How to Lose 2 Pounds a Week – Burning 7000 Calories per Week

Want to learn how to lose 2 pounds a week?

I believe the simple, effective tips in this article will make burning 7,000 calories per week easier for you to lose 2 pounds per week without feeling worn out and frustrated!

There are many reasons why someone might want to lose weight, and you should assess your reasons for your intentions before setting a weight loss goal.

Losing 2 pounds per week is a good goal for people who are overweight or obese and want to improve their health while also improving their self-image and self-confidence.

If you are not overweight or obese, losing 2 pounds per week might be too much weight loss, and you will want to find a strategy that prioritizes building muscle and slower weight loss.

If losing 2 pounds per week still sounds like the perfect goal for you, read below to learn how to make it happen!

How Many Calories Do You Need to Burn to Lose 2 Pounds a Week?

Although there are many intricacies to long-term weight loss and weight management, each pound of body fat consists of about 3,500 calories. Therefore, you must have a caloric deficit of 3,500 over a day, week, month, or however long you are trying to lose weight to lose one pound.

You can lose 2 pounds weekly by burning 7,000 calories each week, or you can reduce your average calorie intake and combine that with burning calories through exercise (I will explain more below).

Burning 7,000 calories might sound like a lot, but it is only a 1,000-calorie deficit per day.

Is it Healthy to Lose 2 Pounds a Week?

Before I get into my tips on how to lose 2 pounds per week, I want to clarify that losing 2 pounds each week is a reasonable and obtainable goal for most people. I believe losing between 1 and 2 pounds per week is the healthiest weight loss goal for most people who are not significantly overweight.

If you try to lose something like 5-10 pounds per week or 20 pounds in 2 weeks, you probably will not lose as much weight as you want, and you might become frustrated.

If you attempt to lose more than two pounds per week, there is a chance that you will experience significant metabolic adaptation to weight loss, which will make maintaining your weight loss very difficult.

Losing 2 pounds per week is a realistic goal that I am confident you can achieve!

How to Lose 2 Pounds in a Week

You can lose 2 pounds a week with simple lifestyle changes.

First, to lose 2 pounds per week, you should understand a few of the basics of the energy balance equation.

There are three main aspects of energy balance regarding weight loss or weight gain:

• Basal Metabolic Rate
• Physical Activity
• Thermic Effect of Food

Basal metabolic rate accounts for 50-65% of energy expenditure per day, and the thermic effect of food accounts for approximately 10% of energy expenditure per day.

Total body mass is the largest contributor to basal metabolic rate, which is why muscle mass is important for having a “fast metabolism” and why it becomes progressively more difficult to lose weight over time.

The contribution of the thermic effect of food to total energy expenditure is generally stable, around 10% for all individuals, although certain foods have higher thermic effects, and predominately eating these foods could impact total energy balance.

For example, foods high in protein and fiber have higher thermic effects. Eating foods high in protein or fiber can increase your energy expenditure slightly compared to foods high in simple carbohydrates or fat.

Lastly, the amount and type of physical activity you do determines how many additional calories you burn on top of these two factors. Along with targeted exercise times, non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) can make up a significant number of calories per day.

For example, activities such as walking to work or the grocery store, taking the stairs, or doing house cleaning can expend additional calories per day.

Knowing this information, we can make our plan to lose 2 pounds per week!

Diet Plan to Lose 2 Pounds Per Week

If you are trying to lose 2 pounds per week, you probably need to improve your diet in a few ways. Exercise can burn calories and help you achieve a calorie deficit, but it is very difficult to burn more calories through exercise than you eat if you have a poor diet.

Although many diet plans can help you lose 2 pounds a week, it is more important that you develop a basic understanding of what foods you should be eating and how much you should eat per day than follow a rigorous diet plan.

Here is how to diet to lose 2 pounds per week:

Determine Your Caloric Needs

The main aspect of weight loss is to consume fewer calories than you burn throughout the day.

The best way to make sure you do not exceed your daily calorie limit for weight loss is by counting calories.

If you are a person who enjoys the rigors of calorie counting, you can feel free to count your calories for your entire weight loss journey.

If not, I suggest counting your calories for the first three to four days so that you can understand how much you are eating and how many calories are in the foods you consume consistently.

To develop your calorie-target goal, you first need to determine your basal metabolic rate and how many calories you burn through exercise per day. Many free apps and calculators on the web can help you with this.

Next, download a food diary like MyFitnessPal and log all your food and drink consumption.

Now, determine how many calories you should consume to have a 1,000-calorie deficit per day between how much you eat and how many calories you burn.

Consuming 2000 calories daily will be perfect for losing 2 pounds per week for many average-sized people.

If you start exercising more, your calorie intake will increase because you will need additional nutrients to recover from exercising.

Now that you have a plan and a caloric goal, you can start determining which foods and drinks you should consume!

Consume Satiating Foods

Satiation is the feeling of fullness and satisfaction that occurs during a meal, which subsequently promotes satiety, which is the feeling of fullness and satisfaction after a meal ends.

Satiety and satiation are two of the most critical concepts for energy balance and weight management for many people because often, people consume too many calories simply because they are not satiated.

Satiation can be increased by consuming foods with a lower energy density, such as high-fiber and high-protein foods.

Additionally, stress can impact satiation, so eating during high stress can cause unusually high or low amounts of energy intake. Other proposed methods of increasing satiation also promote energy balance and reduce overall energy intake, such as eating whole, low-energy-density snacks between meals (Njike et al., 2016).

At a basic level, our diet for losing 2 pounds a week should consist of high fiber, high protein foods that provide maximal energy and nutrients while providing a lower amount of total calories.

As an additional note about high-fiber foods, according to a study published by Nutrition Reviews, changes in energy intake and body weight occur when the fiber is from naturally high-fiber foods or a fiber supplement.

The average dietary fiber intake in the United States is currently only 15 grams daily, while recommendations for fiber consumption exceed 25 grams daily.

I suggest you aim for 50 to 75 grams of fiber consumed daily! Eating foods high in fiber will increase your satiety and nutrient intake.

Along with fiber-rich foods, you can also consume a healthy fiber supplement. Fiber supplements, also known as prebiotic supplements, can help with weight loss by increasing your satiety and stimulating a healthy gut microbiome.

A fiber supplement I love is Hyperbiotics Organic Prebiotic Powder:

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The opposite of satiating foods is high-added sugar foods and fast food.

If you want to lose 2 pounds per week, you need to reduce your consumption of sweets, soda, and everything that contains added sugar.

According to a study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, data supports recommendations to limit liquid calorie intake among adults and reduce sugar-sweetened beverage (SSBs) consumption to promote weight loss or avoid excess weight gain.

Furthermore, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the higher consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with a greater amount of weight gain and an increased risk for the development of type 2 diabetes, likely by providing excessive calories and large amounts of rapidly absorbable sugars.

Likewise, fast food is great in taste, but it provides little to no nutritional value, and contains large amounts of sugar, salt, and fat.

According to a study published by Obesity Reviews, although more research needs to be conducted regarding fast food consumption among populations such as children and adolescents, sufficient evidence exists for public health recommendations to limit fast food consumption and facilitate healthier dietary selections.

As stated by a study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, here are a few common food and drinks you should avoid when trying to lose weight:

• Grain-based desserts
• Pizza
• Sugar-sweetened beverages
• Dairy desserts
• French fries

If you have trouble controlling your junk food intake, you can work with a Registered Dietitian or Certified Nutrition Specialist to determine why you eat the way you do and how you can fix your eating habits.

Cook Your Own Food (When Possible)

Since I have been living in various parts of the world for the last eight years, I have seen a variety of communities and the effects of varying lifestyle habits on weight management. One of the most apparent drivers of obesity is a reliance on fast and convenient food choices compared to home-cooked meals eaten in a slow and controlled setting.

Due to the average American hard-working, fast-paced lifestyle, many people do not have time to sit at home or even sit anywhere to eat meals.

American culture is obsessed with upward movement concerning jobs and social status, and health is often pushed back.

From what I have seen, this promotes excessive eating simply due to a disconnect between food and energy intake and energy balance.

Eating home-cooked meals is associated with weight loss and healthier food choices, but some people still don’t have the time for that each day, even if they know it is good for them (Wolfson & Bleich, 2014).

One behavior that could positively affect someone managing their weight and help them lose two pounds weekly is by helping them learn how to sit down and “focus” on their eating time.

This could begin with something small such as cooking one meal at home per week, and extending to having multiple meals per week with an allotted “mealtime” at a slow and controlled pace, whether home-cooked meals or meals that have been consciously considered.

Cooking at home has other advantages as well. When you cook at home, you will know exactly what goes into your meals and have more control over the portion size.

A great example of the difference between eating at home or in a restaurant is dressings and sauces. If you’re at home, you can use lighter sauces or dressings with fewer calories.

At a restaurant, you won’t be sure how many calories are in your food.

Meal prep is a lifesaver if you are truly a busy bee.

Additionally, there is the option of buying from a meal delivery service. Companies such as My Fitness Kitchn provide delicious and healthy meals for individuals who want to be more mindful of what they put into their bodies.

If you have listed free time, there are a variety of great kitchen hacks that can help you make time for preparing home-cooked meals.

Control Your Alcohol Intake

Alcohol contains large amounts of calories, has no nutritional value, and contributes to a slower metabolism.

According to a study published by The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, heavy alcohol intake contributes directly to weight gain and obesity, regardless of the type of alcohol consumed.

Drinking alcohol is usually done when you are eating, and let’s accept it, many people don’t make the best decisions when they drink.

Alcohol is often served at locations that provide processed food, fried food, and sugar, and a couple drinks can easily lead to excess consumption.

Also, the hangover that occurs will limit your physical activity the next day.

However, if you can control yourself and drink only a glass of red wine before bed or one drink a couple of times per week, alcohol intake will not destroy your chances of losing 2 pounds per week.

You don’t have to stop drinking alcohol to meet your weight loss goals, but you should certainly reduce and control your alcohol intake.

Try Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting is a lifestyle approach that involves “fasting” for 16-20 hours per day and “feeding” for only 4-8 hours per day. Intermittent fasting for weight loss is effective because it restricts the amount of time you can consume food and calorie-containing drinks per day, but it does not necessarily for you to change what or how much you will eat per day.

By restricting your feeding time each day, you will naturally reduce your total food consumption and stimulate cellular processes like autophagy, which promote a faster metabolism and better overall health.

While fasting, you can still consume water, black coffee, green tea, or apple cider vinegar. However, everything else is restricted.

Intermittent fasting works well for me and many others, and it could be a useful addition to your plan to lose 2 pounds per week.

Physical Activity Strategies to Increase Weight Loss

As I mentioned, physical activity is the final component of the energy balance equation. Therefore, the more physically active you are, the easier you will lose two pounds per week.

Developing a long-term workout program that involves resistance and cardiovascular training is the optimal way to lose weight and improve your health, but there are tons of other ways you can include physical activity in your daily routine to help promote weight loss.

Here are some of my favorite ways to burn calories and improve your health:

Walk More

Walking is one of the best cardio workouts for weight loss, and it can be enough exercise on its own to help you lose 2 pounds per week. Additionally, there are a lot of ways to walk more each day.

One of my favorite ways to get more steps is by starting each day with a fasted morning walk. Fasted morning walking helps promote your digestive system and clear your mind before you begin your day.

Another way to get more steps in each day if you want to lose 2 pounds per week is to consider walking rather than driving to your errands as much as possible. If you estimate the driving time between where you are and your destination to be less than 5 minutes, you can probably walk instead!

Although driving is faster, it is not as beneficial for your health. Studies have linked driving with an increased rate of obesity.

According to a study published in Preventative Medicine, higher levels of sedentary behavior are associated with worse health outcomes, and the over-reliance on private motor vehicles for transportation is a potential contributor to the obesity epidemic.

You can even apply this concept to errands that are further from home. Instead of parking as close to stores or your office as possible, consider parking further to get more steps in.

This simple change can easily help you burn several hundred more calories per week!

Additionally, you can try to climb a few extra flights of stairs every day. Just a couple of additional minutes of climbing stairs daily can be enough to keep you from gaining weight throughout the year.

You don’t have to add that many flights all at once. Instead, slowly build your tolerance by adding a few stairs each week.

Lastly, if you begin walking more, you should invest in a good pedometer or fitness watch that counts your steps.

Studies have found that people who use fitness watches with pedometers take about 2,000 more steps each day than those who don’t. Those 2,000 steps per day could help you lose approximately ten pounds over a year!

According to one study, using a pedometer is associated with significant increases in physical activity and significant decreases in body mass index and blood pressure!

Personally, I use an Apple Watch. However, other less expensive options like the FitBit Charge are also very effective.

Do HIIT

If you want to lose 2 pounds per week, Tabata Interval Workouts or other high-intensity Interval Training (HIIT) workouts are a great way to burn many calories quickly.

Although steady-state low-to-moderate intensity aerobic exercise may oxidize more fat during exercise, it does not mean that it is the best choice if you want to lose 2 pounds per week.

However, it is important to consider your current physical conditioning and ability to complete high-intensity forms of exercise.

If you are fit enough, research has indicated that high-intensity intermittent exercise (HIIE) is more effective at reducing total-body fat, and specifically abdominal fat, than other forms of exercise (Boutcher, 2011).

High-intensity intermittent exercise can be done with many different exercises, and it is also a significantly more time-efficient way to produce positive body composition changes (Maillard et al., 2017). In addition, properly constructed high-intensity interval exercise programs have been well tolerated by a wide variety of individuals with differing fitness levels (Roy et al., 2018).

The Tabata interval protocol is my favorite interval training protocol.

According to a study published in the ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal, Tabata intervals and short HIIT workouts can be used to increase aerobic and anaerobic fitness, promote fat loss, and even improve blood pressure, insulin sensitivity, and glucose regulation in a relatively short time

HIIT saves you time and helps you burn more calories than other forms of exercise.

The main forms of exercise I do are HIIT and walking. So, if you are trying to lose 2 pounds per week, this is a perfect combination!

Additionally, you can drink green tea before your workout to boost your metabolism and lose more weight. According to a study published in The Journal of Nutrition, findings suggest that green tea catechin consumption enhances exercise-induced changes in abdominal fat and serum triglycerides (TG), making it easier to lose 2 pounds each week!

Exercise at Home

There are tons of ways that you can exercise at home and burn calories that don’t require a targeted workout program.

Doing short online yoga workouts at home or other simple exercises at home can add up to a couple hundred calories daily!

I use YogaDownload.com for my online yoga videos, but you can also follow yoga videos from YouTube.

Forearm planks and glute bridges are two effective exercises you can do when you only have a small amount of time, and they are great because they will also strengthen your core muscles to reduce back pain and improve your posture.

If you want to try some quick exercises while relaxing at home, you can easily add more variety and simplicity to your options by purchasing some cheap resistance bands. Resistance bands can help you add exercises such as lateral raises, shoulder presses, and tricep extensions into your at-home workouts without much difficulty and taking up much space!

If you don’t have any resistance bands, I suggest this set:

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You don’t need to set up a home gym to exercise at home. Adding a few sets of simple, effective exercises as you go through your day is a great way to burn calories and inch towards your goals!

Supplements to Help You Lose 2 Pounds Per Week

As a final measure in your healthy, complete plan for losing 2 pounds each week, you can add a few helpful dietary supplements.

I prefer natural fat-burning supplements that can improve your health and assist with the weight loss process. For example, some supplements can help with appetite suppression, while others can assist with fat oxidation.

RSP Nutrition AminoLean is my favorite supplement for promoting weight loss because it combines caffeine, green tea extract, CLA, and amino acids. AminoLean is a great replacement for your afternoon coffee or tea because it contains beneficial micronutrients and weight loss promoting ingredients.

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Concluding Thoughts – How to Lose 2 Pounds a Week

If you want to lose 2 pounds in a week, you have to figure out how to burn an additional 7,000 calories compared to how much you eat.

As you can see, losing 2 pounds in a week is not as difficult as you might have assumed! If you follow the tips I have listed above, I am confident you will burn more calories and lose 2 pounds per week!

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