30 day update!

Crazy to think that it has already been 3 months

 since I decided making a lifestyle change had to happen.

It has been hard. I have cheated many times.

 I have also pushed myself harder than I knew I could. 

I still have a ways to go, but holy moly am I proud of how far I have come!! 

This was the day I started Piyo                   And today a month later 

In the last month I lost a combined all over 13 1/2 inches and 7 pounds.

And simply because I was curious and seeing the results really help me….

When I started                                          and today!

Total down so far 35 pounds!!! 

Clean eating more than not and lots of pushing myself and working out at least 5 days a week.

On that note I am about to do PIYO: Core!

Oh, if I can do it. YOU CAN!!! 

Shine on Lovlies,

Ashley M

22 days into my 30 day challenge

When I decided to start a 30 day challenge I wanted to push myself. 

I was doing okay with clean eating at this point, but not really working out like I should be.

That was 22 days ago and I have worked out EVERYDAY since. 

This is such a big deal for me and I am so proud of myself. 

How far I have come in such a short time. Physically and Mentally.

Mentally is the hardest battle. Our bodies our amazing. 

They can handle so much more than we give them credit for! 

I mean I did carry 2 babies to the point of skin going beyond a point of any return.

I birthed 2 babies on my own. 

Though it has been a long road my body is recovering from some amazing things.

I push myself further and harder than the day before. 

I see myself getting stronger each day and with each day I feel myself healing mentally.

We can be so hard on ourselves. It is easy to put yourself down when you are not happy.

So that is what we do. We forget that we are still us with 70 extra pounds. 

Taking my life back and becoming healthier isn't just a physical journey for me.

It's mental. I am working on loving myself again. Being happy again. 

Finding that inner peace that glows from the inside out. 

Even though I am dropping weight and toning up. I am also finding myself happier each day.

Loving myself a little more and smiling within when I am having a bad day.

Here are the results:

Since June 1st I am down 25 pounds! 

Almost 2 pants sizes and a shirt size

For the first time in almost 4 years I am only 3 pounds from being less than 200 pounds.

I have been rotating workouts and what I do daily.

Here are some things I am doing:

Jogging on the treadmill

Jillian Michael's 30 day shred

Jillian Michaels Shred it

Full body rotation workouts with hand weights

Kettle bell workouts 

I have pinned a lot of the kettle bell exercises and abs exercises I am doing! 

I will be my strongest advocate, because I am beautiful.

Ashley M

Clean Eating Meal Prep

For me meal prep is the number one things for me to succeed! 

Each week on either Sunday or Monday evening I set aside a hour or so and prep my meals for the week. This has been a huge part of me sticking with it. 

I mainly just prep for breakfast and dinner since I am running out the door to work 

in the morning and need something to eat while there.

 Dinners are easier for me to prepare on the spot since I am home at night. 

First,  I start by making a large batch of uncut steel oats. 

In the morning all I have to do is a little almond milk,  raw honey or cinnamon 

and I like to add fruit to it as well.

 I portion this out into wide mouth pint jars so that i can just take it with me and eat it from the jar. 

1/2 Cup Uncut Steel oats cooked and ready to be reheated! 

Then I make a big batch of brown rice. I make enough to portion out for 6 days and have a little left over for home that I will have for dinner as well. I add about a 1/2 a cup  into my lunch container. 

I grill six chicken breast. I portion them out into my lunch and then it 

leaves me with some for at the house as well. 

 The ones I use are large so about half is good for my lunch! 

This is the chicken I use and I buy it frozen from Walmart

Then I steam 2 to 3 different veggies so I don't get burnt out eating the same thing. 

I put the brown rice on the bottom and chicken and veggies on top.

While prepping I also cut up veggies and fruit so that they are easy for me to grab. 

This way when I want a snack or for me to make a smoothie if I am in a hurry.

 I try not to let to long go in between meals and snacks or I start craving things I don't need! 

I also cut up veggies to throw into egg whites or in with the brown rice to make a veggie bowl. 

Cutting up fruits and veggies for the week!

Some of my go to meals are:

 Grilled Salmon with veggies.

Spinach Salad with veggies, fruit and an organic vinaigrette.

Veggie Brown rice bowls and I add chicken sometimes.

Grilled Chicken with veggies.

Veggies on the grill with grilled pineapple.

Rarely, but sometime Grilled Turkey Sausage.

Stuffed Bell peppers with brown rice and ground turkey.

Some Go To Snacks:

Greek Yogurt with fruit and healthy granola.

Apple with natural peanut butter.

Banana with raw honey. 

Smoothie if I am really hungry or to follow up a hard workout.

A cup of fruit with Almonds.

This is just some of what I do and I will be sharing some clean recipes and new things I try as well! 

Try to take the time to prepare your meals before hand. 

It helps me when I am in a hurry as well as with my mindset before the week has even begun. 

Oh and because I am SUPER EXCITED! I have lost 19.5 pounds!! Still a lot more to go, but I am looking forward to it and the Journey ahead of me. 

Shine on Lovelies,

Ashley M.

Getting less squishy!

Today was a good day for me as far as my eating goes. I only ate clean. No temptations or wants of anything else. Getting myself in the mindset to workout tonight took some persuading! I did it. 

I pushed myself hard and I am so glad I did. I am seeing changes, feeling better and loving it! 

Mind you I know I still have a long way to go until I am at my goal. 

This is a start though and I couldn't be prouder of myself. 

If you look really close you can see that I am less squishy than a week ago! =)

I have had a lot of people ask me what I am doing? How am I losing weight? Let me first say A LOT of soul searching. Getting pass the food itself and focusing on why I turn to it. Once I made my mind up I knew I wanted to change my lifestyle, not just do a quick diet and gain it all back in a year or so. For me to do that I knew I had to cut all the crap and crud I was putting in my mouth multiple times a day. So NO sugar, NO fast food, NO soda's, NO processed foods! The things I just listed were pretty much all I ate. Take all of that out and what do you do? Start fresh. Eat CLEAN!  My sister and a few other people I know have been eating clean for awhile. As I began to research it and look into it I knew that it was something I could do with a little work and a lot of preparation. Prep is key with clean eating for me. Having things ready to go, so I can just grab when I get hungry. Or when I am so busy with the kids I don't have time to make something healthy. With my research I found an awesome blog that has some great grocery list that you can just print off. 

Check out: http://rebeldietitian.us/eat-clean/grocery-lists/. 

Then I started a clean eating board on Pinterest. 

You can find my board here: http://www.pinterest.com/avmcgowan/clean-eating/. 

Each week on either Sunday or Monday night I prep my food for the whole week. 

For Breakfast:

I make a large batch of steel cut oatmeal and put it into pint size jars so I can grab and warm up and go. I put 1/2 a cup in the jar and I add a little almond milk when I go to warm it up. Also, I put raw honey, cinnamon, and apple or banana in it.  

If I want something different I will portion out fat free vanilla greek yogurt and add healthy granola I got from a local health food store. 

Days I am running behind I will throw frozen fruit, spinach, almond milk and fat free greek yogurt if I have it into the blender. 

Snacks: 

I keep carrots cut up, apples with natural peanut, banana with a little raw honey. 

Lunch:

I grill a whole package of the hormone free frozen chicken.

Cook a big batch of brown rice and steam healthy green veggies.

Then I will portion it out into tupperware for the week. I switch up the veggies each day. 

Some days I will just make a spinach salad and add tomato, onion, strawberries, cucumber. 

Snack: 

I do one of the above listed in between lunch and dinner. 

Dinner: 

I will do fish or chicken with a veggie most nights. 

Sometimes I will make a burrito type bowl and add brown rice, black beans, chicken, onion, green pepper. 

Or if I am in the mood I will do egg whites and make a veggie omelet. 

So far these have been my go to items and if I cut everything up and get it portioned out each week then it helps a ton!!! Trust me when I say if I can do tho you can. 

First, be ready and have it in your mind that you can do this! Take pictures so you can see the process. It's hard to see yourself, but it does help. Find a friend or someone that can help hold you accountable, so that when you are having a bad day you can message them and they can give you that extra push that you may not have been able to muster. Most importantly believe in yourself! 

Know that you are strong enough and you can do it!!!

If you want more meal pictures or would like to follow my journey more closely you can find me on Instagram as ANMCGOWAN! 

Shine on Lovelies! 

Ashley 

It's been a year

It doesn't seem possible that it has been a year since I last wrote. I needed the break though.

It has been a very FULL last year and really way to much to catch you up on in one post.

I will start with today… 

Today I am focusing on myself. 

I am fighting my own demons and trying to be a stronger person. 

Today I am being Healthy. Today I am on a journey to a better me. 

After baby #2 I had no drive to work out. No will to want to. 

Well, after hitting my all time highest weight while not pregnant…. 

228 pounds. GASP! (It's a really big deal for me that I just shared that) 

I decided it was a time for a change. Not a mild change, a BIG one. 

I began researching clean eating and made up my mind I will do this. No magic potions or pills. Saturday will be a month of NO soda, 

Clean eating with very few cheats, and working out.

 Still struggling to work out as much as I should.

 Then comes the next goal: I will work out every day for the next month. No matter what! 

I am down 16 pounds and my clothes are definitely getting bigger. 

I am starting to feel better and have more energy.

 I am sharing my story, because I hope to inspire someone,

just as I have been inspired by so many other awesome people who with dedication get to their goals. So hang on tight folks its going to be a bumpy ride. 

This is a true struggle and I can't wait to get to my end goal! =) 

Shine on Lovlies,

Ashley M