You can slim down your troublesome areas with this easy 7-day weight loss eating plan that targets your legs, bum and tummy – and the meals are delicious so you’ll still feel satisfied! For best weight loss results, repeat the 7-day diet plan for four consecutive weeks.
How the Legs, Bum & Tum diet works
Kilojoule-controlled: The essential part of this diet is making sure you shape up steadily and effectively in 4 weeks. With this menu you’ll be consuming a maximum of around 6 000kJ a day, but the delicious, stomach-filling meals will leave you feeling satisfied.
Calcium-controlled: Dieters who consume plenty of calcium-rich dairy products lose more weight from their waist than people who skip dairy. One theory is that calcium increases fat-burning in cells.
Salt-reduced: By cutting the salt in your diet, you can lose 1kg to 1.5kg of excess fluid, helping reduce that bloated, pot-bellied feeling.
Slow-releasing: Slow-burn carbohydrates like whole grains help target abdominal fat by keeping blood sugar and insulin steadier.
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The 7-day weight loss diet rules
- Pick three meals and one snack daily from the choices given.
- To protect your bone health, have a 250ml glass of low-fat milk (or a calcium-fortified alternative like almond or rice milk) a day while on your diet. This can be used in tea or coffee.
Your weight loss diet recipes
Bloat-beating breakfasts
- Lean bacon sandwich made with two medium slices wholewheat bread, two grilled rashers of back bacon and sliced tomato.
- 4 tbsp unsweetened muesli topped with 125g fat-free fruit yoghurt and two handfuls blueberries
- Vegetable omelette made with two eggs, 2 tsp chives and one grated zucchini. Cook in a splash of olive oil. Follow with one banana.
- ½ can reduced-sugar-and-salt baked beans, topped with a few slices of avocado. Follow with 150ml glass orange juice.
- Porridge made in the microwave with 50g oats and 300ml low-fat milk. Top with a handful of raspberries and blueberries and a drizzle of maple syrup.
Feel-full-for-longer lunches
- Mix 4 tbsp cooked brown rice with 200g mixed bean salad, two sliced spring onions, ½ diced red capsicum, 2 tbsp fat-free French dressing and Tabasco sauce to taste.
- One tin sardines on 1 slice wholewheat toast, grilled and served with cherry tomatoes and rocket. Follow with a small mandarins.
- 300g bowl carrot and coriander soup, served with one slice lightly-buttered wholewheat bread. Follow with one apple or pear.
- Toss a handful of watercress, ½ diced avocado and ½ diced mango with 1 tbsp each sliced almonds and sultanas and dress with 1 tbsp each olive oil and white wine vinegar. Serve with two Ryvita crispbreads spread with low-fat cream cheese.
- Fill one wholewheat pita bread with 3 tbsp reduced-fat hummus and one grated carrot. Follow with one tub of fat-free fruit yoghurt and one slice of melon.
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Diet-friendly dinners
- Spray a non-stick pan with spray oil, heat, then fry one crushed garlic clove and one chopped small onion until soft. Add 1 tbsp pine nuts and cook until golden. Add one small can chopped tomatoes, black pepper and 1 tbsp chopped fresh basil. Cook for five minutes then serve with 6 tbsp cooked penne pasta.
- Rub one large lean pork chop with finely chopped ginger, ½ tsp honey and a drizzle of sesame oil. Grill and serve with a salad of finely chopped carrots, sliced spring onion, bean sprouts and sugar snap peas, dressed with orange juice, 1 tbsp sesame oil and 1 tbsp chopped peanuts.
- Stir-fry 3 tbsp frozen soybeans in 1 tsp oil, add ½ pack ready-to-heat noodles and 100g prawns. Wilt ½ bag rocket and add soy sauce to taste.
- Serve one small grilled lean steak with three baby potatoes, spinach and tomatoes, grilled on the vine until they are soft.
- Baked salmon fillet, served with 160g veggies stir-fried in 1tbsp oil, plus 100g ready-to-heat noodles and reduced-salt soy sauce.
Choose your snacks
- One tub fat-free fruit yoghurt
- One chocolate or yoghurt-covered rice cake with a small bunch of grapes
- Two celery sticks, spread with 1 tbsp peanut butter
- Three Brazil nuts, one apple and one kiwi fruit, 25g chunk cheddar cheese, three baby tomatoes and 1/4 avocado
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Each time you weigh yourself, measure your waist, hips and thighs, too. You don’t need a tape measure – a piece of string marked with a felt pen will also do the trick. To be healthy, your waist measurement should be less than half your height.
