Health and Fitness Update, how I stay in good shape + January's successful challenge

Hellooo dear readers and welcome to a new month!
 I had mentioned early in January that I was doing a fitness challenge and fasting. Well I was doing the Daniel Fast actually, which is a fast for both the body and soul. It was a great way to cleanse myself from the Holiday season over-eating I did as well as put me back on my spiritual track.

I also challenged myself physically with exercise by following the "Slim in 6" series with Debbie Siebers.  A number of you have been messaging me asking how I lost my initial weight, maintain my weight loss etc, well here's the secret! I have been using this workout routine on and off for about 2 years and it is honestly the best exercise routine that I have personally tried. It targets all major muscles of the body with tons of squats, lounges and plies! 
 You start off with Phase 1 which is Slim in 6 Start it up, then a week later move onto Phase 2: Ramp it up and Phase 3: Burn it up.

 During the Daniel fast (and prayer period), I ate absolutely no animal based products- no milk, yogurt, fish, eggs and no sugar (not even chewing gum) nor juices neither. Most of my meals consisted of whole grains, beans and lentils, salads, veggies and legumes.
 I decided to share with you a glimpse into what my meals looked like as well as my exercise routine.

For breakfast, I would usually have a bowl of whole grain cereal such as Shreddies (which also contains a high amount of fiber) and soy or almond milk with a banana. 
Another option would be a bowl of oatmeal with dried cranberries and blueberries and a banana. 

Lunch could then consist of 1 of several options such as:
-Beans and boiled plantain, sweet potato and spinach, chick peas and Moroccan cous cous, lentils, self-made burritos and more. I had to get creative with my meals or else I would start missing meals I was used to but I realized that it wasn't difficult at all to cut out the excess food I was eating like tortilla chips and chocolate.

Whole wheat spagetti and tomato sauce.

Squash with cranberries and a side of mushroom salad.

Sweet potatoes and fried spinach with a home made smoothie!

A home made burito made of Moroccan cous cous, beans, avocado and salad!

A typical snack for me-Whole grain crackers, a salad comprised of corn,peas and avocados with some olive oil vinaigrette and a smoothie.

I also made my own smoothies from scratch using fresh fruit and almond milk! The possibilities were endless :)
For those of you sugar cravers, try this at home! If I'm craving a quick sugar fix, another trick of mine is to chew on 2 vitamin C tablets-yum!



In the end, I really didn't lose weight but I did get more fit and had tons of energy! I also realized how much extra calories I consumed per day and the fast made me think so much more about what goes into my mouth. We really have abundance in the First world countries and we can do without so much!

Post workout selfie :)

Here's a brief video of my workout routine!
Hope you enjoy and please do't forget to subscribe to my channel!

**Oh, by the way, before I forget, I was featured on Wedding Digest Naija so feel free to check it out!

XOXO
SKinny Bish