The Meal Plan I Used to Lose 10lbs In 3 Weeks
19 January 2024
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Losing weight can be very difficult, especially when it’s so easy to binge or start and stop frequently enough that you don’t see progress in your weight loss goal.
I have struggled with this intermittent “healthy” lifestyle for years, never meeting my goals. Until I finally found the right mindset and established an eating routine, which is what I’ll be talking about in this blog post!
I’ll be sharing the work AND weekend friendly meals that helped me lose 10lbs in 3 weeks, and have continued to see even more progress in my fitness goals! I will be discussing:
How I lost 10lbs within 3 weeks of establishing my meal plan
How Your Mindset Is Important For Weight Loss
What I Eat In A Day
How to Create A Meal Plan That Works For You
So if you struggle maintaining your healthy eating habits and end up yo-yo dieting, never making real progress towards your wellness goal, then keep reading! You will be amazed at how simple it is!.
How I lost 10lbs within 3 weeks of establishing my meal plan
I’ve talked before about how I struggled with my mental health and my weight throughout most of my 20s. I never cooked for myself, always ate processed foods or ate out, I was always lethargic and continued to gain weight, and it was turned into a vicious cycle of being depressed and eating my feelings.
I would look at celebrities online, trying to look into what they ate and what they did to stay fit. A lot of what I read just didn’t seem attainable because I LOVE FOOD. So I kept eating junk food and fast food and consuming high calorie beverages frequently because I wanted to eat the food I liked.
Until I finally cracked the formula for eating what you like and staying in a calorie deficit to lose weight. Once I started implementing the concepts from the formula into my daily diet, I saw progress instantly!
So I would like to share this information with you. This is exactly what you need to stick to a weight loss plan, lose weight, and keep the weight off!
How Your Mindset Is Important For Weight loss
Okay, so this is the key to successful weight loss… You need to be accepting of yourself in its current state and be kind to yourself. You will have a harder time sticking to your fitness goals if you talk down to yourself. This will feed your depression/anxiety, which will lead to not feeling motivated anymore, and likely lead to poor eating habits. So forgive your past and how you got here, accept it, and move on. You are onto the next chapter in your life and this is just where you happen to be in life and take this next chapter day by day. One step at a time. One meal at a time. You will get there, I promise.
If you are interested in learning more about how to get into the right weight loss mindset, you should check out my Pinterest. I absolutely love Dr. Rachel Paul, RD and have a ton of pins saved on the topic, as well as some of her delicious recipes for weight loss!
What I Eat In A Day
There are several small changes that you will implement and if you are worried about taking on a lot of changes, I want to encourage you to take your time. This isn’t a race and the most important part is getting healthy in a healthy way. Meaning, no starving yourself to get the body you want to fit into that bodycon dress next month. This is a journey and one to appreciate all the work you’ve put in along the way.
Now let’s talk breakfast:
I have always been a bread lover. I remember as a child, if I couldn’t find an easy snack for myself after school, I would eat a slice of bread. I LOVE BREAD. So I wanted a way to implement bread into my daily diet. I tested out some recipes and plugged them into MyFitnessPal to take a look at calories as well as macronutrients. I wanted to get the most bang for my buck. Or bread. So this is what I came up with that is work day friendly:
Avo Toast
1 slice of whole wheat bread
1/4 avocado
Toast bread and mash the avocado on top of toast.
This is a light breakfast that I like to eat because I have a tendency to eat more later on in the day, and so this is to accommodate the calories I consume at lunch/dinner/any snacks later on. If you need a heartier breakfast, I got you!
Avo Toast with Eggs and Canadian Bacon
1 slice of whole wheat bread
1/4 avocado
1-2 eggs
1-2 pieces of Canadian bacon
Toast bread and spray a small frying pan with oil. Heat stove to medium heat. Crack open eggs into the pan and place Canadian bacon in pan to cook. Cook the eggs to your preference (i.e. over easy, over medium, etc.)
When toast is ready, plate it and mash the avocado on top, then place the cooked Canadian bacon on next and top it with the eggs.
Parfait
1 cup non-fat Greek yogurt (plain)
1-2 tsp honey
1/4 cup granola
1/4 cup berries
Mix the honey and yogurt together thoroughly in a small bowl. Add 1/4 cup granola and mix thoroughly. Then add 1/4 cup berries (or a banana if you don’t have berries) on top.
Bagel with Cream Cheese
1/2 bagel
1-2 TBSP cream cheese
1/8 cup arugula (optional)
1oz smoked salmon (optional)
Toast bagel to preference and plate it. Spread 1-2 TBSP cream cheese. You can make it a little more nutritional, hitting more food groups, by adding arugula or some other leafy green you like and smoked salmon on top. If you do not like salmon or greens on your bagel, I encourage you to eat something with protein, whether that’s a yogurt or a side of sausage or an egg. You’ll need a little something extra!
If you are a breakfast person like me, and on weekends like to indulge a little bit, I have a couple more yummy options for you:
PB Oatmeal
1/2 cup oats
1 cup water or milk
1-2 TBSP peanut butter
Brown sugar to taste
1/4 cup berries (optional)
Boil water or milk over medium heat. (I like to use water but if I want it to be a little more protein-packed, I’ll use soy milk). Once boiling, add 1/2 cup oats, peanut butter, and brown sugar as needed. Mix together and turn heat to medium-low to simmer and allow it to cook until oats are soft, for about 10 minutes. Then remove it from heat and put it in a bowl to serve. You can add some berries for extra flavor and texture!
Protein Waffles (2 servings)
1 cup Kodiak power cakes waffle mix
3/4 cup water
1 TBSP olive oil
2 TBSP Jam (optional)
2 TBSP Peanut butter (optional)
2 TBSP maple syrup (optional)
Pour water into a medium to large sized bowl. Add the Kodiak mix in and stir until combined. Pour the olive oil and stir until just combined. Heat up your waffle maker, spray with oil as needed. Pour enough to fill the waffle maker without it spilling out the edges of the waffle maker. Cook to your preference. (I like mine extra toasty so I tend to leave mine in until they’re turning a golden brown and then stick them in the toaster oven for a minute-this also keeps them warm while you make the rest!)
Plate the waffles and serve with jam, peanut butter, maple syrup, or whatever else you like with your waffles, on top!
I love these things and rotate through all of the breakfast recipes throughout the week. Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, so when I have more time in the morning and want to make something, my first choice is always waffles! With the toppings, it can turn into a high calorie breakfast but all you have to do is accommodate by eating a more nutritionally dense, lower calorie lunch or dinner. Meaning, eat a carb, veggie, and protein to hit more food groups. This way it will make you feel fuller but won’t use up a ton of calories. So this way you can eat your yummy delicious, high calorie breakfast, and still be within your daily calorie goal range.
Okay, lunchtime!
I don’t love lunch like I love breakfast, so this is where I usually try to cut my calories most. I’m usually busy at work and my desire for a relaxing break is a lot stronger than may desire to eat (or rather, overeat). So this is what I usually pack for lunch on a work day:
Aidell’s Sausage
1 sausage link, cut into bite sized pieces
100g rice
100g frozen veggies, cooked
Small apple
1-2 dark chocolate kisses
Aidell’s Sausage Hot Dog Style
1 Sausage link, cut into bite sized pieces
1 slice of whole wheat bread
1 TBSP ketchup
1 tsp mustard
100g frozen veggies, cooked
1-2 dark chocolate kisses
Thai Red Curry
1 serving of Thai Red Curry (see my recipe here)
100g rice
Small apple
1-2 dark chocolate kisses
Tofu Stir Fry
1 serving Tofu Stir Fry (see my recipe here)
100g rice
Small apple
1 5.3oz container Light and Fit 12g protein yogurt
Taco Bowl
100g taco meat with bell pepper (see recipe here)
100g rice
1/4 avocado
1 TBSP sour cream
2 tsp hot sauce
1 cup spring Mix (optional)
Turkey Burger
100-150g turkey patty
1 slice whole wheat bread
1 TBSP ketchup
1 tsp mustard
100g frozen veggies, cooked
1-2 dark chocolate kisses
A few things to note:
I try to eat healthier fats and so I choose to omit cheese a lot of the time, but if you would like the cheese, I suggest cutting back somewhere else.
Another is that I like to eat simple meals. I wake up with just enough time to make my avo toast before work. This fits my personality of not being able to get up super early and also loving breakfast more than other meals of the day, so I allow myself to indulge in bread at breakfast.
I also usually just make enough of the ones that require a little more prep for 2-4 days and the other days I will make the Aidell’s sausage meal or turkey burger meal as they can be made in a few minutes. I do not go crazy with prepping a full week’s worth of food but I do know myself and I need food readily available.
Meal prepping is important for successful weight loss because we have food ready to eat when we’re hungry. This will reduce the risk of grabbing snacks and piling up on calories before you make your actual meal. I love Snapware Tupperware from Amazon because they’re microwave and dishwasher safe, and they are leak-proof. If you are interested in meal prepping, I highly recommend a good, sturdy Tupperware like these ones!
I encourage you to look at your already established habits to adjust them so that you’re not trying to fight to keep completely new habits. I knew that I love bread, and breakfast, so I needed my breakfast to be fast and so I chose Avo toast as my go-to work day breakfast. I love it, it keeps me full until lunch, and it works for me. I don’t feel like I’m dying every day like when I tried to make very involved egg scrambles and such before work back when I was still figuring out how to keep up with a weight loss meal plan. Work with yourself, not against yourself.
My second favorite meal is dinner, and this one is easy. Instead of setting aside time on your weekend, meal prepping for the work week, meal prep with dinner. I typically like to get 3lb containers of ground turkey and I’ll use 1-2lbs to make dinner so that there are leftovers for lunches the next couple days. This way I’m not putting extra time aside to prep and I’m only making enough for a few days at most. Then the next night for dinner, I’ll make a dinner that’s only enough for that night or one more day. Nobody likes to eat old food!
A couple dinners I like to make that I do not batch cook would be:
Steak and Potatoes (Serves 2)
1lb flank steak
1-2 russet potatoes
8oz bag of frozen steamers green beans
1 TBSP salt
1-2 tsp ground black pepper
1-2 tsp garlic powder
1 TBSP A-1 sauce (optional)
1-2 TBSP sour cream (optional)
Heat the oven to 425. Cover a cookie sheet with foil and spray oil on top. Wash and dry potatoes and poke holes in them with a fork. Slice the potatoes lengthwise and place on prepared cookie sheet, open faced. Slice a few marks into the meat of the potato or poke more holes with a fork. Place in oven for 30 minutes. Then spray a large frying pan with oil and place on the stove. Turn the stove onto medium-high heat. Cook the steak to preference, making sure to sear each side. While the steak cooks, microwave the steamer bag. Pull the baked potatoes out of the oven when soft and golden brown. Plate the potatoes, steak, and green beans. Use A-1 sauce and sour cream as needed.
Spicy Salmon Bowl (serves 2-3)
1lb Atlantic salmon, deboned, and cubed
300g cooked white rice, mixed with 2 TBSP furikake
2 TBSP Olive oil
1 TBSP salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1 avocado
1 lime, sliced into wedges
1 cucumber
1-2 sheets of dried seaweed
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 TBSP sriracha
1 TBSP soy sauce, low sodium
2 tsp maple syrup
1 small jalapeño diced (optional)
1-2 tsp freeze-dried cilantro (optional)
Mix salt, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, cayenne pepper, paprika in a bowl. Add cubed salmon to bowl and coat each piece with the seasonings. Pour the salmon into a medium frying pan with olive oil and turn stove onto medium heat, flipping pieces over to cook on each side.
Cut the cucumber lengthwise and then slice it. Slice the avocado. Break apart the sheet of dried seaweed into bite sized pieces.
Then get a small bowl and mix the mayonnaise, sriracha, soy sauce, and maple syrup.
Remove the salmon from heat when cooked all the way through, about 8-10 minutes. Serve on rice with avocado, cucumber, and dried seaweed. If you like spicy things, add the jalapeño. Squeeze a lime wedge and drizzle sauce over top. Sprinkle cilantro on top as needed.
How To Create A Meal Plan That Works For You
I am not a nutritionist, dietitian, or an expert in any way. I am merely a person who decided to work with the habits and likes and dislikes I have to create a weight loss meal plan that works. I struggled with weight loss for a long time until I learned how to work with myself, and you can too!
Keep track of what foods you like and don’t want to give up. Make note of your habits: are you a morning person? How much sleep do you need? What time of day do you have work? Use this information to show you where you can cut calories (i.e. breakfast, lunch, dinner). Use it to figure out how and when you will prep your meals. Do you need extra sleep and should have a quick breakfast or are you a morning person and like a full breakfast? These are questions you’ll need to answer to come up with a plan.
You know who you are best, do what is best for yourself so you are not constantly fighting to keep a brand new habit that goes against how you’ve lived thus far. And that means being honest with yourself and accepting where you are in life and how you got there. I’m obsessed with bread, breakfast, and I’m not a morning person. So I created an easy breakfast during the work week and cut back on my lunches so I can have a feast of a breakfast on the weekends! This is what you need to do. So take some time to get to know your habits, to create a plan that works for you, and you’ll be well on your way to meeting your fitness goals.
Some of you may be interested in getting some exercise in alongside your meal plan, and I would recommend something low intensity until these healthier habits are a little more second nature. Walking after dinner or doing some yoga are both good starting points!
See my post about incorporating higher intensity workouts later on. Click here!
The biggest factor in successful weight loss and maintenance is making sure your state of mind is one that is positive and encouraging and kind. This will help you tremendously with the rest. So take this one step at a time and do some reflection about how you can make this meal plan more of a lifestyle instead of just a one-time diet.
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