Monday, 22 June 2015

Achieving a goal

    For as long as I can remember I have lied about and been in denial about my weight! I can honestly say I never thought I could weigh 125 lbs but now I know I was just hiding behind fear of failure and holding myself back from truly fulfilling my potential and being happy and healthy!!








      I am so proud of myself for pushing myself to be better and for achieving a life long goal of mine. It feels pretty dang good!!
     Now to maintain and grow healthier and stronger and push myself to be my best self always! I am so excited to continue on this journey of health and fitness! I hope I can inspire you to want to be your best selves! I know that looks don't mean everything! We live in a vain world where it is easy to get caught up in the superficial ness of it all! That's not what I am promoting in any way!! I'm promoting health! Feeling good and nourishing your body! Yes looking good is w nice perk to it all, and I have always been the type of girl to take pride in my appearance. It feels great to feel as good on the inside as I do on the outside!
      I am so happy with my lifestyle change and I am just so excited to keep at it and challenge myself and take care of myself! xoxo



Tuesday, 16 June 2015

My fitness Journey

           I want to start this blog off with the BEST news. My Matthew had his follow up appointment with his doctor following his MRI scan on the 5th and I am so happy to report that they did not find anything. I feel such a peace knowing that he is going to be ok. Of course we are still going to monitor his health and if anything suspicious or of the same nature happens again we will be seeking medical attention ASAP. I am feeling extremely blessed and such a peace with this news and I am so ready to continue our beautiful life together!

          I have had a lot of people asking me and commenting about my lifestyle change! I wanted to answer some questions and just share some information on what has been working for me, and about how amazing I feel! I wanted to write a bit about why I decided to make this change. The biggest reason is because of Matt's health scare. We both decided we needed to make some changes and be the healthiest that we could be, to further prevent any issues with our health. I also really wanted to do something for ME. Being a mom is the most amazing thing I have ever done! But being a mom can consume you, and take away pieces of you, and make you wonder who you are sometimes. I really wanted to have some ME time and I dedicated this me time to making myself feel better and to relieve some stress and feel good about myself. I have found myself in working out, and I have bettered myself and become someone even better then I ever knew I could be.

         As most of you know I am a big supporter in the Skinny mint teatox! The reason I decided to do it detox is because I really didn't feel great about my post pregnancy body. I will admit I am one of the lucky ones who looses there pregnancy weight (or most of it|) by breast feeding. But I knew once I stopped breast feeding I wouldn't be burning those extra calories and I was terrified of gaining it all back. So I started looking into detoxes and I stumbled upon the skinny mint teatox. This specific teatox caught my eye because of it's natural ingredients and because it is NOT a meal replacement you simply drink it in the morning before or with your breakfast, and every other night after your last meal. The morning boost tea is a great way to kick start your day with extra energy! it has Green Tea which boosts your energy, improves immunity and burns calories. Yerba Mate which boosts metabolism, and curbs your appetite. Nettle Leaves which is a natural diuretic and antioxidant. Dandelion which improves digestion, detoxifies, and cleanses your body. Guarana which increases physical endurance and alertness and stimulates your digestion. It also contains a hint of grapefruit, strawberry, and pineapple to make it taste even yummier! It is a scientifically developed herbal blend, its fresh and tasty and it is such high quality! Obviously if your doing a detox you also want to eat a healthy diet to help the detoxing process and to get your maximum results. I absolutely love my morning boost tea. I find it really does give me that extra boost in the morning and it just makes me feel so great!

The night cleanse helps to reduce bloating, improve digestion and lose weight! It has Ginger root which is for anti bloating and detoxifying. Orange Leaves that improve digestion and promotes good sleep. Lemon grass which is anti-microbial, anti-bacterial and also enhances complexion. Senna Leaves which acts as a natural laxative, anti bloating, and helps reduce appetite. Licorice Root that relieves cramping and constipation. All mixed together with a hint of peppermint, hawthorn berry and psylium husk to make it even more effective. I love the night time cleanse it helps me wind down at the end of the day and it truly does make me feel so great! I do not sell this product, they are not paying me to give them good reviews, although I did get a free tea tox for sending before and after pictures so if you decide to try this out make sure to take before and after pics and send them to them so you can also receive a free detox! I just love this product I am currently doing my 2nd detox and feeling amazing!

     I have always been a visual person. The myfitnesspal app just works for me. I like being able to see how many calories I've eaten, how many more I can eat, and track my workouts to see how many calories I've burned. I am a FOODIE I love food! this has always been my biggest down fall. I had to really make a choice and decide if I wanted to eat what I wanted all the time, or if I wanted to be healthy and happy and look great. I finally decided after many years of yo yoing with my weight that I would try something different in my eating habits. IT WORKED. And I could kick myself for waiting this long to change. It helps so much that Matt is on board with our lifestyle change. I am always buying calorie wise and low sugar, low fat ect of everything, and cooking clean, and smaller portions. We are always trying new recipes and broadening our horizons! It is lots of fun! I recently made Matt homemade protein bars and energy balls. (I feel like martha stewart) haha It is so fun to watch both of us change and become so much more happy and confident in our own skin! I find that counting my calories has worked wonders for me! If you want to try out the myfitnesspal app add me and we can motivate each other! ashyllasmith

     Can I just say I am in love with my bowflex m5 and I am so spoiled that I get to work out in the comfort of my own home!! The bowflex m5 are 15 minute workouts they are freaking HARD but they are so great! This just works so well with my stay at home mom lifestyle! I am able to put Lane down for a nap and head to my basement and get on my bowflex machine and get an amazing workout in. I usually throw in a circuit workout afterwards, some sit ups, weights, squats ect. And Wala its a half hour tops and my workout is done! How amazing is that?! I still have time to shower, get ready for the day and have lunch on the go by the time Lane wakes up! Its fantastic. Since the Weather is beautiful we usually also get a good hour morning walk in with the puppy so that keeps me exercising as well. I find if I don't exercise now I get cranky! lol I never thought I would ever be that kind of person but I truly look forward to working out and challenging my body to see its limits and to strengthen myself.

      If you are struggling with your fitness, or just don't know where to start, or don't think you can, I've been there and I just want to say you CAN do it. Start small! I started by ordering a detox, and then by going on short walks, and then I expanded it to much more. Just start! Go slow you can do it. Start eating a bit less or making healthier choices its as easy as that. If I can do it so can you! There is no time like the present, Take control of this crazy beautiful life! Your body is yours machine! Be the best you. I have found that I have got just as much negative feedback as I have positive. Crazy right? I am happy healthy and making the best life for me and my family and I know that. I am so happy for this lifestyle change and I can hardly wait to see what I future holds! xoxo

here are a few pictures from my fitness journey...

150lbs


these top two phtotos are right before I decided to make this lifestyle change

140


these pictures were taken a short 28 days later..

130lbs

One of my goals has always been to look good and feel good in a bikini! 

127lbs


these two photos I took on Sunday night right before I started my skinny mint tea tox for the 2nd time


I love skinny mint


I am soo spoiled to get to work out in the comfort of my own home


Happy :)

Wednesday, 10 June 2015

Working on my fitness

Life is a beautiful gift. It's been an amazing and terrifying couple of months all rolled into one. It has been so amazing being fortunate enough to stay at home and watch Lane learn and grow! He is the sweetest, most content little man you will ever meet and I am so thankful I get to be his momma! We had a scare there with Lane back in the end of February where he had RSV but ever since then his health has been great! He's not even a bad teether! I swear I have the best kid around... I could talk him up all day buuut I think you get the picture!!

Matt just got his MRI on the 5th of June so I am trying to patiently wait for those results (not like I have a choice) I honestly don't really know what to hope for! I don't want anything scary to show up, but I also don't want  nothing to show up and we are left living in fear that this could happen again?! And maybe this time it doesn't just go away... I try not to dwell on these thoughts every single day but I cannot imagine a life without my Matthew. What I do know though is that whatever the outcome is we will face it together and love each other through it!

Latelty Matt and I have been really trying to focus on our health and our fitness. Since this health scare we have really sat down and realized that we need to take control of our health to try to further prevent any health problems. We want to be our best selves and to be a good example to our sweet Lane!

Matt and I have both lost over 20 lbs and we are both feeling fantastic! It is so nice eating healthy and working out together. We motivate each other and challenge each other on a regular basis! We are living each day to the fullest and enjoying every second we have together!! Life is beautiful!

          Xoxo