A fitness influencer who lost 50 pounds with her “realistic meal prep” recipes has lifted the lid on the loaded chip bowl that helped her transform her body.
MaKayla Thomas, 29, a Kentucky-based personal trainer and nutritionist, has more than 1.4 million followers on TikTok, where she shares her workouts and her favorite macro-friendly meals.
The creator of the content, known as @makayla_thomas_fitwent viral after revealing the satisfying lunch that allowed her to “stay consistent while she lost 50 pounds.”
This meal helped me go from “wearing my husband’s old T-shirts because nothing else fit, to wearing what I felt good in,” she explained in the video.
MaKayla Thomas, a personal trainer and nutrition specialist, has over 1.4 million followers on TikTok, where she shares her workouts and her favorite macro-friendly meals
The content creator, known as @makayla_thomas_fit, went viral after revealing how to make her ‘macro-friendly’ loaded chip bowl
Thomas, who previously weighed 183 pounds, lost 50 pounds using her “realistic meal prep recipes”
Thomas started with two white potatoes and used a vegetable cutter to cut them into chips.
After generously seasoning the spuds, she baked them in a hot air fryer at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. She shook the basket and cooked them for another 10-15 minutes for optimal crispness.
While the fries were in the air fryer, she cooked a pound of lean ground beef and seasoned it with au jus jusmix.
Thomas then divided the chips into four trays and topped with equal parts of ground beef. She also added caramelized onions, which she noted are optional.
In a separate bowl, she mixed two tablespoons of light mayonnaise, two tablespoons of ketchup, one teaspoon of mustard, and one-fourth teaspoon of Cajun seasoning to make a spicy sauce.
The fitness guru used a plastic syringe to drizzle the mixture over the fries before tossing some grated cheese on top.
Each of the bowls has 299 calories, 11 grams of fat, 20 grams of carbohydrates and 27 grams of protein, according to the influencer.
Thomas, who used to weigh 183 pounds, has four digital cookbooks with similar recipes for sale on her website for $40 each.
Thomas cut two potatoes into chips and fried them in a hot air fryer at 400 degrees before cooking a pound of lean ground beef which she flavored with au jus jus mix
Each of the bowls has 299 calories, 11 grams of fat, 20 grams of carbohydrates and 27 grams of protein, according to the influencer
“None of my meals look or taste like ‘diet food,’ but that’s exactly why I was able to stay CONSISTENCY and crush my goals,” she explained in the caption
She credits her weight loss to working out and coming up with healthier versions of her favorite meals to make sure she’s always satisfied.
“Just because it doesn’t look like ‘diet food’ doesn’t mean it can’t be macro-friendly[and]conducive to weight loss,” she wrote in the caption.
“None of my meals look or taste like “diet foods,” but that’s exactly why I was able to stay CONSISTENCY and crush my goals.”
Thomas’ loaded fries video has been viewed more than 4.1 million times and received hundreds of comments since the video was posted on July 24.
“Girl, save this for this weekend when my kids are with their dad. Girls dinner,” one fan commented.
‘I just made this!! it was so good. I added pickles and greek yogurt and it was perfection,” someone else added. “My husband rated it 10/10.”
“I just ate this for lunch. It had no right to be so damn delicious!” another gushed.
However, there were others who admitted they wanted to try the recipe but were “nervous about eating carbs.”
“I get it – it takes a long time to re-learn habits that have gripped us for so long,” replied Thomas. “One day at a time.”