I Lost 66 Pounds by Eating Fajitas and Doing These 11 Things Every Day

YouTuber Lucy Lismore is a fitness coach who knows from experience how challenging weight loss can be. Lismore lost 66 pounds in 8 months to get into the best shape of her life, and she’s sharing exactly how she did it with anyone struggling to lose the extra fat. “I know this world can be scary, lonely, and overwhelming, and there is so much information out there at the moment, but to begin with, you really just need to keep it simple and really enjoy the moment and the process because that is the way that you're going to be able to stay consistent and make this into a lifestyle,” she says. Lismore is now an adventurer who travels the world and helps others reach their goals. Here’s exactly how she lost the weight in a healthy, sustainable way.

Morning Weigh-In

Lismore weighed herself every morning and kept track of her measurements while losing weight. “I nearly always weighed myself at the time,” she says. “I don't do that anymore, but we'll go into that in another video. And I would write my stats up on a piece of paper that was stuck to the bathroom door, and then I would start getting ready for the day.”

Bananas and Toast For Breakfast

Shutterstock

Lismore switched her breakfast up so she still had the food she liked best—banana on toast—but with lower-calorie options and portion control. “I would usually have three, maybe four slices,” she says. “So I simply switched it to bagel thins. I wasn't particularly hungry in the morning personally, so I was happy with a slightly smaller breakfast that I could eat, enjoy, and go, and then really focus on having a more tasty and hearty lunch and dinner.”

Coffee Order

Shutterstock

Lismore saved herself 200 calories a day by slowly switching up her coffee order for something more diet-friendly. “I still had a latte, but I switched to a medium, then I started to reduce my sugars to two, then to one,” she says. “And eventually, I moved to most of the time having an Americano with a little bit of milk and sometimes a sweetener if I needed it.”

NEAT Activity

Lismore started to work on her non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT), getting more active throughout the day. “I try to be as active as possible,” she says. “It's as simple as things like if I'm taking laundry from my living room to my bedroom and it's going to be a massive load, I will end up just going, you know what? I'll take two trips rather than trying to ram so much into my hands that I'm going to drop it. All those little extras, they really, really do add up, even if it is as simple as just standing for 10 minutes of an hour.”

Chicken Moroccan Soup

Shutterstock

Lismore used to get lunch on the go, usually something not-so-healthy from the food court, and switched over to delicious chicken Moroccan soup instead. “I set about trying to find something that was hardy, fulfilling, cheap, easy to get hold of, and I settled on soup,” she says. “So I started getting that, and I really, really enjoyed it. I found that it satisfied all my cravings, and I was super, super full for the rest of the afternoon as well. And then I started making my own.”

Sensible About Snacks

Shutterstock

Lismore was mindful of her snacks while losing weight. “Sometimes I went for low-calorie high-volume, so things like popcorn or pop chips or rice cakes with yogurt, whatever it was,” she says. “But sometimes I would just have chocolate, or I'd have what I was craving. So I literally would just have what I want, but again, I would just be mindful of how much of it I was having.”

At-Home Workouts

Lismore makes the crucial point that weight loss depends heavily on a calorie deficit, which freed her up to do workouts for fun and fitness while losing weight. “If the idea of going to the gym scares you as it did for me, then you can work out at home,” she says. “Or if you just want to go for a walk simply, then you can totally do that too. In fact, I think that walking is very, very underrated. So, if I were going to give you my top tips for exercise, it would be just to be comfortable. Be comfortable with what you're doing, what you're wearing, and where you are.”

Exercise Benefits

Shutterstock

Lismore worked out five times a week, usually Monday-Friday. She insists there is no “right” exercise for weight loss—just the one you enjoy and can stick with. “I just want to reiterate again, you're going to get sick of me saying it, that it really doesn't matter,” she says. “You're going to create a calorie deficit through your nutrition, and exercise may be an added bonus, but there are so many other benefits, such as your mood, your fitness, and your general health, that come from exercise.”

RELATED:I Got Into the Best Shape of My Life at 50 by Following These 6 "Basics"

Fajitas For Dinner

Shutterstock

Lismore loves making fajitas for dinner, which was a favorite meal before losing weight. “What I did was I just reduced it to two wraps,” she says. “I increased the filling, so I still felt quite satisfied. I bulked up the salad, so I made sure there were plenty of voluminous but low-calorie foods in there as well, but I still had everything else. And then, I switched the soft drink to sparkling water instead, which I ended up absolutely loving. So, super easy switches. I was still eating the same stuff. The fillings were all exactly the same. It was just the portions were a lot smaller.”

Herbal Tea

Lismore would have a cup of herbal tea after dinner. “And this was kind of to replace dessert, but it didn't mean that I didn't have dessert,” she says. “It just gave me that break to really think about what I wanted and if I really wanted something. So, as soon as I'd eaten my dinner, I put the dishes away and made myself a cup of purple tea. And in the end, I really enjoyed having that habit of just being able to sit on my tea and enjoy the moment.”

Weight Fluctuations

Shutterstock

Lismore makes the point that weight fluctuations are normal and to be expected. “It took me around eight months to lose the majority of that weight, but then the last five kilos [11 pounds] was a little bit longer, and then it's fluctuated ever since then,” she says. “I would say my weight has fluctuated anywhere up to 10 kilos [22 pounds] plus or minus that weight since that's what maintenance is. You are not going to maintain exactly the same weight your entire life because life happens.”

RELATED: 5 Daily Moves to Boost Bone Density After 50

Strength Training

Shutterstock

Lismore noticed significant changes once she started adding strength training to her exercise regimen. “When I started doing calisthenics and doing a bit more resistance training and building some muscle, I noticed that my body changed quite a lot,” she says. And if you enjoyed this article, take advantage of these 15 Quick Ways to Lose Body Fat Percentage in a Week.