How to Lose Weight Fast

If you want to lose weight, you're not alone. Almost half of all Americans are trying to lose weight at any given time. While there are many things you can do to shed pounds, losing weight too quickly can be dangerous. Fad diets, diet pills, and fasting may help you reduce the number on the scale, but these methods can cause severe health complications.

However, if you are generally healthy and you're determined to drop several pounds quickly, there are some techniques and tips you can adopt to help you reach your short-term goals.

The purpose of most fad diets is to promote rapid weight loss that you can see almost overnight. Fad diets are short-term solutions; if you stay on a fad diet for more than a few days, you could cause your body serious harm. You should always consult your healthcare provider before beginning any kind of weight loss program to make sure your body can take the added strain to its system. Here are some popular fad diets with simple instructions that claim to result in fast, short-term weight loss.

The Water Diet. This diet involves drinking a daily total of about 64 fluid ounces (8 cups) of cold (preferably refrigerated) water, at regular intervals. 

• Drink a glass of water before each meal and before each snack to suppress your appetite by making you feel fuller.
• Do not add sweeteners or flavorings to your water.
• Do not replace meals with water.
• Take a daily multivitamin to replenish the nutrients lost through more frequent urination.

Juice Detox Diet, Juice Fast, or Hollywood Diet. Although there are many variations on a juice detoxification fast or crash diet, they generally last for one to three days.

• You can only drink fruit and vegetable juices on this type of fad diet.
• Some variations of this diet involve taking vitamins or nutrients along with the juices, while others let you have a single meal per day.
• The juices are meant to help your body flush out toxins and eliminate several pounds of (mostly) water weight from your system. 
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The Master Cleanse, Maple Syrup Diet, or Lemonade Diet. This fad diet is a liquid-only diet.

• Drink between 6 to 12 glasses of a special mixture of lemonade, cayenne pepper, water, and maple syrup each day.
  

• You will also drink a cup of herbal laxative tea twice a day.
• There is an optional period of easing into this fad diet, as well as an easing-out process.
• It should only be done for very short-term weight loss and is supposed to function as a detoxifying cleanse rather than a strict weight-loss routine.
• There is also an optional salt-water flush that can be incorporated into this diet.
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The Cabbage Soup Diet. This diet claims it can help you lose up to 10 pounds in one 

• It involves eating a low-fat, high fiber diet.
• You mainly eat a special type of cabbage soup, but you can also have moderate portions of certain fruits and vegetables, occasional meats and rice, a minimum of 4 glasses of water and a multivitamin each day.
• This diet lasts 7 days and is not recommended as a permanent solution for long-term weight loss because of the lack of nutrients you consume on it.