Are you guaranteed to lose weight if you go seven days without eating and you drink plenty of water?

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Yes and no. The human body can go for an extended period of time without food. I went for 12 days without food. I do not recommend it for longer than three or four days. After that, the long-term effects on your body are not worth it, since your body can start eating it's own muscles for energy. It's been almost a year since my extended fast, and my body has still not fully recovered from the loss of muscle.

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Truly fasting, not eating anything, has been proven to be non-harmful (provided that you have enough fat and no metabolic problems) and in the past has been used for weight loss. There are records of people going for 40, 100, 120 days without any food. The trick is that you have to fast for at least 4 days to stop feeling hungry and after an extended fast (weeks, months) re-feeding can be tricky and in some cases dangerous. You will lose a steady trickle of weight over time. A week will cause you to lose between 1 and 2 pounds. You have to drink enough water and get enough rest and some sun. Most people have enough nutrients already in them and do not require vitamins until they get well past the point where they require calories. However, eating anything tips the balance and it becomes a diet, a starvation diet. Then, the metabolism does not adjust to using your fat and you will harm yourself. Therefore, fasting is a slow weight loss method. If you think that fasting for a while so that you can approach food and eating from a cleaner slate will help you, talking to your doctor about a fast would be appropriate. If you think that fasting will cause you to drop a lot of weight quickly, then you are misguided. There are fasting groups and fasting centers (like TrueNorth) that can help you put together a healthy fast. However, the big focus is getting more in touch with yourself, clearing your palette of a taste for junky foods and appreciating how beautiful life is and how much food is a part of the fabric of life. All worthy goals. Losing weight very quickly is more harmful than being over weight and losing more than a pound or two per week is too fast. Consider a lifestyle change rather than a diet, considering not eating anything is a sign that you are really needing a change.

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You will lose weight by starving yourself but, once you start eating again, you will gain more weight than you lost. This is because your body knows that you are starving and tries to hang on to nourishment it can get (and thus you get fat quickly). In addition, when you do not eat, your metabolism slows down and you will not be burning as many calories. Moreover, as mentioned in the first answer, your body will use muscle for energy, and then you are self-destructing. A better option would be to go on a sensible diet where you eat lots of fresh veggies & fruits and lean meats.

An additional answer

You will loose weight because you are starving. You could possibly kill yourself by doing this. Generally people cannot last longer than a week without food. I understand that you drinking water which will hopefully keep you alive but this is very unrealistic. Doing this can be very damaging to your body. Not to mention as soon as you eat anything again your body will immediately store it away as fat because you are starving it. Fat is a reserve. I suggest that you eat healthy and workout. It's as simple as that. Though it may not be instant, the probability of you 'making it' is 100%

First answer by Tahitigirl. Last edit by Ashley.elaine. Contributor trust: 1 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 96 [recommend question]