Mini leg workout challenge this week USE THE STAIRS

With a lot of people requesting another mini challenge, I thought I would come to the party as everyone did extremely well with our 1000 squats in 5 days last week!!! Jeepers were my legs sore! Yours??? Yes, I know. 

Step it up. Take the stairs challenge

Fitness


This one is pretty easy. I didn't want to stretch our friendship so instead of 200 reps per day, I have dropped it down to 100 step ups per day over the next 5 days = 500! Which simply means, go hard for 60 seconds and slow for 30 seconds. 

Example 20 step up x 5 sets

The aim of this challenge is to get your heart rate up and I will be doing mine as part of my interval training which gets my heart pumping and body sweating. So just because you go up a flight of stairs everyday at your apartment block, at work etc... you're not really working up a sweat are you?

For those unable to do this type of interval work, simply take the stairs and avoid any escalators and lifts. This also applies to parking. Park as far away from wherever you are going so it forces you to make more steps in your day!

Food

Our Stand Up And Be Rawesome challenge AKA #standfullyraw is going great guns and people on Instagram have been tagging some amazing meal ideas. Here are just a few AMAZING people that I truly adore and they inspire me daily!!!! YOU HAVE TO FOLLOW THEM if you are on Instagram.

justglowingwithhealth
purtyvicky
realfood4thought
rawnaeima

Fully raw meal ideas 

We have been enjoying our juices and smoothies this week, here's just a few of our favourite ones.

Banana chocolate smoothie

2 bananas

1tsp vanilla essence

1tsp chia and sesame seeds

1 scoop of 180 Nutrition chocolate protein powder

handful of walnuts

almond milk

Chocolate smoothie

Strawberry banana and coconut smoothie

2 bananas
1 punnet of strawberries
1 scoop of 180 Nutrition coconut powder
almond milk

Strawberry banana smoothie

Here was our lunch today, my Dad loves french toast. I made it with a twist.

French Toast club sandwiches

Simply mix eggs, a splash of water with salt and pepper, dip in wholemeal bread and cook in olive oil until golden brown. Drain on paper towel and start building your club sandwiches. 

We had smoked ham, parmesan cheese with spinach. Amazing!

French toast club sandwiches

BTW here's a picture of Zali and I with our final squat last week. She's a trooper. Monkey see, monkey do. Or is it like Mother like Daughter?

Drop it like a squat

Please note, I was heading out that evening so all I had to do was put on my stiletto's and a leather jacket and my rockstar outfit was complete. I am loving Lorna Jane's active gear and loved Lorna's twitter back to me when she saw this pic: 

"Your Active Life extends beyond the walls of the gym. It's for the girl on the go - glad you love it. Lx" 

Love it I do, Lorna. Thanks for being such a great designer. 

Goodnight from me. Until we meet again xx Dani

This post is proudly sponsored by 1st Available. Click now to register for free.

Fully Raw - My 7 days of going fully raw or semi 80/20

Here's a quick snap shot of my week, it's been tough but I am slowly learning how to fuel my body with plant based foods.

Day 1 My first day ever to eat purely 100% plant based foods! Had a huge bowl of apples (6 in fact) sprinkled cinnamon for breakfast and funny enough, felt very satisfied. I need to ensure I eat a least 2,000 calories today so breaky was 400!

Fully raw apple cereal with cinnamon

Day 2 Making heaps of green juices and even the kids are loving all the cleaning and preparation of fresh foods. The only drama is, sometimes this process is taking up too much of my time as typically I'd only have to clean a handful of veggies and then throw some meat in the mix.
Starting to feel hungry, tired and light headed. No caffeine will do this to you too!

Baby green smoothies

Day 3 Loving our Peachs fruit and vegetable boxes. It makes me realise how much we need to incorporate more raw food in our lifestyle. Mind you there are those vegetables we don't eat raw, so I make those for the rest of the family eg: baked potatoes 
Still feeling a little up and then down today as I had a really late night. Many catch ups over the school holidays, so kids are keeping me very busy. I need to drink MORE water to flush out whatever is going on here!

Peachs Fruit and Vegetable fruit boxes. ORDER YOURS NOW!!! 

Day 4 Loads and loads of fruit today, also handful of walnuts. Then a plate full of these gorgeous veggies. Slowly getting into the swing of things but still so very hungry, so I am working out how much my body needs to feel full. Kids are also topping up their meals with crackers and dips, meats, yogurt so they are filling a lot more full.

Fully raw salad

Day 5 Starting to feel less fatigued and starting to incorporate more animal products. A little bit of yogurt, quinoa and meats. Majority of my food is plant based and I am simply loving the colours of some of these juices. Here is our watermelon, apple and pear juice! Simply divine! Kids loved the fact the bee was in this picture.

Watermelon, apple and pear juice

Day 6 Starting to feel a bit better not 100% but I also know this is due to lack of sleep. I also don't drink coffee every day so I am kinda sabotaging myself with getting slight headaches due to the caffeine withdrawal. I need to cut it 100% to make this work. Starting to add seafood in my diet along with other meats.

Prawn salad

Day 7 Oscar has been regular since we started our 80/20 lifestyle. No longer taking Osmolax which was a daily dosage to soften his stool. If we missed a day or 2 he would be bound for 2-3 days. So he's been one very happy camper this week!

Fully raw kids breakfast fruit platter

Here's what our kids have found challenging, eating raw over the past 7 days

Noah 7 years old "it is hard to just eat the one fruit each meal time, every day"
Oscar 5 years old "I still like eating my fruits and vegetables but sometimes it doesn't fill me up. I just want to eat something more that's good for you. Like chicken and avocado sandwiches."
Mietta 3 years old "I love strawberries but not canteloupe"
Zali 1 year old no comment


180 Nutrition

Thank goodness my all natural protein powder provides additional calories in my day. I simply place a scoop in my smoothies and bump up it at least 200-300 calories. They also have a VEGAN range using pea protein isolate. Once again it's all 100% natural with no hidden surprises. I blend mine as a smoothie as one daily serve of 180 provides;

• a healthy meal replacement
• provide increased energy levels
• assist lean muscle growth
• help regulate your body weight
• improve digestion (gluten free)

Make sure you use my 10% PROMO CODE 264464 at check out if you want to purchase some. I swear by it!

Fitness

This week I did squats up against a wall with my fitness ball as I am experiencing a little lower back pain. I'm not getting enough sleep which I notice impacts on me.

So with my Fit Yummy Mummy routine, I incorporated my squat interval training. Here is a picture of my modified squats for those that also may experience low back pain but are still safe to exercise.

How was your first week of being fully raw? Did you buckle like me and shift to the 80/20? I hope most of you are at least trying to eat one fully raw meal per day. 

Peachs fruit and vegetables on Eastwood St

Please extend this invitation to whoever you know that lives in the Ballarat area. Mention my blog to receive a 10% discount off fruit & vegetable purchases at Peachs on Eastwood St, Ballarat. 

What's your favourite raw dish?

♥ Dani