Meet Sahar Aker, the mental health advocate who started the #IChooseBeauty movement and hashtag — which she calls a “life preserver” for her own mental health and happiness. A former health reporter, Sahar first reported on depression after her mother’s death 20 years ago; she now serves as an inspiration for people on social media as she continues to share her story and build a supportive community online. Her own battle with depression led to the creation of IChooseBeauty, and her decision to document one beautiful thing each day has turned into a popular (and free!) 30-day #IChooseBeauty photo challenge…
In general, sports can be AWESOME for kids — especially young girls. I know for myself (and Kristen!), being active in athletics when we were younger gave us confidence, built inner and outer strength, and helped us to form friendships and support networks that existed far off the courts we were playing on. But — there is a darker side to some sports. A side that puts too much pressure on winning and/or maintaining a certain body weight or shape. Sometimes, there’s a focus on both of those things — which is a toxic and scary combination, especially when you’re…
A free 7-day flexible weight loss meal plan including breakfast, lunch and dinner and a shopping list. All recipes include calories and Weight Watchers SmartPoints®.
If you’re new to my meal plans, I’ve been sharing these free, 7-day flexible healthy meal plans (you can see my previous meal plans here) that are meant as a guide, with plenty of wiggle room for you to add more food, coffee, beverages, fruits, snacks, dessert, wine, etc or swap recipes out for meals you prefer, you can search for recipes by course in the index. You should aim for around 1500 calories* per day.
There’s also a precise, organized grocery list that will make grocery shopping so much easier and much less stressful. Save you money and time. You’ll dine out less often, waste less food and you’ll have everything you need on hand to help keep you on track.
Lastly, if you’re on Facebook join my Skinnytaste Facebook Community where everyone’s sharing photos of recipes they are making, you can join here. I’m loving all the ideas everyone’s sharing! If you wish to get on the email list, you can subscribe here so you never miss a meal plan!
Also, if you don’t have the Skinnytaste Meal Planner, now would be a great time to get one to get organized for 2019! There was a print error last year, but it’s perfect now! You can order it here!
THE DETAILS:
Breakfast and lunch Monday-Friday, are designed to serve 1 while dinners and all meals on Saturday and Sunday are designed to serve a family of 4. Some recipes make enough leftovers for two nights or lunch the next day. While we truly believe there is no one size fits all meal plan, we did our best to come up with something that appeals to a wide range of individuals. Everything is Weight Watchers friendly, I included the updated Weight Watcher Freestyle Points for your convenience, feel free to swap out any recipes you wish or just use this for inspiration!
The grocery list is comprehensive and includes everything you need to make all meals on the plan. I’ve even included brand recommendations of products I love and use often. Cross check your cabinets because many condiments you’ll notice I use often, so you may already have a lot of them.
And last, but certainly not least, this meal plan is flexible and realistic. There’s plenty of wiggle room for cocktails, healthy snacks, dessert and dinner out. And if necessary, you can move some things around to make it work with your schedule. Please let me know if you’re using these plans, this will help me decide if I should continue sharing them!
THURSDAY (8/8)
B: ½ cup 2% cottage cheese (3) with 1 tablespoon sliced almonds (1) and a peach (0)
L: Canned Tuna Ceviche (3) with 12 wheat thins (4) and an apple (0)
D: Cheeseburger Salad (7)
*Make bacon and chicken for Mon-Wed lunch on Sunday night, if desired. Green salad includes 4 cups mixed
greens, 2 scallions, ½ cup each: tomatoes, cucumber, chickpeas and 2 tablespoons light vinaigrette.
**This is just a guide, women should aim for around 1500 calories per day. Here’s a helpful calculator to estimate your calorie needs. I’ve left plenty of wiggle room for you to add more food such as coffee, beverages, fruits,
snacks, dessert, wine, etc.
Homemade sweet and spicy Kansas City BBQ sauce made with tomato sauce, honey, molasses, vinegar and spices.
Kansas City BBQ Sauce
This homemade BBQ sauce is so easy to make from scratch, simply combine the ingredients and simmer on the stove for less than 30 minutes and what you end up with is a thick, tangy sauce with the perfect balance of sweet and spice; perfect on Slow Cooker Pulled Pork, BBQ Shrimp, chicken, ribs or beef.
A foolproof method for making perfect, fluffy quinoa in the Instant Pot for adding to salads, bowls and so much more.
Perfect Instant Pot Quinoa
I posted this Black Bean Mango Quinoa Salad this week and thought I would share my favorite way to make perfectly fluffy, never mushy or sticky quinoa.
The following post is sponsored by Secret. For our sponsored post policy, click here. Some choices I make could potentially be classified as a bit questionable, like the decision to train for a half marathon PR through the heat of summer … in Florida. (And yes, 100% humidity is every bit as uncomfortable to run in as it sounds.) That choice leads to lots of other decisions, like swapping Friday happy hours for early Saturday morning runs — something you may or may not find debatable, depending on your feelings about drinks with friends and early alarms. I know it might not…
