Fast Easy Ways to Lose Weight in Five Days

True weight loss is an ongoing process and you can’t expect to lose 50 lbs. in just a few weeks. If you need to look good in just five days, you can lose weight–but it will be mostly water weight. You will look better, but you may gain the weight back if you don’t stick to a healthy eating and exercise plan after the big event. Still, it doesn’t hurt to try.

Eliminate Salt

A diet that is high in salt can cause you to retain water, which will make you look bloated, according to the Mayo Clinic. If you can limit your salt intake for a few days, you’ll purge the water your body has been holding onto, causing easy weight loss. If possible, stick with fresh ingredients when preparing your meals. Commercially prepared meals typically have a high salt content.

Increase Water

Though it may seem that the opposite would be true, drinking more water helps to flush water out of your system. If you aren’t drinking enough, your body will retain water to use at a later time. When you start giving your body enough water–at least eight glasses a day–it will release that extra water.

Watch Your Diet

Be strict about your diet and try to avoid high fat and high calorie foods, like junk foods. Though this can seem hard, it’s actually easy if you focus on eating a lot of low-calorie foods that you enjoy, according to Penn State. Make big salads, eat fruits and enjoy some chili. Think about the many foods that you can eat instead of focusing on all the foods that you can’t.

High Intensity Interval Training

You’ll want to squeeze some exercise in, but you don’t want to work out for hours just to lose a few pounds. Take up high intensity interval training for the week. To do this, walk for five minutes as a warm up, then sprint for 30 seconds. Recover by walking for two minutes, then repeat. This allows you to burn a lot of calories in a short period of time.

Switch Your Soda

Soda is a high calorie drink and if you drink several cans a day, it really starts to add up. The best option is to eliminate it totally, drinking water instead. However, if you don’t want to give up soda, you can save yourself a lot of calories–and lose weight in the process–by switching to diet sodas.