I want to lose seven pounds in seven weeks.

I weigh 120 pounds at 5' 4" right now. I want to lose 7 pounds in 7 weeks, which would put me at 113 by Christmas! That would be GREAT. I am an athlete, as I am a dancer. I am fit and admittedly thin, but I still want to lose the weight, so please don't tell me I don't need to. I just know that it is a lot harder to lose the weight when you are smaller. If anyone could give me a plan, or at least a layout of an idea, that would be great. :)

As an athlete at a healthy weight it may be difficult to lose 7lbs.  Because you're an athlete you don't want to cut calories by large amounts because you don't want your body to start feeding on its muscles.  At this point it may be more beneficial to concentrate on body composition instead of weight.  Losing a few pounds of fat and gaining a pound of muscle may make you look better than losing a straight 7 pounds. 

At 5'4, 120# you may have a hard time cutting 500 cal/day.  How many cals do you consume on an average day?  If its only about 1500 then you are going to have a difficult time cutting calories and exercising because you're likely to burn out and feel sluggish. 

If I were in your shoes I would probably not cut many calories and I would concentrate on weight training and activities like HIIT involving short burst exertion.  You will not gain muscle through a calorie deficit so if you stay at or near same calorie intake the strength training will burn the calories while maintaining the muscle you already have.  Make sure you consume enough protein AND fat.  Limit your carb consumption.  This will train your body to use fat for fuel instead of carbs.  In the end (christmas) you may or may not have lost 7lbs but you will look and feel better.

Original Post by bpanke:

As an athlete at a healthy weight it may be difficult to lose 7lbs.  Because you're an athlete you don't want to cut calories by large amounts because you don't want your body to start feeding on its muscles.  At this point it may be more beneficial to concentrate on body composition instead of weight.  Losing a few pounds of fat and gaining a pound of muscle may make you look better than losing a straight 7 pounds. 

At 5'4, 120# you may have a hard time cutting 500 cal/day.  How many cals do you consume on an average day?  If its only about 1500 then you are going to have a difficult time cutting calories and exercising because you're likely to burn out and feel sluggish. 

If I were in your shoes I would probably not cut many calories and I would concentrate on weight training and activities like HIIT involving short burst exertion.  You will not gain muscle through a calorie deficit so if you stay at or near same calorie intake the strength training will burn the calories while maintaining the muscle you already have.  Make sure you consume enough protein AND fat.  Limit your carb consumption.  This will train your body to use fat for fuel instead of carbs.  In the end (christmas) you may or may not have lost 7lbs but you will look and feel better.

x2

I agree with all of the foregoing.

How did you pick 113 pounds?  It might be better to take an honest look at your midriff and "trouble areas," as well as to have an appreciative, trusted member-of-the-appropriate sex give you a second, honest opinion.  If nothing jiggles that shouldn't, you are probably fine right where you are.

If you insist on losing a few more pounds, a 500kCal/day deficit will get you there, but as others have mentioned, you might not have the headroom in your total daily burn to get there.  It would not be tragic to take a little bit longer to lose the weight, via a smaller, healthier, less-likely-to-result-in-muscle loss deficit.  Make sure you get enough protein (1.5g/kg) and do some resistance training to protect your muscle mass.