This content has been Fact-Checked by a Certified Nutritionist in our Publishing Team. Learn more here. Always consult a medical professional before commencing any diet.
How to lose 5 pounds in 2 weeks? Last time you checked the scale you were 5 pounds lighter!
And now you have beach holidays in 2 weeks or an important event and you want to look your best.
Read on as we share a delicious diet plan and practical tips on how to lose 5 pounds in 2 weeks.
Through a combination of a specially designed diet plan and an exercise plan, we assure you that feeling hungry or sluggish in your pursuit of a healthier you, will be a thing of the past.
How to Lose 5 Pounds in 2 Weeks Diet Plan
According to the UK’s National Health Service, losing between 0.5kg to 1kg (equivalent to 1 to 2 pounds per week) is a safe rate.
To lose weight, you will have to consume fewer calories to create a calorie deficit or expend more energy.
Ideally, what this means is you should eat less and exercise more.
To put things into perspective, to lose 1 to 2 pounds per week, you will need to burn 500 to 1,000 calories more than you consume per day.
For a woman, this means limiting your calorie intake to 1,400 per day. And for an average man, this translates to a daily caloric intake of 1,900.
The best part about losing 1 – 2 pounds per week is that it does not warrant drastic changes to your diet.
It could be as simple as swapping out hidden calories in your meal, for less caloric-laden options.
For example, instead of having a cheese hamburger, you could ask for a cheese-less hamburger and save 159 calories.
Similarly, you can shave-off another 100 calories minimum when you switch from a mayonnaise-based dressing to a lemon juice salad dressing.
Check out these simple meals that are easy to prepare to help you lose 5 pounds in 2 weeks naturally.
Don’t be discouraged by modest weight loss results. By losing 5 to 10 percent of your total body weight over weeks, your blood pressure, blood cholesterol, and blood sugar levels will drop.
How To Lose 5 Pounds in 2 Weeks Meal Plan
To lose weight, it is recommended to limit your caloric consumption to 1,300 to 1,500 per day.
This works out to approximately 400 calories per meal (for lunch and dinner). To fight hunger pangs, snack in between meals, and keep each snack within 100 to 300 calories.
Day 1
Breakfast: 221 calories
Easy Mix Berry and Yogurt Smoothie
Just blitzed up the berries, bananas, skim milk and yogurt for a healthy drink that keeps you full for hours.
Preparation time: 6 minutes
Snack: 180 kcal for one cup
Wholesome sweet potato chips spiced with chili powder, paprika, pepper, garlic powder, salt, and mustard powder. Ditch the commercial chips and opt for this healthier option.
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Lunch: 208 kcal
Flaky salmon coated in creamy Dijon mustard with crispy panko and fresh herbs. Skip the boring salmon and add some chutzpah to your lunch with this tasty recipe.
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Snack: 320 kcal
300 grams (or 10 tablespoons) of steamed corn with butter
Dinner: 397 kcal
Spinach, Sweet Potato, and Lentil Dhal Soup
A comforting yet hearty vegetarian soup that is nourishing. This one-pot dish is bursting with iron and low on fat – the perfect end-of-day dish before bedtime.
Preparation time: 35 minutes
TOTAL CALORIES: 1,326
Day 2
Breakfast: 2 servings (150 calories per serving)
Tahini Toast with Tomato and Cucumber
Be creative yet efficient with your breakfast with this simple toast loaded with nutrients. Spread 2 tablespoons of unsweetened Tahini on wholegrain toast. Place sliced tomatoes and cucumbers, then sprinkle pepper and salt to taste.
Snack: 197 calories
0.25 cups of roasted, salted cashew nuts
Lunch: 385 calories
Cut your prep time and use a ready-made thin crust pizza. This recipe lets you enjoy the contrasting flavors of tangy tomato chutney, sharp cheddar cheese with savory chicken.
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Snack: 212 calories
One cup of dried cooked apricots (without sugar)
Dinner: 382 kcal
Seared Sea Bass with Lemon-Olive White Beans
This dish packs protein power from plant and animal sources. Here’s a lovely way to incorporate more fish and veggies into your diet.
Preparation time: 20 minutes
TOTAL CALORIES: 1,326
Day 3
Breakfast: 243 kcal
Peanut Butter and Banana Toast
Simply slather on peanut butter and sliced banana on whole-grain toast for a super easy and fast breakfast.
Ingredients:
- 1 small whole-grain white toast (22g)
- a small banana (101 g)
- 1 tbsp peanut butter (16 g)
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Snack: 142 calories
1/2 cup roasted pumpkin seeds without salt
Lunch: 275 calories
Orange-Almond Chicken-and-Cabbage Bowls
Feeling hard press for time? With this no-cook chicken cabbage bowl, whipping up healthy meals in a jiffy is easy and gratifying.
Preparation time: 12 minutes
Snack: 160 kcal
2 servings of string cheese
Dinner: 273 kcal
This better-than-take out recipe will keep you satiated and stop your mind from craving for more carbs!
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Snack: 392 kcal
Half cup of walnuts
TOTAL CALORIES: 1,485
Day 4
Breakfast: 178 kcal
Scramble egg whites with 2 cups vegetables of choice. Throw in some spinach, red bell pepper, tomato, and mushrooms. Serve with one slice of whole-grain bread (22 g), so the whole calories of the recipe will be 235 calories.
Snack: 165 kcal
- 1 medium carrot (61 g)
- Dark chocolate (31 g)
Lunch: 425 calories
Greek Chicken with Potatoes and Broccoli
This lemony one-pot chicken dish is packed with herbs and accompanied greens. You can substitute broccoli with asparagus, carrots, zucchini or cauliflower.
Preparation Time: 55 minutes
Snack: 196 kcal
Chia pudding made of:
- Chia seeds ( 1 OZ)
- Skimmed milk (61 g)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- fruit, for example, 5 slices of banana
- natural sweetener (e.g. stevia)
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Dinner: 350 kcal
Chicken Stir Fry with Rice Noodles
Infused with a 4-ingredient sauce that is super easy to prepare and low in sodium, this is the perfect take-out replacement.
Preparation time: 30 minutes
TOTAL CALORIES: 1,314
Day 5
Breakfast: 296 kcal
This brekkie of the day is packed with fiber and protein to help you power through lunch.
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Snack: 113 calorie
1 cup of edamame
Lunch: each serving has 196 calories
Keto Chicken Soup with Cauliflower Rice
This grain-free keto dish is the perfect comfort food on a cold day and a complete meal.
Preparation time: 32 minutes
Snack: 2 servings (each serving has 77 kcal)
Combine 1 cup of hummus with some lemon juice. Add one teaspoon of hummus on top of the sliced cucumber and nibble away.
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Dinner: 300 kcal
Satiate your pasta cravings with this creamy Alfredo pasta that you can dish out in half an hour.
Preparation time: 30 minutes
TOTAL CALORIES: 982
Day 6
Breakfast: 180 kcal for one serving
If you must have your morning caffeine fix to start the day, then this coffee smoothie marries the best of both worlds. Simply dunk in a banana, espresso / concentrated cold brew coffee, with almond milk and powders of choice for a flavorful drink.
Preparation: 5 minutes
Snack: 152 calories for 2 fritters
Zucchini Fritters with Feta and Dill
It’s the weekend and there is no better time to meal prep but today! Meal-prep these delicious veggies fritter in advance and freeze them for future consumption.
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Lunch: 216 kcal
Spring tofu and mushrooms scramble
Sauté spring tofu and mushrooms with some olive oil, onions, garlic, pepper, and salt to taste. Finish off with green salad on the side.
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Snack: 117 kcal
Non-fat yogurt ( 8 oz )
Dinner: 750 calories
A simple, hearty meal that is nothing short of nutrients. Just mix 2 cans of tuna (in olive oil) with sliced boiled egg, cucumber, and salt.
Preparation time: 10 minutes
TOTAL CALORIES: 1,415
DAY 7:
Breakfast: 140 calories
Pancakes with Blueberries
Toast 2 small slices of ready-made pancakes and spread half a cup of unsweetened blueberries on top.
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Snack: 200 calorie
Medium-sized apple and 1 medium banana (approximately 7 – 7 7/8 inches long)
Lunch: 450 kcal
This combo of bacon, lettuce, and tomato (BLT) between two toasted slices of wholemeal bread is hard to resist. Take the BLT to gastronomic heights by adding on a fried egg, yet keeping it caloric-friendly.
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Snack: 175 kcal
2 cups of blueberries with 2 tablespoons of whip cream
Dinner: 298 calories
Today may just be your cheat day, but you’re staying within your calorie count. Biscuits and chicken in a divine combination, it’s hard to resist this comfort food high on nutrients and light on calories.
Preparation time: 1 hour 5 minutes
TOTAL CALORIES: 1,263
Recommended reading:
- Flat Belly Detox Reviews – Learn How To Detox The Right Way
- 7 Essential Oils to Lose Belly Fat & Health Benefits
How to Lose 5 Pounds in 2 Weeks Without Exercise
Losing a few pounds each week without even trying is possible.
Check out these simple tips on how to lose weight fast without exercise by sneaking in physical activities, without you even realizing it!
1 # Take the stairs, not the lift
Need to head a few floors up for a meeting or hand a document to your colleague?
Skip the lift and use the stairs instead.
For each stair climbed, you will burn 0.17 calories.
Considering that there are 12 steps on an average flight of stairs to get to a floor, going up and down 1 floor will help you burn between 2.6 and 5 calories.
Without realizing it, you get a cardio workout while toning your quadriceps too!
2 # Walk Instead of Drive
Sneak in more footwork by walking part of the distance.
Some ideas are:
- Get off the bus one stop earlier from your office.
- Deliberately park further from the supermarket.
- Pick up the pace and walk faster
These little tweaks will help to raise your body’s metabolic rate and help you shed pounds without making drastic changes.
Recommended reading:
- Metabolic Confusion – How to Trick Your Metabolism Into Burning Fat
- 10 Ultimate Core Power Exercises – No Equipment Required!
3 # Track Your Foot Steps
Numbers don’t lie. Invest in a smartwatch or wristband pedometer and set a minimum number of footsteps to achieve daily.
An average American walks 3,000 – 4,000 steps per day. And one pound of fat contains 3,500 calories.
So to lose a pound of fat a week, aim to take 10,000 steps per day to burn 3,500 calories just from walking.
10,000 steps may sound like a steep challenge. But start small and gradually increase your daily footsteps by 1,000 more as you get stronger.
4 # Switch to Healthier Food Options
Here is how to lose weight in 2 weeks naturally! Learn about food nutrients and opt for healthier food choices.
It doesn’t need to be complicated, here are some simple ideas you can apply to your diet starting from today:
- Switch from whole cheeses to string cheese.
- Try to limit dairy to once or twice a week.
- Opt for smaller size portions, or kiddie portions if you’re feeling peckish.
- Stay away from processed foods, instead, you can eat whole fresh foods.
- And watch your dough too! Swap a deli breakfast bagel for a 100-calorie English muffin.
Doing this will help you save 220 calories per day!
Lose 5 Pounds in 2 Weeks Calculator
Track it to lose it. When you’re setting goals, spell out the activities that will help you achieve your goals.
These fitness apps and trackers will help you quantify the activities that you need to embark on (e.g. walk for 30 minutes per day), to achieve your outcome goals (e.g. lose 1 pound per week).
They are a great way to track your daily calories too. By tracking your calories consumed and calories burned through exercise you will be able to stay on track to lose 5 pounds in 2 weeks.
You can change your goal to calculate how many calories you will need to consume to lose 5 pounds in 2 weeks or even in a month with or without exercise…
Here are our top 3 best weight loss apps:
MyFitness Pal
Ratings: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Boasting one of the largest food databases of 11+ million foods, finding your food type on this app will never be a problem.
MyFitness Pal comes with a barcode scanner that allows you to scan barcodes to log foods.
You can also import the nutritional information for the recipes you cook. Plus, the app syncs with more than 50+ apps and devices, giving you a 360’ view of your activities and food intake.
Lose It!
Ratings: 4.6 out of 5 stars
Lose It! is a calorie counter and food diary app. Lose It! helps you track your calorie consumption and expansion to achieve your weight loss and health goals.
Lose It! comes with a barcode scanner that allows you to scan food barcodes to track your carb, macro, and calorie intake. You can also log your food intake by taking a photo of your food.
The app syncs with leading fitness devices including Fitbit, Garmin trackers, Withings scales, Google Fit, and more. You can make losing weight fun by setting up challenges to play with your friends.
MyNET Diary
Ratings: 4.6 out of 5 stars
MyNETDiary is a personal weight loss, diet, and nutrition assistant. Rated as the #1 mobile diet app by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, MyNETDiary claimed that on average, its members lose 1.4 lbs per week.
MYNETDiary allows you to create a calorie budget to help you safely lose weight.
A daily weight forecast helps you stay focus and adjustments are made as needed. It boasts an enormous food database, barcode scanning abilities, macronutrient and nutrition stats, and reminders for you to log in meals, weigh-ins, sleep, and blood pressure.
How to Lose 5 Pounds in 2 Weeks Diet Tips
Losing weight fast can be a daunting task. If done wrongly, it creates a vicious cycle of binge eating.
You may end up being on a calorie-deficit diet for 2 – 3 days in a row, but rebound with binge eating for the next 3 days. This nullifies all the benefits you achieved in the preceding days.
According to the Philadelphia-based weight-loss physician Charlie Seltzer, MD., yoyo dieting can help you lose some water weight. But this weight loss is only temporary.
How to lose weight fast in 2 weeks tips:
Focus on Plants
According to the findings published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, researchers noted that individuals on a vegetarian and vegan diet lost more weight than dieters on other plans—even the low-carb Atkins diet.
It was concluded that vegetarian diets had more significant benefits on weight reduction vs. non-vegetarian diets.
So make it a point to integrate whole grains, fruits, produce, nuts, and legumes into your diet.
These fiber-full foods will keep you filling fuller, longer.
Dial Down on Soda
Soda is full of sugar, which not only will make you put on weight but also has no nutrients.
Our bodies process soda quickly leaving us hungry and malnourished.
Besides, a study published in the JAMA Internal Medicines found that respondents who consumed artificially sweetened drinks had a higher risk of death due to circulatory and digestive diseases.
Don’t Skip Dinner, No Matter How Late
You had a feast over lunch and guilt is starting to kick in. Come your regular dinner time, you may be tempted to skip dinner, but don’t do that.
According to nutritionist Dr. Lisa Young, it does not matter how late you eat, but more of how much and what you are eating.
As long as you are staying within your daily caloric limit, it’s better to have your chicken salad bowl at 9 pm than not eat dinner at all.
Skipping dinner will lead you to wake up with a ravenous appetite the next morning, and this kick starts the vicious cycle of overeating.
So the rule of not eating after 7 pm, is just a misnomer. Try to eat at regular times every night.
Work That Body
The secret on how to lose weight fast with exercise is to do it regularly.
Besides, aiming to intersperse your regime with cardiovascular and strength training will build leaner physic.
Strength training will help you recruit more muscle mass. In return, your basal metabolic rate will increase. Hence allowing you to burn calories even when you’re resting.
Check out Tabata CrossFit training as it combines both plyometric (jump training) and resistance training.
You can easily fit this HIIT workout into your schedule, without having to go to the gym. For beginners, keep to a 4 – 8 minutes workout, and gradually extend it to 30 minutes as progress.
Get Enough Sleep
Did you know that 3 out of 10 American adults get less than 6 hours of sleep per night?
Research has proven that poor sleep causes weight gain and a higher likelihood of obesity in both adults and children.
This is because when we are sleep deprived, our body produces more ghrelin hormones that tell the brain that we are hungry.
Simultaneously, fewer leptin hormones are produced. Leptin suppresses hunger and signals fullness. And the lack of leptin makes you feel ravenous throughout the day.
Thus, going to bed at the same time every night, and minimizing digital time at least an hour before bedtime will ensure a good night’s sleep.
Do Not Cut Out Carbs or Certain Food Types
All of us have cravings, even among the most devoted diet watchers.
Don’t fall into the trap of abstaining from certain food types completely.
Have your carbs but practice portion control. Similarly, enjoy your pizza and still lose weight by opting for healthier toppings and smaller portions.
If you’ve gone overboard on a day, then fall back on carb blockers.
These enzymes will prevent your body from absorbing the complex carbohydrates. Thus preventing you from packing the pounds from the carb-overloaded meal.
Conclusion
The underlying principle for successful weight loss is that it has to be sustainable over time.
To achieve this, you must make permanent lifestyle changes – such as adopting a healthy, calorie-controlled diet with increased physical activity.
Whether your motivation to shed 5 pounds in 2 weeks is to look socially ready or for health purposes, stay true to these tips and you will witness the pounds drop after 15 days!
Recommended reading:
- Kombucha Weight Loss Benefits | A Natural Way to Rescue Your Body
- Tabata Yoga | Amazing Results & Suitable For All Fitness Levels
This content has been Fact-Checked by a Certified Nutritionist in our Publishing Team. Learn more here.