Snacking, the art of snacking smart!

Hello all you beautiful people!

So lately I have been struggling with snacking! I know what I should snack on, I know that snacking is important but its so easy to get sick of a certain snack and to start craving something different!

I have come up with some snacking tips!!

1. don't buy snack you THINK you should eat, that you don't actually like, that's a waist of your hard earned cash! Because chances are you are not going to eat it! You need to enjoy your food!

2. switch your snacks up every once in a while so your not tempted to cheat on something that is NOT healthy!

3. Buy healthy snacks and snack in moderation! Don't over indulge. Do not buy the junk! keep it out of your house! Or you will eat it and you will feel awful about it.

4. Experiment with your snacks, try new things! Get on pinterest and find out what everyone is snacking on!

5. Make sure you buy things that are gong to fuel your body, not things that are empty calories and are going to leave you feeling awful and more hungry!

It is important to snack! You do not want to leave your body feeling empty! We need to find a balance in our meals! Practise portion control in your meals and snacks! Do not over indulge! I always eat 3 meals a day and have 2-3 snacks a day! its important to fuel our work, workouts, and daily activities! If we learn to eat healthy and meaningful calories we are going to feel amazing and have the energy we need to complete our days!

Some of my favourite snacks right now are;

roasted chickpeas, I LOVE chips and anything salty so this helps fill that void and is a healthy alternative to chips!

half of a grapefruit sprinkled with stevia: this helps stop your craving for sweets and is oh so good and good for you!

Oatmeal energy balls! These are my fav go to snack they are loaded with healthy ingredients and are super easy to make. They taste like a delicious no bake cookie!

Sugar snap peas! They are so Delicious and crunchy!

bananas and cottage cheese! This helps with the sweet and salty and cravings and is such a delicious combo!

Yogurt sprinkled with shredded coconut and handful of almonds! Dessert!!

What are you some of your favourite snacks?! Be sure to have healthy snacks on hand!! It is so important to eat enough calories in your day! Comment with your favourite snacks! I am always looking for yummy healthy snacks! Have a great weekend xo     Ashylla

Why I decided to become a beachbody coach

The day I decided to jump in with both feet to the beachbody team was a day I will never ever forget or regret! I have already learned so much through this ongoing internship and I would recommend this to every single person I know!! This internship helps you become better in tune with yourself and with what you want out of life and it is so inspiring to listen to and share in everyone's success and journey! I learn something new and am forever growing in this company!!
I decided I wanted to embark on this new journey because it is something I can do while staying home with my son, I dedicate 2 hr of my day to this business and I am already seeing a profit! I decided I wanted to do this because I want to help contribute financially to my family. But most of all I decided I wanted to do this because I truly want to help people!
I recently just started my first challenge group and for those of you who don't know what that is, it is a place filled with motivation, inspiration, love, knowledge, and all the support needed to reach goals you only dream of! I am absolutely loving planning out my challenges and helping my friends and family achieve there goals!
By becoming a beachbody coach it has helped me feel needed and appreciated. It is slowly starting to change my life for the better! I enjoy my life so much more now! If you are ever interested in talking health or fitness with me please do not hesitate to message me! I genuinely want to help others become the best versions of themselves!

Embarking on a new fitness journey

I am very excited to embark on a new fitness journey with you all! I have been thinking long and hard about this and IT just feels right! I really want to help inspire others and to continually be inspired by others! I have truly found a love for my health and fitness and it I'd extremely liberating!

An opportunity has come up for me to be a beach body coach. I have looked into it and decided that I am going to jump in with both feet and not look back!
Matt and I did p90x before we got married we ordered the shakeology, the prep workout drink and the post work out drink and we were diligent and we absolutely loved it! We were both in pretty good shape by the end of it, but we didn't feel like we achieved the results we so desperately wanted. We were working out an hour plus every single day! We were drinking out shakes and taking our supplements?! Why were we not ripped?! So what did we do? We quit, we gave up, through in the towel. I now know we were missing the most important step! We never changed out eating habits!!

What we eat and our portion sizes are the most important thing in fitness and in health! If you are not willing to change your eating habits you will not reach your goals! Sure you will lose some weight and feel better because your exercising BUT I promise you if you don't eat healthy and fuel your body you will not feel good and you will not reach your full potential!

I am beyond excited to share my experience with you guys this time around! Now that I am mentally, physically and emotionally on board with this journey! I know the results will be amazing I know I will feel amazing and I promise you that I will be open and honest about every single step of my journey.

My husband asked me why I was being so public about my lifestyle change and I've really been pondering that a lot lately and the answer is because I want to help each and every one of you! I want you to feel good, look good, to be healthy, happy and strong! I want to build you up and make a difference!

Matt and I are doing the p90x 3 right now and are loving it!! It's 30 min hard core amazing work outs! The kind of workout that your dripping from sweat every single beautiful time you do them! And BONUS they are only 30 min and you do them in the comfort of your own home!! I am a big supporter of at home workouts! You do not need a gym! Once your kiddos are sleeping or once your home at the end of the day make the time! Make your health a priority! All you need is the desire to want it! Make it a routine! Take care of yourself! NO appearance is not everything I KNOW that! BUT your health should be!!

Follow me on Instagram @ashyllasmith and follow my blog for this new chapter in my lifestyle change!! Xoxo.   Ashylla

P90x3 sure why not?!

So Matt and I decided we are going to do p90x3! Me thinking oh ya I'm in great shape this will be easy peasy.... Yaa not so much!! Lol I am loving it though! I love pushing myself!! Setting goals and pushing my body to it's limits is quite liberating!! We still go for our morning hike and I still throw in my m5 work out 2-3 times a week but instead of my regular circuit work out I'm substituting it with p90x3! I needed this change! It's easy to get comfortable in your daily routine and just do the minimum but I don't want to do that! I always want to be striving for more!

Matt and I did p90x before we got married so over 3 years ago now and we had a love hate relationship with it! By the end of it we were happy we did it but the hour workout every day just wasn't feasable for our lifestyle. As soon as we were done we completely stopped working out. We also never followed any kind of meal plan so we were in ok shape but definitely not like we are now! We are so excited to see what our results will be this time around, now that we are both in good shape and are eating healthy and want to work out! Couples who work out together stay together right?!? Lol but in all seriousness I am so happy that Matt and I are in this fitness journey together! We both feel so fantastic there is no looking back from here!

We are on week 3 of p90x3 and are sore but feeling great!! I actually love feeling sore it means that I am truly working my body and that means RESULTS!! If you are getting tired of your same old work out routines I strongly reccomend trying the p90x 3 they are amazing at home workouts that are only 30 min!! They will kick your but every time and leave you wanting more!!     Xoxo Ashylla

An important lesson I learned on my fitness journey

We cannot change genetics! We are born with a certain body type! Learn to embrace it and love your body! Learn how to properly work out your body to achieve your ideal physique! No you cannot get taller, longer legs, longer torso ect but yes you can perfect your beautiful body and be proud of every inch of it! I'm a hair stylist by trade and this applies to my line of work also! Often times women come in with a picture and say this is EXACTLY what I want my hair to look like and I say ok honey well you do not have the same face shape as this celebrity, you don't have the same hair type as this lady, you don't have the same, thickness, the same extensions ect ect but yes I can give you a version of this hair style! Tell me what you like most about the hair not the celebrity but the hair. They often change there mind completely and we decide on something suitable for there face shape and hair type! The same applies for your body and your fitness and diet routine! I am personally very short I am 5'1 so any weight I gain is extremely noticeable! I have a short torso and short legs so I really do not want to add any bulk to my physique I just want to tone and tighten to create an illusion of height! I do not use weights I do all of my exercise just using my own body weight. I do use a medicine ball for my Russian twists and for one of my squat circuits but other than that no weights at all. You need to figure out your body type set reasonable goals and make a plan of how to turn those goals into reality! We have to truly know and understand our bodies if we want to get accurate results! 

I have truly learned to love my body. I embrace being short! Good things come in small packages right! 😜 I have embraced my tiny boobs and learned to appreciate them! I've learnt that the best thing we can do for our mind body and spirit is truly love ourselves and take care of our selves! Life is beautiful start living it to the fullest! What is stopping you? Fear? Kick fear in the but and prove it wrong! You won't be sorry you may be sore! But you will never be sorry!! Xoxo 

 Ashylla

How I stay motivated

I have been asked a lot how I stay motivated. So this week I have been thinking about this question a lot and I decided to blog about it!

I am so very thankful for my body! My body has been through and done so many incredible things. The most amazing being carrying my son for 9 months and giving birth! What an amazing experience that was! We have to love our bodies and give ourselves credit for the amazing things our bodies do for us every single day! I can honestly tell you that I love my body! No it is not perfect, but it brought me my pretty close to perfect baby boy and for that I will always love my body!! We have to love our bodies and our selves through every stage of life! If we don't love ourselves how can we expect others to love us? I keep motivated by loving my body, pushing my body and seeing just how far I can go to reach my goals and live this beautiful life.

I stay motivated by challenging myself! Weather it's going an extra 5 min on our morning hike, pushing myself a little harder on my bowflex or adding an extra 5 minutes to my circuit workout! We have to push ourselves and challenge ourselves to keep motivated and from getting bored! The worst thing you can do is compare yourself to other women!! Just don't do it! It's so easy to get caught up in the "I'll never look like her" "my boobs will never look like that" "she's never had a kid" "she's so tall" ect ect ect you should only ever compare yourself to yesterday's self! Just try to improve your health and fitness one day at a time and the rest will come!

I motivate myself by setting goals! I usually set a goal for the day, the week and the month! It's s good way to keep yourself accountable. Star small, set reasonable goals it can be fun! Start challenges with your friends family! It helps to have a good support system! The girls and I in my family have our own personal fitness Facebook group to help motivate and challenge each other! It's a great way to stay motivated and brings a bit of a competitive edge to the group.

The biggest and I think most important way to stay motivated is to just MAKE exercise and healthy eating a part of your daily routine! You'll get so used to it that it won't even seem like work anymore! It will become easier and you will crave it and want to do it!

Did you know that almost every restaurant has a calorie wise part of there menu now! So you can still enjoy going out to eat and maintain your health lifestyle! That sure keeps me motivated!! Everyone likes to go out to eat once in a while! Now a days there really are NO excuses for not making the healthy choice! So if you really want it bad enough it is all yours!

You have to make healthy eating and working out a priority! If you have time for social media, watching tv, ect you have time to work out!! Even if its just getting out and going for a walk! Start small and you will work your way to a happy, healthy, and strong you, inside and out!

Only you, and you only can make the change you have to want it so bad that your not willing to let anything stand in the way! I cannot do it for you! That's what makes exercise and healthy eating so rewarding you have to work for it! Push yourself and never look back! Your body will do anything you have to get your mind in the game and believe in yourself! 

You can do it! Xoxo.      Ashylla

The 3 D's

    It has been a year of many hospital visits for us Smiths! I'm hoping we are good for a while now!! It started with Lane getting RSV, Matt's health scare and then a week ago I was hospitalised with a horrible kidney infection! We are all doing great now! I am so thankful for our amazing health care and more specifically Pincher Creeks hospital! They have always taken such good care of us and I am so very thankful for that!
    Because I was so sick I had to have lots of fluid and antibiotics intravenously, which resulted in A LOT of bloating and I was not supposed to work out. This was extremely hard for me! It was extremely discouraging looking in the mirror and all of my hard work had disappeared. I knew deep down that it would go away but it was still terrifying there was that shred of doubt in me that I could not seem to shake! after 2 nights in the hospital I was able to go home. I took it easy for the first couple of day just went for walks and listened to my body. It has been a week and half since this happened and I am so relieved to say I am back to where I was before and I am feeling happy healthy and strong!
   During this lifestyle change I have learnt a lot about my body, soul, and mind. I have learnt that your body will do pretty much anything you want or need it to do. Our bodies are simply amazing. I have learnt that feeding your body healthy food and cleansing your body helps it to work better and perform better! I have learnt that living a healthier lifestyle has made me so much more happy! It has helped me to destress, and to live my life to the fullest. It has helped me think clearer and see things I never did before! I am so happy and I am so proud of myself for truly making this transformation and working every single day to stay happy healthy and strong!
    I have been asked a lot what I am doing, eating, what work out plans I am doing etc. Here is the biggest piece of advice I can give anyone looking to change there life for the better. To be happy healthy and strong.
#1 discipline
     you have to be willing to discipline yourself and follow through! You HAVE to start small and work your way there! If you cannot discipline yourself and follow through than you will NOT see results its as simple as that. You have to want it, nobody is going to do it for you.
#2 dedication
     you have to be dedicated to your lifestyle change. You have to jump in with both feet and not look back! You have to push yourself to get results. If you are not willing to dedicate your time to working out regularly and dedicate yourself to eating healthy you will NOT see results!
   # drive
        you have to keep yourself motivated. Take before and after pictures, weigh yourself, drive yourself to your goal. You are the only person who can do it. You have to make a choice to be happy healthy and strong and you have to keep yourself motivated and continue to drive yourself to set and achieve goals!

    I am in no way perfect or a fitness coach I am just a stay at home mom who has fallen in love with fitness and health! It is so liberating to take control of your life and push yourself and see yourself exceed your expectations! We need to build each other up! Cheer each other on and help each other feel good! I am taking this day by day and it feels so great!! I am currently doing my third skinny mint tea tox and feeling amazing! Go get it! Be the best you and never say never!! xoxo
                                                                                                Ashylla