Fasting.

Okay, so here are the basics on fasting, for those of you who are interested in losing weight considerably more quickly. I definitely suggest the longer but healthier way listed in the post before this, but for those who have to be skinny in time for their wedding or for next summer or whatever else, fasting is the way to go (assuming you don't have any medical conditions that could make it harmful for you. Please look into that before beginning).

1. Prior to the fast, you want to drink lots of juice, eat plenty of fresh, mainly uncooked fruits and veggies. Fill your system with as much good stuff as possible for the same amount of time you're going to fast. All the stuff will basically be your fuel tank (nutrients-wise) along with the excess fat on your body. If you're already very thin, don't fast. It will only use up your muscle tissue and make you very ill. But if you legitimately have some fat to skim off, go for it.
   
2. Once you've 'fueled up' for the same amount of time you're going to fast, you begin your fast.
3. You want to have vitamins on hand to sustain you during your fast, at least if it's longer than 10 days (which I do not recommend, as that can cause complications). But if it's just for 1-10 days the good stuff you stocked up on will sustain you adequately.
4. During your fast you will want to keep an eye on how you're doing. It's normal to have headaches, dizziness and some other unpleasantness the first 4 or so days. That's just your body switching into ketosis -fat burning mode. If you've stocked up as suggested above, the symptoms will be much milder. If the symptoms become absolutely unbearable, as they do in rare cases, stop fasting immediately. Make sure to drink plenty of water, at least 8 cups a day, preferably 12. You will be peeing a lot, and, gross as it sounds your pee may be horrible smelling, but rest assured it's simply harmful toxins and fats leaving your body. It's a good thing.
5. To distract yourself from eating you can look at thinspiration on this and other blogs (avoid the pro skeleton ones), go for a walk, play with your pets, draw, hang with friends (make sure to be sneaky about not eating in case any of them freak out about it), listen to music, take a hot bubbly bath and indulge yourself in other ways. I find warm, calorie-less herbal tea calms my hunger pangs quite well. Gum is also excellent as it occupies your mouth -particularly minty gum, since it curbs your appetite a bit. I also like to suck on sugar-free candies, so long as they're very low calorie. Brushing your teeth whenever the urge to eat becomes strong is a good idea too. Breathing deeply and counting and telling yourself all the reasons you don't want to eat also helps.
6. Keep track of your fasting in a fast log for future reference. We all experience similar but different, personal things so it's good to keep on hand for others' information or for your own future reference if you think it's something you'd like to do again.
7. Once you finish your fast, you basically repeat what you did before the fast. The first day after your fast you drink only juice, maybe munch on some veggies if you must, but your digestive system will still be reasting so that may make your tummy hurt a bit. It's generally a good idea to juice fast a couple days and then resume eating veggies first, then fruit, and after a week or so you can have a little bit of whole grain bread. The idea is to eat super healthily. Once your system is cleansed you want to fill it with good things that will go through you leaving nutrients rather than fat, right? A big problem is that most people resume their eating habits they had before the fast, which aren't always good, so they gain all the weight back (sometimes more). Fasting is an ideal way to start a new healthy diet. After about a week and a half you can safely have some toast each day, or a tortilla, but you want to load up the toast with veggies (make a veggie sandwich) and fill the tortilla with those as well or beans and rice or something. Also keep track of your calories. Eat a little under the amount you normally would to maintain and gradually build up to a maintaining calorie amount (for most girls, around 1,600 calories a day, depending on your height).
8. How much weight will you lose? The first couple days you'll mainly lose water-weight, but beginning on the fourth day your body will be in ketosis and become a fat-burning machine. You can expect to lose anywhere from 4-10 pounds, some have lost 20 in just 10 days but that's more of a rare case. If you want to fast again afterward, I would suggest, first of all, that you don't if you're already very skinny, but if you're still overweight then instead of stopping and starting again, keep going from where you are so that you don't have to go through the yucky 3-4 day detox at the beginning again. I recommend fasting only 10 days if you're average weight, but if you're obese you can go up to 20-30 days. However, it's considerably more dangerous to do so and you will want to consult a doctor beforehand and definitely keep an eye on how you feel. Longer than 10 days I also recommend vitamins and ample rest.

Good luck with your weight loss goals, girls! Happy fasting.