Ballarat Begonia Festival and my Lake Wendouree push ups

What a great day we had today at the Ballarat Begonia Festival. Here's a quick snap shot of some of the 52 community groups, businesses and schools entered into The Courier Begonia Parade;

~ Chinese Community

~ Zumba

~ Stems flower market

~ Ballarat Regional Multicultural Centre  

~ Ballarat Fire Brigade

~ Ballarat Yacht Club

Just to name a few......

Ballarat Begonia Festival

It's amazing! this festival has been running strong for more than 6 decades!!! They marshall in Carlton St between Sturt St and Wendouree Parade and along Wendouree Parade between Morrison Street and Hamilton Avenue.

It was a jam packed day today and we had such amazing weather.

Ballarat Begonia Festival

Fitness

Today I managed to do my female version push ups beside our beautiful Lake Wendouree! I did do 2 proper ones but still not 100%. Little Oscar attempted his version and then collapsed on his belly. 

This is Week 2 for our Day 3 push ups, reps 8, 8 &9 (rested 2 minutes in between sets). Where is the time going? Tomorrow is a day of rest and then we move onto Week 3!!! Whoosh! How time flies when you are having fun.

Lake Wendouree push ups

I know it's only been 2 weeks but I am starting to see some muscle definition in my arms & shoulders, I really should've taken a before picture. Totally forgot!

Food

I got into making our meatballs again this weekend and made a big batch for this week to freeze as I will be going to Sydney next week for a 2 day Digital Parents Conference where there is jam packed information with panel sessions, workshops, keynote speakers, networking opportunities and a sponsor expo. It's one the biggest social media events catering to Australia's mum, parent and personal blogging communities. So I look forward to meeting new people and especially meeting my dearest friend Shari from Your Family Survival Coach. 

Spinach wholemeal pasta with basil meatballs bolognese

My typical meatball recipe is found here however today I pushed up our greens by adding more basil and parsley!!! Boy were they divine!! Also pushed up our greens with these amazing spinach based wholemeal pasta!!! Now that's some serious green action on a plate!!! 

I hope you had a sensational long weekend (for my Victorian readers) and please leave me your comments below on your most favourite freezer meals?

♥ Dani 

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March challenge ~ push ups and greens week 2

Hello everyone, I hope you are having an awesome weekend. We are having such great summer weather even though we're in our first week of Autumn.

Sending you plenty of hugs and sunshine your way especially to all of you in -20C degrees, I can't believe how cold your winter has been. I hope the sun comes your way pronto!!!

Summer time in Autumn

Food

The last few days I have been making some super quick "cheat" meals where I don't have to cook for too long or prep up.

We had a bbq the other night and had some left over organic turkey sausages so I simply whipped up some curry sausages!!! Of course pushed up my greens with these luscious frozen peas!!!

Left over bbq sausages

I checked out my fridge, pantry and freezer and these were the ingredients I found:

- 4 left over bbq turkey sausages (sliced them up)
- 2 cloves of garlic
- yellow curry paste
- mustard powder
- 180 Nutrition coconut protein powder
- splash of milk
- 1 can of corn
- x2 cans of mixed beans/legumes
- 1 cup of frozen peas

Method:

1). Heat frying pan and add sliced sausages, sprinkle mustard powder
2). Crush a garlic, add canned corn and beans
3). Mix curry paste some hot water, added 180 Nutrition coconut protein powder and milk (instant coconut milk/cream)
4). Place all in frypan, add peas and allow to simmer until peas are cooked. Add S&P to taste if required

***NB: A special 10% promo code is provided for those that order 180 Nutrition products via my blog. It's a little thank you from me for supporting my blog***

You can serve this with quiona, brown rice or like us we just had it plain. Added yogurt with some mint and it was super flavoursome.

The end product, inspired by Jamie Oliver as he is renowned for his bangers and mash type recipes.

curry sausages with beans

Here are some more wonderful array of green recipe ideas being tagged to our #pushupsgreens challenge. How glorious do these look?

Push ups and greens challenge

Even baby Zali is loving her green juice, we simply placed apple, celery and parsley and both girls were asking for more! more! more!

Green juice for baby's

We have had some amazing push ups pictures tagged to our challenge as well, here are some more amazing people participating in our March challenge.

Push ups 4 week program

Fitness

Week 2 is already here. Below are our increased reps. Please ensure you rest in between the sets and let me know how you are going with your push ups?

4 week push up program

I have managed to squeeze my 15 minutes workouts this weeekend, loving the short bursts of resistance and interval training. Beats working out for hours at the gym especially when I have our 4 little angels to play around with. For more information on the fitness program I follow, go here.

Leave me your thoughts on how creative you have been in the kitchen with your greens, how your push ups are going etc..... Are you enjoying it? Also have you been cutting down your sugar since our No Added Sugar challenge. If you need inspiration and how to quit sugar completely, you can buy Sarah Wilsons I QUIT SUGAR here or click on the side tab. It's a real eye opener!

Until we meet again. 

♥ Dani 

You have read this article 15 minutes workouts / 180 Nutrition / curry sausages / fit yummy mummy / greens / i quit sugar / jamie oliver / push ups / push ups and greens challenge / sarah wilson / smoothies with the title push ups and greens challenge. You can bookmark this page URL https://jrhehjg.blogspot.com/2013/03/march-challenge-push-ups-and-greens.html. Thanks!

Weight loss and Transformation Tuesday how to lose weight and maintain it!

Here it is everyone, a before and after shot after baby number 2!!!!!

Transformation Tuesday body after baby number 2

Yes, I know, I know..... too much eye make up but hey how often do you get a chance to get all glam'd up and pose for your hubby and be like one of those girls in a magazine??! Now my hubby has his own  cover girl :-)

How did I get my body back???? 5 years ago I stumbled on this sensational workout system and I thank that day as I only workout 90 minutes per week (along with my fun challenges I run with you). This fitness regime suits me perfectly as I am not in a position to pay a baby sitter nor could I be bothered working out for an hour in my day. The results I am getting have been successful for ALL of my pregnancies and you can read them more here.

Are you getting the results you are after? If you are great! If not and you are seeking an exercise regime that will target and burn your baby body fat, I highly recommend this program. In fact if you click on my link you will receive a 50% discount off the ebook and 30 days free trial at Clubfym. Seriously, you have nothing to lose, except that stubborn fat that is just hanging around.

What's your fave workout? Leave in your comments below.

*TRANSFORMATION TUESDAY features*


I would love to share your transformation on Tuesdays, so please email me your pre and post pictures to dani@fitnessfoodandstyle.com.au and attention in the subject line TRANSFORMATION TUESDAY. I will then send you back our interview questions.

#PushupsGreen Challenge

Push ups and greens challenge Fitness Food And Style

My super simple green juice;

• 1 apple
• 2 celery stalks
• 1 cucumber
• handful of spinach
• 1/2 lemon

Mind you it always changes depends on what I have in the fridge, some days there's ginger and berries, others mint etc....just mix it up as you please. The aim of this month is simply to incorporate more greens in your day or at least have one serve!


This challenge has been super sensational and so many ideas on greens recipes. I can't wait to collate all this info for you and get a free ebook happening!!! So many inspirational people out there with so many refreshing and creative ideas, I love it!!! I too, surprise myself as well :-)

Once again though Kristina has caught my eye with her fullyraw recipe. Check out her latest recipe which she will post on her Youtube channel on Wednesday. I asked her to be creative and boy! she never ceases to amaze me!

Kristina with her amazing fully raw Cinnamon Beetroot Basil Marinara 

I am really happy that my male friends have also embraced this challenge and are doing their push ups. Take a look at @d_stinto and his superman push up!!! Ama-ZING!!!

Superman push ups @D_Stinto

I am super excited about my friends over at 180 Nutrition as they too are running an IG competition this month in conjunction with our #pushupsgreens. Simply tag your food recipes to #realfoodrevolution for your chance to win a months supply of 180 Nutrition products. How unreal is that?

180 Nutrition IG competition

You know you don't need me to brag about these guys and how much I love and stand by there products, so much so that ALL my readers have an exclusive 10% discount promo code which you can use at check out. If you haven't tried 180 Nutrition, they also have a 4 starter pack bundled in chocolate and coconut flavours, so give it a go. There is also a vegan range. Only $14.99 Free delivery (anywhere in Australia) shipping will become available to our friends overseas very soon. For those that can't wait and want to try some now, please email me as I am more than happy to arrange the shipping for you.

They have their monkey bites coming really soon which is nut free and user friendly snack for our kids at school and for those with nut allergies. I will post more information about this when the product is launched.

I hope you all had a great day! I spent majority of my day beside the pool as we have had a ripper week. Here are the girls today enjoying their time in the pool.

Leave me your comments and let me know how you are going with this months challenge and what else you would like to see in the over the next several months as I bring more challenges to make health and fitness fun for all of us!!!

♥ Dani 

You have read this article 180 Nutrition / club fym / dennis stint / exercise / fit yummy mummy / fully raw / K / monkey bites / protein powder / push ups / push ups and greens challenge / tbt / transformation tuesday with the title push ups and greens challenge. You can bookmark this page URL https://jrhehjg.blogspot.com/2013/03/weight-loss-and-transformation-tuesday.html. Thanks!

Push ups challenge and eat more greens

If this doesn't get your body moving, I don't know what will.....Check this out!

Double click ----> PUSH UP 

Push Up Freestylers

One of my ALL time fave songs and don't even mention the clip, it's crazy and I LOVE IT!!!! So watch this space for some Dani action and her push ups video clip!!!! 

So here we go!!

4 week push up program 1-31st March

I am going to keep it simple so please adjust accordingly to your fitness level and reduce or increase your push up reps. Choose your preferred days. 

Week 1 

Day 1 

3
4
4

__

11

NB: Allow 90 seconds rest between sets

Day 2 

4
4
5

__

13

NB: Allow 90 seconds rest between sets

Day 3 

5
6
6

__

17

NB: Allow 2 minutes rest between sets

Total push ups for Week 1 = 41

Week 2

Day 1

7
7
7

__

21

NB: Allow 90 seconds rest between sets

Day 2

7
8
8

__

23

NB: Allow 90 seconds rest between sets

Day 3

8
8
9

__

25

NB: Allow 2 minutes rest between sets

Total push ups for Week 2 = 69

Week 3

Day 1

8
9
10

__

27

NB: Allow 90 seconds rest between sets

Day 2

10
11
12

__

33

NB: Allow 2 minutes rest between sets

Day 3

11
12
12

__

35

NB: Allow 2 minutes rest between sets

Total push ups for Week 3 = 95

Week 4

Day 1

12
13
13

__

38

NB: Allow 90 seconds rest between sets 

Day 2

13
14
13

__

40

NB: Allow 90 seconds rest between sets

Day 3

15
15
17

__

47

NB: Allow 90 seconds rest between sets

Total push ups for Week 4 = 125

Grand total push ups in 4 weeks = 330

Even the green man himself The Incredible Hulk is asking ARE YOU READY? I know this program may seem a bit light for those that are used to push ups and are doing them in their regular fitness regime but I am totally hopeless, I am never consistent and I want to try and get more than 5 mens style push ups in a row by the end of the month. I know there are many of you too that cannot do proper push ups so we can do this together. Progress not perfection. I will be starting on the kitchen bench incline style, incorporating female push ups on my knees and then trying mens style. It's all about challenging ourselves.

I might also add that this is in conjunction with your usual fitness program. In no way will this push up challenge make you lose weight, its simply a fun fitness challenge that we can all do together and build our upper body strength at the same time. In fact doing push ups does give you a complete body workout so I look forward to my results and hearing about yours. 

Guidelines and FAQ's

What is a push up?

You can peruse various push ups on YouTube in fact the first push up video that came up was this. I also came across Scott Colby the 6 pack abs expert who has this sensational push ups technique with a twist. 

Can I do different styles/variation of push ups?

Sure thing! By the way this YouTube clip will blow your mind so please feel free to do mens style, womens style on bended knees, inclined, decline push ups etc.... Whatever. 

What if I want to do less push ups?

We really want you to try and push up regularly throughout the week to build strength and endurance. So go at your own pace and increase your number each time you do your push ups. Also for those that just want a shorter challenge, I highly recommend you to check out SkinnyMs 7 day push up challenge

What if I want to increase my push ups?

I say GO FOR IT! The more the merrier and as my husband says BIGGER CANNONS!! So please increase your push ups to fit with your current fitness regime and challenge yourself by increasing them by 5 each time.

Can I do push ups 3 days in a row?

Freehand exercises such as push ups are great however it can lead to over training of the specific muscles being used, so there is an increased possibility of injury. Having said that since it is a relatively safe exercise, there is not too much danger but please take care if you happen to miss one day of your push up days and need to play catch up. Also technique is paramount. Like our #planksjan2013 challenge in January, it's all about posture so make sure you are doing them correctly and see yourself in a reflection to ensure you are doing them properly. 

Will I lose weight doing this 4 week push up program?

No. This isn't a weightless program, it's to assist with toning muscle definition. In order to lose unwanted body fat you must eat healthy and regularly exercise. For the 90 minutes per week fitness program I follow CLICK HERE.

I was given great advice by a personal trainer who reviewed my program and she fully supports a permanent lifestyle change. So consistency is the key to see results. Thank you JC x

INCREASE YOUR GREENS

Photo courtesy of Loni Jane

As part of this challenge we will also be including one serve of greens per day. I mean ANYTHING that is green!!!! What is a serve?

Vegetables

One serve of vegetables is 75 grams or:

• ½ cup cooked vegetables
• 1 medium potato
• 1 cup salad vegetables
• ½ cup cooked legumes (dried beans, peas or lentils)

For more information you can Read more here

I look forward to sharing creative recipes from green smoothies (see Loni Janes fabulous Instagram page) to juices, steamed veggies, eating them fully raw etc...the options are endless. So please share your recipes here and tag them to your social media plug ins and use #pushupsgreens on your pictures. So please come join me and @tonedtannedandfit for another sensational challenge.

I would love your feedback so please leave me your comments below.

♥ Dani 

PIN IT

You have read this article fit yummy mummy / Freestylers / incredible hulk / push up / push ups and greens challenge / SkinnyMs with the title push ups and greens challenge. You can bookmark this page URL https://jrhehjg.blogspot.com/2013/02/push-ups-challenge-and-eat-more-greens.html. Thanks!