Exactly What a Nutritionist Eats in a Day for Weight Loss

You don’t have to starve yourself or stick to boring, bland food in order to lose weight. You can eat delicious, colorful meals and satiate your taste buds, all while staying in a caloric deficit, maintains one expert. Jamie Michele (@jamiemiichele) is an online coach and food and fitness expert whose goal is to help her clients become the healthiest version of themselves without going to extremes. In one of her recent posts, she details the foods she eats when she wants to lose weight. “What I eat in a day for fat loss with mostly whole foods,” she says in the clip. Body Network’s Resident RDN, The Diet Diva, Tara Collingwood, MS, RDN, CSSD, LD/N, ACSM-CPT, a Board Certified Sports Dietitian and co-author of the Flat Belly Cookbook for Dummies, also weighs in.

Breakfast: Sweet Potato Egg Bowl

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“For breakfast, I made a sweet potato egg bowl,” she says. “So I started by baking some sweet potatoes, heated up one of these caprese chicken sausages, and then this is the only way I've been able to eat eggs lately,” she says, showing her over easy eggs. “I added some spring mix, my sweet potatoes, chicken sausage, my two eggs, and then some black beans and some avocado, and reduced fat feta. I know this is a really weird combination, but I promise it is so good. My new favorite breakfast, hands down, and it is so filling.” Collingwood agrees that the meal sounds delicious. “I love the combo of flavors and mixing up breakfast so it’s not the same boring choices all the time,” says. “You can make up those sweet potatoes ahead of time and just assemble the rest of the ingredients while the eggs are cooking.”

RELATED: The Biggest Diet Mistake I Made Before Losing 160 Pounds

Snack: Cottage Cheese and Fruit

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Then for a snack, she opted for a little more protein. “I had some cottage cheese and fruit,” she says. Collingwood notes that this meal is a nice combination of “creamy protein and fiber and sweet from the fruit.”

Lunch: Grilled Chicken Salad with Egg Whites

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“For lunch, I had a grilled chicken salad, but it's all about what you add to it. So I added three egg whites, some cucumbers, some reduced fat feta,” she continues. “I absolutely love feta.” She finishes it off with Bolthouse Farms honey mustard dressing and a piece of sourdough bread. “This stuff is so good,” she exclaims about the dressing. Collingwood likes the nice crunch of veggies with low calories and fiber to fill. “The protein from the egg whites, chicken, and feta also helps to provide lasting satiety,” she says, also noting the “nice tang” from the feta and honey mustard dressing.

Dinner: Steak and Potatoes

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“And for dinner, I made a very simple steak and potatoes meal,” she says. “I always get the top sirloin from Target specifically because it has the nutrition information. I don't know what it is with meat at the grocery store, it never has the nutrition info, and then you go online and it's always different macros and different calories. So I know this is the same every single time.” She appears to cook her potatoes in an air fryer using avocado oil spray instead of oil. “Steak can feel like you’re cheating on your diet, but a lean steak like the sirloin is actually a lot lower in calories than you think,” says Collingwood. “Fresh meat does not have a food label, but you just need to know the cut of meat and you can easily look it up in the USDA database to get the nutrition facts.”

Related: 15 Quick Ways to Lose Body Fat Percentage in a Week

Dessert: Chobani Flip

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She ends her day of eating with a sweet but healthy treat. “And for dessert, I had a Chobani Flip,” she concludes. Collingwood loves Greek yogurt “and the Flip has that little bit of crunchy yumminess to make it a bit more indulgent without blowing the bank with calories,” she says.

💪🔥Body Booster: When designing healthy meals make sure to select items packed with protein and fiber while adding color and flavor with fruits and veggies.

Do you ever wonder what fitness experts and influencers eat to stay fit? Jamie Michele (@jamiemiichele) is an online coach and food and fitness expert whose goal is to help her clients become the healthiest version of themselves without going to extremes. In one viral video, she reveals everything she eats in a day, including a lot of protein. “Here’s a realistic ‘what I eat in a day for fat loss,’ which means no boring chicken, broccoli rice to stay on theme,” she says, revealing her menu, which boasts a whopping 160 grams of protein. You might be surprised by how much she can eat and still burn fat – and what The Diet Diva, Tara Collingwood, MS, RDN, CSSD, LD/N, ACSM-CPT, a Board Certified Sports Dietitian has to say about it.

Breakfast: Chocolate Covered Strawberry Smoothie Bowl

She starts with a “chocolate-covered strawberry smoothie bowl for breakfast,” which offers 43 grams of protein. Some of the ingredients include Fairlife chocolate protein milk, protein powder, berries, and yogurt. “I've been adding sugar-free jello to my smoothies, and it helps so much with flavor. This is also a really good way to hide your protein powder, and I just topped mine with some strawberries and no sugar-added chocolate chips,” she adds.

Snack: Cottage Cheese

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“For a snack, I had some cottage cheese,” she says, holding up a container of Breakstone’s that has 12 grams of protein. “I know this sounds crazy, but for some reason, this brand tasted like I was just eating a cup of creamy feta cheese. It was so good,” she says.

Related: I Lost 42 Pounds 8 Months with Keto and Weight Lifting

Dinner: Chopped “Sub in a Tub”

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“Then for lunch, I made a chopped ‘sub in a tub’ grinder sandwich little salad thing,” she says. “I already made a video on this, but this is such a good recipe to make in under 10 minutes, super fresh.” She claims that the mixture, which includes things like ham, pickles, lettuce, and cheese, offers 43 grams of protein. “The only thing that sucks is cleaning the stupid chopper,” she admits.

Dinner: Viral Feta Pasta with Chicken

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“Then for dinner, I made the viral feta pasta, except more macro friendly, so higher in protein, lower in fat, and then just grilled some chicken to put on top,” she says about the meal, which offers 49 grams protein. “The best part is always mixing around the feta and the tomatoes, and it's going to seem liquidy, but I promise to keep mixing, and it'll get super creamy. I love this because it is so easy to meal prep, and it heats up amazingly.”

Dessert: Chobani Flips

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“Then, for dessert, I've been loving these Chobani Flips. I just tried them for the first time last week, and this one and the maple are my favorite so far,” she says about the 9 grams of protein sweet treat.

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RDN Weighs In

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Should you follow a diet like this? “Most women are not going to need anything close to 160 grams of protein,” comments Collingwood. “This diet is very high in protein and appears to be pretty low in carbohydrates, especially from any whole grains,” she adds. “I suggest reducing the protein to about 100 to 110 grams and adding more fruits, veggies, legumes, and some whole grains.”

💪🔥Body Booster: Before you put together a diet or meal plan, take time to calculate your caloric and nutritional needs to ensure you are eating the right amount of protein, carbs, and fiber for your gender and body weight.

Blake Sanburg (@thenutritionnarc) is a diet and fitness influencer with over 368,000 TikTok followers who lost 23 pounds in two months. He regularly shares videos offering insight into exactly how he did it. In one viral video, he claims that it’s possible to eat the same amount of food and lose weight. "I'm going to tell you how you can eat the exact same amount of food and still lose weight. And I'm talking about the exact same amount of calories, not just volume,” he says.

He Says It Has to Do with the Thermic Effect of Food

“It is something called the thermic effect of food,” Blake reveals.

Food Are Broken Down Into Carbs, Proteins, and Fats

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“Now, if you didn't know, foods are broken down to three different macronutrients: Carbs, proteins, and fats,” he continues. “And all three of these are kind of processed in your body in different ways, basically, meaning it takes a different amount of energy to process each macronutrients.”

Fat Calories Get Stored and the Thermic Effect is 3%

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“And we can use this nuance to our advantage. So let's say you're eating a ton of fat and a ton of carbohydrates. So the thermic effect of fat basically means all the calories you eat from fat pretty much gets stored,” he says. “The thermic effect is only 3%.”

Related: This Is Exactly How I Lost 70 Pounds in 10 Months

The Thermic Effect of Carbohydrates Is Higher – 7 to 10 Percent

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“But then if you bump that up to carbohydrates, you could see that there's a seven to 10 percent thermic effect,” he says. “Basically, meaning if you eat a hundred calories of carbohydrates, you will burn about 10 calories during the digesting process.”

Protein Boasts a 25 to 30 Percent Thermic Effect

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“And then for the winner, the one that takes it all, protein, has a 25 to 30 percent thermic effect,” he continues. “Again, meaning if you eat a hundred calories of strictly protein, you'll probably burn 25 to 30 calories while digesting it.”

Eating More Protein Is Key

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“And this is how we get to eating the exact same amount, but we can burn calories. You eat more protein,” he claims. “Now, it's not that much. If we look at the total daily energy expenditure, basically all the calories you burn throughout the day, the thermic effect portion is only like 10 percent of the whole equation.”

Eating a High Protein Diet Will Help You Lose Weight

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“But every little bit counts. And if you're trying to lose weight, you want to do everything you possibly can to make it easier on yourself. And eating a high protein diet will do so,” he concludes.

Related: I Lost 80 Pounds with This High Fiber “Weight Loss Drink”

An RDN Agrees with the Strategy

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The Diet Diva, Tara Collingwood, MS, RDN, CSSD, LD/N, ACSM-CPT, a Board Certified Sports Dietitian agrees with this strategy. She previously told The Body Network that protein has the highest thermic effect of food, “meaning you burn the most calories just digesting protein,” she explains.

There Is Also Research Behind It

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According to research, other factors come into play with thermic effects. For example TEF is increased by larger meal sizes – as opposed to frequent small meals – and also low-fat plant-based diets. Age and physical activity may also play roles in TEF.

💪🔥Body Booster: Eating more protein will speed up the way your body metabolizes food and help you lose weight due to the concept of thermic effect. And if you enjoyed this article, take advantage of these 15 Quick Ways to Lose Body Fat Percentage in a Week.