You can eat fats and carbs and still lose weight. Joe Wicks shares his favourite tasty and healthy meals from his ‘Lean in 15’ recipe series
My approach to eating is very different to anything you are likely to have tried before in a bid to lose weight. For starters, my recipes are nutritious and filling, delicious and varied. They are also quick to knock up and, importantly, no food group is restricted. I firmly believe that a diet that excludes any of the vital macronutrients [that’s fat, protein and carbs] is doomed to fail in the long term. Instead, balancing your meals in terms of their macronutrient content is key. Ultimately, your weekly meals should contain a bit of everything: protein intake for muscle growth, recovery and satiety, but carbs when you need them (during hard training, for example) and more healthy fats when you don’t do as much exercise. Self starvation and low-fat or low-carb misery is unsustainable and will backfire by slowing down the metabolism. These recipes are the antithesis of such approaches. They fire up your calorie and fat-burning abilities. By far the most common response I get from people who switch to my “lean in 15” meals is “I’m never hungry but I’m more lean than ever.” Precisely how things should be.
Serves 1
Ingredients
4 rashers of smoked bacon
2 tbsp walnut oil
½ tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp lemon juice
Salt and pepper
2 baby gem lettuce
1 avocado, roughly chopped
2 cooked beetroot, roughly chopped
350g cooked chicken breast, thinly sliced
Handful of roughly chopped walnuts
Method
1 Preheat your grill to high. Grill the bacon until well cooked and a little crisp, then leave it to one side to cool.
2 Mix together the walnut oil, mustard, lemon juice and a little salt and pepper. Keep mixing until you have a smooth dressing.
3 In a big salad bowl, toss together the lettuce, avocado and beetroot. Pour in the dressing and toss again. By now your bacon should be cool, so crumble it into your salad bowl and mix with the rest of the ingredients. Tip the salad on to a plate, then top with the chicken and walnuts.
