It was time for my wedding and I needed to lose weight fast. The first week I lost thirteen (13) pounds and then ten (ten) pounds the second week. Two weeks was a very short time to lose that much weight. Probably not the healthiest of diets, but hey, it was extremely effective.

I used this rapid weight loss as a catapult for my long term weight loss. Seeing all the weight go down motivated me to continue losing weight with natural and healthier strategies. I would like to share with you, in detail, everything I did during my second week that helped me lose ten (10) pounds in just one week.

We both know that losing weight extremely fast is not good for your system. Below are the steps from start to finish that allowed me to lose 10 pounds in just one week:

1. The first day was detox. You have to prepare the body to lose weight. My cleansing drink was a mixture of lemon juice, ginger, honey, and water. I drank this throughout the day whenever I felt like I was getting hungry. This one is pretty easy to follow, especially since it’s only for one day. When you’re hungry, drink. Hungry again? Drink some more. Sometimes I do a 10-day detox called a lemonade cleanse, but that wasn’t this week.

2. You need to limit your portions to lose weight fast. I ate a lot of vegetables, lean meats, lean fish, eggs, and some fruits like apples and oranges. The simple rule I followed was this: my plate should be half vegetables (no potatoes), a quarter 1/4 of your plate is white meat or fish, and then the rest is fruit (no bananas). Eating less isn’t the best option for long-term weight loss, but it worked well for my initial goal: fast weight loss. Eating less can be a real headache, even for me, but I achieved my goal and I’m happy with the results.

3. The next step was to add two apples and a can of black beans to my diet. Beans were either my main meal or I would split them into a few smaller meals and have vegetables on the side. This is one of those tricks that no other diet talks about that produces amazing results. Beans are known to be a complete nutrition source. In fact, very few foods provide protein, magnesium, iron, zinc-soluble fiber, and potassium in such high amounts.

4. I started eating breakfast and stopped eating at night. Not eating after 7 pm or 3 hours before bedtime was a good rule to follow. By adding breakfast, I started burning calories earlier in the day, though I have to admit, I previously didn’t think this was that important for weight loss. Eating breakfast also helped me maintain my energy level throughout the day. Also, I drank at least 10 glasses of water a day and I still drink 10 glasses a day. Water cleanses your system, increases metabolism, and helps control hunger. Did you know that 80% of the time we feel hungry it is our body that cries out for hydration (water)?

5. In addition to limiting portion sizes, I increased the number of times I ate throughout the day. I went from 2 big meals to 5 smaller meals. You want to balance your body between full and hungry throughout the day.

6. Put a stop to fats, sweets and not so healthy foods. Anytime I felt like I wanted to eat something unhealthy, I would move that food to the first part of the day. Your metabolism is highest in the morning and this gives your body all day to process food. I was able to kill the sweet monster with an early morning donut once or twice a week.

7. Put the fruit juices aside and head to the fresh fruit section of your supermarket. If you have to juice, get a juicer and do it yourself. When you’re thirsty, water or unsweetened green tea is also a solid solution.

8. Do your best to stay motivated and busy at all times. When you are busy with work, family, friends, etc. You forget about cooking and the next thing you know, half the day has passed. This is a bigger tip than you think.

You may be thinking that this plan is too simple to lose 10 pounds in a week, but stick to it exactly and I promise you will see results.