Sara Rue Weight Loss: How Jenny Craig Helped Her Shed 50 lbs
Sara Rue’s weight loss journey is awe-inspiring. With a balanced diet and exercise routine, she lost 50 lbs. Here are all the deets of her weight loss journey.

Sara Rue’s weight loss was the result of her decision to ditch bad habits and adopt a healthier lifestyle. After she turned 30, the Less Than Perfect star finally decided to focus on her health. As an emotional eater, she often fell prey to overconsumption of food and could not track how much she indulged. As her weight continued to fluctuate over the years, it wasn’t easy for Sara to stay motivated. Her weight loss journey is a series of twists and turns.
When she was younger, Sara had opted for different fad diets. These types of methods are often sought after by the masses as they promise quick results (1). However, research proves that fad diets are unsustainable, don’t have a lasting impact, and can also have adverse effects in the long run (2).
In Sara’s case, none of these methods worked for her, as she always ended up gaining the weight back. As her last resort, she chose the Jenny Craig program, which worked in her favor and helped her lose 50 lbs. Sara is not a fan of the celebrity culture that prompts its stars to look as skinny as possible. The talented actress didn’t want to take any shortcut to reach her weight loss goal, nor did she want to opt for any surgery. So, how did Sara lose all that weight? Which diet plan and workout regime did she implement? Before we dig up all the details on Sara Rue’s weight loss, let’s look at her career trajectory.
Who Is Sara Rue?
Born Sara Schlackman, she was born and raised in New York, US. Her father was a stage manager and her mother was a municipal employee and former actress. Sara’s parents were quite active in Broadway theatre — and at the age of nine, Sara began her acting career with the movie Rocket Gibraltar. Today, she has various movies and TV shows to her name.
She is best known for her roles in Less Than Perfect, Rules of Engagement, The Ring, Malibu Country, Man Maid, and Pearl Harbor.
Sara got married to Mischa Livingstone, a filmmaker in 2001. The couple separated in 2007. In 2011, she got married to a teacher Kevin Prince. The wedding took place in a traditional Jewish setting. The couple welcomed a daughter in 2013 and named her Talulah. Later, in 2016, the couple adopted a second child, Adelaide.
Before her marriage to Kevin, she lost a considerable amount of weight with the help of the Jenny Craig program. Let’s get deets about her weight loss transformation secrets.
What Is the Jenny Craig Program?
The 45-year-old actress gives a lot of credit to Jenny Craig for her weight loss achievement, and rightly so. For the unversed, Jenny Craig is a renowned American weight loss guru and the founder of Jenny Craig, Inc.
The Jenny Craig diet program is a comprehensive diet plan that helps people lose weight by creating a happy and healthy relationship with food along with aiding people in building a balanced and active lifestyle.
Since there is no one-size-fits-all in the world of fitness, and there is no single weight loss program or a food plan that can help everyone — Jenny Craig takes a personalized approach to weight loss and helps their clients burn calories by customizing the plan as per their weight loss goals (1).
Sara Rue joined the program in 2009 with the intention of losing 30 pounds — it took her around a year to achieve that goal and she got all pumped up after making it happen. She then put all her focus into weight loss and by July 2010, the star had successfully lost 50 pounds.
But it took Sara a lot of effort to slim down — she worked out regularly along with maintaining a strict diet to reach her weight loss goal. Here are the complete details of Sara Rue weight loss diet plan.
Read More: Natasha Lyonne’s Weight Loss: How She Quit Smoking And Became Healthier
Sara Rue Weight Loss Diet Plan
When asked what was the motivation behind Sara Rue’s weight loss journey, she once confessed that in the entertainment industry, there are certain roles in which you can’t be cast as you are overweight.
She further stated that she doesn’t want to sensationalize the topic and anyone on the weight loss journey knows that it comes more from the inside and is an emotional ride. Further, she said that in her case, she was determined to slim down as she wanted to be at a place emotionally and physically where she could feel comfortable in her skin. When she reached 30 years of age, she had an image of herself about how she wanted to look in the coming 10 years.
This irresistible urge to deal with weight issues and get to a healthy weight made her accomplish her goal quickly. The very first thing Sara changed in her lifestyle was the way she ate food. Sara admitted that she was an emotional eater and didn’t really keep track of what and how much she was eating.
She once revealed that used to zone out while eating, eventually leading to consuming more food than her body requires. To tone her body down, she became a conscious eater and resorted to mindful eating, paying attention to each and every bite she puts in her mouth. This helped her keep track of calories and avoid overconsumption of food.
Mindful eating offers a plethora of benefits for everyone — when you feel the food you are eating without any distractions, it helps aid digestion as well as an increased awareness of hunger and fullness (3).
While many celebrities ditch a lot of food items when on a weight-loss diet, Sara planned on doing things differently. Her diet methods were different — she didn’t really cut down on any particular food — however, she revealed that she mostly consumed a plant-based diet to reduce weight.
According to a study, there are many advantages people reap when they start a plant-based diet — it helps keep various chronic conditions at bay, reduces body weight, and improves digestion (4).
Read More: Whitney Thore Weight Loss Story: How She Lost Whopping 100 Pounds
During her battle with weight loss, another change that Sara brought into her lifestyle was avoiding animal protein post-7:30 pm. Furthermore, she ensured to add veggies to her diet. When making pasta, she layered the bottom of the bowl with spinach to cut down the carbs. By making these small yet impactful dietary changes, Sara was able to lose 50 lbs.
According to Sunaina Sindhwani, a clinical nutritionist and an internationally certified skin specialist, "Different veggies have different elements in them, which are packed with good phytochemicals (plant-based chemicals) and antioxidants. Also, different-colored veggies have different phytochemicals that perform different functions in the body."
Read More: Selena Gomez’s Weight Loss Journey with Positive Body Image
Sara Rue Fitness Routine
Sara Rue, despite being a busy woman, juggling between work and personal duties as a mom, never fails to find time for the workout. To scale down, she ensured that she made some time for workout sessions, even if it is for 30 minutes.
Her fitness routine consists of walking on the treadmill, hiking, and walking. All these exercises when combined make for a great fitness routine to lose weight and stay active.
Walking, even though, might look like a simple activity, can help a lot in shedding pounds and maintaining good cardio health. According to research, going for a brisk walk every day can help regulate blood pressure levels, maintain body weight, improve cardiovascular fitness, lose body fat, tone muscles, and elevate mental health (5), (6). Sunaina further adds, “Walking is a smooth and effective way to lose weight, it helps to burn calories. It also keeps the body active with a reduced risk of disease.”
Just like walking, hiking too, is an excellent type of cardio exercise that you can include in your fitness regimen to have fun while you shed pounds. Other than toning down weight, it may also help lower stress levels, keep blood sugar levels in control, boost the immune system, and keep heart problems at bay (7).
Incorporating these changes in her lifestyle and being consistent with these helped Sara Rue lose 50 lbs. She felt on top of the world after shedding pounds and this change helped her boost self-confidence as well. Her weight loss story proves that there are no quick fixes and one has to be determined to do hard work and ditch all bad habits to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle.
Sara Rue Before And After Weight Loss Photos
Before
( Image Source: Getty Images)
After
Sara Rue’s weight loss is a testament to her willpower and resilience. She moved beyond self-criticism and got the necessary help. Feeling comfortable in one’s skin doesn’t imply that one should accept unhealthy habits and an unfit body. Sara Craig’s transformation serves as an example that it is never too late to embark on a health and fitness journey. She is an inspiration to everyone trying to lose weight healthily. Her weight loss story tells us that our bodies can surprise us when we let go of destructive patterns and commit to a healthier lifestyle.
Contributor: Sunaina Sindwani, Dietician and skin specialist
Sources:
1. Fad Diets: Facts and Fiction
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9294402/
2. Fad Diets: Lifestyle Promises and Health Challenges
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/310474556_Fad_Diets_Lifestyle_Promises_and_Health_Challenges
3. Mindful Eating: The Art of Presence While You Eat
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5556586/
4. Nutritional Update for Physicians: Plant-Based Diets
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3662288/
5. Effectiveness of Long and Short Bout Walking on Increasing Physical Activity in Women
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3064872/
6. Walking and Activeness: The First Step toward the Prevention of Strokes and Mental Illness
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC89381
7. Hiking