July Squats & No Added Sugar challenge

Heeeeyyyyy!!! I'm back! It's been a little chaotic my end with the recent migration from Fitness Food And Style over to DaniStevens.com You like? So I thought we would get back into the swing of things with our Monthly Challenges and get us motivated in moving our bodies regularly. I have been missing out on my Freeletics workouts but recommitting again.

You can too if you sign up here and come join me on this epic workout regime. They even have an amazing squat max workout where you do as many squats as you can within 300 seconds! It's madness but soooooo good! It sure gets our legs and buttocks more toned and firm ;-)

Feel the burn baby!!

For those that just want to add another simple challenge to their existing exercise regime this month, I have brought back our squats and no added sugar challenge. Simply tag your pictures to #teamdani #noaddedsugar and lets share our exercise and food pictures.

Here's the squat challenge:

Weekdays: Do 50 squats every second day - OR 50 squats 3 consecutive days and rest for 2 days - whichever works best for you.

Weekends: "Feel the Burn!" - do as many squats in 300 seconds.

You should know me by now,  I am that type of person that needs to pick one or two challenges and stick with them! Keep connected and challenge my fitfam friends, incentivise you and stay inspired!

So lets get started, shall we? Here is a basic squat we all know how to do. Keep this handy tutorial so you can reference to it at anytime. Unless you have joined Freeletics with me, it will be on your mobile app or laptop.

Now let me get this straight, it's the same principal as our No Added Sugar challenge last year. The rules of this challenge are simple. It's based on an honesty system, so if you cheat you are only doing it to yourself.

Simply cut out ALL sugars that you normally consume eg: in your coffee or at least reduce it by 1/2 teaspoon, baby steps remember, until you completely omit that white devil! Even if you have sugar, don't beat yourself up. We are all human. Make sure next meal or snack time we stay away.

Natural sugars are acceptable eg: honey, maple syrup, agave etc.... If it has added sugar of any kind, we won't be eating it. This also applies to any and ALL artificial sweeteners.

Ensure we have a smoothie at least once per day to combat our cravings and also to keep our energy levels up. You would have already received my free Green Smoothies recipes when you joined our DaniStevens.com newletter. If you haven't please leave me a comment below.

Here are some ingredients I keep handy when making my Green smoothies:

Yogurt, water or your preferred milk with 1 cup of spinach then I add either a:

1 banana

1/2 cup berries

1tsp chia seeds

1 scoop Coconut protein powder (I use 180 Nutrition*)

NB: Get your 10% discount using promo code 264464

Our main goal is to GIVE UP the added sugars in the ingredient list. Don't worry about the % of sugar found per grams on the pack. All we need to check is that there IS NO ADDED SUGAR! This includes flavoured yoghurt, tomato sauce AKA ketchup!

HANDY TIPS

1). Remove any food items you may have around your house that contain sugar. I typically put sugary foods in a box hidden so I avoid any temptation or completely throw them out.

2). Be prepared with food. Always prepare or carry relatively healthy snacks and ensure you eat before you go out anywhere.

3). Try to eat as healthy as you can.

4). Eat 5 meals per day eg: breakfast, snack, lunch, snack & dinner.

5). Join me on my Facebook fan page DaniStevens or our group page Fitness Food And Style challenges  if you are struggling so we as a community can help support one another.

6). Get out and exercise. If you're feeling stressed do some star jumps, resistance training, cardio, go for a run whatever you like/enjoy doing.

7). Drink plenty of water and check in daily to let us know how you are going.

8). Measure yourself eg: hips, waist and our muffin top area (around your belly button). This will be so powerful than the number you weigh on your scales, when you see centimetres/inches reduce it's totally rewarding. You will be amazed at how many centimetres/inches you will lose over the next 31 days!

9). Tag your squat and your meals with #noaddedsugar to #teamdani for special features throughout the  month to keep you motivated.

10). Commit to be fit. We are all here on the same journey and to encourage one another.

Let the buns of steel and no added sugar games begin.....tomorrow 1st -31st July 2014. Any questions, you know where to find me. I am here to support you all the way!

Much love and friendship,

xxDani