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WHAT I ATE TO LOSE 42 LBS: High protein meals + easy snacks for summer

The thing that I struggled with the most when I was trying to lose weight was finding really simple, healthy, nice-tasting meals that were lower in calories but didn’t leave me feeling hungry. Along the way, I did figure out some meals that achieved that and I actually wrote the best ones in my old journals. I’ve shared some of the recipes from the journals here in the past, but I haven’t in a long time and I still get messages and emails about them often.

So I wanna share another example of what I ate to lose more than 40 lbs. These are not just random meals with some calories removed. You’re not going to be hungry, and you’re not going to spend all day cooking. These are really quick, easy, and they taste good!

By the way, all of these recipes are high protein (over 110g for the day), as well as dairy-free and gluten-free.. and I’ll share vegan options too.

I’m also gonna to show you how to customize this menu to get anywhere between 1200-1800 calories (at the end of the post) – because we’re all different and need different calories to lose weight in a healthy way.

I’m sharing how to make everything in my youtube video (below)

MENU

BREAKFAST: fried egg tacos

SNACK 1: salted caramel iced coffee

LUNCH: chicken, feta, strawberry + balsamic salad

SNACK 2: pineapple raspberry protein smoothie

DINNER: lentil + vegetable pasta (you can also use meat)

SNACK 3: clementine yogurt dips

RECIPES

BREAKFAST: fried egg tacos

Ingredients:
– 2 eggs fried
– 1/2 avocado
– 2 small soft tortillas (2x for 120 cal)
– 1 tbsp pickled onion
– 1 tbsp spring onion
– 2 tbsp chopped cilantro/ baby spinach
(serves one)

Calories: Roughly 400 cal
Protein: 15g
Vegan alt: vegan egg replacer to replace 2 eggs (I like just egg), turn it into a vegan egg scramble

SNACK 1: salted caramel iced coffee

Ingredients:
– 1 medjool date
– 1 tbsp almond butter
– 1 cup unsweetened soy milk/ dairy milk
– tiny pinch salt
– 2 tsp instant coffee powder
– 1/8 tsp vanilla extract
– ice (or put in glass and pour over)
– optional: 1 tsp maple syrup if needed
(serves one)

Calories: Roughly 200 cal
Protein: 11g protein
Vegan alt: soy milk instead of dairy

LUNCH: chicken, feta, strawberry + balsamic salad

Ingredients:
– 1 to 2 cups arugula
– 2 tsp olive oil
– 1/2 cooked chicken breast (rotisserie chicken, roasted etc)
– 20g feta
– 1/3 cup chickpeas
– 1/2 cup strawberry slices
– 1 cup cucumber
– 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
– salt and pepper
(serves one)

Calories: Roughly 400 cal
Protein: 29g
Vegan alts: grilled firm tofu instead of chicken, dairy free feta instead of regular

SNACK 2: pineapple raspberry protein smoothie

Ingredients:
– 1 cup frozen pineapple
– 1 cup frozen raspberries
– 1 scoop vanilla protein powder (vegan or regular)
– 1 cup plain yogurt (unsweetened soy/ nonfat dairy yogurt)
– 1 cup water
– 1 cup ice
(serves one)

Calories: Roughly 400 cal
Protein: 35g
Vegan alts: vegan protein powder, soy yogurt instead of dairy

DINNER: lentil + vegetable pasta (you can also use meat)

This recipe is actually from my ebook ‘Fast Weight-loss Meal Prep for Women‘ (my 4 week weight-loss meal prep plan), I absolutely love it!

Ingredients:
– 85g dry pasta (spaghetti or fusilli)
– 1 cup cooked lentils (200g)
– 300g mushrooms
– 100g brussel sprouts
– 1 cup marinara sauce
– 1/2 medium onion
– lemon juice (from 1/2 lemon)
– pepper and salt
– garlic (optional)
– parsley to garnish (optional)
(serves 2)

Calories: Roughly 400 cal
Protein: 22g
Meat alt: you could switch the cooked lentils out for ground beef/ turkey if you want (roughly 150g extra lean ground beef, or 200g extra lean ground turkey depending on the brand)

SNACK 3: clementine yogurt dips

Ingredients:
– 2 clementines
– 2 tbsp yogurt (unsweetened soy/ nonfat dairy yogurt)
(serves 1 or 2)

Calories: Roughly 70 cal for 2, or 35 for 1
Vegan alt: soy yogurt instead of dairy

HOW TO CUSTOMIZE THE CALORIES

I have made this meal plan very customizable! You can easily customize it to get anywhere from 1200 to 1800 calories. We’re all different, and we all need different calories to lose weight in a healthy way.

– All the meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) are roughly 400 calories each
– Snack 1 is roughly 200 calories
– Snack 2 is roughly 400 calories
– Snack 3 is basically a “free item”, because it’s only roughly 35-70 calories
– So it’s very easy to mix and match the meals and snacks to get however many calories you’d like between 1200 and 1800

So for roughly 1200 calories per day, you can have:
– Breakfast
– Lunch
– Dinner
– (optional) Snack 3: Clementine yogurt dips

For roughly 1400 calories per day, you can have:
– Breakfast
– Lunch
– Dinner
– Snack 1: Iced coffee
– (optional) Snack 3: Clementine yogurt dips

For roughly 1600 calories per day, you can have:
– Breakfast
– Lunch
– Dinner
– Snack 2: Raspberry pineapple protein smoothie
– (optional) Snack 3: Clementine yogurt dips

And for roughly 1800 calories per day, you can have:
– Breakfast
– Lunch
– Dinner
– Snack 1: Iced coffee
– Snack 2: Raspberry pineapple protein smoothie
– (optional) Snack 3: Clementine yogurt dips

Photos, recipes and video by Liezl Jayne for liezljayne.com