3 Easy Dinner Recipes That Helped Me Lose 40 Pounds

Jenna Evelyn (@jennaevelyn) is a beauty and lifestyle influencer on TikTok who regularly shares about her weight loss journey. According to Jenna, she lost “15 to 20 pounds in two to three months” after “gaining the freshman 15” while living on campus during her first year of college. In one of her many viral TikTok videos, she reveals how she lost weight using five simple hacks.

1. Jenna Gained “About 30” Pounds From Drinking Every Weekend and Other Unhealthy Habits

Jenna, who is currently a college student, reveals that she “probably gained about 20 pounds” while being a freshman in college due to “drinking every weekend, not being in a deficit, not hitting my protein goals, and not working out the right way for my body,” she reveals in her viral video. “Here's what I did to actually lose the 15 to 20 pounds very quickly.”

2. Low Calorie, High Protein Meals

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According to Jenna “food was the biggest thing,” when it came to her weight loss. “I was still eating a lot, but it was low calorie, high protein,” she added. Her “staples” for low cal high protein meals? “Chickpea pasta” and fat free cottage cheese, which she made sauces out of and “used it in everything,” she added. She also ate a lot of ground turkey. “I would make taco bowls,” she said. She also ate chicken and Greek yogurt “all the time” and turkey bacon. “I'd make breakfast sandwiches,” she added. Research supporting amping up protein intake for weight loss. According to clinical trials, consuming more protein than the recommended dietary allowance not only reduces body weight (BW), but also enhances body composition by decreasing fat mass while preserving fat-free mass (FFM) in both low-calorie and standard-calorie diets.

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3. Weight Training and Pilates

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Jenna maintains that she started losing weight, when she started doing “low impact workouts, like walking dumbbell only lifts, and Pilates,” she said. “Here was my weekly workout split: Monday dumbbell only glutes Tuesday, full body Pilates. Wednesday, back buys, arms, dumbbell only Thursday, Pilates Friday, quad dumbbell, only Saturday cardio.”

4. 10,000 Steps a Day

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Jenna explains that one “huge” component of her weight loss was walking. “Hit your 10,000 steps a day,” she says. “Some of those steps for me before my workouts would come from walking, doing the 12-3-30 workout or the stair stepper.” The 12-3-30 workout involves using a treadmill and walking on a level 12 incline at a speed of 3 for 30 minutes. Experts maintain that it burns more calories than walking fast or even running on a flat surface. And, studies, including a 2018 study published in the journal Obesity, have found that walking around 10,000 steps per day can help you lose weight. But that’s not the only benefit of getting your steps in. Other studies published by the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) in JAMA Neurology and in JAMA Internal Medicine also linked walking 10,000 steps a day to less dementia and less cardiovascular disease overall, with less heart disease, less heart failure and fewer strokes.

Related: I'm a Fitness Expert and This is My Simple Beginner's Diet Plan That Actually Works

5. Meal Prep

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Finally, meal prepping and using high quality ingredients, was a key part of Jenna’s weight loss plan. “It was so important that I made enough time to meal prep local, high protein meals so that they were always on hand,” she said. There is scientific evidence supporting the benefits of meal planning. Studies the more meals you eat prepared away from home, the higher your risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and early death. And, one study published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity found meal planning was associated with a healthier diet and less obesity.

💪🔥Body Booster: Walking 10,000 steps a day isn’t only good for your body and losing weight, but your mind. One study linked the daily step goal to a decreased risk of dementia and less cardiovascular disease.

Are you trying to lose weight on a plant-based diet? One weight loss warrior claims to have the secret recipe. Stasia is a wellness enthusiast who shares her plant-based tactics for losing weight. In a recent viral YouTube video, she reveals the three ingredients that were her secret weapon for dropping pounds without starving herself. “I recently lost 60 pounds following a whole food plant-based diet,” she says in the video. “I have struggled for many, many years to lose weight, even following a plant-based diet. So it wasn't until recently that I made a few changes, and I finally got it together, and I'm 60 pounds down at this point,” she says. She continues to explain that she is going to reveal “the easiest, most simple weight loss dinner that I personally recommend eating,” she says.

She Eats This Meal on Repeat

“I do know firsthand what it's like to struggle with weight as I have my entire life. And I also know what it's like to feel completely overwhelmed with all the different food choices out there. It's exhausting and completely frustrating when you're honestly trying your hardest,” she says in her post. “I'm going to be showing you the most simple weight loss dinner that you can easily prepare. You can eat it on repeat, and I'm going to tell you exactly why you should be eating these foods.”

It Is the “Easiest” Meal

“I really enjoy eating delicious food. I'm a huge advocate that we should really enjoy the food that we're eating, not just choking something down in the name of weight loss. But with that being said, sometimes there are those days that I'm just not really in the mood to cook, or maybe I'm just too hungry to be, you know, spending too much time preparing something. And when that is the case, this is basically my easiest meal that I default to all the time,” she continues.

You Only Need Three Ingredients, Starting with a Sweet or White Potato

“To make this super easy weight loss dinner, you will only need three core ingredients. The first one is that you're going to need a potato. Now, this can be a regular potato, or it can be a sweet potato–totally up to you. Personally, I love sweet potatoes, but I also love a good old regular potato as well. So honestly, it really doesn't matter,” she says.

Next, You Need ½ Cup Beans

“The second thing you're going to need is any type of beans. So, for me, I personally love making my beans from scratch because they are literally as soft as butter, so, so, so much better than the canned beans. I really just can't even do canned beans anymore now that I've been making them on my own. So I make them in an Instant Pot, and oh my gosh, they turn out perfect every single time,” she says.

The Third Ingredient Is a Non-Starchy Veggie

The third thing that you're going to need is some type of non-starchy veggie. “Again, it can be whichever one you want. So you could do zucchini noodles, which I love. You can do broccoli; I love that as well. Cauliflower, eggplant, any type of non-starchy veggie that you'd like, whatever floats your boat, you just need some type of non-starchy vegetable,” she says.

The Potato Will Keep You Satiated

Why do you need these three things to make the easy, perfect dinner? “The potato is actually known to be the most satiating food in the world. So that means that there is no other food that's going to leave you feeling as satisfied getting up from the dinner table. So potatoes just have that X factor. You're just going to get up from the table feeling like you know you just ate some really good food.”

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Beans Will Keep You Full

Why beans? “Beans have actually been a huge part of my weight loss journey. I actually prefer beans even over potatoes when it comes to keeping me full. So I found that potatoes were the most satisfying in terms of having that comfort food and just feeling like, ‘Hmm, that was really delicious, and I feel really good as soon as I'm done eating.’ But that beans actually carried me a lot longer than even potatoes. So in terms of keeping me full, I would say that beans come before even potatoes.”

Veggies Are Low-calorie

Lastly, why the non-starchy vegetable? “Non-starchy veggies are only about 100 calories per pound. A pound of vegetables is quite a bit of food. So, 100 calories for a pound is incredible. So we use our non-starchy vegetables to fill us up,” she says, noting that they will be “the cherry on top to the meal and make sure that it just tops us off with foods that are super low in calories, but that is going to make us feel like we're nice and full,” she says. “Not to mention, of course, all the nutrition that comes along with eating our vegetables.”

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Whip This Meal Up When You Are Busy

“Hands down, if you ever find yourself in a situation again where you really just don't know what to eat, then just remember those three things to follow, and then you can easily whip yourself up a plate in no time. So potato, beans and a non-starchy veggie are the three things you can build the most epic simple weight loss dinner,” she says.

Final Note: Don’t Overcomplicate Diet

“It doesn't always have to be super complicated. Simple works wonders as well. So, next time you're feeling a little bit lost, just stick to those three things, and you're going to be golden,” she concludes. And if you enjoyed this article, take advantage of these15 Quick Ways to Lose Body Fat Percentage in a Week.