How to Lose Weight Fast for a Weigh-In

If you are an athlete whose sport requires staying within a certain weight limit, chances are at one point or another, you've frantically tried to cut weight in order to qualify for the weigh-in for an upcoming event.

Sports that require weigh-ins include wrestling, boxing, martial arts and even rowing. For some sports, weigh-ins are meant to help pair you with a fair opponent and help keep athletes safe. However, starving yourself, exercising excessively and crash-dieting to qualify for a lower weight class is not safe or healthy.

Apart from being mentally taxing, the strains of losing weight quickly in a short time can be physically taxing, too. You could experience fatigue, weakened athletic performance, digestive problems and more from lack of nutrients, per the Cleveland Clinic.

Here, learn the ways you can safely lose weight for weigh-in day.

It's unlikely that weight-cutting for combat sports (in particular) will stop anytime soon. But a combination of strategies to minimize weight-cutting and improve recovery time could drastically improve the health of athletes and sports' culture, according to a May 2019 review in ‌Sports‌.

In other words, if you still have to make weight for wrestling, there are heathy ways to lose weight before a weigh-in. Here are some tips:

A common recommendation dietitians make to help clients lose weight is to manage portion sizes. One of the ways you can do this at meals is with The Plate Method, according to the American Diabetes Association.

The method (which was originally created for people with diabetes, but can help others lose weight) calls for filling half your plate with non-starchy vegetables like leafy greens, one quarter with complex carbohydrates like brown rice and one quarter with lean protein like chicken or fish at every meal.

Another tip that helps some athletes is to eat several small meals per day, as opposed to three big ones, to keep blood sugar stabilized and keep your metabolism running strong, per the Cleveland Clinic.

If you find that managing portion sizes is tricky to do, especially when you are hungry after a training session, intermittent fasting (sometimes called time-restricted feeding) could be a good alternative.

Intermittent fasting involves taking brief breaks from eating, i.e. fasting periods. A common approach to this is called 16:8 — or, eating within an eight-hour window and then fasting for 16 hours, per Johns Hopkins Medicine.

If you are an athlete, you may want to schedule your eating window around training sessions, so you don't feel faint or weak during practice.

For example, you can try eating light before bed, even on the night before weigh-in. Try to avoid fatty or sugary foods late at night, which can not only disrupt your sleep, but are also more likely to be stored as fat in the body, per the Cleveland Clinic.

Sometimes, it's helpful to get in a workout on the morning of the weigh-in. You may not weigh less from that one workout, but it could help you calm your nerves about getting weighed.

There are a few studies suggesting that working out on an empty stomach can help you burn fat and lose water weight, including a January 2020 study in ‌Open Access Journal of Sports Medicine‌. However, more research about the best time to exercise is needed.

Most training sessions for sports are scheduled in the morning, but exercising on your own time should be whenever you have the energy and motivation to do so, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

Foods high in salt will cause you to retain water — precisely the opposite of what you need when you're trying to weigh less on weigh-in day.

Sodium attracts and holds water, and some people retain sodium more easily, leading to water weight and increased blood pressure, per the Mayo Clinic.

Examples of foods high in sodium include, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

• Breads (pizza, sandwiches, rolls etc.)
• Cold cuts and cured meats (deli turkey, ham, beef etc.)
  
• Soups
• Savory snacks (chips, pretzels, crackers etc.)
• Chicken
• Cheese
• Eggs

So, if you want to weigh less on weigh-in day, try limiting salty foods leading up to and on the day of weigh-in.

While it's not safe or healthy to lose weight too quickly, there are some steps you can take to lose weight for a weigh-in.

If you are unsure about how to lose weight in a safe way for your sport, talk to your doctor or consult your coaches or trainers for advice.