What I Eat In A Day – How I Maintain My 40 Lbs Weight Loss!

What I Eat In A Day – How I Maintain My 40 Lbs Weight Loss!

WHAT I EAT IN A DAY

How I maintain my 40 Lbs weight loss

Today, in this post and video, I’m going to be showing you what I eat in a day to maintain my weight after losing 40 Lbs.

I’ve shown you a bunch of different “What I eat in a day to lose weight” videos and some weight loss meal plans too, but this is how I have eaten to maintain my weight – which I’ve done for a few years now (without gaining back the weight)

I’ll show you the rough amount of calories throughout, just to give you a quick, basic idea (if you want to know). I don’t count all of my calories every day to maintain my weight – so I’m just going to show you my meals (with the full recipes) and I’ll show you how I’ve worked around calories (and how I’ve maintained my weight all this time).

Make sure you check out the video below, hope you enjoy!

Liezl Jayne XO

DO I EAT THIS EVERYDAY?

How I maintain my weight everyday

So every day is different (obviously), some days I don’t eat as much, and some days I eat more.

I don’t restrict myself while I maintain my current weight – I eat more when I’m hungry and if I’ve been very active, and I eat less when I’m not feeling as hungry or haven’t been as active. I find that being more active and working out makes me hungrier, so I naturally want to eat more on days that I do workout.

I’m not saying that how I’m eating here is the only way to eat, because we’re all different. I always say this, but I’ll say it again – I’m 5’2 (that is quite small), and so taller or people who are very active, may need to eat more than me to maintain their weight.

I’ll also say this, I’m pretty sure I will get comments on this video on YouTube that say “that’s so much food, I would gain weight if I ate that much” and other comments that say “this is a starvation diet, I eat more than that to lose weight”.

I’m pretty sure I’ll get those comments, or something like that, because on pretty much all of my other “What I eat in a day” videos I get those kinds of comments. Some people feel I eat too much, and other people feel I eat too little. And then other people feel that I eat a good amount.

Personally, for me, this is actually a lot of healthy food that I’m eating now – and it’s working for me, I’m not hungry at all and I feel great with good energy.

But everyone has different opinions, because everyone is different. We all feel differently about food and have different food preferences. Some people have always eaten more, and need to eat more to maintain their weight, while other people may have always eaten less, and need to eat less to maintain weight. Some people live very active lifestyles and exercise a lot, and some people don’t. Some people are tall, some people are small. It’s okay, we are all different, and so the amount of food that each individual person needs to eat will be different.

I’ve never once said that it’s my way or the highway – In fact, I’ve always said the opposite.

I usually eat 1800 calories a day to maintain my weight (or roughly somewhere around there) and often more (at like 1900 calories). There are days that I go WAY over 2000 calories, and I really couldn’t care. Then there are days when I eat less food and calories (like 1600-1700 calories), because I’m not as hungry (maybe I’ve been less active).

No day is the same, but I think I just listen to my body – and so these different kinds of eating days all balance out in the end (and I’m able to maintain my weight).

My best advice? Eat when you’re hungry, stop when you’re full. Eat more if you workout and are active, and eat a bit less if you haven’t been active.

HOW I INCREASED MY CALORIE INTAKE
When I had reached my goal weight, I slowly started to add more calories to my diet – by slowly eating more of each food group to my diet, and adding more calories to each meal (and also adding more snacks).
But I did start slow – I think I added about 200 calories more to my diet for a month, and then the next month I added another 200 calories, and so on. I kept on going like this and increasing my calories (until I got to a place where I could maintain my weight, and I was happy with the amount of calories I was eating to stay healthy.)
If you compare this day of eating with my what I eat in a day to lose weight videos, you’ll notice that I’ve added more calories to each meal, and also more snacks throughout the day. On this day of eating, I did do a workout (I was more active and was therefore hungrier, so I ate about 1800/1900 calories, maybe a bit more).
To maintain my weight after losing weight, I increased my food intake gradually so that my body could get used to eating more calories again – but that’s just what I did, I’m not saying this is the only way to do it (that’s just what I did).
I don’t obsessively count my calories, I’m quite chilled about it actually – and I just focus on the health of my body, eating good whole foods with all of the food groups to maintain my health and current weight.
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
BANANA SUPER SEED PORRIDGE
Breakfast: Ingredients
-1/2 cup whole rolled oats
-2 cups of water
-1 medium banana
-pinch of cinnamon
-1 teaspoon of coconut oil
-1 Tablespoon of pumpkin seeds
-1 Tablespoon of sunflower seeds
-1 teaspoon of chia seeds
-1 teaspoon of flax seeds
-splash of almond milk (optional)
-fresh strawberry slices (optional)
Breakfast: Method
-To start, mix 1/2 cup whole rolled oats and 2 cups of water in a pot
-Bring it to a boil on the stove, and then let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes, stirring it occasionally
-While that’s cooking, peel a banana and smash it with a fork
-And after about 10-15 minutes, the oats are ready for the other ingredients
-Add the smashed banana to the pot, and mix it in
-Next add a pinch of cinnamon, as well as 1 teaspoon of coconut oil
-And then also some different kinds of seeds – for protein and healthy fats
-Pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, and also flax seeds
-You don’t have to use every single type of seed (you can customize this to suit your needs)
-Next slice up some strawberries for the topping (optional) or choose your own toppings
-You can add some extra water (or another milk of choice) if the porridge has become a bit thick
-Serve the porridge in a bowl, and add some of those strawberry slices on top
-And that is breakfast – one of my favorites at the moment!
Breakfast: Calories
Roughly 450-500 calories (depending on toppings used)
*The drink in the photo is unsweetened black rooibos tea, just in case you wanted to know!
SNACK #1
BLUEBERRY AVOCADO SMOOTHIE
Snack: Ingredients
-1 cup frozen blueberries (can also use mixed)
-1/3 medium avocado (1/2 small)
-3/4 cup water
–*1 teaspoon 100% pure maple syrup (to sweeten)
*I use one of 4 ingredients sweeten my smoothie:
-1 teaspoon 100% pure maple syrup
-1/2 to 3/4 cup pure coconut water (instead of water)
-1/2 medium banana
-1 scoop Ultimate Organic Green Superfood (Pinnacle of Wellness brand)
Snack: Method
-To start, add 1 cup of frozen blueberries to a blender with 1/3 to 1/2 an avocado
-Choose a sweetener to use (from the list above)
-And then add about 3/4 of water
After blending, serve chilled in a glass and eat with a spoon (or a straw)
-Best eaten immediately, when it’s fresh
Snack: Calories
Roughly 200 calories (depending on sweetener option used)
LUNCH
HEALTHY EGG AVOCADO SANDWICH
Lunch: Ingredients
-2 slices bread (I use wholegrain gluten-free or 100% rye)
-1 or 2 eggs (hardboiled)
-1/3 avocado
-Chopped spring onion (small handful)
-A big squeeze of fresh lemon juice
-Sea salt and black pepper
-(Optional) Grated carrot
-(Optional) Radish slices
-(Optional) Mixed greens or baby spinach
Lunch: Method
-To start, grab two slices of 100% rye bread (you can use another bread of your choice)
-Boil 1 or 2 eggs for 9-10 minutes (until hard boiled)
-Once the egg is hardboiled and cooled, roughly chop it up
-Mix the chopped egg with about 1/3 smashed avocado
-Also add some chopped spring onion, a big squeeze of fresh lemon juice, sea salt and black pepper
-Mix it all up, and spread it out over 1 of the slices of bread
-Now these extra toppings are optional, but I do like to add them
-Grated carrot, some radish slices (sliced quite thin), and a few fresh mixed greens (or fresh baby spinach)
-And put the second slice of bread on top, and cut it in half if you want
-Serve fresh, eat and enjoy!
Lunch: Calories
Roughly 400-500 calories (depending on the bread that you’ve used, and also how many eggs you use)
COFFEE TIME
AND OTHER DRINKS IN THE DAY
Coffee: How I make it
For a mid afternoon pick-me-up, I sometimes brew a cup of black coffee.
I use a filter paper and about a tablespoon of ground coffee beans, I just pouring some hot water through the paper and let the coffee filter through.
And then I sometimes add unsweetened almond milk (or I just drink it black) – really simple, it’s a bit healthier and it’s delicious.
Other drinks: What I drink in a day
I also always drink at least 8-10 glasses of water throughout the day, and then other herbal teas (like plain green tea or plain rooibos tea) – I usually drink my tea black and unsweetened.
SNACK #2
HEALTHY BROWN RICE CRACKERS
Snack: Ingredients
-2 brown rice crackers (or brown rice and puffed corn)
-1 Tablespoon unsweetened nut butter (I’ve used peanut butter)
-1 heaped teaspoon cacao nibs (raw cocoa)
-pinch cinnamon
-some fresh blueberries (or strawberry or banana slices)
Snack: Method
-I like to use 2 brown rice and corn crackers (the label says they’re made from brown rice and puffed corn)
-Next spread out 1 Tablespoon of unsweetened peanut butter (or another nut butter)
-Then add a little pinch of cinnamon
-And then a sprinkle of raw cacao nibs (which is crushed cacao beans, so chocolate in it’s purest form)
-When I’m feeling fancy, I top all of that with a few fresh blueberries (fresh strawberry or banana slices are also amazing)
-This little snack is my newest food obsession, it’s really yummy!
-Serve fresh, eat and enjoy!
Snack: Calories
Roughly 200 calories (depending on toppings used)
DINNER TIME
HEALTHY CHICKEN, POTATO AND MUSHROOM STEW
Dinner: Ingredients
-2 teaspoons cooking oil (I use macadamia nut oil)
-400g of skinless chicken breast meat
-Black pepper and sea salt
-4 medium sized potatoes
-250g of mushrooms
-2 cups of water (or as needed)
-2 Tablespoons of white balsamic vinegar
-2 teaspoons of onion powder (+ extra for the veg)
-A big squeeze of fresh lemon
-A few sprigs fresh rosemary (or 2 teaspoons dried, or Italian herb mix)
-1 Tablespoon unsweetened nut butter or tahini (cashew, almond or hazelnut)
-Fresh asparagus and green beans (as needed)
-1 teaspoon of arrow root powder (or corn starch as needed)
-1/2 to 1 cup cooked brown basmati rice per serving
(This recipe serves 4)
Dinner: Method
-To start, add 1 teaspoon of cooking oil to a big pot (I use macadamia nut oil)
-Next add 400g of skinless chicken breast meat (roughly sliced up), and some black pepper and sea salt
-First pan fry the chicken for a little bit on the stove over a medium heat (to pre-cook the chicken, and also to get some extra flavor)
-You can just toss that around on the stove for a few minutes
-While that is cooking, peel and chop 4 medium sized potatoes into biggish pieces
-Also chopped up about 250g of mushrooms
-And after pan frying the chicken for bit, add the chopped mushrooms and potatoes to the pot
-Also add about 2 cups of water (you can add more if you need it later) with the other ingredients
-White balsamic vinegar, 2 teaspoons of onion powder, a big squeeze of fresh lemon and the rosemary
-Place back onto the stove and keep cooking it over a medium heat for 30-40 minutes (or until the potatoes are fully cooked and have become soft)
-You can stir it occasionally
-While that’s on the stove, start with the veggies (optional)
-I have used asparagus and green beans
-After rinsing the veggies, I like to cut the little ends off
-Add the vegetables to a frying pan with 1 teaspoon of cooking oil, a bit of onion powder, black pepper and sea salt
-Toss that around on the stove over a medium heat for a few minutes as well
-Once the potatoes are ready in the stew, you’ll know that everything else is ready too!
-The sauce from the stew is probably still a bit watery, so add 1 Tablespoon of unsweetened nut butter or tahini, and then also 1 teaspoon of arrow root powder
-You can also use corn starch as needed (as an alternative)
-Mix that all together, and leave it for a minute or 2 in the pot with the lid on (and you’ll see it thicken up and get creamier)
-And after a minute or two the stew is ready to serve (it’s become thicker and creamier)
-I like to serve this stew with brown basmati rice, so I serve my meal with about 1/2 cup of cooked brown rice
-I like to have about 1/4 of the stew (cause the stew recipe makes 4 servings) with the brown rice and some of the veggies
-Serve fresh, eat and enjoy!
Dinner: Calories
Roughly 400-500 calories per serving (note this recipe serves 4)
Photos and video by Liezl Jayne Strydom – for liezljayne.com