4 Meals I Ate to Lose 30 Pounds in 12 Weeks
Do you want to eat your way to weight loss? Liezl Jayne Strydom is a social media influencer who "lost more than 40 lbs by changing the way that I eat," she writes in her YouTube bio. "Today I'm gonna be sharing with you what I ate daily to lose 30 pounds in 12 weeks," she says in the clip. "I'm gonna show you the meals that I loved to eat most when I was trying to lose 30 pounds and that I'm really into again at the moment."
First, She Has a Protein Oat Smoothie
She starts by adding two frozen bananas and two tablespoons of dry rolled oats "for extra fiber, good carbs," she says. This also helps to make the smoothie more filling." She also adds one tablespoon of unsweetened almond butter "for protein and healthy fats," which also helps "keep my energy levels more stable," she maintains. You can use any other natural nut butter that you'd prefer."
She Adds Instant Coffee Powder
"For that morning boost, you can use any plain, unsweetened, instant coffee powder that you prefer," she says. She adds one teaspoon plus two teaspoons of unsweetened cocoa powder. "This drink delivers. We're going to get these cravings sorted. Okay, and then a little pinch of cinnamon. It helps to stabilize blood sugar levels, adds flavor, adds nutrients," she continues. Then she adds half a cup of water to blend. "You will have yourself a nice delicious chocolate coffee and breakfast smoothie drink that is super creamy and the perfect craving fix. And I serve mine in a cup that I can take with me to work or wherever I'm heading in the morning."
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You Can Prep Ingredients and Freeze Them
"If you have all of your ingredients prepped in a little Ziploc bag in the freezer, then you can just throw it in the blender, add some water, and blend it and go. And the smoothie recipe only contains about 350 calories. And these recipes, they're very easily adjustable, as you will see," she says.
For Lunch, a Protein-Packed Open Sandwich
"For lunch, I'm gonna show you an easy healthy sandwich, and you can easily meal-prep the filling ahead of time, which is what I do a lot for really easy sandwich making in the morning," she says about the "super easy" recipe.
She Starts with Healthy Bread
"So here I have my favorite bread. The packet is torn, but it's whole-grain rib bread with flax seeds. No refined flowers, no unnecessary ingredients, so I love it," she says. "I have two slices of that bread," she adds, noting that each is about 100 calories.
She Gets a Can of Black Beans and Tahini
She also has a can of black beans. "I've measured out half a cup of black beans and also one tablespoon of tahini, which is like nut butter, but it's made from sesame seeds, and it's really good with savory meals. So it's going to be good with this."
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She Smashes the Beans with Lemon Juice and Tahini
In a bowl, she smashes the black beans up with a fork. "It's just going to be really roughly smashed. That's kind of what you want. You don't want it to be super smooth. And then you're going to add the tablespoon of tahini in there with some lemon juice, about the juice from about half a lemon. The lemon really helps to keep it fresh for longer, so if you want a meal prep or, you know, whatever, it keeps it fresh, but it also adds really good flavor. Just mix that up a bit and add some onion powder. I do about half a teaspoon or so of onion powder, some sea salt, some black pepper, and get that all mixed very easily," she says. After adding it to the bread, she tops it with tomato sauce "and also a little bit of lettuce or baby spinach or even some fresh arugula if I do have that."
She Serves It Open Faced
"You can easily meal prep this ahead of time, save it for a couple of days in the fridge," she says, adding that it's "really just easy to add to a sandwich, and it's full of protein and fiber" which helps keep her "so full," she claims. "It's really good, and it's packed with nutrients, it's packed with good carbs, protein, healthy fats," she adds. "You're sneaking in some greens there as well, and it's gonna help to keep you full for longer, give you good energy."
Put the Filling in a Container
She notes that this kind of "open sandwich" is "great for the weekend or when you're at home. But if you want to take it to school or work, you can simply add all of the black bean filling into one slice of bread onto the top instead of spreading it out between the two slices. Just pack it on there and then add the fillings on top of that and then close the sandwich with the other slice of bread."
It's About 400 Calories Plus Veggies
The sandwich will be roughly 400 calories "without the veggies that are added in," she says, noting that veggies add very few calories.
She Snacks on This Homemade Dip and Veggies
A mid-afternoon snack she likes? "Here I have a can of chickpeas, and I also have some avocados that I have kept in an airtight container in the fridge from yesterday. I've measured out about a third of a cup of chickpeas, and I'm adding that to my blender with the avocado. One-third of a medium to large avocado is roughly a hundred calories, and so is half a small avocado, both roughly a hundred calories," she says.
Blend Ingredients
"You can add that to the blender too with about half to one teaspoon of onion powder, some sea salt, some black pepper, and also some lemon juice," which adds "really good flavor" and also helps keep the avocado fresher for much longer. "So don't skip on the lemon, especially if you're gonna be prepping this for later in the day." She also adds one or two tablespoons of water before blending.
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Keep in an Airtight Container
She adds sea salt, black pepper, and chili flakes and puts it into an airtight container. She slices cucumbers, carrots, and green snap peas. "I just pack up the little veggies into a reusable Ziploc bag or a lunchbox container, and then I'll take that with me to work," she says. She snacks on them during the day.
It's Just 200 Calories and "Super Filling"
"If you follow my measurements for this dip, it'll be roughly 200 calories. But it makes a lot, as you can see, and it's super filling. And the low calorie vegetables, they really don't add too many more calories."
For Dinner she Bakes a Sweet Potatoe
For dinner, she starts by baking a large sweet potato in the oven. "I've just placed it on a sheet of baking paper. I'm just poking a few little holes into it with a fork and baking that for about an hour or so until it's nice and soft on the inside," she says.
She Sautees Finely Chopped Chicken with a Few Ingredients and Veggies
"In my pan, I have a hundred grams of skinless chicken breast meat, which I have chopped up as fine as I could. With that I'm adding about two tablespoons of pure tomato paste, about half a teaspoon of onion powder, half to one teaspoon of cooking oil, a quarter to half an onion, finely chopped up, and about two tablespoons of chopped spring onion," she says. She also adds button mushrooms or portobello mushrooms, "a little pinch of chili powder, which is optional," juice from a quarter or half of lemon, and salt and better.
She Also Steams Veggies
"Get that cooking on the stove over medium heat," she says, adding that you can also steam broccoli, cauliflower, or zucchini. 'While cooking, if the chicken is starting to look a little bit dry, you can just add a little splash of water to make it a little bit more saucy."
She Tops the Sweet Potato with the Mixture
She adds the sweet potato to a plate, halves it lengthwise, and "gently uses a fork to just kind of smash up the inside a little bit to make sure it's nice and soft and easy to eat this way for this specific recipe." She adds the chicken on top and spring onion.
She Serves the Veggie on the Side
"After about 10 minutes of steaming, the broccoli is ready. So I'm just adding that to my plate, and dinner is ready. It's really not that difficult to make. It's a nice balanced meal, and it's a fun variation to try with simple ingredients. Sweet potato and chicken is the basis of this meal."
The Dinner Is Just 400 Calories
"This meal is just over 400 calories if you use the measurements like I had. And again, you're getting a lot of nutrients. This meal is really filling and delicious."
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She Has Fruit for Dessert
For dessert, if she is "craving something sweet," she will have fruit. "I like to grab a few grapes or a few fresh berries. I sometimes just grab a really small handful, and it hits the spot," she says, noting that they are low in calories.
She Also Drinks a Lot of Water
"With this eating plan, I mostly drink water, eight to 10 glasses, you know, per day, as everybody recommends for weight loss. You must stay hydrated. So definitely drink lots of water if you're trying to lose weight," she says.
And Herbal Tea
She also drinks herbal teas. "If you drink them plain and unsweetened, that is perfect and basically like drinking a glass of water," she says. "There's pretty much going to be no calories in there. There's a lot of good natural herbal teas just to make sure you get the unsweetened ones."
You Might Need to Tweak the Plan
"I always say this," she says. "Everyone is different. Eating like this worked for me when I was trying to lose weight, but I'm five foot two. If you're taller or super active, you may need to eat more to lose weight in a healthy way. Everybody's different, so you might need to tweak it just a little bit," she says.
She Usually Eats 1,400 Calories
"On this kind of day, I ate just over 1,400 calories, but not too much over. But I generally eat 1,200 to 1,400 calories a day to lose weight. Sometimes, a little bit more if I was very active or if I was very hungry that day. But you can just take out the snack, and you've got closer to 1,200 calories," she says. And if you enjoyed this article, take advantage of these 15 Quick Ways to Lose Body Fat Percentage in a Week.
