A TikToker who lost five stone by making healthy choices has shared her go-to low-calorie options from Lidl. Shannon Mitchell, 26, from Belfast, heads to Lidl twice a week to pick up her weight loss favourites.
The estate agent began her weight loss journey in the summer of 2021 after reaching her heaviest weight of 14st 7lbs, with the initial goal of getting to 11st. Shannon achieved this goal by Christmas and continued to eat a healthy calorie-controlled diet, dropping another two and a half stone by June of this year.
Now Shannon’s weight sits between a svelte 9st and 9st 7lbs. The estate agent posts healthy eating tips and tricks to her Instagram, @shannon_mitchh, and TikTok with a combined 20.3k followers.
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In the TikTok Shannon heads to Lidl to pick up her favourite low calorie treats that “stop me snacking”. Many of the items are high in protein which Shannon says fill her up and stop her from eating larger portions.
Lidl breakfast ideas
The first thing Shannon does is head for the fruit aisle where she fills her basket with “very reasonably priced” berries, watermelon, grapes, peaches, and cherries . She tells her followers: “So starting with fruit, I incorporate fruit into my breakfast every morning. Not only is fruit low calorie, it's filled with good nutrients. So it's just good to include in your diet.”
She then moves on to the cereal aisle where she replaces sugary breakfast cereals with the Crownfield high-protein granola , honey and seed flavour or cranberry flavour, which she says tastes “unbelievable”. This totals 202 calories for a 45g serving, costing £1.49. Shannon enjoys this for breakfast every morning with a Lidl’s own high-protein pudding or Lidl high-protein yoghurt which are 162 calories per pot, and a different fruit each day.
Lidl lunch and dinner ideas
Next up Shannon moves on to Lidl’s low calorie ready meals. She picks up the Fit Foods wholemeal pasta and beef meal , which is 424 calories per 400g costing £3.99. The range is only available in Lidl Ireland. All UK stores stock Lidl’s What’s Cooking Lighter for You range of low calorie ready meals, which are around 350 calories each.
Shannon then picks up a packet of Lidl’s own microwavable pilau rice , totalling 185 calories for half a packet. She tells followers: “I have rice almost everyday, don’t be afraid of carbs, carbs are your friend.”
She then heads to the meat aisle where she picks up a few packets of Ocean Sea prawns from the frozen section, costing £3.49 for 300g. Prawns typically have around 100 calories per 100g cooked. She says: “I’m a prawn girl, I'm obsessed with prawns, everyone makes fun of me for it. Prawns are so low in calories as well.”
To go with her prawns Shannon picks up Lidl’s own sweet chilli sauce , which is 30 calories per 15g serving. She tells followers: “So many sauces are so high in calories, sweet chilli is not too bad but just seasoning…put seasoning on your food it just tastes so much better.”
Next up, Shannon advises switching to Lidl’s bagel thins , which are 163 calories per bagel and cost £1.39. To go with these she buys some Glensallagh reduced fat bacon medallions , containing 38 calories per medallion. She also recommends Glensallagh’s turkey bacon , which is 24 calories per rasher.
For more protein options Shannon picks up Lighthouse Bay seafood sticks , which contain 20 calories per stick. She says: “This is probably another controversial one but I'm obsessed with these.”
Lidl weight-loss snack ideas
For low-calorie snacks throughout the day Shannon buys Gelatelli Tower Icelollies , which are 51 calories each. She also buys a packet of powdered Hartley’s sugar free jelly , 8 calories per serving, which she also uses to make jelly sweets by adding gelatin.
For a savoury snack she picks up Lidl’s own pickled gherkins , around 11 calories per gherkin. For a pick me up she buys Lidl’s own brand sugar-free “Red Bull”, with 3 calories per 100ml and Lidl’s own high-protein bar, 187 calories per bar.
Shannon said she decided to lose weight because she was “always self conscious” about her body and wearing certain clothes. Wanting to get “as healthy as I can” for her future children also played a part in her decision. She said: “I was classed as obese with my BMI, so if I kept going higher I could end up with health conditions related to being overweight and obese.”
She added that her hopes of getting a breast reduction also drove her to lose the weight. Shannon said: “I had between an F and G cup and it was a massive insecurity of mine. I couldn't wear certain clothes, I just always felt self conscious of them. If I ever want to get a breast reduction through the NHS my BMI has to be classed as healthy, and so that really pushed me to lose weight.”
Shannon now heads to the gym several times a week to make "other changes" to her body. However, she says that it's not essential to lose weight "as long as you change your habits in regards to eating".
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