Today, I’m super-excited to announce a new upcoming challenge that I know will be fun and extremely beneficial to your health, weight and beauty!

It’s “The Beauty Detox Summer Salad Challenge” — and it will run for a duration of one week, starting Monday, August 18th! This post is to help you gear up, and get ready…

Overall, it’s really simple: If you want to participate, all you need is eat ONE large salad-based, all-plant meal for lunch OR dinner each day.

No, that’s not the ONLY thing you eat; you still eat just as much as you normally would, overall, the challenge is just about making sure you add the salad to your daily diet.

Your lunch or dinner main course salad should be large, abundant with greens and can be topped with:

Avocado

Cooked veggies

Lentils/beans

Seeds/Nuts (these are more dense, so as I mention in The Beauty Detox Solution, you might want to pick one of the other options, or if you’re eating these at lunch please be moderate in portion size! ) 

Quinoa

Starchier veggies like squash, sweet potatoes 

Or even paired with veggie soup or a wrap.

*** Remember. This is about Progress not Perfection!

Have a nice big salad and all-plant based meal and you will be doing great. 

I’m going to re-share some of my most popular salad recipes with you in a moment, to make it even easier for you — but you can also pick or make any salad you want.

In addition to eating the salad each day, we ask that you post a daily photo on Instagram or Twitter using the hashtag “#BeautyDetoxChallenge” and tagging me — @_KimberlySnyder — to track your 7 day commitment.

Here’s an example of a post:

7 Day #beautydetoxchallenge: Day 1 – Digging into @_KimberlySnyder’s Dharma Kale salad! So yummy!

(with your personal pic!) 

The Challenge will live on this blog and we’ll keep you updated here, in addition to sharing progress pics from everyone, but it will also be active on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. Here are the links: 

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/KimberlySnyderCN
Twitter – https://twitter.com/_KimberlySnyder
Pinterest – http://www.pinterest.com/kimberlysnyder3/
Instagram – http://instagram.com/_kimberlysnyder

It’s best to upload your photos on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook — and again, use the tags #BeautyDetoxChallenge and tag @_KimberlySnyder

Why Are We Doing This?

Good question! The reason is, in my experience, eating at least one salad each day is one of the simplest and yet most powerful health disciplines you can incorporate — and one that’s sure to have a lasting impact on how you look and feel each day. In the Beauty Detox Solution I talk about how lunch should ideally be based around a salad, and topped with any of the choices listed above or paired with a soup or wrap, and in this challenge you can make your big salad-based meal lunch OR dinner. 

Also, given that we’re still in the thick of summer, there are so many beautiful, fresh raw veggies that you can use to create stunning, delicious salads. As I’ve said many times, I tend to eat a higher percentage of raw/living foods in the summer, with an abundance of green salads. This is such a great time for this challenge, and I’m really excited to participate right along with you!

This Challenge Runs for 7 Days, Starting Monday! Woo Hoo!

Here are the dates:

Start Date: Monday, August 18, 2014
End Date: Sunday, August 24, 2014

Remember, this is a chance to look your best, feeling amazing and share your experience with the community and world. I will also do my best to retweet/regram posts you tag me in as well. Bloggers who participate will be linked on a dedicated post on this blog next week!

Here are some recipes that promised above. Remember, you do NOT need to eat these exact salads each day. Any Beauty Detox type of salad is perfect. This is just a meant to be a guidepost if you need it!

SAMPLE SALAD RECIPES

Day 1 – Dharma’s Kale

Ingredients

Base:

1 head of Lacinato (dinosaur) kale is best, but curly kale works also
2 handfuls of sprouts- any kind you like. I like Sunflower sprouts and Clover sprouts best.
1 cup of sliced sundried tomatoes or fresh tomatoes
1 medium avocado, sliced
1 handful of fresh dill, chopped (optional, but I love the taste it adds to this salad!)

Dressing:

2-3 Tbs. lemon juice (Meyer lemons when available)
2-4 Tbs. of nutritional yeast
Cayenne pepper to taste
1-2 Tbs. of dulse flakes or dulse strips (optional)
Coarse Celtic sea salt

Optional for serving:

Untoasted nori wrappers

Day 2 – Israeli Chopped

Ingredients

1 large organic cucumber, diced. (Don’t peel organic cucumbers as there is lots of minerals in skin)
3 large tomatoes, diced
1 large zucchini, diced
1 cup chopped white onion
1 ½ cups chopped parsley
3 Tbs. chopped mint
2 Tbs. olive oil
4 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. Celtic sea salt

Day 3 – Warm Mushroom and Brown Rice Arugula Salad

Ingredients

Salad Ingredients:

8oz mushrooms
1.5 cup brown rice
1 bunch basil
1T nutritional yeast

Dressing:

1Tbs. low-sodium tamari
About 1.5 Tbs lemon juice
.5 Tbs. raw coconut nectar
Sprinkle of cayenne (or more if you like it hot!)

Day 4- Raw Tabouli Hemp Seed Salad

Ingredients

Base:

1 huge bunch of either curly parsley or Italian flat parsley, or 2 smaller bunches
½ white onion, diced
1 organic tomato, diced
5-6 heaping Tbs. of hempseeds

Dressing:

Juice of 1 lemon
1 clove of garlic, minced
Dash of cold-pressed olive oil (optional)
Sea salt, to taste

Day 5 – Spirulina Spinach Salad

Ingredients

2 large bowls of baby spinach leaves
1 large tomato, diced
1-2 ripe avocados
2 handfuls of sunflower or clover sprouts
½ tsp. of spirulina powder, to start
Splash of olive oil
High quality sea salt, to taste

Day 6 – Raw Taco Mexican Salad

Ingredients

For Salad:

½ avocado
2 hearts of romaine (organic if you can source it)
1 tomato, chopped
½ red onion, chopped
⅓ bunch cilantro, chopped
2 Tbs lemon juice

For Taco Filling:

2 cups walnuts
1 Tbs. cumin
½ Tbs. coriander
2 Tbs. low sodium tamari
1 tsp. chili powder

Day 7 – Design Your Own!

If you do follow this plan as listed, that’s fine, but be sure to make your own on the 7th day, or at least one of the days. Or, as I mentioned, you can just as easily create your own unique Beauty Detox salad every single day — if that works for you.

If you can’t make your own salad, check out the salad bar at your cafeteria or a local salad-tossing joint, or a local cafe/restaurant where you can get a big salad. Hint: at Mexican restaurants you can get big salads topped with guacamole, salsa, etc. At Japanese you can ask for a combined green salad/seaweed salad…at a Mediterranean you can ask for a big Greek Salad but cooked veggies instead of cheese. Be creative! 

Whatever you choose, I’m sure it will be perfect. The real reason to do this is to establish this powerful habit of having a salad each day, and make it part of your ongoing routine and diet — even beyond this challenge.

I hope everything is clear — don’t hesitate to ask questions in the comments below if you’re unclear about anything.

You can make a trip your grocery store of choice or better yet, your farmer’s market (!) this weekend to load up on beautiful local veggies in preparation for the start date on Monday.

And remember, I’ll be doing this right along with you.

I’m excited to see what you share with us, and look forward to your posts! :)

Love,

Kimberly