30 Day Shred

If you know me.... you are probably not even reading this blog post after seeing the title since I have seriously started a "diet" every single Monday since I can remember! Even though I have no credibility what so ever... this.is.for.real!  I am not going to say I'm fat, because I'm not... but I definitely need, ok really want to lose these awful 10 pounds I can not seem to ever get rid of! The funny thing is... it actually would be so easy for me to lose them if I learned to cook and didn't eat out every single meal!  Yup, that is right, every single meal [for the past 6 years]!  Oh, and for some reason I also think it is 100% appropriate to eat dessert after every single meal!  That's like 5 desserts a day! So below is my motivation...  I should some how make this a static post at the top of my blog to remind me daily to just spend a few minutes a day thinking about what I am eating!  They say... "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels"!  We'll see about that!  I'll let you know my results in 30 days!  Oh, PS. Jillian Micheals is going to be my new bff for every day of August! 

But... really its the eating I need to change, not the working out!  Even though new abs and skinnier arms would definitely be a plus!  If anyone has any words of inspiration, I would love to hear :)  I really need to know quick, healthy snacks... because 3 cupcakes a day is going to catch up real fast! ;) xxoo!

All images found via {pinterest}

I {heart} Smoothies!

I have recently fallen in love with smoothies!  Who knew they were so easy to make (which is a must for me) - and who knew they were so healthy, filling and DELICIOUS! :) Ever since my new experiment with smoothies two weeks ago, my beautiful red kitchen aid blender (that I just had to have when I graduated college 6 years ago) finally got some use (potentially for the first time ever)!  I keep experimenting with different "made up" recipes and haven't found a bad one yet!  One of my bff's who is super healthy told me to put greens (like spinach) into the smoothie - he said, "you won't even taste it" - and he is 100% right.  See below for my favorite smoothie recipe... But what is yours??  If you have a fav smoothie, let me know what you put in it and I will make sure to try it asap! :)  xxoo!

Ashley's Favorite Smoothie - aka "Deliciousness"

(in order of how I put it in the blender)

• 2 handfuls of ice
• 1 quick dash of water
• 1 large handful of spinach leaves
• 1 large handful of kale
• 1 small banana
• 1 handful of frozen blueberries
• 4 frozen strawberries
• 4 chunks of frozen mango
• 1 cup of carbmaster vanilla yogurt
• 2 scoops of Aria vanilla protein powder
• 2 tbsp of Flaxseed
• 1 dash of cinnamon 

And... blend away!  This usually makes an extra large glass - but it's only about 300 really healthy calories and it will fill you up for the night (or the morning)!  Yummy!!!!