A Fitness Instructor Went Mostly Meatless and Lost 70 Pounds

Alana Sanders, a fitness instructor, lost 70 pounds on a flexitarian diet — a mostly plant-based approach that allows meat only once or twice a week rather than cutting it out entirely. She stuck to lean options like chicken, fish, and turkey on the days she did eat meat, and largely eliminated pork and beef, which she says raised her energy levels and reduced her belly fat.

Her daily eating pattern stayed consistent: a breakfast of cranberry or orange juice, eggs, and cheese that she never skipped, a lunch of salmon burger on whole-grain bread with fruit and vegetables, a small afternoon meal of salad and protein, and a dinner of fish with rice and fruit juice. She built in one cheat day a week, on Sundays, allowing chocolate in moderation before a heavy gym session the following Monday.

Exercise was built into her job — she teaches Zumba and bodywork classes, burning roughly 800 calories in her morning sessions and another 400 in evening toning workouts. She points to enjoying the workouts themselves, rather than forcing herself through them, as the reason she stuck with the routine long enough to see results.