Day 1 - no added sugar challenge

No added sugar challenge 1st-14th February 2013

If I told you I was a bit nervous would you believe me?

I have seriously let my guard down with a serious chocolate addiction. You know that Cadbury Marvellous Creations one with the jelly popping candy beanies? Yes. Smashed the entire block last night! Like, seriously!!! I have a problem. 

I had a reader post a private message on Facebook yesterday asking how she could curb her binge eating as she typically eats healthy food. Well. That was like a letter to me, written by me! I was always like this as a child and it creeps up from time to time in my adult life now. I keep eating something if it tastes good and feet so sick afterwards from over eating. Why do I did this? I have no idea??? 

That's all about to change now.....especially that I am re-reading Sarah Wilsons I QUIT SUGAR book which I purchased last year but really didn't prepare my mind to get rid of sugar completely out of my diet. 

Okay now that I have confessed to you all. What are some of your dark sugary secrets? List them below so we can help each other combat them. I know that I am never asking my husband again to buy me chocolate EVER! Well for 14 days that is....no seriously I need to remove myself from this as I am an all or nothing kinda chick!!! Best not go there and then temptation won't rear it's ugly head.

Planking challenge

Here are my results for last months planking challenge. 31 days of incorporating 3 sets of 1 minute planks in conjunction with my normal 1 1/2hrs of resistance and interval training per week and eating clean 80-90%!

Planking challenge #planksjan2013

Meal Planner

Here is an idea of what our weekly meal planner looks like. I will get a bit more professional and update this in a funky table so it's easier for you to read. 

Friday 1st Feb

Breakfast

1 Apple (grated) and cinnamon porridge

Snack

2tbs Hummus with 2-3 vegetables

Lunch 

Smoked salmon wrap with spinach, capers and tomatoes

Snack

Yogurt with 2 serves of fruit (3-4 strawberries, 1/2 apple, 1 pear)

Dinner

Chicken (baked) rissoles with green steamed vegetables

Ingredients:

Chicken mince
1 grated carrot
1tbs feta cubes
1 garlic minced
1 egg
chopped fresh herbs (parsley and coriander)
*Moroccan spices
S&P

*use whatever seasoning you prefer

Method:

Mix all these ingredients together and if you find the mix too sticky add either cooked quinoa, flaked oats or breadcrumbs and make into burger shapes. Refrigerate and place on non stick paper on baking tray and bake until cooked. Alternatively you may shallow fry them in olive oil or a non stick pan.

Saturday 2nd Feb

Breakfast

Scrambled eggs (2 eggs or 4 egg whites) with spinach, tomato and spring onions

Snack

180 Nutrition protein shake

Lunch 

Tuna vegetable salad

Snack

1 apple with 1.5tsp peanut butter & sprinkled cinnamon 

Dinner

Beef quinoa soup with vegetables

Sunday 3rd Feb

Breakfast

Pear and cinnamon porridge

Snack

2 hard boiled eggs with vegetable sticks

Lunch

Chicken wrap with feta, tomato, cucumber and spinach 

Snack

Tzatziki dip (yogurt, cucumber, lemon juice & garlic) with vegetable sticks and crackers

Dinner

Chicken tenderloins with cauliflower, broccoli and beans

Monday 4th Feb

Breakfast

Waffles with ricotta and blueberries

Snack

Vegetable/fruit juice (cucumber, mint & apple)

Lunch 

Vegetable frittata 

Snack

Fruit smoothie with 2 serves of fruit

Dinner

Vegetable and beef stir fry with 

Tuesday 5th Feb

Breakfast

Quinoa with 1 serve of blueberries

Snack

1 apple and handful of almonds

Lunch 

Vegetable beef muffins

Snack

Protein smoothie

Dinner

Turkey quinoa burgers served with salad

Wednesday 6th Feb

Breakfast

Poached eggs with smoked salmon and asparagus 

Snack

Vegetable sticks with hummus dipping sauce

Lunch 

Salad in a wholemeal wrap

Snack

3 serves of fruit and handful (5-6) of walnuts

Dinner

Flat head fish grilled with salad

Thursday 7th Feb

Breakfast

Organic corn flakes with almond milk and 1 banana

Snack

Hard boiled eggs x2 with sugar snap peas and cucumber

Lunch 

4 beans salad mix

Snack

watermelon with ricotta cheese

Dinner

BBQ meat platter with grilled vegetables and salad

Friday 8th Feb

Breakfast

Mini corn pancakes with yogurt and cucumbers

Snack

180 Nutrition protein drink with 5 strawberries

Lunch 

Omelette vegetable pizza

Snack

yogurt with a sprinkle of toasted muesli AKA granola

Dinner

Home made pizza's with vegetable and meat toppings

I am really getting into Sarah Wilson's I QUIT SUGAR ebook I am learning a lot about what all this added sugar is doing to our bodies. So for your copy simply click on the link and grab yourself a copy for some inspiration and awesome recipe ideas.

Please leave a comment below and share how you survived Day 1 of our no added sugar challenge. I'll be posting daily so add your new comments there. 

Xx Dani

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Fairy tale holiday ends

Well today is officially the last day of the school holidays. We have had such a fun time together as a family of 6! From surfing to bike riding, bush walking, scooter riding you name it!

Noah starts Grade 2 tomorrow, Oscar starts Prep on Thursday and Mietta has a 2hr session at a 3yo Early Learning Centre on Friday, so baby Zali and I get to enjoy some 1-on-1 time.

How are you?

Excited about our no added sugar challenge or what???? I'm super pumped and so excited by all your responses. I'm overloaded by so many questions over in Facebook and Instagram land so I hope to answer all your questions here or my fellow readers can assist me as well. Particularly those that did the challenge with me last year.

In fact there is a sensational book out by Sarah Wilson I QUIT SUGAR. I am desperately trying to give up sugar but sometimes the white devil gets the better of me. I turn to this book for inspiration so if you need some then I highly recommend you click here and grab yourself a copy if you too need some guidance on what to substitute over the 14 days and preferably FOREVS!!!!!! 

So which team will you join? 

In the meantime while you have a think, here's a great supportive chocolate cake from the one and only Teresa Cutter. This will fall in the category of the sugar babes if you are craving something sweet *remember only a slice not the entire cake :-) as fruits of life are omitting the extra natural sweeteners eg: honey, maple syrup etc...

Clean eating chocolate cake

Ingredients 

-2 whole oranges

-Your preferred natural sweetener measurement (eg 3/4 cup honey, agave or maple syrup) 

-6 organic free range eggs

-pinch of sea salt

-4 cups ground walnuts (400 g ) or almonds

-3/4  cup good quality dark cocoa powder

-1 teaspoon cinnamon

-1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract

Method;

1⃣ Steam the oranges until soft

2⃣ Once cool chop entire oranges including the skin. Place oranges with honey, salt, vanilla into a food processor

3⃣ Add eggs, keep blending

4⃣ Pour mixture into a bowl and simply fold other ingredients walnuts (or almonds) cocoa and cinnamon. 

5⃣ Spoon into a baking tin (line it with greaseproof paper) 

6⃣ Bake in a 170C degree oven until cooked through (approx. ­60 minutes) 

This is such a lovely and moist cake (The healthy chef AKA Teresa Cutter does it again). To ensure its cooked properly, test with a skewer. Completely cool the cake before serving into small pieces. Serves 10-12

We had ours with a dollop of organic thickened cream (I had mine with ricotta cheese) and fresh blueberries. For a super indulgent treat, drizzle some dark chocolate ganache after the 14 day challenge of course!!! 

Planks challenge

Our planks pictures have been sensational once again. So many pictures that I keep posting daily of the many inspirational people on Instagram. 180 Nutrition have been kind enough to sponsor my #planksjan2013 challenge as we all are planking for 31 days over January 3x1 minutes. I will be announcing the 4 random winners (2 male and 2 female plankers!) Monday 4th February. So stay tuned and keep tagging your pictures. 

Here are just a few of the plank stars I've posted for those that don't have Facebook, Instagram or Twitter;

Planks challenge

Here are our planks for the past 2 weeks!!! I am proud to announce that I officially can hold a plank 3 x 1 minutes!!! Woo Hoo!!! 

Planks challenge

Some fun down in Lorne and at home....

#planksjan2013 challenge

More pool fun and even a plank at my hairdressers!!!! 

31 day planks challenge

Okay heading to bed to sort out these little people bright and early in the morning. Thanks for stopping by and any questions about our challenge starting on Friday, ask away!!!!

Xx Dani

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I QUIT SUGAR ebook 50% discount offer!!!

When I saw this come into my inbox I immediately thought of you!!!

This weekend the lovely Sarah Wilson who is the author of I QUIT SUGAR is offering 50% off her ebook which is AMAZING!!!!

I QUIT SUGAR special offer this Australia Day long weekend 

In fact perfect for all of us doing the no added sugar challenge next month!!! I even have a copy!!!

Go check it out as it may give you ideas on how to curb your sweet tooth cravings throughout our challenge or FOREVER. I think Sarah is amazing as she has totally eliminated sugar from her diet. She is my inspiration!!!

Here is what we had for breakfast this morning:

NO ADDED SUGAR PANCAKES ;-)

No added sugar pancakes

I simply mixed wholemeal flour with 2 eggs, whisked in buttermilk (or mix yogurt with milk) add some vanilla essence and any other spices you like. I made this batter a lot thicker to my typical traditional pancakes AKA crepes so you just add as milk to make the right consistency you like.

Blueberry pancakes with no added sugar

I then sprinkle blueberries and leave others plain for kids to add yogurts, walnuts, honey or whatever is a semi healthy optional topping.....

I QUIT SUGAR EBOOK

Just a reminder, I'll be posting my daily food journal over the 14 day challenge to give you some other inspiration and ideas. Otherwise grab yourself a copy of I QUIT SUGAR as I find it extremely useful and get so many ideas from her recipe book. It's amazing!!!! Especially with the 50% offer this weekend. Ends Tuesday 29th February.

Have a sensational weekend (HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY to all my Australian friends) and don't forget to register for our NO ADDED SUGAR challenge  (simply subscribe to my blog) that starts next Friday 1st February and ends on Valentines Day 14th February.

 Xx Dani

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No added sugar challenge 1st - 14th February

Here it is. Another challenge coming up next month.

Sugar free challenge 2013

Are you in??? If so please ensure you subscribe to my blog (add your email address in the top right side bar box) to register for this challenge and never miss a blog post!


It's back!!!! The sugar free challenge we all did last year was such a success, simply follow the guidelines we did last year. Any questions you may have please list them under the CHALLENGES tab or on my posts here over the 14 days.


Rules

The rules of this challenge are simple. It's based on a honesty system, so if you cheat you are only doing it to yourself. Also be kind to yourself if you have never done this before. If you slip up, simply get back on track and eliminate the sugar for the remaining challenge. We are all here supporting one another either via Instagram, Twitter or Facebook. So we are only a key stroke away!!! 

We will have 2 teams:

Fruits of life 

We are not to have any foods that have added sugar of any kind. This also includes the added natural sugars eg: honey, maple syrup etc.... If it has added sugar of any kind, we won't be eating it. This also applies to any and ALL artificial sweeteners. Excludes protein powders as majority of them have artificial sweeteners or stevia etc...

Sugar-less babes 

You are allowed to have the natural sugars eg: honey, maple syrup, stevia (and those of you that REALLY need 1 tsp sugar in your coffee or whatever) this is only allowed once a day. Can you imagine if you had a coffee, then a smoothie, plus fruit and other foods that have natural sugars etc.... you really wouldn't be doing a sugar free challenge then would you?

Both teams are allowed:

• 3 servings of fruit per day*
• Ensure you have a smoothie per day to combat our cravings and also to keep our energy levels up!

*Fruit serve examples: 1 banana, 1 apple, 1/2 cup of berries etc...

NB: For those that wish to eliminate fruit as it does contain plenty of natural sugars, we need to acknowledge it is also a part of our healthy eating plan. This is your choice. Fruits of life team only avoid dried fruits.

I think it is also important for us to have a smoothie per day to curb any sugar withdrawal symptoms so please share your most favourite ones. When you have your smoothie per day, don't forget to count this as part of your 3 serves of fruit per day!

Here's a fave green smoothie of mine:

Yogurt or milk with 180 Nutrition coconut protein powder

1tsp chia seeds 

1 cup of spinach 

1 banana

1/2 cup fresh or frozen berries

This smoothie would count as 2 serves of fruit for the day, therefore I am allowed 1 more piece of fruit. Get what I mean?

Our main goal is to GIVE UP the added sugars in the ingredient list. So don't worry about the % of sugar found per grams in the label, rather check in the ingredients that there has been NO ADDED SUGAR! This includes your tomato sauce AKA ketchup! It also includes the like of your dried cranberries as they are loaded with sugar!!!! 

Handy tips

1). Remove any food items you may have around your house that contain sugar. I typically put sugary foods in a box hidden so I avoid any temptation ;-) 

2). Be prepared with food. Always prepare or carry relatively healthy snacks and ensure you eat before you go out anywhere. 

3). Try to eat as clean as you can

4). Eat at least 5 meals per day eg: bfast, snack, lunch, snack & dinner

5). For support post your comments here on the blog, FB, Instagram or Twitter so we can help one another

6). Get out and exercise. If you're feeling stressed or craving sugar do some star jumps, resistance training, cardio, go for a run! WHATEVER you like/enjoy doing as long as you don't put that chocolate bar in your mouth :-)

7). Let's share some of our handy tips to prepare for our 2 week sugar free challenge. Please list them below

8). It would also be worth while to measure yourself eg: hips, waist and those of you that have a muffin top ;) this is around your belly button. This will be more powerful than the number you weigh on your scales but feel free to stat those down as well. It's amazing how many cm's & inches are lost in 2 weeks. You will be amazed!!! 

9). This can be a 14 day challenge or an entire February challenge, the choice is yours!

Meal Planner Calendar 

Many have asked about meal planners and what types of foods you should be eating. I will endeavour to do a planner before our challenge commences. This will just give you some ideas on what foods I eat and you feel free to tailor your own for the 2 week challenge. I will be posting the food I eat over the 14 days so stop by for some inspiration. 

In closing, just a reminder you need to subscribe to my blog (place your email address in the top right side box) to register for this challenge and never miss a blog post!

I QUIT SUGAR

For those needing inspiration with recipes go check out I QUIT SUGAR by Sarah Wilson. It's a fabulous reference as she has completely cut out sugar in her diet, COMPLETELY!!!! 

Sugar free challenge

Let the games begin.....on Friday the 1st of February 2013. 

Xx Dani

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WE DID IT!!! 2 whole weeks without sugar (PLUS tummy after shots)

Pretty good effort if I do say so myself :-))))) the no sugar thing.... Here are my before and after tummy pics.....do you think it made a difference? Just a little, I reckon.

a. Front view day 3 b. Front view day 15 c. Side view day 3 d. Side view day 15 

Kids back at school this week, Noah today and Oscar at Kinda tomorrow. It's been a busy couple of weeks including paint making today.... you can find it on my Pinterest under the kids board.

1. Foam art 2. baking 3. UNO card game 4. face painting by yours truly :-)

1. Pour 1 cup flour, salt & water into bowl 2. Mix until smooth 3. Add some colour 4. Paint away!!

Breakfast
yogurt with fruit

Pre work out drink


Workout today was my 50/10 circuit and seriously I struggled with the reverse crunches but managed to do my interval training 60/30 x 10 combination of heel, knee kicks and star jumps!!!

This is week 4 of the Fit Yummy Mummy 6 week Summer Transformation Challenge (it's Winter here in Australia) so I am really proud of myself for sticking to a personal goal of no sugar and never missing a workout. YAY! for me!

Post work out drink/green smoothie
scoop of vanilla protein powder, 1 banana with 1/2 cup of spinach and 300ml water

Lunch
Smoked salmon, egg, tomato and spinach salad served with olive oil, vinaigrette S&P

Afternoon snack
Frittata slices and wholemeal brown rice crackers with hummus

Dinner
Minestrone soup

I always make a different recipe each time. It all depends on what I have but it always has the staple ingredients. This was my version tonight...

1. dice vegetables 2. drizzle olive oil & saute vegetables 3. clean & rinse soup beans mix 4. simmer away

Ingredients
1 smoked hock
olive oil
1 onion
3 celery sticks
2 zucchini's AKA courgette
4 carrots
1 broccoli
1 tsp paprika
3 bay leaves
2 cans of chopped tomatoes
2 litres of home made chicken stock
handful of basil leaves
bunch of spinach
extra water
lemon juice
wholewheat macaroni pasta

Method
Dice and saute all veggies ( I typically cut close around the green zucchini skin and leave the inside for later with the broccoli). Wash beans thoroughly (I soaked mine overnight) and throw away any odd looking ones! Add paprika and continue to stir, 10 minutes. Add beans, tomatoes, chicken stock, bay leaves and hock allow to boil, then gently simmer.

I left my pot to simmer until we came back from school pick up approx. 2hrs. The meat just fell apart. Such a tasty dish!

Before serving add spinach, basil and I squeezed half a lemon for some zing!!!!

NB: I typically rinse the smoked hock (remember a post where I mentioned, my Mother told me to do that?). Well her story is, they smoked a lot of their meat back in the Serbian village days, so she knows that dark soot isn't what you should be tasting. That black carbonaceous substance is impure. I only cook this dish a few times over winter as I typically avoid all this kinda stuff that leads to cancer etc...

I hope you are all well as are we and I look forward to touching base with you again tomorrow XxDani

BTW anything exciting happening this week you'd like to share? Adrian AKA the love of my life, is taking me to the movies Gold Class style (for my overseas peeps, this is where you have those recliner chairs and eat dinner and have drinks while watching the movies) this Thursday night to watch Ted. I can't wait!!! I've heard it is H.I.L.A.R.I.O.U.S

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Day 14 - no sugar LAST DAY!!!

This is it!!! Our last day without sugar.

How time flies when you're having fun, aye??? ;-))))

I am, sincerely from the bottom of my heart grateful for all those that participated with me in this 2 week sugar free challenge. Here, on Facebook, via sms, email and face to face. It is so wonderful to see such support stretched over the oceans and across the globe, about a health issue that is really effecting peoples health today. Let it be heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity etc...

Where to from here my beautiful people? Let me know what you have learnt by this experience and what are your plans moving forward?

Me?

I will continue down my sugar free path as I still have a couple of weeks to go with the Fit Yummy Mummy Summer Transformation Challenge AKA Winter here in Australia. However I will allow the honey and maple syrup for recipe purposes. I will also be very mindful of any products with more than 5g of sugar in them. I don't want to go too hardcore and be so strict on myself (or our kids for that matter) as I do not want to sabotage how far I have come thus far....

No workout today ~ day of rest

Breakfast
Oats and almond meal pancakes with yogurt, blueberry and almond flakes

I really tried to do measurements for you guys but I struggled as I had the kids in the background wanting to help and I typically just pour a little bit of this, a little bit of that. However as a guide, I put 1/2 cup almond meal and 2 cups of oats, sprinkle of cinnamon and then mixed an egg and 1 cup of milk in a separate bowl, poured the wet ingredients into the dry until I got the right consistency. There was still a bit of wet mixture left over which I then used to make them more crepe style pancakes.

1. Blend oats 2. until flour consistency 3. mix wet and dry ingredients 4. pour onto lightly greased frypan

The texture of the oats and almond meal aren't like the nice soft crepe ones I make for the kids and Adrian so I only made my 3 pancakes. Then added a cup of wholemeal flour and milk until I got the right consistency and made the below for the rest of the family.

The kids loved the frozen blueberry yogurt,  coconut butter and no cane sugar strawberry jam toppings & milk

This was Noah's crepe filled with natural yogurt which froze when we placed frozen blueberries....

The hot crepe melted the blueberries and yogurt and made such a beautiful flavour in your mouth! I had to have a bite of Noah's it looked THAT GOOD!!!


Morning snack
Apple
Mixed nuts


Lunch
Left over frittata

Afternoon snack
Organic corn chips with hummus dips and carrot sticks

I had a night off :-) and went out for dinner to The Steakhouse tonight. Here we are waiting patiently for our food.....

Dinner

Pork spare ribs, lightly fried onion rings and mushrooms stuffed with feta cheese YUMMO!! Sparkling mineral water for drinks.

Oh yes, for those that are in Ballarat you would know of the large Minties jar at this restaurant. WE ALWAYS grabbed a handful before leaving the restaurant but tonight we just walked by....

Okay that's a wrap for me tonight, I am soooo tired. Had a restless night!!!! Here are some snippets of our weekend. See you tomorrow xxDani

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Day 12 - no sugar

My little artist is at it again!! As some of you may be aware, my mother is an artist so it must flow in the genes :-)

NO SUGAR BABY!!! OH YEAH BABY!!! This is unreal and I mean this mainly because of how strong willed our children are! AND YOU!!!!!

How are things going your way? How will you survive the weekend and your last 2 days? We have no where particularly that we are going that will tempt us however I do have to remind my MIL that the kids are sugar free. She will have them tomorrow so I hope to pack their snacks....

Breakfast
2 pieces of wholemeal toast with avocado and tomato (2 hard boiled eggs, not pictured)
latte

Morning snack
raspberry swirl yogurt (greek natural yogurt with thawed out frozen berries) with banana & pecan nuts

Lunch
Wholemeal/grain pumpkin, spinach & feta sandwich with salad (from the wonderful Little Lucky Cafe in Bacchus Marsh)

I absolutely fell in love with this cafe as soon as I laid eyes on it. My first time ever in Bacchus Marsh, only 30 minutes away from Ballarat). The styling in the cafe just had such character and warmth, I immediately started taking pictures! Then I realised best I ask if it's ok to do so? Then I met Angela, the cafe owner. She was so delightful and had no problems with me taking photos. In fact she said you'll love the bathroom as well :-) so here are some pics of her A-mazing cafe....she styled which makes her A-mazing in my eyes. Wish I had that talent!

1. cafe sign 2. quotes on the wall 3. yes! bathroom mirror 4. aisle bench seating

1. stuffed bird 2. another wall quote 3. love this quote! 4. my beautiful friend Aleks & I

Afternoon snack
Mixed nuts and apple

Dinner
Vegetable (with bacon) frittata

The kids absolutely love this dish as they refer to it as one of their rainbow coloured dishes. I tend to make a chicken soup that they refer to as rainbow chicken soup! I like to keep things colourful for them as it's always more appealing :-)

This is a super easy dinner to prepare, I am sure you have majority the ingredients in your fridge. It's so tasty and filling that you don't really need to serve it with anything else,  it's jam packed with vegetables and in this case a bit of bacon as my husband loves his meat ;-)

We had:

Celery
Carrots
Red capsicum AKA bell pepper
Spinach
Onion
Garlic
Bacon
Olive oil
Seasoning of your choice and S&P
Feta cheese (or whatever cheese you have)
Parmesan cheese
Various herbs that you like we had parsley, mint & basil
Eggs (I used 10, we have a big family and I love having it as a left over meal)

Sauté diced/chopped onions, garlic, bacon, red capsicum, celery, carrots, spinach etc... (you can also add mushrooms, broccoli, zucchini, corn etc...) in olive oil. In a small bowl mix your eggs, herbs and cheese and pour over the mixture in the fry pan you are already using or in our case we just poured it in the casserole dish and oven baked it until golden brown.

Now....for those doing this no sugar thing, what's our next plan of attack??? You know we can't just go back to the way we were? It defeats this whole 2 week experience. What have you found has changed over these last 12 days?

~ For me it has given me more will power as I used to be a glutton and could never stop at eating 1 piece of cake, slice or row of chocolate.


~ It has also shown me what a great example I am for my children and have empowered them with some major STRONG WILLED skills and DEDICATION.


~ My body feels leaner, in conjunction to working out every second day (15 minutes resistance training and 15 minutes interval training).


~ The food that I prepare captures the natural sweetness that our body may crave eg: roasted sweet potatoes, coconut & cinnamon toast.


~ My husband has changed his way of snacking at night, he just doesn't. Although he did want me to share with you 1/2 a box of "oven baked" (he wanted me to highlight this) BBQ shapes he had. He thought that must be better than a mint slice biscuit or our new favourite cadbury daily celebrations chockie!!!


~ My stomach looks like it's shrinking (I'll post my before and after shots on Monday). This will really showcase our exercise!

I can keep going but I need to head out and meet my girlfriend which I am sooo excited about. She is launching her new fashion website REAL SOON!!! So I can't wait to share her fashionista styles and tips etc.....

Have a sensational Friday and I hope you leave me a comment with your experiences thus far with reducing sugar out of your day to day eating habits. XxDani

PS: do you mind that I come back later to post my pictures for the day, or prefer me to hold off and post with all the pictures to save you from coming back all the time. I am doing this for you, so YOU let me know what best suits you? I just get excited and want to post straight away and edit throughout the day to keep you in the loop xxxx

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Day 11 - no sugar (happy 1st month blog bday too)

Good morning everyone, how are you doing? We are fabulous this rainy winters day and can I just say how great I am feeling??? I hope my positive vibes******************** gleam off your computer screen as you read this and gets you going today xx

Why am I so pumped?

Firstly because it's Day 11 of our sugar free challenge and everyone is doing soooo well. This is what Noah was drawing while I was doing my post....

His inspiration for the ying and yang sign was not only from watching Kung Fu Panda 2 but his view on sugar vs no sugar. This blew me away.

Secondly I am still pumped from yesterday. The kids went to my SIL and I never told her about our no sugar for 14 days and she offered them a Big M chocolate milk. Noah told his Aunty "thank you but no thank you, we are doing a sugar free challenge". I am freaking out on how strong willed my 6 year old son is and Oscar 4 and Mietta 2 followed suit. Did I mention the kids are on school holidays as well??? As a reward last night we gave the boys some AFL footy cards for doing such an incredible job with the no sugar (for my overseas readers this is our Australian rules football game) the boys were over the moon! They were very appreciative but said they can wait until the end of the challenge to get their reward. How did I ever deserve such beautiful and kind hearted children....okay I'm tearing up now. Get a grip! It's only a sugar challenge for crying out loud!

Okay my list can keep going but I will also mention with my blogging these past few weeks, it's officially a month today!! Happy Blog Birthday to me! Happy Blog Birthday to me! Happy Blog Birthday to me!.....okay, stop already.

I promise I won't be celebrating it every month okay. BUT if I am getting the responses I have been getting thus far, I AM HERE FOR THE LONG HAUL BABY!!! I love you guys!!!! XX

Oh yeah, did I mention I am new in Twitter land also? I was stoked when I saw a message appear Lisa Curry is now following you FitFoodAndStyle. I think that's pretty cool. Lisa is best known for her long and successful swimming career here in Australia. She has competed in various Olympic and Commonwealth Games and has collected 24 gold medals, 21 silver and 8 bronze medals at international competitions. She's also one of the many women who inspire me!!!! WOO HOO!!! She's following ME on twitter, how cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok enough of my excitement for one day.

My workout today was a circuit program that was sooo intense!!! I was sweating profusely! There is hardly any rest time. Traditionally, the time between exercises is short, often with rapid movement to the next exercise. I used various body moves and 1 weight move the DB renegade row.
I then did my interval training x10 of 60 secs high impact (burpess, heel kicks etc...) and 30 secs low impact (marching on the spot). WHoosh!!!!! That got my blood pumping and kick started this whole PUMPED POST!!!! :-)


Pre-work out meal
Apple puree

Post work out drink
Vanilla protein shake with milk 250mls

Breakfast
Pear cinnamon porridge

3 simple ingredients make a very yummy & nutritional breakfast

Pour porridge, pear (including juices) & sprinkle cinnamon in a saucepan. Cook until fluffy

I splash some milk, dollop of yogurt and crushed walnuts for some crunch factor!

Morning snack 

I was still full from my breakfast but this is what the kids made themselves.....oats with dried cranberries (no added sugar of course!) sprinkled on top of some yogurt. Are these kids for real? I guess if these ingredients are the fridge/pantry, kids will be creative and try anything!

Lunch

Left over chicken boccocini with avocado & spinach (drizzle of balsamic vinegar)

Afternoon snack

Avocado (they should be ripe by now)

Hard boiled eggs

Veggies

Dinner

Burgers (with grated carrots, celery & zucchini AKA courgette) and side salad (spinach, capsicum AKA red pepper, avocado & shredded boccocini)

Cut wholemeal bread into small squares and soak with milk, add carrot, celery, zucchini, egg into bowl and shape into burger, sausage or rissole shapes. PS: the soaking of the bread is a tip from an Italian chef I knew in Melbourne as I asked why are these meatballs sooooo tender. That was his secret!

I had a girlfriend and her little 2 1/2 year pop over this afternoon and he enjoyed playing our Serbian Easter traditional "egg cracking" game.....

Tell me what gets you excited and pumped, ready to tackle your day?! See you soon and I look forward to reading and replying to your comments XxDani

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