I Lost 9 Pounds on the Whole30 Diet and Here's How

Do you want to lose 30 pounds in two weeks? While it might seem impossible, one YouTuber claims it isn’t. Steve Cha of Rockstar Eater, a YouTube channel focusing on his love of food, shared a recent video about how rapidly he lost weight to the tune of a pound every two days. He claims it all boils down to following three simple steps.

He Gained 10 to 12 Pounds After Starting His YouTube Channel

Steve from Rockstar Eater explains that he gained “about 10 to 12 pounds” after starting his YouTube channel from “eating a lot of food” and that “it did take some toll” on his body. He topped the scales at 170, admitting that his blood pressure and cholesterol both went up.

He Gave Himself 30 Days to Lose 15 Pounds

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“So I decided that I'm going to take some steps in order to try to take care of my health for the next few weeks. So in this video, I'm gonna be documenting my journey on losing basically 10 to 15 pounds,” he says, giving himself a time frame of 30 days.

His Plan Starts with Exercise

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Steve’s plan was to start with exercise. “What I'm gonna do is basically every day do a lot of walking, cardio, jogging in order to sweat, burn some calories,” he says.

It Also Involves Changing His Diet

“And I'm also gonna, of course, alter my diet. That's the most important thing because it's no use for me to go out and do all of this exercising but then come home and snack on all this junk food,” he says. “Of course, I'm not gonna go the drastic route of starving myself, you know, like what some people do. That's actually not healthy at all.”

Protein with Salads or Veggies

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What will he be eating for the next few weeks while he’s trying to lose weight? “Definitely low-fat foods,” he says. He might make a big salad and some salmon but only have a third of it, then “probably the other third for dinner. And then for dinner, I can change it up by eating, for example, fish, some cucumber and some baby broccoli, which is really good. I highly recommend this.” He will also eat an apple.

No Fried Food

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“So something like this is what I would be eating every day with just some variations, but definitely staying away from all the fried stuff, all the beef, you know, high cholesterol stuff, definitely no ice cream,” he adds.

10,000 Steps Per Day

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Steve’s goal is to try to hit about 10,000 steps a day. “On a busy day, I'd probably be walking for about one hour, kind of like a walk-jog. But then, if I have one of those days where it's not that busy, who knows, I might even go for half a day, like three to four hours of walking. But remember, drink plenty of water when you're out here, especially during the summertime,” he says.

Week One He Lost 3 Pounds

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“So it's been about a week now, and it looks like I've been able to lose about three pounds in the course of six to seven days. So far off to a good start,” Steve says. “I mean, I'm already feeling it. My body feels a little lighter, and I can get into my pants without feeling so very tight.”

Week Two He Lost Two-and-Half-Pounds

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This week I was able to drop about two to two and a half pounds, and I do feel better. Everything feels good all around,” Steve says. If “you're losing weight over time, it gets more difficult and difficult to drop the same amount of weight every single week.”

He Did Cheat

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Steve admits that he “did have some cheat days here and there, but for the most part, still sticking to vegetables, fruits, and cereal, oats, you know, all that healthy stuff, and I don't overeat. That's the key. And you gotta also do a lot of exercise.”

30 Day Mark: 15 Pounds

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“Moment of truth after 30 days of hard work. Let's see what the final result is.

As many of you guys probably know, that was not an easy task to all of a sudden go onto such a strict diet exercising plan. So yes, it looks like I lost about 14 to 15 pounds in the span of 30 days, which is not easy to do, but it is doable though.”

Step 1: Diet

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He then details each step he followed. “Number one, I changed my diet plan,” he reiterates, “eating stuff with less sugar, less sodium, less carbs in it, sticking mainly to fruits and vegetables and oats and wheat. I mean, once in a while, I had my cheat day here and there to eat something heavier, but that's pretty much what I've been sticking to.”

Step 2: Hydrating

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The second step? Hydration. “ I've been drinking a lot of water, like a lot of water,” he continues. “No more of the sodas and the fruit juices, mostly water during a lot of these days.”

Step 3: Exercising

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His final step? Exercise, including “a lot of cardio, jogging, some stretches here and there,” he says.

It’s Not Easy, But Gets Easier

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Steve encourages others to stick to a diet. “It's not easy, I'll tell you that, especially in the first few days. It's gonna be very difficult, but then you kind of get used to it over time,” he says.

His Blood Pressure Decreased

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“But overall, I'm definitely feeling it. It's flatter all around my stomach area and my chest and I feel better health-wise. And I was even able to go to the local grocery store to measure my blood pressure. It actually went down by 15, I think I was at 1 35 before in terms of blood pressure. And then I think it went down to about like one 20 or one 17, which is really good.”

So Did His Body Fat

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His “body fat level has gone down a little bit as well, and I'm assuming that's also cholesterol,” he notes. “So overall, I'm feeling very healthy. So if you guys want to lose some weight and you want to lose it fast, maybe within 30 days, just letting you know that it is possible.”

The NIH Recommends Losing 1 to 2 Pounds Per Week

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Is Steve’s weight loss realistic? According to the National Institutes of Health, no. “Weight loss should be about 1 to 2 pounds per week for a period of 6 months,” they say. That would be a maximum loss of 8 pounds in 30 days.

RELATED: 15 Lazy-Girl Ways to Exercise at Home

Body Network’s Expert Weighs In

Tara Collingwood

Body Network’s Resident RDN, Tara Collingwood, MS, RDN, CSSD, LD/N, ACSM-CPT, a Board Certified Sports Dietitian and co-author of the Flat Belly Cookbook for Dummies, agrees that starving yourself thin is not a good idea. She notes that rapid weight loss usually leads to weight regain. “Starving and fasting can produce fast weight loss, but it also stresses the body and causes the metabolism to shut down, which in turn can cause rebound weight gain,” she says.

However, sustainable weight loss is possible with the right mindset and approach. "Anything hard takes some discipline, and losing weight is one of the hardest lifestyle habits to modify," says Collingwood. "I coach my clients to think about their motivations for eating to make the changes in their lifestyle that will require them to lose the weight they say they want to lose. With discomfort comes growth and results." she says. And if you enjoyed this article, take advantage of these 15 Quick Ways to Lose Body Fat Percentage in a Week.

💪🔥Body Booster: It's important to have a solid motivation for making tough choices. "When you have a strong reason for making the hard choices, it becomes easier to keep yourself on track," says Collingwood.

If you have a lot of weight to lose, it can seem hopeless and impossible. However, Samantha Costa, a 23-year-old influencer, lost a whopping 60 pounds in 3 months. In a viral YouTube video, she explains exactly how she did it, and a lot of it had to do with shifting her perspective and overall approach to weight loss.

Losing 60 Pounds in 6 Months with PCOS

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She starts with her backstory: In 2018 she was diagnosed with PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome), which resulted in weight gain. “I fluctuate weight a lot and it also affects my periods. With that being said, because I was diagnosed with PCOS, I put on a lot of weight very fast, and it wasn't a type of weight that was healthy,” she said. Costa, who is five-foot-one, topped the scale at around 200 pounds. “Being in a place where I knew I wasn't healthy was really scaring me.” At the time she was able to drop 50 to 60 pounds in “five to six months” by going to Orangetherory and eating right. “I think I weighed around 196 pounds and I got down to around 135,” she specified.

Related: #1 Way to Flatten Your Stomach for Women, According to a Pelvic Floor Expert

The Power of Whole Grains

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Her main dietary change at the time involved swapping out white carbs with whole grain and whole wheat. “I literally had grilled chicken, pasta, grated cheese, and tomato sauce every single day because that's what made me happy,” she said. After graduating from college in May 2022, “and I honestly was a very steady weight of around probably 129 pounds to 140 throughout all of my senior year of college,” she felt like she was at a healthy weight for herself around 135 pounds. She spent the summer lifeguarding. “I was having a really fun time, and honestly everything was going very well,” she continued.

A Stressful Job Ruined Her Health and Happiness

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However, in August she started her “big job at a big four company” and it was “the downfall of everything,” she claims. “I'm not going to talk too much about it, but the stress of that job, which I am no longer working in, was very, very hard for me.” She stopped working out and spent most of her free time isolating. Over a period of about 7 months she probably gained 60 to 70 pounds, and was “very, very sad,” she says. “I wasn't happy with how I looked and I was having a hard time with it, but it was more that I knew I wasn't healthy and I knew I needed to get healthy because of this. I would always tell myself, ‘You know what? You did it once. You can definitely do it again.’”

From 10,000 Steps to 500

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She couldn’t motivate herself to go to fitness studio again, “something that I used to love going to do,” she says. While she used to walk 10,000 steps a day, she “was lucky if I hit probably 500 steps a day because I was always at my computer, always doing something for work, and there was really just no time for me to do it.”

She Lost 10 Pounds in a Week and Kept Going

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Every day she looked in the mirror and told herself “in three months from now, you will look so much better. You'll feel so much better, which is the most important, and you will want to do things because you started.” Eventually she started seeing progress, claiming that she lost 10 pounds in one week, which she knew was water weight. Within a few weeks she noticed a “little bit of a difference” and once she started to see that difference, “it was a lot easier to believe in myself and notice that there was real progress happening and that there was change happening, which allowed me to keep going within my journey.”

Related: 11 Shoulder-Sculpting Workouts for Impressive Definition

The Secrets to Her Success

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She revealed that she did keto, which is “very hard to sustain,” she admits. “It was very hard for me to eat a certain amount of carbs every single day, and it was very hard for me to cut out sugar. I'm someone who loves sugar, but I knew that in order to be in a healthy place again, and in order to get to my goal in the most efficient way, especially with summer coming up, I needed to do something that would really change and really allow my body to adapt.” She also emphasizes the importance of protein. “Eating carbs is something that obviously we all need. I am not saying don't eat carbs. Please eat your macros. Please eat carbs. Please allow yourself to have the energy that you need. I'm just saying what I did was I lowered the amount of carbs that I ate, but I was still eating enough to feel energized to be able to go to the gym and to give my body what it needs.”

She Increased Intake of Proteins and Exercised

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Amping up your protein intake may help you lose weight. According to clinical trials, consuming more protein than the recommended dietary allowance not only reduces body weight (BW), but also enhances body composition by decreasing fat mass while preserving fat-free mass (FFM) in both low-calorie and standard-calorie diets. She also went back to fitness studio four to five times a week, starting with gentle workouts and working her way up to more intense ones. She also recommends taking rest days.

Stay Motivated and Positive on Your Journey

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“In the beginning, you're probably going to feel like you can't do it and it's probably going to feel impossible, and if you are someone who doesn't feel like that, I give you so much credit because I've been there so many times and I felt like it was impossible every single time,” she adds. “The number one thing I want to tell you is to prove yourself wrong. Prove every single person that may have doubted you wrong. The only thing that matters is that you believe in yourself. The only thing that matters is that you have the mindset that will allow you to feel better, and every single time you question yourself, make one of those videos, take progress pictures, tell yourself that you are so much better than you were even one day ago, and if you are really having trouble starting, just try for one day.”

Related: Fitness Expert's $5 a Day Meal Plan for Fat Loss

💪🔥Body Booster: Increasing your protein intake and decreasing your carbohydrates is a scientifically backed tactic for weight loss. However, you still need a sufficient amount of carbs to stay energized.

Losing 30 pounds is a major achievement: Research shows that for the overweight, every pound lost has a positive impact on health—including blood pressure, cholesterol, improved mobility and much more. “For example, if you weigh 200 pounds, a 5% loss is 10 pounds, dropping your weight to 190 pounds. This modest weight loss can decrease your risk for chronic diseases related to obesity,” says the CDC. There’s no one-size-fits-all method: different people respond to different tactics, but the common denominator is weight loss success. Here are five people who lost 30 pounds, sharing exactly how they did it.

Sustainable Lifestyle Changes

Jessie (@jessiemgolden) lost 30 pounds and kept it off with what she calls a “chill, soft life way” which caused as little stress as possible. “I developed a strategy that suited my psychology,” she says. That consisted of looking at what she eats and figuring out what a trade-off might be in her diet, and how certain foods affected her metabolism. “I absolutely had a long-term view,” she says.

Calorie Deficit

TikToker Jess (@pitalifts) lost weight using the good old-fashioned calorie deficit method. Jess showed how she handled her calorie deficit without getting too stressed, focusing on protein shakes, protein chips, and low-calorie high-protein meals with vegetables. This kept her feeling satiated even while cutting calories.

RELATED:12 Ways to Eat For Your Best Body After 40

Lots of Walking

Mila (@mila.magnani) lost 30 pounds with PCOS and hypothyroidism by going on 30-40 minute walks. “You can actually feel your sugar doors open, for me I start to sweat and feel a huge rush of happiness and energy—similar to a runner’s high,” she captioned the video. “A single bout of moderate intensity exercise (walking for 30+ minutes) can increase the glucose uptake by at least 40%”

RELATED: 5 Effective Ways to Walk to Burn Body Fat

1,700 Calories a Day

Denise (@denisehamdan) lost 30 pounds by overhauling her diet, sticking to 1700 calories and 130+ grams of protein to help build muscle and stay satiated. So what are some of the things she eats on a daily basis? Coffee, supplements, egg wraps, a green drink, turkey snack sticks, a protein bar, and chicken alfredo from scratch.

Mind Over Matter

Chris (chris.gordert) lost 30 pounds in two months by changing his entire mindset. Along with lifestyle changes such as watching what he eats and increasing his cardio workouts, he says the real change came from within. It wasn’t until he changed his mental approach that real changes happened. “I changed my mind,” he says. “Sit down with yourself and write a contract up in your mind. No ifs, no ands, no buts. When you’re ready, sign it in your mind.”

💪🔥Body Booster: To avoid stress while in a calorie deficit, prioritize high-protein, low-calorie foods like protein shakes, protein chips, and veggies. This will help you feel full and satisfied.