Pausing for gratitude.

Bertram the Frenchie

One of my favorite parts of leading a wellness group is working through daily assignments alongside my clients. I find it personally rewarding to engage with the material – one of the most important reasons I chose to dedicate my focus to a career in health and wellness was because of my own pursuit for a healthier lifestyle. On the practical side, it encourages me to assess and reassess the curriculum if I find that I’m personally feeling resistant to the work!

An important part of my regular focus on well-being is my gratitude practice, and so I often begin my coaching work with a short gratitude exercise. Today in Secrets of Self Care, we wrote out 10 things we were thankful for. Here is the short version of mine. The long version took up two pages in my notebook.

Today I have much to be thankful for.

I’m thankful for my loving partner.

I’m thankful to work with some amazing women in my program.

I’m thankful for fluffy white snowflakes.

I’m thankful for a trip to Florida for a few months from now when the snowflakes will be less appealing.

I’m thankful for Jamie Oliver’s muesli recipe. With cacao nibs, blueberries, and maple syrup.

I’m thankful for my oldest friend willing to make an IKEA trip with a stitched up foot. And she let me push her in the wheelchair!

I’m thankful for the $20 *already put together* Raskog turquoise cart from IKEA I found in the as-is section.

I’m thankful for dear friends, both near and far.

I’m thankful for the safety of my family in Istanbul.

I’m thankful for my ever-loving sweet pup, Bertram.

What are you thankful for today? 

PS: If you’d like to hear more on this topic, or are interested in future sessions of Secrets of Self Care, sign up for my wellness wisdom newsletter!

The Weekly Meal Plan

Butternut Squash for Days

I spent much of the weekend preparing for Secrets of Self Care and am just now sitting down to one of my favorite rituals of the week – my meal planning! Still a few spots left in the program if you are “Monday motivated” and want to LEAP into action today. Send me an email! 

For the past few weeks I’ve been trying out Blue Apron to assess whether I’d recommend it as a service to some of my health coaching clients. I’ll write up some thoughts soon, but after this week, I’ve put the service on hold – perhaps not indefinitely, but I miss coming up with my own meals! I decided this after getting the last shipment, so most of these dinners will be from the kit this week.

The other thing I’ll be eating is butternut squash. Somehow I’ve managed to amass a small arsenal of butternut squash, and haven’t been keeping up with cooking it. There are five on my kitchen counter, so I’ve been chopping and roasting like a mad woman this week. Do you have any favorite butternut squash tips? I’d love some more ideas!

Here’s what’s on the docket:

:: The Weekly Meal Plan: Week of January 11th, 2016 ::

Monday: seared cod and date vinaigrette (Blue Apron) with browned butter, quinoa, and spinach salad. Truthfully, I’m not big on quinoa these days, so this is likely going onto cauliflower rice.

Tuesday: cheese and snacks at the Wellesley College Club of Boston board meeting. In some of my spare time, I’m the co-VP of admissions and get to coordinate off campus interviews for prospective Wellesley women! Undoubtedly the best part is that I get to meet up with other amazing alums once a month and partake in high class snacks and wine.

Wednesday: chicken and udon noodle soup (Blue Apron) with napa cabbage and dried lime. I’ll be eating a late dinner because I’m going to try to head to Porter Square Books at 7pm for my friend Annelies’ talk about her wonderful tea cookbook Steeped! After that I have my business mastermind meet up – so this is going to be a late dinner!

Thursday: juicy lucy burgers (Blue Apron) with frizzled onion and romaine-walnut salad. Burgers are always a huge hit in this house. We’ll probably eat them bun-less, because I prefer them that way (and find that hamburger buns tend not to last several days in the fridge.

Friday: Out! Or more likely takeout from one of our favorite neighborhood spots.

What’s on your table this week?

Secrets of Self Care – Starts Monday!

Sam Tackeff Secrets of Self Care

Second Lunchers! A quick post tonight to let you know that my next 4 week wellness program starts on January 11th, 2016. I’d love to have you a part of it! 

Secrets of Self Care is a 4 week program for those who have been focused on career, family, or business, and lost themselves a little in the process.

  • Are you lacking inspiration to make simple, healthy, and seasonal meals?
  • Are you feeling tired with the change of seasons?
  • Does your energy wane in the early afternoon?
  • Do you find yourself making sub-optimal food choices when you don’t have better options?
  • Do you feel like curling up on your couch with a cup of tea, and not leaving?

Join me for this adventure in which we’ll focus on being kinder to ourselves, supporting our needs and desires, and nourishing our bodies.

What you get:

  • Daily weekday emails providing journaling and action prompts.
  • Supportive online accountability
  • A personal coaching consultation with Sam (via Phone, Hangout, or Skype)
  • Additional email support for the duration of the course

What we cover:

  • goal setting and mindset training
  • gratitude and journaling practice
  • meditation and (non-traditional meditative practice)
  • adding more joyful movement into our lives
  • building better eating habits (and cultivating an abundance mindset)
  • and much more!

Here’s how it works:

  • The winter session of Secrets of Self Care starts on January 11th.
  • Participants are expected to put in the work! Accountability is the name of the game – the more you put in, the more you get out.
  • Participants will be added to an online accountability group with other vibrant and kind women!

The cost of the course is $179 for the 4 weeks, including a 1-1 personal coaching session.





We start Monday – I’d love to have you join me – we’ll be thinking, writing, dreaming, and bringing good things to life, and I’ll be doing the work right along side of you!