Day 9 - no added sugar

Hello everyone and happy Saturday to you!!!

I did my resistance training earlier this morning and absolutely love the fact that I can do this at home and usually within 15 minutes! What's your favourite resistance training? To follow the program I do, simply click on this link and download the ebook as I have been able to maintain my body for the last 5 years using this Fit Yummy Mummy fat loss system. It just works!


My favourite post workout drink is (as you all know) 180 Nutrition and I love the fact that it comes in 2 natural flavours with no added sugar of course! It has stevia as a sweetener and I use the coconut natural flavour when mixing up my green smoothies and the chocolate natural flavour when I am craving something sweet.

This went down a treat today!!!! How you coping with no sugar after 9 WHOLE DAYS???? I am starting to get some chocolate cravings!! Must research dark chocolate with no added sugar :-) or simply stick to my protein powder of choice to save the day!!!

Which reminds me, I will be posting later tonight about my exclusive offer. I am super excited to have this available to you all!!!! Watch this space................but here's a little clue;

I also managed to go for a run but can officially say I will be hanging up my running shoes (not that I have been a huge runner as I only started last June/July) however due to my lower back issues and ongoing stitches my rehab doctor has advised I stick to my resistance and core strength training and not over exert my body with high impact exercise eg: running. I need to listen to my body and apologies to my girlfriends that are doing the fun run in Melbourne next month, I will be there in spirit!!!

Running 

Our food today.......


Breakfast 
Home made muesli

No added sugar home made muesli

I simply mix together whatever ingredients I have in the pantry and this morning made a batch with;

rolled oats
fruit & nut mix
shredded coconut
chia seeds
pumpkin & sunflower seeds

You can have this with your preferred milk or even with yogurt as a snack.


Morning snack
180 Nutrition chocolate post workout shake
1 banana

Lunch
Chicken salad with spinach, cherry tomatoes, grated carrot and feta cheese
Squeeze of lemon juice and drizzle olive oil and add S&P to taste

Afternoon snack
Peanut butter sandwiches with grated apples and cinnamon

Dinner
Oven baked chicken tomato basil with sweet ribbon potato chips & salad

Oven baked tomato and basil chicken

Method: Wash chicken pieces thoroughly and rub tomato passata sauce (no added sugar of course) minced garlic, basil and season with S&P. Coat generously and oven bake until cooked. Clean and peel sweet potato and use your peeler to make ribbon pieces, toss in olive oil (I sometimes sprinkle cinnamon) and also oven bake with the chicken.

This is a quick cheat meal for me as the oven pretty much does all the work. What are some of your low maintenance healthy meals?

I am wanting to do a post on converting the not so healthy meals into clean eating meals. Please share some of your classic dinners that are NOT SO healthy so I can try and convert them into healthy dinner meals!


Until we meet again, much love

Xx Dani

Want To Age Gracefully? Exercise Regularly

There's no such thing as an anti aging exercise because
there is not just one particular training activity that can
fight aging. Rather, getting yourself into any regular
exercise plan can help you develop good health, maintain a
youthful lifestyle and age gracefully.

You won't be able to achieve anything if you're not going to
get off the couch. Aging means not being able to do the
things you like, whenever you want to. Incorporating
strength, aerobic and flexibility training in your exercise
program could just be your answer.

Strength Activities

Including strength training in your anti aging exercise
regimen has been known to reverse the aging process. When
you are strength training, you improve bone density and
muscle mass. By not exercising enough, the body loses muscle
tone, and when this happens your muscles become unable to
effectively support your skeletal frame. This means
developing age-related problems like bad posture and chronic
back pain.

The benefits of strength training include toned muscles,
tighter skin, prevention of arthritis and a higher metabolic
rate. A raised metabolic rate enables our bodies to burn
energy effectively even at rest. Strength training could be
done by lifting weights (as in weight training), through
resistance training (resisting opposing forces), and
isometric training (training requiring no net movement). It
is advised to do strength training 2-3 times a week.

Isometric training is good for those who are just starting
an exercise program because it is low impact. All you have
to do is tighten and loosen your muscles in a repetitive
manner.

Aerobic Workout

Slowing down the progression of aging is easy with aerobic
training. Because it has more to do with endurance than
bursts of power, individuals from any age bracket can do
this type of training. Anyone can run, brisk-walk, and do
most other types of endurance training.

Aerobic training is also known as cardiovascular training
because it aids in the healthy circulation of blood in the
body. Healthy circulation helps bring sufficient amounts of
oxygen to different parts of the body. It is responsible for
your coordinating skills, responsive mechanisms and mental
clarity. When blood circulation is weak, you may become
easily faint, develop migraines and acquire severe problems
like heart disease and dementia.

To have superior endurance, de-stressing capabilities and
blood health, start getting into any regular aerobic
activity. At least 20 minutes of aerobic training everyday
is suggested.

Flexibility Workout

Whether you're already doing cardiovascular or strength
training, there's no excuse for not incorporating
flexibility exercises in your regimen. Stretching and
flexing is important before and after every workout session
because it preconditions your body so you are less prone to
joint, bone and muscular injuries.

There's a good reason why stretching and flexing is called
flexibility training. Those types of activities can greatly
recover joint troubles so that you're able to have a wider
range of movement.

Merging strength, aerobic and flexibility workouts in one
exercise program can give you the anti aging effects of
strength, speed, balance and alertness.

How To Enjoy Eating Out Healthier

Dining out is a big part of our lives. Maybe you are eating
out frequently because you entertain clients. Perhaps you
don't like eating out. Regardless, if you want to keep a
nice fit body, restaurant meals will give you a huge
obstacle to overcome. In fact, eating out at restaurants is
one of the biggest reasons why so many people fatten up
while traveling.

I'm going to give you some very simple tricks you can use to
eat more healthy while dining out and stay lean.

The 3 vital things to avoid in restaurants are:

1. Any sodas, juices and other sugary foods (except fresh
fruits, which are great).
2. Deep fried foods (anything dropped in a scorching bath of trans fats).
3. Refined starchy foods.

Skip these 3 culprits and you'll eliminate most of the major
food sources that do the worst damage to our food supply -
trans fats, refined vegetable oils, refined starchy
carbohydrates, and refined sugars.

What you should try to do is, to skip the bread, skip the
french fries that come with every single sandwich on every
menu known to man, and reduce all of the heaping portions of
pasta and rice that are often loaded on your plate as well.

Substitute a salad for the typical french fries, pasta, or
rice, that most restaurant meals come with. And of course
eat your meat and other vegetables as usual.

Almost all restaurants that I have been to will always let
me substitute vegetables or a side salad for the french
fries or chips that come with all burgers or sandwiches.

Just a quick side note, it amazes me how many people
scrutinize my substitutions of veggies for fries by telling
me that I am 'not living' because I refuse to eat deep fried
french fries... are you kidding me! If french fries are your
idea of 'living it up', you need to get a better hobby!

Ironically, the same scrutinizers are the very first to
complain that they're fat, overweight and have tried
'everything' to lose their big guts. I'm not sure why people
think eating deep fried foods equals 'living it up'... I'm
for moderation with many things, but 2 things that should be
totally removed from every diet because they are simply
dangerous... is sodas and fries!

Take a look at the typical difference a simple substitution
makes between choosing smart and doing what other people
do...

Most people will eat a meal out such as this:

* soda or other sweetened drink (and no, diet sodas are
NOT healthy!) * Burger or sandwich * chips
or french fries.

A MUCH smarter alternative if you care about your body and
health is this simple change:

* Salad or fresh raw veggies * Burger or other
delicious sandwich * unsweetened iced tea or water (no
diet pop - unless you like to drink poison!)

Make these 2 simple substitutions and save at least 400 -
900 calories every time you dine out... AND you are cutting
out the most harmful foods to your body as well by avoiding
the evil trans fats of deep frying foods and high fructose
corn syrup from the fries and soda.

On a side note: a semi-secret method to eat full portions of
breads, pasta, and rice, and actually get away with it
without packing on the extra fat is to schedule a high
intensity full body resistance training workout before your
scheduled meal time. This can be free weights or body weight
training.

It may be hard to fit the exercise into your schedule right
before a meal, if you can, the meal can be your
'post-workout meal'. After this high intensity resistance
training workout, your body will handle a higher amount of
carbs than it normally can to help replenish the muscle
glycogen depletion it had during the intense exercise.

Your typical moderate cardio exercise will NOT cut it for
this... it must be a high intensity resistance training
workout to deplete enough muscle glycogen to handle
restaurant portions of carbs.

I hope these dining tips help you choose smarter and
healthier for a leaner body next time you eat out.