Favourite Five this Friday - November 29

Can you believe there's now less than a month until Christmas? How is your planning and organisation going for the festive season?

As you'd imagine, with our 4 kids under 8, things get very exciting and more than a little bit crazy around here .... but I guess that's kind of in keeping with how these last few weeks have been too!

This past week though has been a little bit calmer for me with no Fitness, Food and Style trips away from home ... but nevertheless the days have flown past in a blur of busy.

How have you kept up with the busy of your week?

The very best news I received this week, was that our Vision Crusaders captain, Klaus Bartosch, is now in remission after some very intense chemo treatment for an aggressive Leukaemia. Woohoo, Klaus! Such awesome news ... which leads me straight into the recap of my favourite five things this Friday!

1. A number of the Vision Crusaders cyclists have shaved their heads in respect and honour of our team captain. This week, to salute Klaus and the team, I made the chop. No, not shaved ... as that would have been much too drastic for my kids ... but this is the shortest my hair has been for years! You like it? ;)

Any money raised from my "chop for a cure" will be going straight to my RTCC Adelaide starting tomorrow. It's the last of the RTCC events for 2013, and I'd like to thank my FFS readers for coming with me on this amazing journey!

2. This week I focused on building and maintaining core strength with a 7 day Plank Challenge ! Did you plank? Make sure you tag your pics to #ffsplanks for some awesome giveaways. Here are the kids and I hard at it in our pyjamas the other night before going to bed. 

Mini planks challenge

3. The warmer weather really inspires me to break out an exercise sweat and there's something so energising about running. I've teamed with The Athlete's Foot this week to bring you 20 tips to have you jogging like a pro in no time. Check out the post for some pre-run, post-run and shoe fitting pointers.

The Athlete's Foot is where I get my feet fitted with Asics Gel-Kayano's

4. I know that I'm so blessed with all of the opportunities and experiences that Fitness, Food and Style is bringing me and I give thanks daily. It really is my passion though, and I can assure you life is just amazing when you get to follow your dreams!

Live with passion

5. One of the things I find quick and easy in the morning for breakfast are my smoothies on the go. A tasty - and super quick -  way to enjoy the goodness of berries is by whipping up a quick smoothie. Don't forget to add some greens AND a scoop of 180 Nutrition Protein power for added nutrients and energy. Delicious!

180 Nutrition raspberry green smoothie

Another fantastic week done and dusted! Now tell me, what have you been up to these past 7 days?

much love and friendship

xx Dani

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An update ... it's almost the end of an amazing journey

If you've been following my Ride To Conquer Cancer journey this year, you'll understand the mixed bag of emotions I have now as the final ride, in Adelaide, looms.

A chance meeting with Klaus Bartosch in March this year saw me (back then a non-cyclist) thrown right into the Vision Crusaders. This mob have turned out to be more of a family than a team, what a bunch of amazing, dedicated and crazy riders they are - all pedalling for a dream - a cure for cancer!

So very much has happened since our first ride in Brisbane. Who knew that the first ride of our Grand Slam attempt (aka to complete all 6 rides, a feat never done before) would also be the start of an amazing journey with rollercoaster highs and lows.

The very thrill of Sir Richard Branson responding to our global campaign to secure his support was undoubtedly a high point for me, as has been the raising of tens of thousands of dollars for cancer research by the Vision Crusader team,  all donated to medical institutions in each state. Fantastic!!

This has been challenging on all members of the team but one person, our Vision Crusaders' captain, Klaus, has been hit harder than most.

Ironically, only days before the Sydney ride, Klaus was hospitalised to begin treatment for Acute Leukaemia. I bet you can imagine how pumped the team was to turn on an awesome ride in support of the man who was meant to be there with us to raise funds to cure the disease he was now fighting. We were riding to cure cancer, and to cure Klaus.

He WAS with us though, we carried Klaus's jersey, wrote his name on our arms and kept him updated over social media. It was a huge weekend - physically and emotionally. But, as a team we rode our hearts out.

Klaus is now home from hospital, still receiving outpatient treatment, but without hair. As a mark of support a number of the guys from the team have also shaved their heads .... but truthfully I have to say some rock the chrome-dome better than others ;)

To be honest, I'm not a bald kind of chick, and I know my 4 kids would be terrified if I shaved mine all off. They'd panic about me being unwell and the youngest babes just would not understand. But I truly wanted to help and show my support .... so this is the plunge that I took. Check out the before and after - it's not shiny, bald and smooth but it's a drastic cut for me!

Fitness Food And Style cuts her hair for a good cause

I haven't had hair this short in years, but after a few days now I'm almost used to it and calling it "my get ready for summer" do!

To help with some fundraising for my last RTCC in Adelaide, I'm hoping the hair chop can bring in some dollars. The statistics around cancer are frightening - 1 from every 3 Australians are likely to suffer - and all profits from the RTCC events in Australia go directly to research facilities in the host city. If you can spare a donation in support of my disappearing hair you can get further details here.

Other than that, if you like popcorn and a good movie and are into The Hunger Games, this coming Thursday night I'll be hosting a fundraising night and would love to see you there if you're a Melbournite :)

Where: Kino Cinemas, 45 Collins St, Melbourne

When: Thursday 28th November 2013 at 6pm

Price: $25 per person (email anitalmitchell@gmail.com for tickets)

The Vision Crusaders have been a huge part of my 2013 and I'm thankful to be able to count all of them as friends. Each one of them has an inspirational story and will be part of my life forever.

Tell me, who inspires you to push yourself further than you dreamed possible?

Much love and friendship

xx Dani

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What's on your plate? Sardine Special!

Today has been a whirlwind!!! I have been buzzing and pinging like one of those pin ball machines. Had some devastating news about our team captain being diagnosed with acute Promyelocytic Leukaemia and another friends mother passed away. Not good news. So what did I do? 

Ride To Conquer Cancer Sydney 12-13th October for the Chris O'Brien Lifehouse

I got on my bike this week to get some saddle time as my 2nd ride (click here for my Brisbane ride in August) has crept before my eyes and we leave for Sydney in a couple of days!!! WOO HOO. For those that don't know, I challenged Sir Richard Branson to come ride with me and my amazing Vision Crusaders team and this was his response. For those that would like to donate to my final ride in Adelaide, please CLICK HERE. Also come support and follow us on our team Facebook page. 

Food

Here is a classic dish (that I don't make regularly) however I have tried to convert it into a more healthier meal, than back in the days when Mum made it with white flour and totally deep fried them! It's my Yugoslav classic AKA Croatian and Serbian Sardine Special. So here's my little healthy spin on shallow fried sardines served on a bed of fresh greens.

Healthy sardines served with fresh greens 

Ingredients

1kg of sardines (or smaller quantity if you're not cooking for 6 people like me)

1 cup rice flour

Olive oil

Sprinkle of Himalayan pink salt

Method

Wash sardines throughly after gutting them, pat dry with paper towel and dip in rice flour and gently fry in olive oil. Cook until golden brown, drain on paper towel and sprinkle with salt. Super quick meal and simple ingredients that taste amazing. The green salad is all fresh from an organic garden and its a mix of spinach, silverbeet, bok choy and parsley. Squeeze an entire lemon over the greens and drizzle olive oil, sprinkle with Himalayan salt. 

Did you know sardines are jam packed with vitamin B12, vitamin D, and omega-3 fatty acids. They are a very good source of protein and a good source of phosphorus, niacin, vitamin B2 and vitamin B6. You also don't have worry about these little babies having mercury in them as they are at the bottom of the aquatic food chain, feeding solely on plankton. They do not concentrate heavy metals, such as mercury, and contaminants as do some other fish.

So eat sardines and be merry! Let me know your favourite sardine recipe or when you try mine. You are going to love them.

Much love and friendship,

XxDani 

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The Vision Crusaders #richardbransonproject

We have waited long enough don't you think? ;-) Remember this picture I sent out to the world wide web a couple of months ago?

Well, here he is. Sir Richard Branson himself replying back to ME and our team's original invitation. It's been 3 months in the making but we did it! You ALL helped me. THANK YOU xx

Richard Branson holds up a sign to me, Dani and the Vision Crusaders

"Dani, we support you and the

Vision Crusaders

Good Luck!

Richard Branson"

Is this not totally out of this world? To think, an ordinary Mother of 4 children in country Victoria Australia got the attention of the worlds most recognisable and influential men of the world!!! I have never jumped or screamed as loud as I did when I saw this picture on Instagram! Thank you Richard for replying back. I love you. Really, I do.

It was a dream come true followed by an article on his very own blog here.

Totally loving this picture of Richard as he signs off his support and even though he is unable to make the Brisbane ride this weekend, fingers crossed he comes to either the Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Auckland or Adelaide RTCC event!!!!

Richard Branson signs off his support to the Vision Crusaders 

I am totally grateful for everyones support and a special mention to Closer Communications (a boutique PR agency based in Sydney, Australia) who have generously donated to my Sydney ride in October. They are such a great company to work with and they are super keen to work with bloggers and influential individuals determined to make a difference! So anyone wanting to get in contact with them for product reviews and giveaways etc... please do. They want to work with bloggers big and small to achieve mutually beneficial goals. Closer Communications will bring you closer to your goals. 

Pretty much like my goal in reaching Richard and creating the #richardbransonproject hashtag. You can view the pictures across all social media platforms and see some pretty amazing people and their creative signs.

Your motivating and encouraging words kept me inspired every day to continue, this life changing journey I am about to embark.

6 rides, across 6 states, 12 days and 1200kms to raise as much money and awareness as we the Vision Crusaders embark on one amazing and epic ride to find a cure for cancer. 

Wish me luck this weekend as we Ride To Conquer Cancer for the Rio Tinto Queensland Institute of Medical Research in Brisbane.

Dream big.

Much love & friendship,

Dani xx

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2 weeks - bike workout for my first ever 200kms Ride To Conquer Cancer

Here it is! My next 2 week workout program. It has been personally designed for me as I attempt my first ever 200kms bike ride in Brisbane 17th-18th August for the Ride To Conquer Cancer event. For those that would like to donate, my next ride is now scheduled for Sydney 12th-13th October.
Would love your support here.

2 week Ride To Conquer Cancer training program

Week One

Monday: Day of rest
Tuesday: Spin class and core stability session
Wednesday: 1 hour cycle at 140-150bpm
Thursday: 1 hour cycle at 140-150bpm and strength session (see below for exercises)
Friday: Intervals 10 minute warm up* 20 seconds full sprint with 30-40 seconds rest. Repeat 5 times.
10 minute warm down*
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Fun ride or FYM workout


Week Two


Monday: Day of rest
Tuesday: Spin class and core stability session
Wednesday: 1 hour cycle at 140-150bpm and strength session (see below for exercises)
Thursday: 1 hour cycle at 140-150bpm
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Ride 100kms
Sunday: Ride 100kms

Strength sessions performed x 3 sets

Dumbbell squat to curl to overhead press exercise 12 reps
Dumbbell walking lunges 12 reps
High box step ups 20 reps each leg continuous
Dumbbell jump squats 10 reps

Written by Jarah Breese who is a High Performance Athlete Trainer and majoring in Exercise Physiology and Masters in High Performance Science. Jarah was part of the Australian Mountain Bike Team racing around the world, so I am totally grateful our paths have crossed.


Please feel free to follow if you too would like lean legs and buns of steel! Ha! You know what I mean.  I will be following my FYM program for the warm up and warm down sessions. It will be interesting to see how I go with my 200km program. Please ensure you get your Doctors okay with this program. If you have any past medical or injuries please never over train and listen to your body. You can read more about my disclaimer here.

What has been something you have never done before that required a lot of preparation?

So here we go! I hope you too have set your own personal goal for our 31 day water August challenge as we increase our water throughout the day. Have you been drinking plenty of water?

Much love and friendship,
Dani xxx

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August 31 day water challenge and my squat results

Another challenge is here!!!

31 day water challenge - Fitness Food And Style 

Click here for your printable version

Please print out and have it handy on your fridge, at the office, inside your pantry door, inspiration board etc… so you can keep accountable as I know, I have been hopeless with my water intake over the winter months here in Australia.

The other challenge I thought we could set ourselves is a couple of personal ones. As you all know I have my BIG Ride To Conquer Cancer event coming up in Brisbane, so I will share my “bike ride” fitness regime that a High Performance Athlete Trainer created for me. 

My other goal is to get more upper body strength. So I will be trying to do a variety of push ups, pull type exercises and planks. For more information on the various challenges, click on the links or go to my challenges tab and choose what you would like to do here. Whatever you choose, please take a before and after picture so you can see your progress. 

July results – no added sugar and 50 squats challenge

My results for our July no added sugar and 50 squats every second day aren’t jaw dropping by any means but I just wanted to show you how a month of at least squatting can improve your tush a little. Excuse the 2nd underwear picture but it was the only time I could get my little one to take a picture and I couldn't find my swimmers which is why I wanted to do a real comparison for those that wanted the same bottoms, light or time of day. Sometimes these things are not possible in my day, so please forgive me.

Fitness Food And Style 31 day squat challenge - results 

It’s not a huge difference (as you know, I am no fitness model. I am just a regular Mum of 4 kids trying to fit in fitness at any opportunity I can). I missed a few days of squats due to being fatigued with my cycling training and I have also been pretty hopeless with my no added sugar meals. So those 2 combinations, if they are not working in conjunction with one another won’t improve our body shape.

Work in progress is all I can say.

Please list your 2 goals for our August challenge and ensure you subscribe to my blog so you don’t miss a post this month.

Much love and friendship,

Dani

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Movie Fundraiser - Ride To Conquer Cancer

For my local readers and surrounding areas of Ballarat, I would love you to make it to my Ride To Conquer Cancer movie night.

Simply purchase your tickets from Cycle City on Mair St or Touche Hair Skin and Body on Drummond Street. The wonderful team at 103.1 Powerfm Ballarat will also be making an announcement and thank you Katie for seeing me last week and placing my flyer in the foyer. Alternatively you can email me dani@fitnessfoodandstyle.com.au and RSVP with full payment by Friday 26th July 2003.

For those that are not able to attend, you can make a donation HERE.


It's going to be a sell out! Especially on Opening Night. WATCH the movie trailer. Some of my favourite actors Morgan Freeman, Isla Fischer, Woody Harrelson and Mark Ruffalo just to name a few.

The biggest thank you to the amazing Ben and his team at High Tech Printing for donating all my flyers and postcards that will be plastered ALL over Ballarat this week. Special thanks to Hayley at Cycle City and Nicole at Touche Hair Body and Skin for being the primary point for purchasing tickets to the movie. Rokk66, Wen and Where, The Forge Pizzeria, Krooze In Cafe, Lorna Jane Ballarat, Athletes Foot, Pauline Dean Hairdressers, Regent Cinemas Ballarat, St Francis Xavier, Clarendon College and all those that have said yes to posting my flyer on their staff and community notice boards.

To my beautiful friends and family, I also give thanks as you too are diligently selling tickets on my behalf. So many people to thank that my eyes well up even thinking about how grateful I am to each and every one of you. Thank you for letting me ride for those that need it the most. I am one step closer to Richard Branson, WATCH THIS SPACE.

Much love and friendship,
Dani

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Fitness Food And Style turns ONE

Happy birthday to me! Happy birthday to me! Happy birthday dear Fitness Food And Style. Happy birthday to me!

Fitness Food And Style turns 1

I can't believe it's been an entire year since I googled Blogger and created my blog. I had several girlfriends tell me I had to share my new healthy and fit lifestyle with the rest of the world. I told them who would want to follow me? Low and behold over 100,000 followers later!! THERE YOU ARE! So thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your love and support. 

Here's a quick snapshot of the last 12 months.

June 2012

I created my blog and Facebook page. This face now goes out there in the world wide web as Daniela Stevens Creative Director of Fitness Food And Style

Dani Stevens Fitness Food And Style

I share all my post baby transformations and hope to motivate others that you can get your body back after having babies. I have, after 4!!!

Post baby number 2

Post baby number 3

Post baby number 4

I started getting better with my food choices and no longer gained over 30kgs over my pregnancies. Hence wanting to share the 15 minute workout program I have been following for the past 6 years and healthy eating. No more yo yo dieting. 

July 2012 
I start my own 6 week Transformation Challenge and document what I eat and the 15 minute workout program I follow.

Fit Yummy Mummy Transformation Challenge

August 2012 
We celebrate two birthdays. Our first born Noah turned 7

Skylanders birthday party

and baby Zali had her 1st birthday.

1st birthday party baby pink

To ramp up my 6 week transformation challenge I pick up the pace and do a mini ab challenge to see if I can motivate myself and YOU to eat healthy and eliminate sugar within 12 days.

I also start to train for my first ever Ballarat fun run. I am no runner, so this was a huge challenge for me.

Run Ballarat

September 2012 
I get really excited about blogging and can't believe there are 60,000 page views in 3 months and my readers/followers on Facebook start growing from 20 people to 1,100. I am truly grateful that you are all enjoying my blog and my fitness, food and style journey xx

Fitness Food And Style reaches 60,000 page views

October 2012
Busy birthday month again with 2 parties and I officially complete my first ever Ballarat fun run and take a picture with Olympic champion Steve Moneghetti.

Steve Moneghetti and Dani Stevens

I even appear on the front cover of The Ballarat Courier which totally blew me away!!!!

Our sweet darling Mietta turns 3 and has a star party!!!

3 little tin cakes 

and we finally get to celebrate my darling husbands birthday

November 2012 
Our pool project is slowly coming to an end, I participate in a yoga challenge for the month and realise how much love and passion I have for this particular movement and we celebrate Oscar's 5th birthday and have a pirate party!!!

Pirate party

December Finally we wrap up the year with no more birthdays (except for JC's on Xmas Day). I kick off my first official challenge and run a #xmas25squats challenge on my blog, Instagram and Facebook which took off!!!!!

I also clock over 100,000 pages views on my blog and have 2,000 plus followers on Facebook and over 5,000 followers on Instagram. Really enjoying what I am doing.

Squats challenge #xmas25squats

We took some fun squat pictures and Christmas is always a great time of the year with our kids, friends and family.

January 2013
I now get hooked and start challenging you all to join me in my monthly fitness challenges, on top of our normal workouts we do. This month it was all about planking and we had some amazing pictures under the #planksjan2013 hashtag. My results weren't too bad either.

Planks challenge 2013

I also gain a lot of Instagram followers with 15,000 from people tagging my challenges and sharing with their friends.

February 2013
This month was HUGE!!! I had so many of you participate in my No Added Sugar 14 days challenge and even got a mention in the Lorna Jane Move Nourish Believe blog.
The I Quit Sugar by Sarah Wilson ebook was a fabulous recipe book, with so many options to assist to curb my sugar cravings.

No added sugar challenge

I also get an exclusive 10% discount for all my readers for the awesome 180 Nutrition protein powder I use. I love it!!! Don't forget to use the promo code 264464 at checkout any time. 

March 2013
This month it was all about push ups and eat more greens. I collaborated with @tonedtannedandfitness from Instagram  #pushupsgreens, celebrated my 39th birthday and clock 39,000 Instagram followers. I also go to my first ever blogger event Digital Parents and meet Klaus Bartosch who invites me to be part of the Vision Crusaders team.

Push ups challenge

So many cool pics with people doing their push ups all over the world.

Push ups challenge

April 2013
With all the greens we pushed up in March what better way to continue this by eating fully raw!!!  Stand up and be RAWESOME was a very challenging month for me to say the least. I really had to increase my calories & fruits a lot more but didn't manage to eat enough, so I ate a 80/20 fully raw diet as my beautiful Kristina at Fully Raw coached us along the way.

Fully Raw and Fitness Food And Style

Our kids loved this challenge and their Incredible Hulk AKA Shrek smoothie.

May 2013
We take a little bit of detour from fitness challenges and we focus on every day things and a little on style with my #photoadaychallenge.

Photo a day challenge - Fitness Food And Style

I also feature in the Lorna Jane move, nourish believe blog and meet Lorna Jane herself.

Lorna Jane and Fitness Food And Style

I have a busy month campaigning for my Vision Crusaders Ride To Conquer Cancer and I meet so many amazing people online that are helping me achieve my goals. Special thanks to Andrea for making this clip for me by Biz Promo Video.

June 2013
This is wind down month where we focus on our spirituality and connecting our mind body and soul. I have collaborated with Grow Soul Beautiful with this months yoga a day challenge. Facebook fans nearly clocks at 10,000 followers and Instagram hits 83,000 followers. I am blown away!

I also started my #richardbransonproject and appeared on Win 9 News and our local newspaper The Courier with our kids primary school holding up the sign.

Source: The Ballarat Courier

So many signs across the world holding up this sign asking Richard to come ride with me. I am blown away and can't wait to receive his reply.

Richard Branson Project

This has been the best 12 months EVER! I thank every person that has contributed to making this such an awesome year! Even if you are not listed by name here, you are never forgotten as you are the reason why I am here. You mean so much to me and I look forward to more adventures in 2013 and beyond!

Which reminds me, have you a spare $5 you can dontate to my Ride To Conquer Cancer please? You will be making such a difference by contributing to this amazing cancer research benefiting the Rio Tinto Queensland Institute of Medical Research. 


===> DONATE HERE

Much love and friendship,
Dani xx 

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