6 Week Transformation Challenge pictures

Woo hoo! I did it. Set some goals and achieved them. Man it feels good. I used to always take short cuts or quit and never really stick to things, hence me getting a wee excited about this!

The Fit Yummy Mummy transformation challenge has finally come to an end and I am pumped that I achieved the following goals:




1. Be consistent and workout 4 times per week


I am so pumped that I made a conscious effort to workout regardless of my situation let it be tired, couldn't be bothered or whatever excuses I typically can come up with  


2. Eat clean 90% of the time


This was amazing and really the main driver of my success, I couldn't have done it without it. Meal planner is paramount and journalling your food shows you exactly what is going in your body.


3. Do a 2 week no sugar challenge (at least 1 week)  


YAY!!! I did this and had such a great support network YOU. This is so doable and has become easier each and every time. Highly recommend it! If my 6,4,2 and 11 month old can do it, SO CAN YOU!!! They were my rock, I can't believe they wanted to participate in this challenge with me and stuck to it 100%!!!!


4. Support and connect with my FYM buddies and various social networks


My readers, FB fans, friends, family and FYM ladies really stood by me and gave me the motivation to keep going each and every day. I thank YOU ALL from the bottom of my heart.


5. Tone and strengthen my muscles


I successfully gained some muscle definition and strength (maybe not in my push ups!). My next challenge will be to increase my weights and build lean and strong muscles.


6. Lose the fluffy look 


This is still a work in progress, it's improved however I am aiming for that firm, toned look regardless of what light you're in  

My stats:

Height: 178cm (5'10")
Weight: 65kgs ~ 144lbs 64KGS ~ 141lb 
Waist (belly button): 80cm~31" 77CM ~ 30"
Hips (pubic bone) : 98cm~38" 92CM ~ 36"
Muffin top: 88cm~34.5" 84CM ~ 33"
Body Fat: 22% 17%

13CM's ~ 5.11" LOST & REDUCED MY BODY FAT BY 5 %!!!!


I'm really happy with my results as I managed to stay true to myself, journal everyday and my food was my main driver along with my workouts. It is possible to get leaner and tone with regular exercise and proper food. I did not want to lose any weight even though I did drop 1kg however hope to gain more muscle mass moving forward.



This was me in September 2011, 2 months post baby no.4 approx. weighing 77gks AKA 170lbs. I typically gained over 30kgs ~ 70lbs in my other 3 pregnancies. This was my first (and last pregnancy) putting on half the weight 18kgs ~ 40lbs.

What changed?


I started to eat clean and exercise up until my pelvis instability disfunction kicked in at 32 weeks.  



A big thank you to you all, thanks for following me and reading my posts. You can get your body back after having a baby. I hope my blog has shown you it is possible, even after 11 months of having baby Zali. 


****Stay tuned*****


My next goal is to define my muscles and kinda get a six pack happening, this is a work in progress.....

A view from a hip lift tummy crunch *****6 pack COMING SOON*****

I hope you do come back again as I am pumped to be sharing this with you all. Can't you tell how PUMPED I AM????

Please leave me your comments and thoughts on the past 6 weeks and my blog in general.....XxDani

The road is now OPEN ~ running picture

Went running this morning.....awesome with a capital "A" until I hit about 3km as I got chatting with one of the ladies in our social running group. Yup! The dreaded stitch came back!!! For those that know me, yes I like to talk. Even when I was at school sitting an exam I would somehow make conversation!!!! So maybe that threw my breathing out, all in all I was pretty stoked as I ran 4.8km AKA 3 miles. We had a couple of stops after some hefty hills but other than that, we kept running....

  

Pre run
Apple puree

Post run
Protein vanilla drink

Breakfast
Salmon flakes, 2 sunny side eggs with salad and feta cheese
latte

Morning snack
Cottage cheese with pineapple and cherries

Lunch
left over chicken mushroom fried rice


Afternoon snack
Serbian style crepes served with walnuts, lemon & honey and strawberry jam
latte

Ingredients (especially for you Celeste)
500g wholemeal flour
1tsp vanilla paste (or use vanilla essence)
rind of one lemon
sprinkle of cinnamon
1tsp apple sauce (not required though)
pinch of salt
3 eggs
500ml milk/buttermilk (or until you get the right runny consistency)


We went for a playdate and catch up this afternoon, I managed to cook my Serbian traditional "clean"pancakes while the kids played and Celeste edited the fitness photos she took last week. She even managed to get a picture of me and my famous "flip" technique that my kids love!

Now I'm just showing off, huh? Nah! Just love playing around in the kitchen really. I have so much fun!!

Dinner
Left over chicken proscuitto feta and salad wraps

Workout completed (no interval training as I thought the running was enough cardio for one day) did my resistance training 50 seconds of 5 various circuit exercises with 10 seconds rest x 4 rounds. Love this workout as it really challenges me, I kinda give up and don't go as hard with all the reps but then I just pump myself and try to go harder the next round.


Post workout drink
Vanilla protein shake with water

Over and out for me today my beautiful people. I am typing this with one eye shut. A very late night last night, early start this morning with a massive run for me. I have never ran that far with limited stops EVER in my entire 38 years on this earth!!!

Hoping your weekend has been terrific and I look forward to sharing with you my last day of the 6 week Fit Yummy Mummy transformation challenge. I can't believe it ends tomorrow? Where has the time gone? XxDani

Shopping for your body shape

Today was an unreal day. I had such a great time shopping with Kelly. She's going out with the girls tomorrow night and asked if I could help her piece together some looks and refresh her wardrobe style.

So after my morning of household duties and fitting in a collage with the kids, we went shopping....

Mietta and Oscar designing their collage. Who knew contact would turn into artwork?

Breakfast
Home made muesli with banana, strawberries and walnuts
2 pieces of wholemeal toast with coconut butter

Morning snack
Protein balls
Mix almond meal with 180 Nutrition coconut protein powder, blend with dates and roll in desiccated coconut. Chill until set.
latte

Lunch
left over lasagna, in the car on my way......

TO GO SHOPPING!!!!

I LOVE to style people and bring back the confidence in them!!!

Now styling is all about your body shape, personality and what colours look good on you. Always keep in mind your body shape and how certain colours and designs can enhance your figure as well as compliment your contours but hide the muffin top at the same time. 

Trust me, I had all the "cover up" solutions for a muffin top; 

1. Grandma underwear that stretched up over my belly up to my bra 
2. Belly bands
3. Girdles that sucked me in that much I couldn't breath and 
4. Layers, layers and more layers to cover the bump or bulge from my underwear, jeans and where my top tucked in 

All this hard work just to "cover up" the unnecessary baggage I was holding onto. For what? That block of chocolate, packet of chips, fizzy drinks or the couch I sat on every night wondering why I was so unfit and not motivated to make a change etc... It was too hard!!! Being healthy and fit, is hard work. If it were easy we would all be sitting on the couch stuffing our faces with chocolate as we looked down upon our glorious 6 pack! :-)))) ha aha 

Back to shopping.....

It's also very important to dress for the occasion. Being over dressed makes you feel uncomfortable and under dressed awkward, so finding that in between place is always a safe way to start! So we basically started with the jeans, tops, jacket and then shoes. We decided to go bright, so bough a pair of coloured jeans (also a pair of classic black jeggins as a back up for another occasion). Throw in a bit of animal print and stripe tops, black leather jacket with some gorgeous ankle boots, we had this Mama looking funky!!! Added some accessories to finish off her look below.

I hope you have a great night out Kelly!!!

This look has been taken from one of my favourite online stores Birdsnest 

Afternoon snack
Yogurt with cherries

Dinner
Quick 5 mins pizza's on wholemeal wraps

No workout today ~ day of rest

I hope you had a fabulous Friday and see you tomorrow xxDani

Pretty excited today!!!!

What started off as a pretty average nights sleep, ended up being a day full of high energy! Well this is me showing you how pumped I was this morning!!!

Baby Zali had an unsettled sleep. Waking up at 2am, then at 3am and before I knew it, I was feeding her Vita Brits at 3:45am with one eye shut. WTH? Cut a long story short, I was super tired this morning. I thought the motto "once an excuse queen, always an excuse queen" was going to kick in but no. I just got up and did my workout. Got the blood pumping and it navigated my entire day with excitement!!! Seriously, I must have some happy gas leaking in my house somewhere?? I just want to explain to you how it makes me feel, so if you ever have those down days and couldn't be bothered (which tends to set your mood for the rest of the day) IT CAN be different,  you're the one THAT CAN make that change.

Pre & post workout meal/drink
Apple puree
Vanilla protein powder with water

Workout completed 50/10 circuit this has been such a challenging workout for me that I am really noticing my muscle definition. I don't have massive weights only 4.5kgs as I am easing back into my exercises. Due to my severe pelvis instability, I have been advised not to do high impact exercises or over exert myself hence just taking things slow.

Breakfast was kinda morning snack (had a sleep in)
Breakfast protein bar
Apple
latte on the go!

You guys are gonna kill me as I just put all these ingredients together without measuring. If you are interested in this recipe, I will make every effort next time I make these to give you approx. measurements. Off memory when I looked up protein bar recipes online a few years ago, they count as 300 calories per bar. My mix made approx. 8 bars (I made them last night and they set in the fridge).

Oats, coconut, walnuts, peanuts, cranberries, vanilla protein, chia seeds & milk. Sprinkle cocoa powder.

It was great to catch up with Kelly today, she made us a lovely salad lunch and apple cinnamon bfast cookies by my fav chef Teresa Cutter. They were so delicious (sugar free) and I will definitely be making them!


Lunch
Super vegetable salad
1 cookie and coffee

Lettuce, cherry tomatoes, red onion, olives, capers, avocado, feta cheese, stuffed olives & cucumbers

Afternoon snack
Banana and nuts

I also made a special surprise pop in at CAKE today with the kids after school, remember the macaroon "special treat" visit with Celeste last week? Well.... our kids have been so super with their less sugar foods that I surprised them by a little treat AKA baby chino and muffin. They were over the moon!!!!

None for me, slowly learning self control. Although I did have a little sample of Mietta's :-)

Dinner
Super quick chicken & veg fried rice (not really fried, rice was just tossed through)

Zali's was just pureed for my convenience as I wanted her to eat and not play and eat :-)

I originally planned lamb cutlets but my butcher didn't have them so I just settled for chicken that I already had in the fridge. Also the ingredients I had at home.

1. Ingredients 2. Brown chicken 3. Sautee onions, bacon & mushrooms. Squeeze some mustard 4. Add stock

Ingredients
Chicken tenderloins (add S&P)
Chicken stock
Mushrooms
Bacon
Onion
Sour cream
Corn flour
Dijon mustard
Frozen peas

Method
In a frypan heat olive oil and brown the chicken, set aside. Add onions & bacon then mushrooms, sauté until mushrooms soften. Add mustard and sprinkle some corn flour. Stir well, add chicken stock and chicken. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Add peas and allow to simmer for another 10mins.
I used my brown rice cheat microwave pack and threw that in the mix at the end and chopped up some herbs with a dollop of sour cream or yogurt (whichever you prefer).

Really quick and ready in 15 minutes or so.

Okay, off to tidy this place as I left this morning for a mental health "home duties" day off! Sometimes it's ok not to leave your home beautiful and just enjoy life outside for a change!!!!

Hope you're all well. Sending you loads of xx'oo's Dani

My push up video for a laugh :-)

Hello everyone, I hope this post finds you well. We had a great day today. I hope you get a bit of a laugh with my x2 push up attempts. Yes, embarrassingly enough I have a very weak upper body. Go figure??? I will persevere and vlog another push up attempt.

Breakfast
Porridge pear with cinnamon

Morning snack
Cottage cheese and fruit parfait
latte

I placed a tablespoon of cottage cheese, then 4 slices of kiwi fruit, sprinkled some granola AKA toasted muesli followed by some more cottage cheese, chopped fruit and sprinkled some walnuts. Super easy and very fun to do with Mietta.

We toasted our home made muesli under the griller for approx. 5 minutes for added crunch!

Here's the birds eye view.....

Oh yes my new favourite cinnamon flavoured latte!!! Yummo!!!

Latte (full cream) with sprinkle of cinnamon

Mietta and I also managed to do some painting this morning, here she is with her little master piece!

We went over to Celeste's house for a play and of course to get my footage on my 2 push up goal for this week. So drum roll please.........don't hold your breath, I didn't achieve my goal. So I'll post my next vlog doing them in a row without collapsing on my knees!!! Any tips out there, I'd love to hear from you!!!!!

She also took some fitness shots which I'll share in some later posts as well. Man! I take my hat off to all those blue steel models out there, it's a tough gig posing in front of a camera.


Lunch
Salmon salad on the go

If there is something I have learned with this clean eating, it's preparation!!! Of course if I haven't got time and heading straight out the door of course I will order take away but typically try a healthy version these days. I can't remember the last time I had a Drive Thru cheese burger from McDonalds or Hungry Jacks AKA Burger King. Although we do call that our extreme emergency food when we are travelling late and our far road trips eg: 2hrs and we don't get home on time to cook, eat dinner before lights out!

Afternoon snack
Handful of almonds and x1 banana
3 sugar free cookies


Dinner
15min super quick vegetable and beef lasagne

As you know I made a huge batch of bolognese sauce last week and I manage to put carrots and zucchini in the mix. I also thought I'd add more veggies to this meal by grilling the eggplant and using it as one of the layers. The mushrooms I quickly sauteed and added in the mince mixture.

Frozen bolognese sauce, eggplant, parmesan cheese, mountain "corn" bread wraps, ricotta & mushrooms

For a super quick dinner, I used the Mountain Bread Oats as my lasagne sheets. I don't feel too bloated in my belly, even though they still have some wheat in there (so it's not 100% GF) however a good option when you don't want to have a real heavy meal. My pasta sauce as you know from last week was one of my freezer batches. It typically includes other vegetables grated like carrot and zucchini but I bumped up a bit more veggies in the lasagne dish this evening with grilled eggplants and sauteed mushrooms.

Another quick béchamel sauce I do is ricotta (entire 375g tub) with an egg and parmesan cheese. I also sprinkle some nutmeg. I slice the eggplant length ways as its quicker for grilling purposes, then squeeze lemon juice over them. Then lightly spray my casserole dish, layer the mountain bread, eggplant, bolognese sauce, white sauce and then repeat the process. It literally takes 10-15mins on 200C degrees as everything is pretty much cooked except for the egg in the ricotta.

I hope you all had a great day and please let me know if I am over loading you with pictures, as I tend to document my life with my Iphone daily!!! As you may be aware, I am a very visual kinda girl.

Okay, it's date night tonight so we're watching Super 8 and I think I'll indulge in one of those chocolate banana with vanilla protein smoothies :-))) for dessert.

Over and out xx Dani

Motivation and great food

Hello everyone, how was your day? I had a few things on the go today, besides the general house goddess duties I also starting sorting through our cupboards and making some sort of organised space or where to go to when you're looking for something. I think I've made more of a mess, as it started in the kitchen and I ended up in laundry as well when putting on my 50 millionth load of washing today. Crikey!!!

All in all a smooth day and a good day.

Workout
Busted my chops again with the Fit Yummy Mummy program I follow. I'm loving the 50 seconds circuit sessions with 10 seconds rest period. Again the renegade row gets me every time and I finish off with the reverse crunch that I have a pool of sweat filling up my belly button. Do you want to see it? Yes I do have a photo for those that are interested ;-) ha ha
My cardio AKA interval training 60 sec squats with shoulder press on the way up and 30 sec marching on the spot, peeling a mandarin for my little Miss Mietta! etc....

For those that are wanting to get rid of that unwanted fat that just doesn't seem to want to go away! Click on the Fit Yummy Mummy link as I have an exclusive offer which allows you FREE access to Clubfym for 30 days and 50% off the ebook! It's the best fitness regime EVER and I have followed this  for the last 5 years! I no longer carry evidence of the excess (unnecessary) weight after having 4 children!

Pre and post workout meal/drink
Apple puree
Vanilla protein drink with water

Breakfast
Home made muesli

Morning snack
Yogurt with mandarins and nuts
latte

I found the below quote quite motivational when the layers were peeled away with questions asking:

"why are you doing this? why are you sharing your body/blog story with the world? why do you want that tight butt on the beach? why do you want a six pack? Don't we have enough of these women on the cover of magazines?"

Besides being a fit and healthy Mama, I really want to be a good example to my kids. Look and feel great for myself, my husband and others eg: be an inspiration to like minded women who come visit my blog.

If I can show people that anything is possible, as I am not a celebrity who has a chef, full time nanny or luxury of a personal trainer. I am someone real who has 4 kids under 6 years of age, I cook clean meals 80% of the time, I find time to exercise and don't make excuses. I motivate myself to get my workouts done, I have a household of 6 people to manage, projects on the go and sick elderly parents to manage etc...

So when these questions were asked I found this quote suited me to a "t". I hope you find it inspiring and motivational as well.....

Lunch
Chicken salad with avocado, feta, cucumber, tomato & spinach drizzle of olive oil & vinegar

We went to our local fish shop, as I know they get fresh fish delivered on Tuesdays and grabbed some beautiful swordfish. I posted a really lovely salmon basting recipe a while back but my friend Celeste said it sounded lovely and looked good but doesn't eat salmon. So I hope you know I thought long and hard about this fish and I must say, it was splendid!!!!

Afternoon snack
On the go with school pick up, nut mix & 1 apple
Rice crackers with our 3 home made dips with veggie sticks

Dinner
Macadamian encrusted swordfish with paprika wedges and asparagus

Sorry about the little burnt maca nuts, I had baby crawling in the kitchen with other 3 playing tiggy and injury central so I had to attend to those crying whilst it was my poor swordfish who copt a hiding on the griller!!!! :-( nevertheless it still was smashing!!!!! Man I brag about my food, don't I? I must have bias taste buds!!!

Method
1. Wash swordfish and pat dry
2. Season swordfish with salt and pepper
3. Place a handful of macadamia's, 1 tsp oregano & 1tsp lemon rind in mortal and pestle
4. Crush until breadcrumb forms
5. Sprinkle and press into fish so it sticks
6. Grill, BBQ or oven bake until cooked (spray olive oil)

As for my paprika wedges, I have my glorious SIL to thank for the super "quick"potato cooking process!!! All you do is cut the amount of potatoes or sweet potatoes you want, season it with S&P, place in a freezer bag and tie a knot, pierce with a fork for steam to escape and set the microwave for 3-4 minute intervals until its cooked!!! It's such a life save for me these days as I have so many saucepans or frypans on the go that one less pot on my stove top is heavenly!!! Thanks Ems :-)

Then quickly fry them for a crispy wedge factor, sprinkle paprika or whatever seasoning you like!

I hope you had a beautiful day and I look forward to catching up with you all again tomorrow. Oh yes here is our menu for the week!!! XxDani

Super quick cheat meals

So my lovely new cyber friend Shari at Your Family Survival Coach has started her first official day without sugar!!! Hooray! Good for you Shari, I am so glad you have made a decision to ban sugar, in your words you actually wrote:

"Big changes start for me round here tomorrow. Thanks for the inspiration.


Tomorrow sugar gets the "a double s" again, white gets replaced by brown and the less processed it is, the better. Need to stop treating".


I am so happy when I get comments like that, even my MIL has quit sugar for a week so far. It's amazing how much better people start to feel.

My day today was a whirlwind, it flew so quickly that I am even looking at my watch now and making sure I post this before my show starts ~ Revenge.

So I'll make this relatively quick.

No workout ~ day of rest

Breakfast
Pear and strawberry porridge with cinnamon and pecan nuts

As previously stated, I make my porridge on the stove top and add a can of pears including the juices, milk, sprinkle of cinnamon and this time I had some very sweet strawberries which I chopped and added to the mix. Absolute bliss!

1. Add strawberries to pear porridge 2. Mix until fluffy
3. Put in fridge container 4. Sprinkle with cinnamon

I tend to make a couple of batches of breakfasts at the beginning of the week so it keeps it different for the kids. We try to avoid the commercial cereals, however we do have Vita Brits. I use a square shallow plastic tub for my porridge as it's easier for me to fit in our fridge's shelving system. It's also very yummy served cold with a dollop of yogurt.

Morning snack

Yogurt with frozen fruit & nuts h

Hard boiled egg

Veggie sticks with hummus dip

Lunch

2 poached eggs with steamed asparagus on x2 wholegrain bread

avocado dip with brown rice crackers

latte

I try and cheat any way I can when I cook, as I am so time poor especially with the young ones around me in the kitchen ALL THE TIME!!! I normally take care with my poached eggs however this is my rushed version.

1. Crack egg in a ladle 

2. Gently place in simmering water (cook until desired consistency)

3. Meanwhile steam asparagus 

4. serve and enjoy!

We went out after lunch and didn't get back home until really late, so cheated with my dinner steps tonight as well....

Afternoon snack

Sugar free cookies x 4

take away latte

handful of nuts and dried fruit

x 1 banana

Dinner

Chicken wrapped in proscuitto and feta served with Moroccan salad

This is for you Elise S ;-) as I am really bad at writing recipes.

Ingredients

Chicken tenderloins (seasoned with garlic, lemon and tarragon) 

Feta cheese

Proscuitto

(Moroccan salad)

Eggplant

Tomatoes

Spinach

Asparagus

Cumin

Lemon juice

Method

Gently pan fry chicken in olive oil (I kinda poach them with the lid ontop)

Prepare your asparagus, eggplant and proscuitto

Lay proscuitto on a plate, place chicken and feta ontop

Wrap prosocuitto and place under griller for a few minutes until feta melts

Super quick in 15 minutes rather than the traditional one I do in the oven with raw chicken, which takes around half an hour.  Yes, I know oven baked may be that little bit more healthier but I use olive oil and paper towels to drain any excess fat on the chicken, asparagus and eggplant.

Moroccan salad

While the chicken parcels were in the griller I quickly pan fried the asparagus and chopped egg plants, tossed them with spinach and tomatoes, squeezed some lemon and sprinkled some cumin. Super quick and very tasty! Got the Moroccan theme from the meatballs we had yesterday :-)

Well I do hope you all had a fabbo day and please go check out my dear friend Shari from Your Family Survival Coach as she has some amazing tips for us family peeps managing a household, budget, general tips, food and anything else she survives in her day.

Until we meet again. XxDani