Eating sugar free indulgences whilst training for abs

Hey there beautiful people, how are you??? All is fabulous our end and what a beautiful start we have had to Spring!!! The kids and I enjoyed the glorious sunshine, walked the lake and saw some pretty flowers at the Ballarat Botanical Gardens and Conservatory today...here is just an example.

Had a sensational workout yesterday with the FYM August WOM (workout of the month) and boy! I felt my tummy muscles in the leg lifts and I made sure to do 4 sets and maximum reps as I always take the short cut and only do 3 sets and 8-10 reps, this time I made sure 4 sets and 10-12 reps!!! I need to crank up my workouts and invest in some weights before our FYM challenge starts on Monday.

My interval training, consisted of 60 secs squats and 30 secs of shaking out my legs! I did this 12 times.

Today was my day of rest however I managed to squeeze in a 3km run and still got a stitch because I taped myself, hence talking, giving me a stitch but I decided not to post as it's just a repeat of my run last week. No news, although I didn't stop and it didn't cause me too much pain. I'll keep pushing on.

Breakfast
Wholegrain flakes fruit salad



I did have this with some milk, but the colours of all the fruit were too nice to spoil with the milk so I took this shot before I poured the milk.

Morning snack
Yogurt and cucumbers

Lunch
Pumpkin, brussel & bean salad

I was so impressed with the flavours of this salad I made Thursday night that I had to repeat it for lunch.  So de-lish!

Afternoon snack
Almonds and fruit

Dinner
Left over bolognese sauce with zucchini pasta

Sugar free indulgences AKA dessert
Nut butter muesli with frozen raspberries

I did my workout (had low supply of my protein powder) so made a quick post work out meal which included protein, low carbs and some produce. So all I did was grab a scoop of my home made muesli, 1 tablespoon of nut (brazil, cashew & almond) butter with a handful of frozen raspberries and splash of milk. Hit the spot.

Apple strawberry crumble

The kids have been asking me every week when we're having a dessert, so I thought I'd make one. Gosh I'm a nice Mum! I didn't make our traditional style with flour, butter and sugar crumble or even sugar and apple in the mix. No, I had to take it to the next level and ensure it was all good stuff we were putting in our bodies ;-)

Everyone had their serving(s) with full thickened cream and I opted for ricotta cheese as the ingredients were all supportive and I didn't feel any guilt or bloating feeling afterwards.

Ingredients
Cooking apples
Strawberries
1 pear
1 squeeze of lemon
vanilla bean
cinnamon
fresh dates
dried figs

I simply just placed all these fruits as this is what I had in the fruit basket and also included some fresh dates and dried figs for some extra sweetness. Allowed this to cook until it was compote consistency. I make a big batch of this and then puree it for the kids yogurts and it's simply divine!!!!

Crumble topping
Dates
Walnuts
Cinnamon
Vanilla essence
Coconut
Oats

I just add approx. 2 cups of oats and then a couple of handful of walnuts, watched the consistency and added the cinnamon, vanilla and coconut. Keep adding the dates until you get the mixture to roll up into a little ball, as pictured in the last step.

Then lay your apple mixture in a dish, top with more fresh strawberries and sprinkle crumble ontop. Bake until golden brown. Enjoy!

Apricot raisin snowballs

The kids gave them the snowball title as they sprinkled the coconut over them. This was a last minute snack that my kids wanted and the only ingredients I could find in the pantry were:

Ingredients
Oats
Tahini paste
raisins
apricots
coconut
honey
milk

Method
Mix all the ingredients and roll into balls! The kids loved this exercise and the bonus is it's nut free so they take these snacks to school. You can also use nut butter if you're not a fan of tahini paste.

I hope some of these sweet indulgences give you an idea, that you can still have your cake and eat it too :-) no real sugar required. Hopefully your kids will like the conversion as it took a while for my kids to turn to the "healthy" side.

I am looking forward to the 10 week Fit Yummy Mummy challenge which starts on Monday 3rd September, who's joining me??? We have a stack of ladies at Clubfym just like you that want to feel fit, be healthy and share the journey, so I do hope you can come as it's a great virtual support network.

I'll be following the Transformation Kit workout for those that want to know the exercises I am doing and wanting to follow me.

I hope you're having a sensational weekend and for all my readers celebrating Fathers Day tomorrow, Happy Fathers Day to all those past and present.

Xx Dani