8 Healthy Dessert Recipes Perfect for July 4th

Declare your independence from diet-destroying desserts, and give these healthy dessert recipes featuring a red, white and blue twist a try. Each one features fresh, seasonal fruit and a few other easy ingredients. And while they make a perfectly themed treat to bring to patriotic parties and barbecues, these healthy dessert recipes are way too good to be confined to just one day of the year!

Try these healthy dessert recipes any day you’re craving a little All-American treat:

1. American Flag Fruit Tray >

This patriotic platter might look like an ordinary fruit tray. However, there are few small details that make this simple recipe special. From white chocolate dipped bananas to the five different types of fruit, our American Flag Fruit Tray is the perfect addition to your Fourth of July festivities. Click here for the recipe >

2. 5-Ingredient Patriotic Cheesecake >

Celebrate freedom free of guilt! Fourth of July is right around the corner and light and fluffy cheesecake is on the menu. Using just five simple ingredients, you can create  this quick and easy holiday dessert recipe that fits into your weight loss menu. Get the recipe >

3. All-American Festive Flag Crackers >

Festive Flag Crackers are the perfect healthy snack to serve at your patriotic parties. Featuring graham crackers topped with fat-free cream cheese and fresh, seasonal berries, they’re packed with nutrition… and flavor! Click here for the recipe >

4. Red, White & Blue Dessert Cups >

This Red White and Blue Pudding Cup is delicious and patriotic all at the same time. It’s got flavored gelatin, whipped topping and sweet, seasonal blueberries… the perfect flavor and color combo! Click here to get the recipe >

5. 3-Ingredient Patriotic Popsicles >

Not every popsicle has to be bad for your diet! These Patriotic Popsicles are festive, tasty and guilt-free. Featuring just two types of berries and some non-fat Greek yogurt, these tasty treats are as easy to make as they are to eat! Get the recipe here >

6. Red, White & Blueberry Pancakes >

Although technically not dessert, these Red, White & Blueberry Pancakes are the perfect treat for Independence Day! Featuring your Vanilla Nutrisystem Shake and a few other simple ingredients, these tasty pancakes count as one SmartCarb and one-and-a-half PowerFuels, so you can choose whether they fit in your day as a breakfast or a dessert! Click here to get the recipe >

7. American Flag Fruit Kebabs >

Liven up your Fourth of July menu with some refreshing, delicious (and Nutrisystem-approved!) American Flag Fruit Kebabs. It doesn’t get more patriotic and healthy as this. Not a grape fan? Sub in blueberries! Prefer raspberries over strawberries? Swap them out! The possibilities to create this patriotic treat are endless—so, cool down this Fourth of July with some fresh and festive fruit! Get the recipe here >

8. Patriotic Booze-Free Sangria >

Sip on a fruity, flavorful and festive beverage this holiday! Our healthy sangria recipe is free of booze but filled with delicious fruit like strawberries, blueberries and green apples. Get the recipe here >

The post 8 Healthy Dessert Recipes Perfect for July 4th appeared first on The Leaf.

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Feeling Discouraged

Hi all, Im a 23 year old female. For most of my life, I've weighed around 135. Last year, I got into nursing school. Because I was stressed alot, I started eating to cope. I ate alot of fast food and long story short, I gained 25 lbs in a year and a half. Right now, I am 160, and I am feeling very discouraged. I have a problem with being really tempted with fast food. In June, I became more serious about my health, got a gym membership, and dramatically cut down on the amount of fast food I ate. (I used to eat out almost every other day). I also got myself a 64 oz water bottle so I increased my water intake. In June, I ate out probably once every 2 weeks. I also started working out 45-50 minutes 6x a week. I'm feeling discouraged because I've lost little to no weight. When I go on the scale, it just keeps fluctuating between 158-160. I really thought I had lost more weight because I worked so hard. I'm feeling discouraged but I guess I have to remind myself that this will take time. I think im done with the scale. I weigh myself once a week but the thing is I get discouraged if I don't lose weight. My goal is to get down to 123, so it would be a weight loss of 35 lbs. Ideally, I would like to lose this weight by the end of this year or by Jan of next year. I'm tired of feeling unhealthy and uncomfortable in my own skin. This week, I did mess up by eating more fast food because I was discouraged. I was sad and honestly just gave into eating bad. However, I'm getting right back on track tommorow. I want to lead a healthy life and be an example for my future patients, so I cannot give up. Any encouragement or tips would be appreciated. :)

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Need motivation

Hellos! I am 3.5 months postpartum (c-section). My current weight is 91kg and height 5’5; I was 82 kg before pregnancy.

I desperately want to start losing weight by following a sustainable diet and exercise plan. I have been trying to follow CICO (1500 calories a day)since one month but I fail every day and eat way beyond the limit. I am always hungry, craving for carbs and sugar; I feel that’s because of sleep deprivation. Sticking to 1500 calories seems super hard to me. I started walking one hour every day but I have stopped that as well. I am always stressed out because of my current weight and constantly think of losing weight, but I am unable to stick to a routine. I really need some motivation to kick-off and stick to a weight loss routine.

Just want to mention that I am way more stressed out about my weight than what’s been written here. I am just not good at expressing myself!

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[pls help] why am I not losing fat

Hi everyone,

I'm getting really demoralized and I'm hoping someone on here can maybe provide some answers.

I'm Female, 20's, 5'8", 160lb. I've been on a weight loss journey since February after gaining thirty pounds this pandemic. But so far I've only lost about 12 pounds. I feel like that's like nothing considering how hard I've been working, and I'm feeling so frustrated.

The past month I haven't lost any weight at all, and I see no difference in fat. My weight scale measures body fat percentage and it's stayed at around 32% this entire past month even though I feel like it should've changed by at least several percentage points by now.

For context, I was an athlete growing up but quit in college and really let myself go the past several years, especially this past year; I've lost a lot of muscle and gained a lot of fat. Right now on this weight loss journey, I do cross training (running, HIIT, strength training, yoga) and exercise about 5-6 times per week. I've never not met this goal so far. I split it up into 1-3 sessions per day, and on average I burn 500-1000 calories in total each day I exercise. I also go out for a couple walks and get at least 10,000 steps per day, often 20,000+. Before I started this weight loss journey, I wasn't exercising and I never went out for walks (very sedentary).

I also do intermittent fasting (usually on a 16/8 schedule, sometimes 18/6). I track my calories and typically eat around 2,000 - 2,200 calories per day. I eat extremely healthily, like oatmeal, nuts, salads, grilled meats, salmon, etc. I only drink tea and water, no soft drinks or alcohol. I have a small dessert item most days, like some pieces of chocolate, but I always keep it controlled and portioned. I never eat junk food, I never eat fast food, and I never have crazy days that would negate all my week's efforts, so I really have no idea what's going on and not seeing the results I feel like I should be seeing. I use myfitnesspal and according to the app's calculations I should be losing at least 2 pounds per week.

I've considered the fact that I might just be gaining more weight in muscle, but that doesn't explain to me why I'm not seeing any fat loss. If anything, that should be supercharging my fat loss right?

In conclusion, I don't feel burnt out or like I overexercise. I don't starve myself and I eat plenty of protein. I'm active, so much more active than I was before. I've never had this much of a problem losing weight before (my weight fluctuates a lot, I've successfully dropped twenty pounds in fat before when I was a lighter weight, final weight 130 lb). But I'm just not seeing the results I'm expecting. I look the same and my numbers say I'm not improving. I feel stronger and fitter, but that's the only thing that's improved. I don't know what's going on :(

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Today was one of my most challenging days, but I made it through

[NSV] I have been doing really well in my weight loss journey. I'm down 43lbs in 12 weeks & I couldn't be more thrilled. But this morning I awoke to the most intense fast food cravings I've experienced since beginning my lifestyle change. I was literally laying in bed salivating over the thought of greasy, salty french fries and cheeseburgers. I've been obsessing on it all day. But it's almost 11pm where I'm at & I am now at work with no chance of leaving to buy junk food. When my day started I was certain I was gonna full blown binge today, just knew I wasn't gonna be able to make it through this craving without giving in. And now, here I am drinking my bottled water & eating my beef jerky feeling pretty proud of myself - although some fries really does still sound good lol. Hopefully tomorrow will be a little easier

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Day 1? Starting your weight loss journey on Sunday, 04 July 2021? Start here!

Today is your Day 1?

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Welcome to r/Loseit!

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So you aren’t sure of how to start? Don’t worry! “How do I get started?” is our most asked question. r/Loseit has helped our users lose over 1,000,000 recorded pounds and these are the steps that we’ve found most useful for getting started.

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Why you’re overweight

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Our bodies are amazing (yes, yours too!). In order to survive before supermarkets, we had to be able to store energy to get us through lean times, we store this energy as adipose fat tissue. If you put more energy into your body than it needs, it stores it, for (potential) later use. When you put in less than it needs, it uses the stored energy. The more energy you have stored, the more overweight you are. The trick is to get your body to use the stored energy, which can only be done if you give it less energy than it needs, consistently.

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Before You Start

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The very first step is calculating your calorie needs. You can do that HERE. This will give you an approximation of your calorie needs for the day. The next step is to figure how quickly you want to lose the fat. One pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories. So to lose 1 pound of fat per week you will need to consume 500 calories less than your TDEE (daily calorie needs from the link above). 750 calories less will result in 1.5 pounds and 1000 calories is an aggressive 2 pounds per week.

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Tracking

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Here is where it begins to resemble work. The most efficient way to lose the weight you desire is to track your calorie intake. This has gotten much simpler over the years and today it can be done right from your smartphone or computer. r/loseit recommends an app like MyFitnessPal, Loseit! (unaffiliated), or Cronometer. Create an account and be honest with it about your current stats, activities, and goals. This is your tracker and no one else needs to see it so don’t cheat the numbers. You’ll find large user created databases that make logging and tracking your food and drinks easy with just the tap of the screen or the push of a button. We also highly recommend the use of a digital kitchen scale for accuracy. Knowing how much of what you're eating is more important than what you're eating. Why? This may explain it.

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Creating Your Deficit

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How do you create a deficit? This is up to you. r/loseit has a few recommendations but ultimately that decision is yours. There is no perfect diet for everyone. There is a perfect diet for you and you can create it. You can eat less of exactly what you eat now. If you like pizza you can have pizza. Have 2 slices instead of 4. You can try lower calorie replacements for calorie dense foods. Some of the communities favorites are cauliflower rice, zucchini noodles, spaghetti squash in place of their more calorie rich cousins. If it appeals to you an entire dietary change like Keto, Paleo, Vegetarian.

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The most important thing to remember is that this selection of foods works for you. Sustainability is the key to long term weight management success. If you hate what you’re eating you won’t stick to it.

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Exercise

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Is NOT mandatory. You can lose fat and create a deficit through diet alone. There is no requirement of exercise to lose weight.

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It has it’s own benefits though. You will burn extra calories. Exercise is shown to be beneficial to mental health and creates an endorphin rush as well. It makes people feel *awesome* and has been linked to higher rates of long term success when physical activity is included in lifestyle changes.

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Crawl, Walk, Run

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It can seem like one needs to make a 180 degree course correction to find success. That isn’t necessarily true. Many of our users find that creating small initial changes that build a foundation allows them to progress forward in even, sustained, increments.

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Acceptance

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You will struggle. We have all struggled. This is natural. There is no tip or trick to get through this though. We encourage you to recognize why you are struggling and forgive yourself for whatever reason that may be. If you overindulged at your last meal that is ok. You can resolve to make the next meal better.

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Do not let the pursuit of perfect get in the way of progress. We don’t need perfect. We just want better.

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Additional resources

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Now you’re ready to do this. Here are more details, that may help you refine your plan.

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• Quick Start Guide - Build your foundation!

* Lose It Compendium - Frame it out!

* FAQ - Answers to our most Frequently Asked Questions!

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I’m so embarrassed about gaining some of the weight back :(

Idk where to begin...I’ve struggle w/ my weight since I was a 9th grade. I’m 28 now and weight 209. A few months ago, I went on a weight loss journey (starting weight was 200). And it was going really well and made it to 190. I get in depressive moods and have bad anxiety in general. So losing weight during those times was hard. But I ended up going back to uni and working over 40 hrs+ as a nanny, the stress was really overwhelming. Anytime I thought of my weight loss journey, I’d lose motivation. It’s like between school and work (10hr days as a nanny), I felt like I had no time. I dropped out of college recently due to just too much all at once after around the time of dropping my weight loss journey. I’ve never been 209 and I’m so ashamed of myself. I think with just work on my plate, I can focus on losing weight again. How do I just stick to this and finish it? I’m tired of constantly giving up or something happens personally to me that makes me draw back bc of stress. Any tips or advice? Thanks!

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