ABS FOR BEGINNERS

Are you sick of the belly bulge? Why not do something about it. There are 3 simple steps to take in order to start your journey to a flat tummy:

1. Get Your Mind Ready and Into The Zone
2. Eat Clean
3. Train Hard

Easy right?

Once you have convinced yourself that today is the day to start your program and a new lifestyle, then the rest will be easy to follow. The mind is a powerful tool. Train your mind to live a healthier lifestyle and you will see the results happen in front of you.

Eat clean...... How many times have you read those books that give you guidelines on what to eat? So by now you should be an expert on what to eat and when to eat it. Put all your knowledge into effect.

Try and cut out the following in order to achieve a flatter tummy and a healthier lifestyle:

1. Sugar
2. Salt
3. Limit your Carb intake to One meal a day.

Increase your water in take and try not to eat after 8pm

Below is an ab workout for beginners. 

Remember everyone has to start somewhere and for those of you who are beginners this is your start

BEGINNER ABS

20 crunches

15 side crunches

10 leg raisers

20 sec plank on elbows

20 knee taps

10 leg curls

20 crunches

Stretch

There are many simple ab exercises that you can choose from, these are just a few to get you started. Have fun and remember to breathe and always check your form

MORNING SMOOTHIES

That feeling when you wake up and just don't know what to have for breakfast. 

Don't reach for the toast or the sugary cereal, open up your fridge and grab any fruit or veggies you have and throw them in the blender.

That's what I did yesterday morning. It filled me up until lunch and I felt great after drinking it. 

Recipe

Watermelon

beetroot

ginger

celery

chia seeds

blueberry powder

ice 

water

I didn't post the measurements because it all depends on you and how much you want to make. Making a smoothie is not like baking where you need the exact amount or it will not turn out tasting to good. Smoothies are all about experimenting and throwing in fruits and vegies that taste good and you find refreshing.

BEGINNING A FITNESS REGIME

There are so many women who I talk to that have one thing in common:

HOW DO I START? / WHAT DO I DO?

The answer is so simple, just start. Get your yourself organised and start by simply going for a walk in your free time. You can start by 20min walks and then slowly increasing that time to 45mins. Once you feel that Your fitness is getting better you can add different exercises to your regime. Below are some examples.

Walk for 20 mins

10 squats

10 lunges

10 push ups

10 crunches

10 tricep dips

stretch

Try doing this every morning for 4 weeks

This is the ultimate beginners start. It so easy to follow and simple. After 4 weeks of doing this you will feel the need to increase your reps and sets.

Now the only excuse you have to not starting is yourself.

DUBAI FRIDAY

Friday in Dubai means 3 things:

1.    Weekend
2.    Workout
3.    Family

A typical friday in the UAE is with family and friends over a brunch or lunch date. So this means over eating.

I always try and get a good workout early on friday morning so that I don't feel guilty for anything that I am about to eat lol.

Leaving you a few quotes that I love and that keep me motivated and grateful

                                   

GLUTEN FREE BAKING

For those that don't know I have 3 daughters and their favourite thing to do is to bake. So yesterday while my older daughters were out on playdates my little one insisted we bake.

So on came the music, the aprons and the mess! Yes eventually we ended up with 12 chocolate gluten free cupcakes that taste amazing.

Now I didn't say they were fat free or sugar free just gluten free. So I guess this recipe would be left for those cheat meal days.

Recipe

1 1/2 sticks of unsalted room temp butter

2/3 cup of packed brown sugar

2/3 cup white sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup of buttermilk

1/2 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons instant coffee

1 cup of cocoa

1 1/3 cups of gluten free plain flour

1 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix and the divide equally into cupcake holders

bake for 20mins

This is what happens when I turn my back for a second

The baking mess

She insisted that she helps me clean up 

 The finished product. I didn't put any icing as it was already sweet as it is

MUSIC MOTIVATION

The days that you are not in the mood are the days that you end up having the best workout.
Today was one of those days.

The best cure for a lazy morning is MUSIC

Put your gear on and cramp up that beat. Get yourself mentally into that zone, where you feel you can club the highest mountain and feel good about yourself.

I personally love a variety of music when I work out, but today it was 80s funk.

TODAYS WORKOUT

20 standing lunges

20 donkey kicks

20 push-ups

50 crunches

1min bridge

20 side crunches

20 walking lunges

20 tricep dips

20 reverse crunches

20 leg raisers

20 elevated lunges

1min plank

Repeat this 4X with 30 secs rest between each exercise

Remember to add variety to your program

EATING OUT IN DUBAI

Finding a good place to eat in Dubai is not hard, but when you are gluten free then it gets a little tough.

Along comes this little cute cafe that I had to try. From the moment we walked in the service was unbelievable which was an extra bonus for my hubby.

We were so pleased to see that everything was healthy and all about enjoying clean-eating.

A definite must for any healthy lifestyle enthusiast 

Soft and calming Rose Tea

 An all raw cheesecake 

The cheesecake was my favourite

FREEZE YOUR FRUIT

If you want to make your smoothies taste and look more like a gelato, why not try freezing your fruit. I try and bulk buy my organic bananas. I peel half and put them in the freezer. That way when I make my kids smoothies they come out like gelatos and they can eat them with a spoon.

YUMMY

QUICK PIC PREPPING MY BANANAS TO FREEZE

I used frozen bananas, frozen strawberries and blueberries, and threw in a few leaves of spinach in with this smoothie for my girls. I then topped it with Acia powder

The final product

BREAKFAST ON THE RUN

An awesome way to kick start your day with a soothing cleansing smoothie.

RECIPE

1 Celery stalk cut into small pieces

1 lebanese cucumber

4 grapes

handful of baby spinach

half an green apple

1 cup of water

1/2 cup of ice

1 teaspoon of chlorella powder

Blend all ingredients together and enjoy

Workout done, showered and at the hairdressers with my Honest by Jessica Alba book and my green smoothie.

Drinking my green smoothie at the hairdressers. I always find drinking it with a straw more filling and tasteful 

I had mine with a handful of almonds and walnuts

QUICK AB WORKOUT

This is for the times where you only have a 20 min time slot.

I'm a strong believer that you can always squeeze in a workout even if its just on one body part.

QUICK AB WORKOUT

50 crunches

20 reverse crunches

20 leg raisers

1 min plank

20 side crunches

50 crunches

20 Russian twists

20 bicycle kicks

1 min plank

Now repeat 3X

Have a 30 second break between each set

Go hard and remember think of the end results when you feel like your going to give up

HEALTHY BREAKFAST

There are times when I wake up and just can not be bothered with making any thing fancy for breakfast. So I wipe up 2 eggs sunny side up and down it goes.

But then there are those days when I feel like an energy kick and Boom the following happens;

Recipe:

3 frozen strawberries

handful of raspberries

5 dates

1 frozen banana

1 teaspoon of acia powder

1 teaspoon of chia seeds and blueberry mix

1 cup of water

blend away

After you have blended the ingredients, place them in a bowl and top with 1/2 cup of any of your favourite muesli.

I've just used a mix of toasted muesli, with milled flax, sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds & gogi berries

You can use anything that you fancy 

I know it looks little but I honestly couldn't finish it, so I put it back in the fridge and finished it later in the afternoon

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did

LIGHT SNACKING

I love snacking during the day. Especially if I'm always on the run, and with 3 kids thats all the time.
So I always keep my pantry full of healthy snacks.
Here is my 10 top snack food:

1. ALMONDS
2. WALNUTS
3. APPLES
4. DRIED APRICOTS OR PRUNES
5. DARK CHOCOLATE
6. CUCUMBER
7. SMOOTHIES
8. GLUTEN FREE NUT MIX
9. MIXED BERRIES
10. BANANAS

If it was up to me I would be eating walnuts and almonds till I explode. However I was told by my doc that almonds can constipate you so I have sadly reduced my intake to 6 a day.

AT HOME LEG WORKOUT

FITNESS AT HOME

KILLER LEG WORKOUT

PART 1

20 STANDING LUNGES

20 DONKEY KICKS

20 WALKING LUNGES

20 ELEVATED LUNGES

20 BACKWARD SIDE LUNGES

3 SETS OF 20

WITH 8 COUNT PULSES AT THE END OF EACH SET

30 SECONDS REST BETWEEN EACH SET

BODY WEIGHT TRAINING

If your using weights then reduce the reps

Don't let your fitness regime take over your life. 

Try this 20 min workout that will leave you sweating and killing those thighs and butt

NO CAKE POLICY

I was rather shocked to find out that I couldn't bring cake into my daughters class today to celebrate her fourth birthday with her classmates. However it gave me the chance to try something healthy for the kids.

I decided to give them a healthier option but also something that they would enjoy as well. I mean after all they are 4 years old and its a birthday.

So I made them chocolate dipped strawberries.

My little one was over the moon and the kids loved them. Their teacher was amazing and very helpful.

Chocolate dipped strawberries using Hersheys milk chocolate

I stuck them on toothpicks and onto the watermelon until the chocolate dried up

 My little munchkin

EARLY MORNING WORKOUTS

I try to get a workout at any time of the day that suits me. At the end of the day who cares what time you workout as long as your getting a workout.

This morning I squeezed in my normal 40 minute circuit before I dropped my little one at school.

Just a few pics 

 Getting ready

4 sets of 20 

standing lunges with 8 count pulses on each leg

 Bridge - I do these up on the chair or on the ground depending on how my knee is doing. I hold each move for 2 minutes. Just squeeze your thighs and butt.....

 30 sec rest

 Donkey kicks. 4 sets of 20 on each leg with 8 count pulses at the end of each set. Do these on your elbows or hands

 So my little munchkin set up a little snack for me after my workout. Love my little girls

Instagram pic