Losing 20 pounds in 2-3 weeks

[RoCKiTcZa]

Christmas vacation is nearing, and so is my first (and biggest) theatrical production, in which I will be playing the leading lady to be cast in all scenes, opposite my good friend. In order to fit into my bubbly, optimistic character, however, it seems necessary for me to lose some weight. Unfortunately, I am extremely burdened by schoolwork these days, and because of this I can only set aside the whole month of December to commit to any diet/exercise routines. How hard could this be?!
Honestly, I don't know how to do this, and I'm desperately in need of some advice.Any tips you would like to give me?

[cactus]

Hi RoCKiTcZa,

Being very slender, I know nothing about diet and exercise, but I know 2 people who lost 4 kgs (8.8 pounds) in 4 weeks just by running 4km per day, every day. Now with a better diet you might lose more....Apparently I heard this is the best and safest way of losing weight.

Hope this helps... and good luck with the performance...

[B-Mental]

There is no role that should require you to lose 20 pounds NONE! You seriously risk harming yourself. I was a wrestler in High School, and even though I lost large quanities of weight, I had much more time, and was closely supervised.

I suggest that you talk to a nutritionist, to see what you can lose in that time safely. Why can't you be the bubbly, optimistic character at the weight you are at?

[vheissu]

Apart from the possibility of damaging your health if you put it under the pressure of losing a lot of weight in a short period of time, there's a very high chance that you'll gain it all back and then some.
That's what usually happens with restrictive diets.

I agree with B-mental, find a nutritionist and talk to them, and if you can't the best option you have is to exercise. Cutting down on your food intake has to be done over a long period of time, really slowly, so your body can adjust to it and you don't starve!

[Nossa]

I lost 18 pounds in a little more than three weeks. I didn't go on a specific diet, I just wrote down on a peice of paper what I eat daily, and reduced it as much as I could, so that I don't starve myself and don't eat as much as before either. This doesn't mean that you won't starve yourself a little bit at first, cuz you're simply adjusting your stomac to a new way of eating, and a lesser amount of food, so there will be a little starving, but it's only gonna be diffidult for the first week.

[manolia]

Christmas vacation is nearing, and so is my first (and biggest) theatrical production, in which I will be playing the leading lady to be cast in all scenes, opposite my good friend. In order to fit into my bubbly, optimistic character, however, it seems necessary for me to lose some weight. Unfortunately, I am extremely burdened by schoolwork these days, and because of this I can only set aside the whole month of December to commit to any diet/exercise routines. How hard could this be?!
Honestly, I don't know how to do this, and I'm desperately in need of some advice.Any tips you would like to give me?

Rockitcza,
it is you in your profile picture, right? You look fine to me. You don't have to lose weight. Besides it is a school play, isn't it? Why lose weight for a school play? I can understand hoolywood actors losing weight for their roles, but you? If your acting is good, noone is going to notice that you aren't as slender as the role requires.
I am very sceptical towards diets, when the person in question (like you) doesn't need one at all. Especially for teenage girls and young women. They tend to go on diets even if they don't need one and are very excessive when doing it. Some of them end being anorexic. I almost lost my cousin a few years back and i know two families who lost their teenage girls. So be very careful and consult a doctor before you do anything :)

[Granny5]

It should take someone on a very strict diet months to lose 20 pounds! Weight lost must be done slowly or it plus more comes right back. Losing that much weight that fast can throw your hormones off and really cause some
health problems. Manolia is right, see a doctor before trying to do something so drastic.

[Virgil]

Christmas vacation is nearing, and so is my first (and biggest) theatrical production, in which I will be playing the leading lady to be cast in all scenes, opposite my good friend. In order to fit into my bubbly, optimistic character, however, it seems necessary for me to lose some weight. Unfortunately, I am extremely burdened by schoolwork these days, and because of this I can only set aside the whole month of December to commit to any diet/exercise routines. How hard could this be?!
Honestly, I don't know how to do this, and I'm desperately in need of some advice.Any tips you would like to give me?

Rockit, that is rediculous. It is not that important. You cannot lose 20 pounds in three weeks in a healthy way. You should start a healthy regiment of eating, reducing your calorie intake to an appropriate level (probably about 10% less than what you are eating now) and doing some sort of healthy excercise three days per week. In about 4 to 6 months (depends how heavy you are now) you will lose that weight. Faster than that is not healthy, nor are any weight loss pills.

[Nossa]

^^ I don't think that losing 20 pounds in three weeks or even a month is too much. And losing that amount of weight in that period of time doesn't mean that it was done in an unhealthy way. I think it depends on how you deal with it. Taking pills, or drinking some of these herbs that make you lose weight without breaking a sweat isn't right. I think if she only tried to cut down on the things she eats, she'd lose weight very fast and in a healthy way. Not eating junk food, and eating more vegetables and fruits is healthy. Cutting down on sweets, fats and carbos is also healthy. One doesn't have to deprive himself in order to lose wieght, nor does he have to starve himself.

[Themis]

^^ I don't think that losing 20 pounds in three weeks or even a month is too much.

Actually, I rather think it is. And I don't think it's possible without starving yourself.
With starving oneself it's reaally easy to lose weight but I wouldn't recommend it. The kilos (or pounds) just bounce back up once you start eating properly again [says the specialist of a two-days-depression-starvation-diet...just in case anyone wondered.]

@Rockitcza: I'll go with Virgil here.

[Lyn]

Apparantly loosing around 2-3 pounds a week on a diet is a normal rate, though when you start off you can loose a bit more and once you've been doing it a while you loose less. So that would mean it would take you 10 weeks to loose 20 pounds.

[B-Mental]

Nossa, I don't know what your background is. I don't think your advice is sound. She may well be eating healthy now, and your reduction diet may certainly work, but not with the the rapidity you describe. All in all, skip the diet! Its not worth it.

[Bakiryu]

The only way I've ever loss that much weight in such a time it's called Anorexia and anemia, don't try it.

I'd recommend the soup diet, in which you only eat soup at every meal. Not the same soup but different. It really works but it'd be something lie 12 or 9 pounds or so.


I lost 18 pounds in a little more than three weeks. I didn't go on a specific diet, I just wrote down on a peice of paper what I eat daily, and reduced it as much as I could, so that I don't starve myself and don't eat as much as before either. This doesn't mean that you won't starve yourself a little bit at first, cuz you're simply adjusting your stomac to a new way of eating, and a lesser amount of food, so there will be a little starving, but it's only gonna be diffidult for the first week.

Nose, I did this. It sent me to the hospital. It is starving yourself and will give you all sorts of problems. People shouldn't do this.

[Virgil]

Apparantly loosing around 2-3 pounds a week on a diet is a normal rate, though when you start off you can loose a bit more and once you've been doing it a while you loose less. So that would mean it would take you 10 weeks to loose 20 pounds.

That is the absolute fastest. But even then it doesn't stay off. Yes, if you wiegh 300 pounds it is not unreasonable to lose 20 pounds in month. But looking at Rocket's picture, she looks like she must be around 150 pounds. I doubt she can lose 20 pounds in a month in a healthy weigh.

[cactus]

Hi all,

From what I understand, our tummy do slowly adjust to the amount of food we eat each day. Nowadays, we often eat more than we should (sorry to you Americans on this forum but I was very shock when I went to the US - the servings were so huge I could hardly believe it and you have supersize as well!). We also eat things that are less of nutrients than we think. Thus it will not kill us if we cut down on our food intake bit by bit (disregard this if you are a one meal a day person). Our tummy will adjust over time and you will be surprise that you do feel full with having eaten very proprotionally. If you want to keep healthy and lose weight, I believe you can cut down on the food intake but do it in a way your tummy could handle and make sure that the sorts of food you eat is of high nutritional value.

I always recommend older adults (or as people gets older) to consider the level of activity and food intake. Our metabolism does change as we get older and you will be surprise that the older we get the less food we need. Again disregard this if you are an exercise maniac or if you are less than 30 years of age.

[Virgil]

Hi all,

From what I understand, our tummy do slowly adjust to the amount of food we eat each day. Nowadays, we often eat more than we should (sorry to you Americans on this forum but I was very shock when I went to the US - the servings were so huge I could hardly believe it and you have supersize as well!).

You are quite right Cactus. Our portions are way too much. I'm afraid there is not much we can do to change this. Restaurants are competing against each other and this apparently is one criteria people inadvertently judge them by. I for one have taken to the rule of eating half my portion and taking the rest home for the next day.

[RoCKiTcZa]

Hey guys.:)

I've thought over this matter again and decided--yes, you are right. It isn't mandatory at all for me to lose weight for this role, yet this is something I wish to do voluntarily. In fact, it is something I have always wanted to do, yet always failed to due to my inability to resist the temptation of eating.

This play, by the way, is our final project for the school year and will constitute a huge percentage of my grade. It is to be performed in front of the entire school population, and many other people will also be coming round to see it. In fact, we have also been allotted a large amount of money to spend for it. These are some of the reasons why it is so important, especially to us first years.

There are some aspects, however, where I want to change my mind. Considering the amount of bone mass I have gained throughout the years, I suppose the elimination of 10 pounds would probably do.