WEIGHT LOSS MEAL PREP FOR THE WEEK
Healthy weight loss meal prep for women
This is a weight-loss meal plan designed for women – specifically women who are trying to lose weight.
Each day is based on roughly 1400 calories – but you can easily adjust the calories per day to suit your needs. At the end of this video I will show you how you can tweak the eating plan to give you anywhere from 1200 calories to 1600 calories per day or more – based on your specific calorie needs to lose weight.
Each meal will be roughly 400 calories each, and each snack will be roughly 200 calories each – and I’ve specifically created these meals and recipes to be lower in calories – but to still be filling, and to give good sustained energy. These recipes all are balanced with good whole carbs, good protein and healthy fats – as it’s important to eat all of the food groups to lose weight in a healthy way.
These recipes are all very simple, and I’ll talk you through every single one as we go (watch the video to make the meal prep with me). We’ll be making 2 different dinner options, 2 lunch options, and a couple different variations and options for the breakfasts and snacks.
But feel free to just make multiple servings of one or two of the recipes if you’d prefer to do that.
I will also make sure to mention a plant-based alternative that you can use, for any food items that is not plant-based (in the video) – just in case you are plant-based. But many of these recipes are already plant-based.
MY NEW WEIGHT-LOSS MEAL PREP EBOOK IS NOW OUT! It’s all about Fast Weight-Loss Meal Prep For Women.
Complete with 4 full weeks of healthy meal plans and recipes to help you save time & lose weight – without calorie counting!
Check it out here: https://guides.liezljayne.com/mealprep/
*This is a weight-loss meal plan designed for women – specifically women who are trying to lose weight. (Men or children will need to eat more to lose weight in a healthy way.)
BEFORE WE START
To get started, you’ll need some containers to store your meals in. You will need 14 containers for all of your lunch and dinner meals, if you’ll be eating at home then you can use covered bowls or other dishes. You will also need 4 small mason jars, you can also use covered mugs or glasses. And you will need some reusable ziplock bags or other small containers for snacks and additional items.
Because we want to prep 7 full days of meals in just one hour, we need to start prepping and cooking the foods that take the longest to cook. So we will work in that order, and at the end we will see all of the meals come together! Make sure that you’ve preheated your oven to 180 C/ 360 F before you begin.
FREE 3 DAY EATING PLAN
To give you an example of what a balanced weight-loss diet can look like, I’m currently giving my 3 day eating plan away for FREE – But won’t always be. Make sure you grab a copy!
HOW TO USE THIS MEAL PREP
You can choose either one of the overnight oats, or the smoothies for each morning – what’s great is that each morning we have a completely different breakfast recipe. Your overnight oats are good to go – you can literally eat them out of the jar with a spoon, or serve them in a bowl. Whatever you like, and the smoothies are all ready and prepped – you just need to throw the prepped smoothie into a blender with 1/2 to 3/4 cup of water, Or as needed and you’re good to go (and you can have the raw nuts on the side).
Then for lunch, you’ve got the option of the egg and brown rice salad, or the quinoa and chickpea salad. Or your plant-based alternative (watch video for more details on the plant-based alternatives).
For your snacks, you’ve got a different fruit and nut combo that you can pick for each day (or another 200 calorie snack of your choice).
And then for dinner, you’e got the chicken, quinoa and vegetable dinner, or the salmon, roast potato and vegetable dinner (or your plant-based alternative, watch video for details).
A FEW THINGS TO NOTE
All of the foods that I’ve used should last for a week if stored in the fridge. Just make sure you eat them within 7 days. You can freeze the dinners if you’d prefer to and then heat them up, but the lunches and overnight oats won’t keep well in the freezer. Also be sure to keep your smoothie prep in the freezer.
You can heat your meals up in a pan or any other way you’d prefer, or eat them cold – whatever floats your boat. I like to heat my chicken dinner up in a pan for a few minutes and then serve it! And I like to take my overnight oats, my lunches and my snacks with me to work.
All the meals are roughly 400 calories each – and if you’ve followed my guidelines with the alternative plant-based options and portions (watch the video for details), your meals should still be roughly 400 calories each as well.
I hope you enjoy these meals and recipes! These are meals that I like to eat, and recipes based on what I ate when I was trying to lose weight. If you don’t like any particular ingredient that I’ve used feel free to use another similar ingredient that you’d prefer that is roughly the same amount of calories.
You can make multiple servings of just one or two of these recipes if you’d prefer an even quicker meal prep time, and don’t feel the need to have as many meal options throughout the week – it’s totally up to you!
CALORIES PER DAY
We’re all different and so every women has different calorie needs to lose weight in a healthy way.
So if you’d like to follow a 1400 diet you can eat all of the 3 meals and the snack everyday that I showed you as planned (3 meals + 1 snack).
If you’d like to follow a 1200 calorie diet, you can eat all 3 meals, and just leave out the fruit and nut snack of 200 calories.
And if you need to eat more to lose weight in a healthy way – like 1600 calories or more. Then you can add another 200 calorie snack. Like another 200 calorie fruit and nut snack, or any other snack that’s 200 calories – or more calories if you need that.
Here is the FREE 3 day eating plan for weight-loss that you can download here on my blog – this is what I used to lose 40 Lbs!
BREAKFAST – OVERNIGHT OATS
APPLE-YOGURT OVERNIGHT OATS
Ingredients:
-1/2 cup dry rolled oats
-2 teaspoons chia seeds
-1/4 cup water
-Pinch cinnamon
-2/3 cup plain full cream yogurt (or non-dairy alternative)
-1 chopped apple
-Optional: 1 teaspoon 100% pure maple syrup
Method:
-Add all ingredients together in a jar (or a mug)
-Mix together and cover
-Store in fridge overnight
-Serve in a bowl, or eat with a spoon out the jar!
Calories (Per 1 serve):
-Roughly 400 cal
BANANA-YOGURT OVERNIGHT OATS
Ingredients:
-1/2 cup dry rolled oats
-2 teaspoons chia seeds
-1/4 cup water
-Pinch cinnamon
-2/3 cup plain full cream yogurt (or non-dairy alternative)
-1 medium smashed banana
-Optional: 1 teaspoon 100% pure maple syrup
Method:
-Add all ingredients together in a jar (or a mug)
-Mix together and cover
-Store in fridge overnight
-Serve in a bowl, or eat with a spoon out the jar!
Calories (Per 1 serve):
-Roughly 400 cal
BLUEBERRY, PINEAPPLE & CASHEW OATS
Ingredients:
-1/2 cup dry rolled oats
-2 teaspoons chia seeds
-1/2 cup water
-Pinch cinnamon
-10 raw cashew nuts
-1/2 cup frozen blueberries
-1/2 cup frozen diced pineapple
-Optional: 1 teaspoon 100% pure maple syrup
Method:
-Add all ingredients together in a jar (or a mug)
-Mix together and cover
-Store in fridge overnight
-Serve in a bowl, or eat with a spoon out the jar!
Calories (Per 1 serve):
-Roughly 400 cal
MIXED BERRY & PEANUT-BUTTER OATS
Ingredients:
-1/2 cup dry rolled oats
-2 teaspoons chia seeds
-1/2 cup water
-Pinch cinnamon
-1 Tablespoon unsweetened peanut butter
-1 cup mixed frozen berries
-Optional: 1 teaspoon 100% pure maple syrup
Method:
-Add all ingredients together in a jar (or a mug)
-Mix together and cover
-Store in fridge overnight
-Serve in a bowl, or eat with a spoon out the jar!
Calories (Per 1 serve):
-Roughly 400 cal
BREAKFAST – SMOOTHIE PREP
BLUEBERRY BANANA SMOOTHIE
Ingredients:
-1 medium banana
-1/3 medium avocado
-1 cup frozen blueberries
-1 Tablespoon dry rolled oats
-14 raw almonds on side
Method:
-Peel and slice the banana and avocado
-Add all ingredients (except almonds) together in a re-useable ziplock bag
-Add almonds to a separate small bag or container
-Place smoothie prep in the freezer immediately until use
-Place almonds in the fridge
-When you’re ready to use the smoothie prep, simply add the prep to a blender with 1/2 to 3/4 cup water
-Serve in a glass and drink chilled, eat raw nuts on side
Calories (Per 1 serve):
-Roughly 400 cal
BERRY, BANANA & SPINACH SMOOTHIE
Ingredients:
-1 medium banana
-1/3 medium avocado
-1 cup frozen mixed berries
-Small handful baby spinach
-1 Tablespoon dry rolled oats
-8 raw walnut halves on side
Method:
-Peel and slice the banana and avocado
-Add all ingredients (except walnuts) together in a re-useable ziplock bag
-Add walnuts to a separate small bag or container
-Place smoothie prep in the freezer immediately until use
-Place walnuts in the fridge
-When you’re ready to use the smoothie prep, simply add the prep to a blender with 1/2 to 3/4 cup water
-Serve in a glass and drink chilled, eat raw nuts on side
Calories (Per 1 serve):
-Roughly 400 cal
MANGO & BANANA SMOOTHIE
Ingredients:
-1 medium banana
-1 cup chopped frozen mango
-1/3 medium avocado
-10 raw cashew nuts on side
Method:
-Peel and slice the banana and avocado
-Add all ingredients (except cashews) together in a re-useable ziplock bag
-Add cashews to a separate small bag or container
-Place smoothie prep in the freezer immediately until use
-Place cashews in the fridge
-When you’re ready to use the smoothie prep, simply add the prep to a blender with 1/2 to 3/4 cup water
-Serve in a glass and drink chilled, eat raw nuts on side
Calories (Per 1 serve):
-Roughly 400 cal
SALAD PREP – KALE, CRANBERRY, CARROT & BEET SALAD
INGREDIENTS:
-4 handfuls of roughly chopped, washed kale
-2 to 4 medium carrots
-1 small to medium beetroot (or handful pre-grated)
-4 Tablespoons dried cranberries
-2 Tablespoons unsweetened balsamic vinegar
-Fresh lemon juice
-1 Teaspoon olive oil
-Sea salt
-Black pepper
(Serves salad for 4 meals)
METHOD:
-Toss the chopped kale, olive oil and sea salt together in a bowl
-Gently rub the oil and salt into the kale for about a minute (to soften the kale)
-Either peel and grate the beetroot, or use pre-grated
-Peel and roughly chop the carrot
-Add the veggies and the dried cranberries to the salad
-Add fresh lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, sea salt and black pepper to taste
-Toss the salad
-Serve with the lunch meals below (Chickpeas and quinoa)
SALAD PREP – KALE, CELERY, PEPPER & TOMATO
INGREDIENTS:
-3 handfuls of roughly chopped, washed kale
-1 big cup cherry tomatoes (left whole)
-1 to 2 stalks celery
-1 small-medium red bell pepper
-Italian herb mix
-Fresh lemon juice
-1 Teaspoon olive oil
-Sea salt
-Black pepper
(Serves salad for 3 meals)
METHOD:
-Toss the chopped kale, olive oil and sea salt together in a bowl
-Gently rub the oil and salt into the kale for about a minute (to soften the kale)
-Chop the celery and red bell pepper
-Add the veggies and cherry tomatoes to the salad
-Add fresh lemon juice, Italian herb mix, sea salt and black pepper to taste
-Toss the salad
-Serve with the lunch meals below (Eggs and brown rice)
LUNCH PREP – CHICKPEAS, QUINOA & SALAD
INGREDIENTS:
-2 cups cooked quinoa
-2 + 2/3 cup cooked/ canned chickpeas
-Kale, cranberry, carrot & beet salad (recipe above)
(Serves 4 meals)
METHOD (PER SERVING):
-1/2 cup cooked quinoa
-2/3 cup cooked/ canned chickpeas
-1/4 salad serving (Kale, cranberry, carrot & beet salad)
CALORIES (PER SERVING):
-Roughly 400 calories per serve
(Ingredients serve 4 meals)
LUNCH PREP – EGGS, BROWN RICE & SALAD
INGREDIENTS:
-2 cups cooked brown rice
-6 hard boiled eggs
-Kale, celery, pepper & tomato salad (recipe above)
(Serves 3 meals)
METHOD (PER SERVING):
-1/2 cup cooked brown rice
-2 hard boiled eggs
-1/3 salad serving (Kale, celery, pepper & tomato salad)
CALORIES (PER SERVING):
-Roughly 400 calories per serve
(Ingredients serve 3 meals)
SNACK PREP – FRUIT & NUTS
SNACKS FOR 7 DAYS:
Day 1. 1 Medium apple + 14 raw almonds
Day 2. 1 Medium apple + 14 raw almonds
Day 3. 1 Medium apple + 14 raw almonds
Day 4. 2 small clementines + 10 raw pecan halves
Day 5. 2 small clementines + 10 raw pecan halves
Day 6. 1 nectarine + 100g strawberries + 10 raw cashews
Day 7. 1 nectarine + 100g strawberries + 10 raw cashews
*Each snack is roughly 200 calories
DINNER PREP – ROASTED POTATOES
INGREDIENTS:
-400g regular potatoes
-1 teaspoon cooking oil
-Sea salt
-Black pepper
-Italian herb mix
(Serves potatoes for 4 dinner meals)
METHOD:
-Preheat oven to 180 C/ 360 F
-Wash and roughly chop potatoes
-Add chopped potatoes to a baking tray
-Toss the potatoes in cooking oil, sea salt, black pepper and Italian herb mix
-Roast for about 40 minutes, or until fully cooked
-Serve with dinner meals below (Salmon, roasted potatoes & veggies)
DINNER PREP – ROASTED VEGETABLES
INGREDIENTS:
-Roasting vegetables of choice (*recommended 70 cal per serving)
-1 teaspoon cooking oil
-Sea salt
-Black pepper
-Italian herb mix
(Serves potatoes for 7 dinner meals)
*Recommended vegetable serving is roughly 70 calories per dinner meal. As there are 7 dinner meals for the week, I made roughly 490 calories worth of vegetables for the entire week.
*I used a selection of butternut squash, beetroot, onion, red bell pepper, zucchini and cherry tomatoes.
METHOD:
-Preheat oven to 180 C/ 360 F
-Wash and roughly chop vegetables (or use pre-chopped veggies)
-Add chopped veggies to a baking tray
-Toss the vegetables in cooking oil, sea salt, black pepper and Italian herb mix
-Roast for about 20-40 minutes, or until fully cooked
-Serve with dinner all meals below
DINNER PREP – TANGY TOMATO CHICKEN
INGREDIENTS:
-300g chicken breast meat (sliced)
-2 Tablespoons pure tomato paste
-1 teaspoon cooking oil
-Fresh lemon juice
-Italian herb mix
-Sea salt and black pepper
(Serves chicken for 3 meals)
METHOD:
-Place the sliced chicken breast meat in a pan
-Add sea salt, black pepper, Italian herb mix, fresh lemon juice and 2 Tablespoons of pure tomato paste
-Cook the chicken over a medium-high heat on the stove for 10-15 minutes
-Toss it with a spatula, and you can add a splash of water to the pan while you’re cooking it if it gets too dry
-Serve with dinner meals below (Chicken, quinoa & veggies)
DINNER PREP – ROASTED SALMON
INGREDIENTS:
-400g salmon fillets
-Fresh lemon juice
-Sea salt & black pepper
(Serves salmon for 4 meals)
METHOD:
-Add salmon to a baking tray with fresh lemon juice, sea salt and black pepper
-Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes at 180 C/ 160 F, or longer if you need to
-Serve with dinner meals below (Salmon, roasted potatoes & veggies)
DINNER PREP – TOMATO CHICKEN, QUINOA & VEGGIES
INGREDIENTS:
-300g Tangy tomato chicken (recipe above)
-1 + 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
-3 servings roasted vegetables (recipe above)
-3 small handfuls steamed broccoli (roughly 180g)
(Serves 3 meals)
METHOD (PER SERVING):
-100g Tangy tomato chicken (recipe above)
-1/2 cup cooked quinoa
-1 serving roasted vegetables (recipe above)
-1 small handful steamed broccoli (roughly 60g)
CALORIES (PER SERVING):
-Roughly 400 calories per serve
(Ingredients serves 3 meals)
DINNER PREP – SALMON, ROASTED POTATOES & VEGGIES
INGREDIENTS:
-400g Roasted salmon (recipe above)
-400g Roasted potatoes (recipe above)
-4 servings roasted vegetables (recipe above)
-4 small handfuls steamed broccoli (roughly 240g)
(Serves 4 meals)
METHOD (PER SERVING):
-100g Roasted salmon (recipe above)
-100g roasted potatoes (recipe above)
-1 serving roasted vegetables (recipe above)
-1 small handful steamed broccoli (roughly 60g)
CALORIES (PER SERVING):
-Roughly 400 calories per serve
(Ingredients serves 4 meals)
MY NEW WEIGHT-LOSS MEAL PREP EBOOK IS NOW OUT! It’s all about Fast Weight-Loss Meal Prep For Women.
Complete with 4 full weeks of healthy meal plans and recipes to help you save time & lose weight – without calorie counting!
Check it out here: https://guides.liezljayne.com/mealprep/
FREE 3 DAY EATING PLAN
To give you an example of what a balanced weight-loss diet can look like, I’m currently giving my 3 day eating plan away for FREE – But won’t always be. Make sure you grab a copy!
MY NEW WEIGHT-LOSS MEAL PREP EBOOK IS NOW OUT! It’s all about Fast Weight-Loss Meal Prep For Women.
Complete with 4 full weeks of healthy meal plans and recipes to help you save time & lose weight – without calorie counting!
Check it out here: https://guides.liezljayne.com/mealprep/
Take note: Please note that you should be in a healthy state before you decide to follow a new way of eating, or a calorie restricted diet. It’s always advised that you talk to your GP, doctor or health care professional to see if a new way of eating is suitable for your personal health needs.
Photos and video by Liezl Jayne Strydom – for liezljayne.com
I feel like this is a very high carb diet… I have already made your meal prep for the week. Now I’m eating it and now I feel like this is a lot of carbs and not enough protein.
Is there an alternative to the chickpeas in the lunches? Chickpeas hurts my stomach 🙁
I try to substitute chickpeas with baked bean 🙂
Hi Liezl
My best friend and I are going to try your meal prep. Excited about doing it. We want to know about fluids what we can and can’t have. I know plenty
Of water what about tea,coffee,juice. We are not sure hope you can help. U look amazing well done to you.
Bridge&Deb. In the uk
In her videos I believe she loves her coffee dark (no cream or sugar) and hot herbal tea (also no cream or sugar)- she’s dairy free. I don’t think she drinks juices.
juices have a lot of added sugar unless 100% pure, and has many calories. at least for me, i love water and would prefer to eat my calories over drinking them.
Hi I have finished my first week and I have lost 10lbs so happy. Should the meals last all week in the fridge.
Carole! 10lbs in one week is not healthy at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(@Caroline I’m sure your comment was coming from a place of concern and no ill will but some things to consider): Carole said it’s her first week, you’re unaware of where she’s started from. If she’s anything like me ( I have a LOT of weight to lose, like at least double what liezl jayne lost) and are starting a new diet you do lose a seemingly absurd amount of weight in the first week because it’s all water weight. Especially if you’re also adding in a lot more in daily water intake and exercising more, it just falls off in the very beginning. As long as Carole is just eating better, drinking more water, being more active and not starving herself or anything that is potentially hurting her, she should keep it up and deserves praise. Awesome start girl, don’t lose momentum keep it up, congrats!!
I agree. Shedding those first 10lbs is usually pretty fast and easy, if you have a significant amount to lose. I’m not surprised Carole experienced this. usually it is water weight coming off.
This is wonderful! I want to begin this diet plan with my husband! Thank you so very much for the list!! Does anyone know how much weight can you lose in 1 week?? Or in 1 month? It might vary, but I wanted an aprox. amount… any ideas?? Thank you!!!
The safest amount of weight to loose in a week is 1-2 pounds . So following this with the calorie deficit approximate 8-10 if you are also working out. Hope this helps!
What can i substitute the cheak peas for?
What are the best reusable containers, and where can I buy them?
thoughtful comment….people are having success losing belly fat with this…http://bit.ly/2thIYFp
Hey, I love this plan! My husband and I are doing this plan for us (with a few tweaks for him). We didn’t see a shopping list, so here is the one we made (it’s for two people, and items that don’t have measurements or pantry items we just said 1 item or a container of said item etc.)
28 meal containers, 8 small jars with lids, 14 Small ziploc bags, 6 Medium freezer bags
1.25 lb Chicken breast
14 oz Strawberries
1.75 lb (3-4 oz filets) Salmon filets
8 oz Frozen Pineapple
dozen Eggs
16 oz Frozen mango
22 oz Yoghurt
1 pkg Raw cashew nuts
161 oz Roasting veggies
1 pkg Raw almonds
28 oz Regular potatoes
1 pkg Raw walnuts
28 oz Broccoli
1 pkg Raw Pecans
24 oz Cherry tomatoes
8 tblsp Dried cranberries
4 stocks of Celery
4 cans Canned chickpeas
2 small-med Red bell pepper
2 cans Tomato paste
32 oz Baby mixed greens
1 bottle Honey
4-8 medium carrots
1 container Peanut butter
2 small-med beet root
4 c/ 32 oz Rolled oats
24 oz Baby spinach
< 3 oz Chia seeds
8 medium Apple
7 cups prepared Quinoa
2 Avocados
4 cups prepared Brown rice
8 Banana
1 container Cinnamon
8 Clementines
1 bottle Balsalmic vinegar
4 Nectarines
Bottle/ 6 lemons Fresh lemon juice
32 oz Frozen mixed berries
1 bottle Olive oil
24 oz Frozen blueberries
1 container Italian herb mix
Remember, this list is for 2 people. I hope this helps someone else 🙂
Thank you!
thank you very much for the list saves me for taking the pics of food to buy !! very interesting plan
Katie you are wonderful! Thank you so much for posting this shopping list 🙂
Thank you for posting this shopping list!!!!
Cool, that’s very helpful. Thank you!
Thank you so much for the list! Quick question, did u substitute another leafy green for the kale? I saw she used kale in the recipes but it’s not on your shopping list. Just needing to know if that was switched out or if I should add it to my list. Thank you again!
I asked myself the same question. It think she exchanged it with the 32 oz Baby mixed greens.
(-:
I changed with watercress 🙂
Thank You. It may be for two people but very handy for one person planning two weeks meals in one shop, although salad may have to be bought fresh for the second week. Very helpful.
Thanks! I was looking just for this..for one but it does help
Thank you!!! I was about to make my shopping list!!!
i just wanted to comment to say i love you katie this list is a life (and time!!!) saver! thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i will also be preparing meals for me and my husband so its perfect!!
What can I substitute chickpeas with?
Pumpkin or sweet potatoe 🙂
You’re amazing.tnx
Thank you so much. this helped me.
Thank you, Katie! You are the real MVP!!!!
Thank you so much !! This is exactly what I was lookimg for!
My husband and I are doing it together as well. What kind of tweaks did you do for your hubby?
Thank you
What can you you substitute the beet root for?
You could get canned beets if you can’t seem to find fresh beet root. That’s what I ended up doing. Just make sure to look at the sodium content of the brand you buy and rinse the beets prior to eating or cooking them.
Any other root vegetable is a good substitute. If you just don’t fancy beet root, consider trying it anyway. It’s higher in nutrition values than most root veggies due to the dark red color and it’s deliciously sweet.
What is a substitute for Beer Root?