To expect to lose any weight in 4 weeks?

[SuperSoft1]

Right.
Just booked a last minute holiday to Turkey in exactly 28 days time.
Shit. I need to lose some weight.
How much can I REALISTICALLY expect to lose in 28 days starting now?
I'm 48
5ft 7
12 stone 9 pounds
Slim arms, slim legs, slim face, don't have a big bum.
Huge gigantic abdomen.
I look 9 months pregnant at all times.
But not from the back.
My abdomen extends from right under bust down to pelvis. And this is where all my weight is.
I look like a toffee apple.
So how much do you think I can lose and what's the fastest most effective way to do it???
Work FT sedentary job and highly demanding teen and tween at home so please no suggestions of daily gym workouts - I genuinely can't fit it in to the next month.
I need dietary advice.
Thank you in advance!

Im probably going to get flamed for this, but I will preface this with: it’s clearly not healthy or sustainable long term but works as a quick fix.

A few years ago I wanted to lose weight fast for a holiday. I did the Special K diet. You can google it but the idea is Special K cereal for breakfast and lunch then a ‘normal’ dinner (but a smallish portion). i added fruit to my cereal just to make sure I was having enough of my five a day. Drink loads of water too.

I went down a dress size in 2 weeks and it was quite noticeable. I’d do it again for a similar situation.

obviously you can’t do it forever but it is genuinely a great quick fix to quickly lose weight before an event.

when you come back you’d need to properly look into a healthy diet, calorie deficit and gym workouts etc, but I’m sure you know that!

I'd guess at half a stone if you really try, or a stone if you hit it hard but you will be hungry as it is simply cutting back on calories, a lot.

To add to this I didn’t actually feel too hungry doing this either!

I don’t usually have brekkie so I would combine the breakfast and lunch portions to have as one which probably helped

TBH, I wouldn't go mad dieting, maybe cut right back on the things you KNOW are the culprits for you! What would that be, snacking at night, alcohol, chocolate, too many spuds etc. Then cut them out and carry on eating as normal. Four weeks is a very short time to lose a lot, so don't stress too much about it.

Honestly, life is too short, get a lovely cover up or two and waft your way around the resort. Big hat and nice sunnies, fake tan and you're good to go.

Cut out ultra-processed foods and drinks including alcohol. Get a smaller dinner plate and eat half to 3/4 of your usual portion + an apple/pear/orange for pudding. Try and walk 20-30 mins briskly each day.

I can lose a couple of pounds a week that way.

One meal a day.

Vegetables.

Water.

You’ll be hungry and miserable, and about a stone lighter. Of course, though, you will regain it all in Turkey.

So fuck that - go buy some new, flattering clothes and hit the MJ when you come home.

The fat on the front of the body thing is so common, I think it’s related to insulin issues. If you cut carbs , drink lots of water, and do some Pilates, even ten minutes of Pilates ab work a day, you’ll look much different in four weeks.
no bread! No biscuits! No crackers! No sweets! Lots of chicken salad, cottage cheese, and protein shakes!

combine keto and intermittent fasting
High protein, healthy fats and bowls and bowls
of low carb veg and salad
Avoid all carbs
Greek yoghurt is excellent for breakfast and desserts
Avoid fruit apart from berries are ok
Stop eating early evening and don’t start again until 11am / midday but then eat to satisfaction in the eating window
Drink GALLONS of water or herbal tea
You should ‘depuff’ as well as lose a tonne of water weight

For a specific time frame you could look at planned diets with meal advice like the Fast 800. Also meal replacements or diet meal boxes where everything is planned for you to a specific calorie total and covering the right macros.

If you'd rather work out a diet plan yourself you could look at around 1000 to 1200 calories a day. Base meals on low fat protein and add lots of leafy veg and salad.

In 4 weeks you’d be able to shift 4 to 8 lbs if you were consistent, possibly a bit more in the first week.

Realistically, to lose fast, it means under 1,000 calories a day. You’ll probably lose half a stone. It might be mostly water weight and you’ll put it back on on holiday. Only you can say what difference that might make to your figure and your confidence and whether it’s worth a month starving!

I think 7/8lbs would be a realistic in 28 days. Intermittent fasting, no snacks, no alcohol, high protein, low carb and shitloads of water should do the trick!

I'm a bit taller than you and weigh a little less and I can lose a stone in a month by sticking (really really strictly) to 1200 calories a day and walking an hour a day.

Mounjaro, seriously. I’ve only been on it a week and I am already 4lb down (I appreciate this will be water weight initially). It makes dieting so much easier at it suppresses your appetite and you feel satisfied on very low calories.

No bread or white flour so no cakes/biscuits

Protein slim shakes to replace 1/2 meals a day from protein.com? It’s not sustainable but might be a quick fix for you? I suppose it would be easy enough to do on holiday if you wanted to keep it up?

Aside from the weight loss, if your only problem area is your bloated abdomen, please get this checked out by a GP. It’s very unlikely to be anything other than your body shape but abdominal distension can be a warning sign of ovarian cancer so please do rule it out.

I have had this my entire life, It’s just where I carry my weight. Slim everywhere else but with a big fat pregnant-looking stomach if I am even a little overweight.

I can't do those strict restriction diets. I go mad from through hunger. What works for me is: no sugar, no bread and an increase in veg (protein is hard, as it means cheese in my case!).

In an ideal world, I would cut out the booze!

Cut calories, it’s probably easier if you’re fasting as you’ll only have a small eating window. You can probably lose at least half a stone doing this.

No bread, no pastry, no butter, no alcohol, no chocolate, no sweets, no cake, loads of water and walk ten thousand steps a day. Don't eat after 8pm And you will probably loose 8 pounds. Alternatively decide not to bore yourself to death and go holiday clothes shopping.

Honestly I’d say maybe half an stone safely and comfortably,
I’d advise pretty much what I eat most days, a salad for lunch that’s full of goodness and nutrients, a tuna nicoise with some extra seeds scattered over the top, go light on the dressing but do add some (you don’t have to eat boring bland shit food to lose weight), or a chicken and bacon salad, or grains with some feta and roasted veg.
and then dinner is meat or fish, a moderate serving of carbs (I exercise most days and when I’m doing something early I make sure I eat a bit more in the way of carbs the night before, if I’m not exercising then it’s a small serving of carbs and as natural/unprocessed as possible so a baked potato or rice rather than chips or pasta) and half the plate filled with veg/salad.

I’d also suggest no booze at all. But in all honestly the chances are by day 2 of your holiday you’ll probably have already gained what you lost so my real recommendation is to just buy stuff that you feel good in, enjoy your holiday and maybe think of a more long term arrangement when you get back that’s going to be sustainable. Your body won’t thank you or forgive you for crash dieting 🥴

I’ve been on MJ for about 20 months now, I pretty much eat like this most of the time. Helped hugely by the MJ of course.

I think tummy puff will respond quite quickly to very low carbs op.

It might be a bit of bloating and water weight, rather than fat loss, but low carb tends to sort that out.

I’ve been losing 4-5 pounds a month aided by Wegovy since March and not found it hard. I track my calories and keep to 1300-1500 a day. I’m 76 and pretty sedentary a lot of the time but I have built in a walk of 4000 - 6000 steps a day . This takes less than half an hour to get 4000 of those in and the rest is just normal movement around the house.

Quickest weight loss diet I ever went on was in the 70s. Basically you ate only protein, no carbs, for the first two weeks and added very low-carb food (e.g. berries, leafy veg) after that. Not sustainable for the long haul and made me very constipated.

Google “How to lose a stone in a week by James Duncan”
I did it a few times (before I found Mounjarno!) and it really works.
Be warned, it’s hardcore, and you have to have iron willpower to stick to it!

Big stir fries, cook enough for 2 days with loads of Mediterranean veg, peppers, aubergine etc (I use frozen, Im not a martyr), with cubed chicken or turkey. No high salt seasonings. Hellmans Lighter Than Light Mayonnaise if you dont like your food dry. I mix Cauliflower Rice with it sometimes.

I dont eat bread, potatoes, rice, pasta. Not averse to potatoes or bread if Im out for a meal tho.

I have dumbbells, resistance band, walking pad. I use these at home. No long workout sessions, 15 minutes at a time 2/3 times daily. Short YouTube workouts are good.

Im an apple shape, eating this way (ie less processed food) and moving more is the only thing thats worked for me and made me drop weight quickly. I love my food but hate the big stomach more.

Too many years of standing in the mirror worrying about front and side stomach view, made me resolve to change. + I want a strong core arms legs so Im still (hopefully) mobile as I grow older.

Good luck.