Let’s say you have an upcoming event, maybe a wedding, vacation, or your child’s high school graduation. You might feel like you’d be more comfortable with what you see when the photos are shared if you lose the pesky five pounds that always hang around. And to get there, you might be considering some pretty drastic weight loss interventions to lose a set number of pounds in a short period.
From crash diets to extreme fasting, many people try to fast-track their way to weight loss. However, the calorie deficit needed to lose five pounds in two weeks isn’t always the healthiest, safest, or most sustainable way to manage your body weight. Here’s what you need to know to safely lose one to two pounds a week based on your individual factors.
How Large a Calorie Deficit Would You Need?
You’re in a calorie deficit when you consume fewer calories than your body burns through normal functions and physical activity. This can lead to weight loss over time.
A daily calorie deficit of 500 to 1,000 calories typically accounts for losing one to two pounds weekly. However, this can vary for individuals based on age, gender, health history, medications, and activity levels. For men between the ages of 19 and 60, the recommended daily calorie intake is between 2,200 and 3,000 kilocalories (kcal) per day, depending on activity level. For women between the ages of 19 and 60, daily calorie intake to maintain healthy body functions should be between 1,600 and 2,400 kcal.
However, while a calorie deficit is central to weight management, your organs and cells need calories to carry out the necessary functions and look after your health. To lose five pounds in two weeks, you’d need to eliminate around 1,250 calories daily, according to the standard calorie deficit formula. This means the average person wouldn’t have many calories left for their body to function correctly.
What Are the Risks of Losing 5 Pounds in 2 Weeks?
A healthy weight supports optimal health, but losing too much weight at once can actually do more harm than good, even if it’s getting you to a healthy weight for your body shape and lifestyle. Aiming for one to two pounds of weight loss per week is safe and sustainable for most people, and losing five pounds in two weeks falls just outside of that.
A correlation exists between calorie intake and how your body uses energy. When you start cutting calories quickly, your body slows down calorie-burning to protect itself from starvation. So while you might see initial weight loss, the pounds you’d lost will typically return when you resume a normal calorie intake.
It’s also important to remember that pounds of fat aren’t the only thing that you lose with extreme calorie deficits. You may also start to lose muscle mass, especially when the calorie deficit is significant.
Don’t forget that optimal health comes from a well-rounded diet. If you eliminate specific key nutrients from your diet, such as fats or carbohydrates, you’re removing vitamins and minerals your body needs to be strong and maintain health.
If you cut out certain food groups to avoid these nutrients or don’t get enough calories, you may have an increased risk of the following:
Feeling extremely tired or having significantly less energy
Reduced bone density and bone strength, which can increase your risk of fractures and injuries
Reduced immune system protection from illnesses
Hair loss
Is It Safe to Lose Water Weight?
Around 50 to 60 percent of an adult's body is made up of water. Water is essential for digestion, cell health, blood volume, and temperature regulation. Water weight refers to the five pounds that shift up and down as the body regulates its water content. You might find yourself on a crash diet to lose five pounds in two weeks, only to find that this returns on your target day for one of several reasons.
The menstrual cycle is a major culprit, but additional factors can affect water weight shifts. These can include medications, medical conditions, or a diet rich in high-sodium foods. Even dehydration can lead to your body trying to retain water to protect itself.
While you might be tempted to look into diuretics or crash diets that claim to get rid of water weight, it’s best to avoid trends that do so unless necessary for an underlying water retention issue and under the direction of a medical provider.
Instead, try these sustainable options to manage water weight:
Stay hydrated. Adults should drink 2 liters (L) of water per day to avoid dehydration. However, fluid intake recommendations are highly individual, so if you’re concerned about how much to drink, speak to a healthcare professional.
Reduce your sodium intake. Sodium, often found in processed or salty foods, can cause the body to retain excess water.
Get moving. Physical activity impacts circulation, which can lessen water retention.
How to Lose Weight Steadily and Sustainably
While quickfire, dramatic results might be tempting, slow and steady wins the weight management race every time. If you’d like to lose one to two pounds per week and maintain a healthy body weight long-term, consider these options instead:
Focus on your muscles.Muscles are the calorie-burning engines of the body. Adding strength training to your daily movement can not only give you some well-defined biceps but also an opportunity to burn calories and create a healthy deficit.
A healthy diet improves outcomes. The quality of food you eat matters. Focus on pairing healthy foods together, like proteins with carbs, to provide your body with a well-balanced diet.
Don’t hesitate to move. It can be easy to find yourself sitting most of the day, especially if you work a desk job or injuries keep you sidelined. Add some movement to your day, no matter how small. Even a 10-minute break three times a day for a leisurely walk can add to your overall activity level and can help you work up to 30 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio.
Get enough sleep. It can be easy to overlook, but the amount of sleep you get can have a significant impact on your weight. Ensure that you’re getting at least seven hours of sleep each night to minimize throwing off your metabolism and the hormones responsible for hunger cues.
Minimize stress. When you’re stressed or tight on time, it can be easy to reach for the quick and easy foods, even if they aren’t the healthiest. While there might not be anything bad about comfort food now and then, those calories can add up over time, especially if it’s the only way you manage your mental health. Instead, look for ways to decompress from the world and reduce your stress with hobbies that bring you joy, and maybe even do some exercise.
If you’ve found shifting calories challenging after a certain point or simply feel you need professional support to see the weight management results you’re after, you may benefit from speaking to a physician, registered dietitian nutritionist, or exercise physiologist.
The Takeaway
Losing more than two pounds per week can increase your risk of reduced muscle mass, lower bone density, digestive problems, fatigue, or an increased risk of illness.
Creating a slow, steady calorie deficit by cutting calories, increasing physical activity, and managing factors like stress and sleep can help you sustain a healthier weight loss of about one to two pounds per week.
Water weight can shift your weight up to five pounds day to day, but aiming for diets that specifically target water weight may not be safe.
If you find weight loss challenging, need support, or have an underlying health problem, consult a registered dietitian nutritionist or physician.
Tara Collingwood, RDN, is a board-certified specialist in sports dietetics, an American College of Sports Medicine–certified personal trainer, and a media spokesperson. As a sports dietitian, she has worked with the U.S. Tennis Association, the Orlando Magic, World Wrestling Entertainment, runDisney, the University of Central Florida, and numerous professional and amateur athletes. Collingwood is the author of Pregnancy Cooking and Nutrition for Dummies and a coauthor of the Flat Belly Cookbook for Dummies.
She appears regularly on national and local TV, and speaks around the world to business teams on how to manage energy physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. She previously served as a national spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Collingwood double-majored in dietetics as well as nutrition, fitness, and health at Purdue University and earned a master's degree in health promotion from Purdue University.
Alexandra Frost is a Cincinnati-based journalist and the founder of an editorial marketing agency that offers brands strategy and content collaboration across all of their platforms and projects.
Her work has appeared in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, HuffPost, Popular Science, and Glamour, and she's worked with brands from Sam's Club to Johnson & Johnson. She specializes in medical/health, wellness, parenting, relationships, education, trends, business, and lifestyle journalistic writing.
Alexandra earned her bachelor's degree in mass communications/journalism and a master's degree in teaching.
When not writing, she enjoys spending time with her five kids, lovingly referred to as “#4frostyboys” and “#1frostysis” on social media. As a busy mom, she's a firm believer in work-life balance.
Adam is a freelance writer and editor based in Sussex, England. He loves creating content that helps people and animals feel better. His credits include Medical News Today, Greatist, ZOE, MyLifeforce, and Rover, and he also spent a stint as senior updates editor for Screen Rant.
As a hearing aid user and hearing loss advocate, Adam greatly values content that illuminates invisible disabilities. (He's also a music producer and loves the opportunity to explore the junction at which hearing loss and music collide head-on.)
In his spare time, Adam enjoys running along Worthing seafront, hanging out with his rescue dog, Maggie, and performing loop artistry for disgruntled-looking rooms of 10 people or less.
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
