woman would lose 4.5 lbs., the 240 lb. woman would lose 5.2 lbs, and the 300 lb. woman would lose 6 lbs. If they all somehow found the energy to do moderately intense exercise for three hours, they might burn off another 1,500 calories per day, adding another 4.3 lbs to their 10-day weight loss, bringing the grand total to 8.8 to 10.3 lbs. lost over 10 days, according to Bodybuilding.com.
Supervised Maximum
Morbidly obese contestants on the television show "Biggest Loser," who routinely weight 300 or more lbs., lose maximal amounts of weight under close supervision by trainers and medical staff. Before entering the reality show contest, these people often had been consuming 3,000 calories or more per day. During the show, they drop down to a 1,500 calorie per day diet. Dropping 1,500 calories from their diet adds up to about 4.3 lbs lost over a 10-day span. The contestants burn another 1,500 calories per day engaged in three hours of supervised exercise, reports "Biggest Loser" medical consultant Dr. Michael Dansinger. Through a highly restricted diet and intensive, supervised exercise they create a daily calorie deficit of about 3,000 calories, which amounts to an average loss of about 8.6 lbs over 10 days.
Recommended
MayoClinic.com advises that you lose no more than 1 or 2 lbs. per week. This level of weight loss is sustainable. You bring about his sort of weight loss by steadily modifying your diet, eliminating extraneous calories, and by incorporating exercise into your daily routine. Reduce your calorie intake by 500 calories per day and do moderately intense cardio exercise for 60 to 90 minutes per day to be able to lose 2 or 3 lbs. over 10 days in a healthy manner. Maintain those diet and exercise lifestyle changes, and you'll never again have to go on a crash diet.
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