Internet legend, Joe Wicks – AKA The Body Coach – has a weight loss health plan that's music to the ears of dieters and health conscious folk around the world. Eat more food and exercise less - the idea is as simple as it is smart.
'The Wick's Way' suggests that by eating more healthy meals, cooked the right way with fresh ingredients, and by doing proven exercises in short bursts, anyone can make long-term healthy lifestyle changes.
“The body is an engine and it needs energy to burn fat,” says Wicks in episode one of The Body Coach on SBS. “My plan is about eating lots of nice food and [doing] short workouts you can fit into your life – because I believe that once you get lean, staying lean is a lot easier.”
Wicks shares the following eating and cooking tips with viewers, on SBS’s new three-part series The Body Coach, starting on SBS on Monday 27 August at 8.35pm.
Getting lean doesn’t mean you have to sit on your own like Billy-no-mates eating a salad like a rabbit.
1. Cook at home
Preparation is the key to changing your eating habits and achieving nutritional success. “Go and do your food shopping, plan your meals for the week, and go and get yourself lean,” Wicks says.
Cooking all your meals at home with fresh ingredients is essential to losing weight. If you know what your food contains because you cooked it yourself, the chances are it will be lean and free of highly processed sugars.
2. Vegetables a-plenty
On The Body Coach, Wicks aims to help nine people to lose weight over 60 and 90 days. His first step is to provide them with a tray of fresh vegetables to use in their home cooking.
Nutrition Australia advises everyone to eat a rainbow of vegetables to boost their health.
"Each colour carries its own set of unique disease-fighting chemicals called phytochemicals," "It is these phytochemicals that give fruits and vegetables their vibrant colour and of course some of their healthy properties."
Wicks advises people to use sweeter vegetables, like beetroot, to “provide a natural source of sugar”. He also recommends a wheatgrass shot which you can use to boost the vitamin content of your smoothies.
3. “Fats me up, baby”
Wick’s breakfast suggestion is a “fats me up baby” eggs baked in avocado. “I’ve got a message for the world,” he says. “Do not fear fats. Your body needs healthy fats and this recipe, my baked eggs and avocado, will be right up your street.”
To make this dish, cut an avocado in half. Remove the stone and fill the space with a freshly cracked egg, sprinkled with salt and pepper.
“Stick that in the microwave, give it a 30-second blast. Keep checking [on the dish] until your eggs are cooked through.”
Put some bacon under the grill. Once cooked, slice and sprinkle it on top of your eggs. You can even add the bit of fresh chilli for an extra kick.
“That is a lean and healthy fats me up breakfast. That is naughty!”
4. Try a McLeanie burger
Wicks encourages participants to refuel after an intense exercise session by eating carbs and protein dish like a homemade McLeanie burger in a bun.
To make your version of his burger, mix extra-lean turkey mince, chopped fresh coriander and spring onion. Add a touch of sesame oil, fish sauce, and salt and pepper.
Once the ingredients are fully mixed through, separate into patties. Cook the patties in the pan. Make a burger sauce using the chipotle sauce and Greek yoghurt.
Assemble your McLeanie burger and dive in!
5. There are no low-calorie chicken pies here
Apparently, Wicks doesn’t do low-calorie dieting plans. “Getting lean doesn’t mean you have to sit on your own like Billy-no-mates eating a salad like a rabbit.”
His recipe tip for a satisfying lunch or dinner is a chicken pie, made to share.
To make it, melt a knob of butter in a pan. Add mushrooms, sliced chicken breast, chicken stock, double cream, cornflour mixed with a bit of water, a pinch of salt and pepper, and baby spinach. Cook all the ingredients through in the pan and then transfer the mixture into a pie dish. Top with filo pastry. Cook the pie for 20 minutes in the oven and you’re done.
“Serve with a nice big portion of your favourite greens.”
The new three-part series, , premieres on SBS on Monday 27 August at 8.35pm and continues each Monday at the same time thereafter. Watch all the episodes after broadcast on SBS On Demand.
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