The short answer to what you really want to know: no, it's unlikely you'll lose any real weight in 48 hours. "Experts recommend a safe level of losing two pounds per week," says FITNESS magazine's Fitness Director, Mary Christ Anderson. "One pound equals 3,500 calories, so to lose a pound in two days, you'd need to eat 2,500 fewer calories" — a crash diet that, really, no one should ever attempt.
However, it is possible to start developing healthy exercise and eating habits in just two days, which will set you up to drop the weight that you want — five pounds, 10 pounds, or more.
To start, make a "plan of attack," suggests Harley Pasternak, celebrity trainer and creator of The 5-Factor Diet. Draft a grocery list to buy enough grub for 5 small meals a day. You'll also want to schedule when you'll eat and work out, just as you would write down a hair appointment or a dinner date.
Need some extra incentive? Pick up some new workout gear. "A new pair of athletic shoes can give you that extra push to be active," says Pasternak. "They can act as a catalyst between the mind and the body to increase motivation and improve performance."
Get new workout shoes here
Get new workout clothes here
Or go grocery shopping (see shopping list at bottom of the page) for the ingredients you'll need for the next two days' worth of meals. When Dawn Jackson Blatner, an American Dietetic Association spokesperson and FITNESS advisory board member, as well as author of The Flexitarian Diet, checks out of the grocery store, her cart's half-full of produce — a strategy that bodes well both in the long-term and the short-term.
The reasons to eat vegetables are plentiful:
For the time-strapped, "Go to the store and buy vegetables that you can eat off a veggie tray," suggests Blatner. "Also, buy vegetables that you can grill — zucchinis and squash — and add the vegetables to everything you eat."
Color Your Diet Healthy with Fruits and Vegetables
These moves can help put you in the right mental state. So stock up the pantry and dust off those running shoes — your 48-hour overhaul starts now.
Each day you'll be consuming roughly 1,200 calories. But when it comes to maintaining a healthy body, what you drink counts as much as what you eat. "Drinking 72 ounces of water a day is critical," says Blatner. "Put a nice pitcher of water in the fridge. For flavored water, you can float fresh mint in it or you can put slices of pears or grapefruit in it."
Blatner suggests the following menu to fuel yourself throughout the day.
Nutty Oatmeal with Apples (roughly 300 calories)
For breakfast, try hot oatmeal soaked in soy milk and topped with a diced apple. If you woke up hungry, this should hold you over until lunchtime. "[Apples] are filling because they are 85 percent water and have 4.5 grams of fiber," says Blatner. And for those of you worried about your cholesterol, you're in luck. "Oatmeal is a whole grain that can help regulate cholesterol levels with a compound it contains called beta-glucan," she adds.
See more breakfasts under 300 calories
Fresh Tomato & Bean Stuffed Pita (roughly 400 calories)
Stuff a whole wheat pita with beans, tomatoes, and basil, then dress it up with vinaigrette. The whole wheat pita is low in saturated fat, high in dietary fiber, and cholesterol-free. Everything you'll be eating inside the pita is healthy too, especially the white beans. "Beans are a great source of plant protein, fiber, iron, potassium, and zinc," says Blatner.
See more lunches under 400 calories
Yogurt & Honey (roughly 100 calories)
Not only is yogurt full of protein, but it also contains immune system-boosting good bacteria called probiotics. When you add honey to the yogurt, it'll feed the good bacteria in the yogurt and make the bacteria stronger, says Blatner. "Plus, it's better to add your own sweetness to plain yogurt rather than buying it pre-sweetened because you can control the amount."
9 Salty Snacks Under 100 Calories
Salmon with Quinoa and Broccoli (roughly 400 calories)
You'll get full on this meal. Grilled salmon is high in nutrients, low in saturated fat, and infused with omega-3 fatty acids. And you can't go wrong with broccoli — the vegetable is touted as a cancer-fighting food, rich in vitamins A and C, and a good source of calcium, iron, and magnesium. As for quinoa, it "contains one of the highest amounts of protein of the whole grains," says Blatner. So trade up from white rice — it's a swap worth the trouble.
So where do chips, cookies, candy, ice cream, and alcohol fit in, you ask? "Nowhere," says Blatner. "For two days, the aim is to be perfect and reset your appetite and palate without any splurges. However, long-term people don't have to think that this two-day diet is how perfect they have to be forever."
If you're a morning workout kind of person, go ahead and lace up after breakfast. However, if you're more of an afternoon or after-dinner exerciser, feel free to work out when you're most comfortable. "It's about forming a habit and it's about frequency of exercise," says celebrity trainer Ramona Braganza, who's worked with Jessica Alba. "Schedule it in and write it down in your journal. If you don't have energy five mornings in a row, then switch it up."
The trick to getting lean muscles is to combine weight training with cardio, which is exactly what you'll be doing with Braganza's 3-2-1 program (3 cardio segments, 2 circuit segments, and 1 core segment).
"Try not to take a break. Push through the burn," advises Braganza. "But if you must stop, then stop briefly and then continue." She suggests working out at 75 percent of your target heart rate. (You can figure out what your target heart rate is by subtracting your age from 226, then multiplying that number by 0.75 to get your percentage.) If you're doing the exercise correctly, you should feel the burn in the last 5 reps, she says.
Buy a heart rate monitor
The whole program should take an hour and will burn around 300 calories. If you want to burn more, increase the cardio time from 7 minutes to 10, and repeat Circuit A and B three times.
Make sure your form is correct; lean body slightly forward and don't let top hip roll back. This exercise will work the outer thigh.
Almond Toast with Blueberries (roughly 300 calories)
Spread almond butter on toast, and eat with side of blueberries. Not only is are blueberries low in calories, but they're also a good source of fiber and rich in vitamin C. Plus, the blue color comes from the antioxidant anthocyanin, which might protect against diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, cancer, and heart disease, says Blatner.
Chopped Spinach Salad (roughly 400 calories)
Forget iceberg or romaine lettuce. "Spinach is a leafy green, and these contain a powerful trio of antioxidants called ACE — vitamins A, C, and E — blood builders such as iron and vitamin K, and bone builders such as calcium and magnesium," says Blatner.
As far a salad ingredients go, eggs are good sources of protein that are still low in fat, which makes them great for building muscle while you lose weight. Having protein in every meal will help keep your metabolism up while your body burns off fat. And don't toss the yolk out of the hard-boiled egg, either; it's rich in vitamin D, which fights diseases like cancer and diabetes.
Celery with Sunflower Butter (roughly 100 calories)
Enjoy celery spread with sunflower butter, which has more vitamin E than peanut butter.
Chicken Vegetable Stir-Fry with Brown Rice (roughly 400 calories)
As a whole grain, brown rice is very filling and easy to digest. Also, compared to dry whole grains like crackers, brown rice consists of mostly water so it'll make you feel full, says Blatner.
3 Squats to a Firmer Butt
Make sure you feel it in your heels so you work the back of your legs. Hold 8-pound weights in your hands if the squats get too easy.
If you've made it this far, chances are you'll continue working out. Braganza suggests doing her workout three days a week, alternating with 30 to 40 minutes of straight cardio every other day (you'll have one day of rest each week).
But this routine will only be good for 4 to 6 weeks. After that, you'll have to make tweaks to the routine in order to see any noticeable changes. As creatures of habit, we like doing the same exercise — but if you're trying to lose weight, your efforts will no longer work. "This is called the principal of adaptation," says Braganza. "There needs to be variety in the exercises you do. You can do the same body parts but learn new exercises for them."
Sometimes grabbing a workout buddy might help you stay in a program for the long haul. Another way to spice up your daily physical activity is to avoid the gym altogether and just go outside. "Take a walk and track how far you go with a pedometer. Or play with your kids or dogs," Braganza suggests. Also, participating in other sports — biking, hiking, or rock climbing, for instance — is a great way to stay active. Find something you like to do and keep doing it.
Outdoor Park Workout
Total-Body Pool Workout
"I Tried Boxing"
Whatever you do, make sure you write your diet habits and exercise activities down. Blatner says if you keep track of what you are eating, then you'll lose twice as much weight.
"I do think there is an extreme value of doing a jump start for yourself. The number one reason why people don't stick to a plan is because they don't see the results fast enough," says Blatner. Doing something like this for part of the week will make you more likely to develop healthier habits over your lifetime.
Dry quick oats
Original soymilk
Walnuts
1 small apple
1 medium-size whole wheat pita
1 can of white beans
Tomatoes
Fresh basil
Plain low-fat yogurt
Honey
3 ounces grilled salmon
Broccoli florets, chopped
Pine nuts
1 lemon
Quinoa
Loaf of whole wheat bread
Almond butter
Carton of fresh blueberries
1 bag of spinach
1 egg
1 medium baked potato
Carrots
Bottle of vinaigrette salad dressing
Sunflower butter
2 medium celery stalks
1 small bag of brown rice
3 ounces grilled chicken breast
Sliced almonds
Fresh cilantro
1 bag of frozen vegetable medley