# Could you lose five pounds in one week for a million $? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 20, 2010, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-lose-five-pounds-in-one-week-for-a-million/550853 "2010-08-20T09:37:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-lose-five-pounds-in-one-week-for-a-million/550853/41 "2010-08-20T16:29:12Z")
Seriously, if I fasted and got even a little exercise I could lose 5 lbs in less than 24 hours. Temporarily. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-lose-five-pounds-in-one-week-for-a-million/550853/42 "2010-08-20T16:30:13Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > I think I’d need another gall bladder to pull that one off again, though. Of course, then you’d have to lose five pounds _plus_ the weight of an average gall bladder. So, you know, two steps forward, one step back. Me, I’d have no problem losing five pounds in a week. I’d celebrate by buying a million dollars worth of Krispy Kreme. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-lose-five-pounds-in-one-week-for-a-million/550853/43 "2010-08-20T16:31:43Z")
Shingles? **Overly** , aren’t you like, early 30’s? 5 pounds is a cake walk. Cabbage soup or any kind of liquid diet. Hell, I’d do it for 10k. Tax free, of course, otherwise, 20k. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-lose-five-pounds-in-one-week-for-a-million/550853/44 "2010-08-20T16:33:12Z")
Honey, I’m a former ballerina, and now quite overweight. If I really had my mind made up I could probably do that in two days. 6-7 would be easy. Mind you, I couldn’t do it week after week and stay healthy, but once? Sure! ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-lose-five-pounds-in-one-week-for-a-million/550853/45 "2010-08-20T16:42:35Z")
> [@lindsaybluth](#): > > 5 pounds is a cake walk. I think you’d want to cut cake walks out of your diet during that one-week period. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-lose-five-pounds-in-one-week-for-a-million/550853/46 "2010-08-20T16:58:37Z")
> [@lindsaybluth](#): > > Shingles? **Overly** , aren’t you like, early 30’s? I got shingles when I was 22. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-lose-five-pounds-in-one-week-for-a-million/550853/47 "2010-08-20T17:03:08Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > > [@lindsaybluth](#): > > > > Shingles? **Overly** , aren’t you like, early 30’s? > > I got shingles when I was 22. Me too. 22. ---
**Author:** ![silk1976](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@silk1976](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silk1976)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-lose-five-pounds-in-one-week-for-a-million/550853/48 "2010-08-20T17:37:21Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > For $1 million, I’ll lose 5 lbs by the end of the day. Hell, I could lose 5 lbs by 3 oclock this afternoon. With nailpolish. I know, doesn’t quite fit- but couldn’t resist making the random reference. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-lose-five-pounds-in-one-week-for-a-million/550853/49 "2010-08-20T17:39:11Z")
I’ve been going to the gym 4 times a week for about 45 minutes and eating about 2000 calories a day, i lost four pounds last week. For a million i think i could add 15 mins to my workout, i guess… ---
**Author:** ![pendgwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@pendgwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pendgwen)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-lose-five-pounds-in-one-week-for-a-million/550853/50 "2010-08-20T17:39:50Z")
Sure. There was a period of 2 weeks when I was very busy at work and too tired to cook when I got home and I lost 8 pounds. With a million bucks as incentive I’m sure I could replicated something enough like that diet to loose the 5 pounds ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-lose-five-pounds-in-one-week-for-a-million/550853/51 "2010-08-20T17:56:01Z")
> [@lindsaybluth](#): > > Shingles? **Overly** , aren’t you like, early 30’s? > > 5 pounds is a cake walk. Cabbage soup or any kind of liquid diet. Hell, I’d do it for 10k. Tax free, of course, otherwise, 20k. I know - that was my first reaction, too! I’m 34. But, yeah, the ER doc I went to (my eye was swelling shut and I’d had a migraine for 3 days) chuckled and said that shingles was far more common in younger people than you’d think and that high levels of stress or illness/injury could cause it. We had just gotten back from India with our then-18-month-old son, who would _not_ leave me alone. I had been awake 36 hours during the flight, he had jet lag so only slept 3, maybe 4 hours at a time tops for weeks afterward, and I had this awful upper-respiratory infection I developed there, which lasted almost a month after. The doc in the ER felt that all that, combined with the lack of sleep, probably caused it. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-lose-five-pounds-in-one-week-for-a-million/550853/52 "2010-08-20T18:06:43Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Ask anyone who was ever on a wrestling team and they’ll tell you 5 in a week is a cake walk. What’s hard is when the coach says “I know you wrestle in the 125 class but we need someone for 115 - in 2 days.” For an adult this probably isn’t horrible but for a 16 YO kid who’s growing and constantly hungry it can be pretty tough. When I was a high school freshman, I had a wrestling coach who insisted I stay at the 98-lb weight class for the whole season. Every week, for the whole season, I had to lose about 5 pounds before each meet to get back under my weight. I basically didn’t eat for two days a week before matches, then gorged after weigh-in. :rolleyes: I’m convinced that starving myself for months to stay at that weight delayed my growth spurt and permanently stunted my growth. Within six months after the season ended, I gained 6 inches in height and gained more than 30 pounds. However, I ended up 2 inches shorter than my father. ☹ Nearly 30 years later, I’m still pissed off at that coach, and my parents for allowing it. I have a teenager myself now, and I would never allow him to do that to himself. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-lose-five-pounds-in-one-week-for-a-million/550853/53 "2010-08-20T18:40:08Z")
> [@robby](#): > > > [@zoid](#): > > > > Ask anyone who was ever on a wrestling team and they’ll tell you 5 in a week is a cake walk. What’s hard is when the coach says “I know you wrestle in the 125 class but we need someone for 115 - in 2 days.” For an adult this probably isn’t horrible but for a 16 YO kid who’s growing and constantly hungry it can be pretty tough. > > When I was a high school freshman, I had a wrestling coach who insisted I stay at the 98-lb weight class for the whole season. Every week, for the whole season, I had to lose about 5 pounds before each meet to get back under my weight. I basically didn’t eat for two days a week before matches, then gorged after weigh-in. :rolleyes: > > I’m convinced that starving myself for months to stay at that weight delayed my growth spurt and permanently stunted my growth. Within six months after the season ended, I gained 6 inches in height and gained more than 30 pounds. However, I ended up 2 inches shorter than my father. ☹ > > Nearly 30 years later, I’m still pissed off at that coach, and my parents for allowing it. I have a teenager myself now, and I would never allow him to do that to himself. Agree - looking back on it, it was stupid and I can’t belive it was allowed. I’d never let me kid do it. But you have to admit, after weigh-in a damn balony sandwich was like eating the food of the gods. I remember touraments where weigh was at 7:00 AM and my first match wasn’t till noon, I’d bring a brown grocery bag half full of food and start swallowing it almost whole after wieighing in and then sleep till 15 min before the match. ---
**Author:** ![supergoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@supergoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supergoose)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-lose-five-pounds-in-one-week-for-a-million/550853/54 "2010-08-20T22:27:44Z")
Uh, so if I actually would like to lose as much weight as possible (NOT water weight - fat weight) in a week (well, 9 days), how would I do that (safely)? I currently weigh about 175 pounds, am 5 ft 8.5 inches tall and dance 6 hours a week. The rest of the time I basically just veg out. 5 pounds would be good, 10 great, and 15 miraculous. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-lose-five-pounds-in-one-week-for-a-million/550853/55 "2010-08-20T22:31:20Z")
For people who starve themselves for wrestling matches/weight classes, how do you have the strength to wrestle when the time comes? ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-lose-five-pounds-in-one-week-for-a-million/550853/56 "2010-08-20T22:31:56Z")
I’ve lost more than five pounds in a week. A mix of obesity and poverty. ---
**Author:** ![supergoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@supergoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supergoose)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-lose-five-pounds-in-one-week-for-a-million/550853/57 "2010-08-20T22:50:06Z")
> [@supergoose](#): > > Uh, so if I actually would like to lose as much weight as possible (NOT water weight - fat weight) in a week (well, 9 days), how would I do that (safely)? > > I currently weigh about 175 pounds, am 5 ft 8.5 inches tall and dance 6 hours a week. The rest of the time I basically just veg out. 5 pounds would be good, 10 great, and 15 miraculous. Forgot to say, it doesn’t do any good for me to gain it right back afterward. Maybe a couple of pounds if I’ve lost more than that, but no more. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-lose-five-pounds-in-one-week-for-a-million/550853/58 "2010-08-20T23:10:24Z")
I did 135 to 95 in a couple weeks … called the almost die from a pregnancy gone really bad … I really would not like to do it again. I looked like death camp skinny, as I was 5’7 at the time and it was all muscle [I worked a fairly hard labor job at he time] I am currently losing 3-5 lbs a month, and have been since my hysterectomy last year. The weight loss was supposed to stop after about 6 months, or so my gyno told me when I asked, but I am not looking a gift weight loss in the mouth. Of course now I probably jinxed it =( But I am down 50 lbs from this time last year, so I am reasonably happy =) ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-lose-five-pounds-in-one-week-for-a-million/550853/59 "2010-08-21T00:05:53Z")
> [@supergoose](#): > > Uh, so if I actually would like to lose as much weight as possible (NOT water weight - fat weight) in a week (well, 9 days), how would I do that (safely)? > > I currently weigh about 175 pounds, am 5 ft 8.5 inches tall and dance 6 hours a week. The rest of the time I basically just veg out. 5 pounds would be good, 10 great, and 15 miraculous. Cut most carbs from your diet. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-lose-five-pounds-in-one-week-for-a-million/550853/60 "2010-08-21T00:13:53Z")
Not at all recommended, in fact it’s a good way to die and the weight is not real weight it’s just water but : Jog or jump rope in a sauna, or a gym shower with all the showers on hot, make sure to be wearing a rubber suit with a bunch of sweat shirts and pairs of sweatpants on or at least put a layer of garbage bags on between sweat suits. At the same time suck on sour candy (lemon jollyranchers) and spit, the sour will keep you salivating Shave your head Put your finger down your throat and clean yourself out Take a laxative [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-lose-five-pounds-in-one-week-for-a-million/550853.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-lose-five-pounds-in-one-week-for-a-million/550853.md?page=4)