wlr's Countdown Diet Plan
By wlr's resident foodie Joanne Putney
We’ve made this diet plan delicious, but super quick and simple. Not for the faint-hearted, this plan is strict (no snacking!). It’s designed to help you drop a dress (or trouser!) size in the few weeks before your event, without feeling hungry. You can add the plan to your food diary in WLR to make it easy to follow.
Day 1 - Sunday
Poached Egg on Toast
- 1 slice wholemeal bread
- 1 egg
- 1 satsuma
- 1 kiwi
- 10 grapes
Roast Chicken Dinner
- 100g chicken breast
- 200g potatoes
- 100g green beans
- 1 carrot
- 1 leek
- 2 yorkshire puddings
- 50ml gravy
Prawn Salad
- 100g king prawns
- 4 lettuce leaves
- 50g cottage cheese
- 6 cherry tomatoes
- 1 spring onion
- 1 slice wholemeal bread
There’s no fancy hard to find ingredients, no ready meals, and no waste. Yes, it may be a tad repetitive – but if you buy a bag of apples you don’t want to eat one and watch the other 5 rot in the bowl! The week’s worth of food comes in popular sizes as found in UK supermarkets, or normal store cupboard items such as porridge, pasta and rice.
Day 2 - Monday
Porridge with Apple and Cinnamon
- 30g porridge
- 225ml milk
- 1 apple
- ½ tsp cinnamon
Tuna, Tomato and Black Olive Sandwich
- 2 slices wholemeal bread
- 1 small can tuna
- 4 sundried tomatoes
- 6 olives
- 1 kiwi
Chicken with Pancetta and Leeks
- 1 chicken breast
- 3 slices pancetta
- 3 sprigs thyme
- 1 leek
- 200g potato
All meals are made from scratch but are quick to prepare. Where possible lunches use ingredients prepared whilst making dinner the night before – so are super quick to put together. Dinners take around 30 minutes or less (unless you cook your jacket potatoes in the oven!) Breakfasts are ready to eat in under 10 minutes.
You can get a PDF of the full 7 day plan including recipes with our fortnightly newsletter simply enter your email address (never shared).
Day 3 - Tuesday
Cheese and Tomato Omelette
- 2 eggs
- 6 cherry tomatoes
- 50g cottage cheese
- 1 slice wholemeal bread
Baked Beans on Jacket Potato
- 1 jacket potato
- 1 small can baked beans
Meatballs with Pasta and Tomato Sauce
- 100g minced beef (5% fat)
- ½ can chopped tomatoes
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- 75g wholewheat pasta
Family friendly - tested on WLR designer Jo’s family – the kids loved the presentation of the new dishes and really loved, perhaps surprisingly, the cod in pancetta with beans. Jo’s hubby’s favourite was (another surprise) the apple porridge.
Day 4 - Wednesday
Boiled Egg and Soldiers
- 1 egg
- 1 slice wholemeal bread
- ½ small can baked beans
Tuna, Sundried Tomato and Olive Pasta
- 1 small can tuna
- 60g wholewheat pasta
- 4 sundried tomatoes
- 6 olives
- 5 basil leaves
Jacket Potato with Chilli con Carne
- 1 jacket potato
- 100g minced beef (5% fat)
- ½ onion
- 1 clove garlic
- ½ small can baked beans
- ½ can chopped tomatoes
- ½ tsp chilli powder
- 1 satsuma
The diet provides around 1100 calories a day, which means most people will lose weight at a rate of 2-3lbs a week – if you stick to the plan! (We’ve tried very hard to make it easy.)
If your calorie allowance to lose 2lbs a week is more than 1100, you can save some up to splurge a bit on a night out (do this easily with the calories history tool in WLR). You can try it free.
Day 5 - Thursday
Scrambled Egg on Toast
- 2 eggs
- 1 slice wholemeal bread
Jacket Potato with Tuna
- 1 jacket potato
- 50g reduced fat cottage cheese
- 1 small can tuna
- 6 cherry tomatoes
- ½ red chilli
- 1 apple
Chicken Cous Cous
- 50g cous cous
- 75g chicken breast
- 50g peas
- 4 sundried tomatoes
- 1 pot yoghurt
- 1 kiwi
- 1 satsuma
Did we mention this is a strict diet plan? If you want fast results, you’ll need to stick to it – it’s only a few weeks! This means no drinks containing sugar or alcohol. If you want to drink alcohol on a night out – earn yourself some extra calories with a bit of exercise! The exercise diary in WLR will work it out for you.
Day 6 - Friday
Baked Beans on Toast
- 1 slice wholemeal bread
- 1 small can baked beans
- 1 satsuma
Chicken Cous Cous
- 50g cous cous
- 75g chicken breast
- 50g peas
- 4 sundried tomatoes
Cod in Pancetta with Beans and Pototoes
- 1 skinless boneless cod fillet
- 3 slices pancetta
- 100g green beans
- 100g potatoes
- 6 black olives
All evening meals can be easily scaled to serve 2 or 4. You can get full recipe information, including methods and cooking times, in our free PDF of the full diet plan. Enter your email below for WLR’s fortnightly newsletter and we’ll send you the plan now.
Day 7 - Saturday
Porridge with Orange and Kiwi
- 30g porridge oats
- 225ml semi skimmed milk
- 1 kiwi
- 1 satsuma
Pancetta BLT Toasted Sandwich
- 2 slices wholemeal bread
- 3 slices pancetta
- 6 cherry tomatoes
- 3 lettuce leaves
- 50g cottage cheese
Prawn Curry
- 100g king prawns
- 50g brown basmati rice
- 2 tbsp curry paste
- ½ onion
- ½ can chopped tomatoes
- 50g peas
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 poppadoms
It’s the practicalities that can often sabotage a diet. That’s why we’ve made this plan simple to shop for and prepare. If you use the plan in WLR you can produce a shopping list, swap meals around or substitute any that you don’t like. You can try it free.