You wanna get healthy, huh?

I’M ALIVE. It’s been two months since my last post but I have somewhat good excuses. Like school, work, and just being lazy. 

Anyways with only 1 day left of the year 2013 everyone’s all about creating their new years resolutions and what not. Surprisingly I haven’t seen much activity on Facebook about it (thank god) but we all know everyone secretly has their own whether or not they actually talk about it publicly.

 Resolutions can vary from getting a better job, saving up for something big, visiting a foreign country or maybe as simple as keeping your hand out of that damn cookie jar. But changes don’t have to wait until the new year. They can begin whenever you want them to. But most people find it easier to begin a fresh start with a new year.

That last one was my resolution last year and as 2013 draws to a close I can proudly say I kept it! I’ve tried plenty of times in the past to eat healthy and all that but gave up after a few short months. But I’ve stuck with it for a full year and so now I want to share some tips to get started for those who have picked the same resolution. But don’t worry you can keep at least a finger in the cookie jar ;)

Start off slow. Change your eating first then introduce exercise at a later time or vice versa. I know this might sound weird because it goes against everything anyone has ever told you. Exercise and healthy eating HAVE to go together right? Well it’s partly true, but for someone who is just starting off it’s going to be scary and unknown. Pick one, research, experiment and get your feet in the ground before taking on another challenge. I think I failed in the past because I tried too much too fast and then gave up. If you’re used to eating “junk” food and not working out and then come January 1^st your signed up for a fancy gym and have vegetables you’ve never heard of in the fridge, it’s going to be intimidating.

When I started I just swapped my junk food for a healthier alternative and went from there. After about a month I introduced exercise in the form of just jogging around my neighborhood. Now a year later I know what to eat, what I like/don’t like to eat, and lift weights with the meatheads in the gym. You learn a lot about yourself so don’t be afraid to take it slow.

Don’t force yourself to do anything you don’t want to do. Simple as that. You don’t like asparagus? Then don’t eat it. I don’t, I can’t stand the stuff. You don’t like running? That’s okay. There’s plenty of other stuff out there you can try. If someone is telling you that you HAVE to eat asparagus and run everyday in order to be healthy then punch them in the face…okay not really but you get the point. There is not just one way to be healthy and no one should tell you how to be your kind of healthy.

Treat yourself. I believe the biggest mistake someone can make is cutting out everything they love to eat when they “diet”. I did it and it just made me binge harder on my cheat meals. Now instead of cheats I call them treats and I have them everyday. You like chocolate? Then eat it. Just in moderation. I guarantee that if you treat yourself you will stay on track easier and longer. I don’t care who you are, eating carrot sticks and grilled chicken everyday is not fun. And trust me, eating a bowl of ice cream isn’t going to make you gain 5 lbs overnight. It’s all about finding a balance between eating more healthy foods along with treat food that you love.

Find your thing.  Find that one thing that motivates you. It could be that dress that sits in your closet or maybe revenge for people who didn’t think you could do it. Or you want to be able to run a 5k, a half marathon or what the hell even a full marathon! The sky is the limit. If your trying to get healthy/lose weight because someone told you needed to then your not doing it for the right reasons. You are the best form of motivation. You decide whether you get out of bed in the morning or what direction you go in life. So pick something that drives you everyday.

Rid yourself of negativity. If you have friends in your life that constantly put you down, or talk badly about you behind your back, they shouldn’t be called your friends. This goes for family too. I’m still learning to do this myself. I know it’s hard to let someone go, especially if they’ve been a large part of your life, but if how they treat themselves and others shouldn’t be a reflection onto you. Your friends and family shouldn’t be a burden on your shoulders to carry. Worry about yourself and be a little selfish.

Be selfish. This goes a little bit with the previous one. In order to get yourself on track you have to let people know that sometimes you have to come first. If you have plans to go the gym after school but your friend wants you to go shopping it’s your choice what you do. You could skip the gym and try again tomorrow but what if the same thing happens? Just tell your friend that you’ll meet up with them after you go to the gym. You have to make time for yourself in order to improve yourself.

Surround yourself with positive people. Same with #4 as well. Trust me, its A LOT easier to get healthy when your friends and family are the same way. You have someone to talk to about it, get advise from, and even work out together. You need positive people in your life that believe that you can do it and will help you right next to you. Plan hiking trips, go the Grand Canyon, take a walk, go camping, or even try Crossfit together. It’s a learning experience that you can share with the people you love.

Don’t stress. Life gets busy and sometimes no matter how hard you try you just can’t catch a break. Don’t stress if you cant make it to the gym or plan your meals, get some sleep and try again the next day.

Don’t ever ever give up.  Plain and simple. 

Binge Eating

I’ve been wanting to cover this topic for awhile since it’s pretty relevant to me and my experience through this crazy health journey. When I was a strict clean eater I would be realllllly good Monday-Thursday and then once then weekend hit BAM binging! Or I would be realllly good during the day, even on the weekend, and then night hit and BAM binging! So if you don’t know what binging is...or if you don’t have an inner fat kid, like me, binging can be many different things. It can be eating when you’re not hungry, or eating large portions until your stomach hurts, or eating little amounts of EVERYTHING. I’ve experienced all types of binging, but I’m mostly the type of binger that will eat everything in sight in little amounts until my stomach hurts :/ It was a cycle that I was caught in and couldn’t escape. And I couldn’t figure out why on earth I was always bloated, had digestive issues and wasn’t losing any weight..gee I wonder!

Well skip to a few months later and IIFYM comes into my life, sweeps me off my feet and saves me. I’ve been following IIFYM for about two months now and I am SO happy at my results so far. Not only do I feel better about myself but I get to eat the foods I love, which means no more binging! Before I was restricted to veggies, fruits, lean meats, nuts and whole grains. Which means no pop tarts, ice cream, pizza, pasta, and candy. But once those things got in front of my face I had no control over myself. I went crazy and would literally eat until my stomach hurt. 

Now that I’m allowed little treats during the day I don’t get insane cravings like before, and I don’t feel like pulling my hair out. I wasn’t happy eating like a rabbit, some people may be, but not me. I love sugar and everything “dirty” which lead me to weight gain in the first place. IIFYM has taught me that life is meant to be enjoyed while still eating to my goals and eating to live a healthy life. I eat a pop tart every. single. day. But I also eat a lot of fruit, veggies (the ones I like) and lean meats in order to meet my fitness goals. And I never feel deprived, unhappy, or have negative thoughts about my body.

So have a binged since joining IIFYM? Not really. The closest that I have gotten to binging is going out to eat and then having some froyo afterwards, even though I wasn’t hungry. I always jokingly tell my boyfriend that you don’t have to be hungry to eat, which is true in my case. Like I’ve said in past posts going to my moms is a true testiment to my self control. She has everything I love. When I was a clean eater I either stayed clear of the pantry or  dived head first taking out handfuls of cereal while a donut sits in the other hand (true story). Now when I go over there I don’t feel deprived not eating everything in sight like before, If I want a donut I will have one, but not 3, or if I want a bowl of cereal I will eat it, but I won’t have a half a package of oreos afterwards. It’s all about moderation while still enjoying yourself.

Are there days when I don’t meet my macros? Absolutely. For example this past Friday Nick wanted to go to Olive Garden and without even checking MyFitnessPal to see if I "could" I said Yeah! I love Olive Garden and don’t go too often. Did I go crazy and eat 6 breadsticks? Did I eat my whole plate and then dip into Nicks? If this was 6 months ago then I would have said yes, but I didn’t. I had 2 breadsticks, lots of salad, and a super yummy zuchinni lasagna plate (drooling about it now). Did I feel guilt? NOPE. I enjoyed that shit..in moderation. haha. Also we went up to Prescott on Sunday and spent time with Nicks family. We went to the pumpkin patch where we bought a small bag of kettle corn (still sitting in the pantry) and ate 2 scoops of homemade pumpkin ice cream. mmmm. I also enjoyed a big cheeseburger back at the house. But I didn’t grab bags of candy for the ride home. Or drink a giant soda. Pick and choose is what I always say. 

Anways what I really want to say with this post is if you find yourself deprived, unhappy, havng uncontrollable binges or drolling over something that you “can’t” have then you need to CHANGE what you’re doing. Life is short. Do what you love. Which means eating what you love. Don’t live a life eating carrot sticks and sipping on water because you want your body to look a certain way. I eat pop tarts, pizza, salad and chicken and I’ve never been more happy. And it’s okay to go a little crazy sometimes. Just wait until I get to the state fair this year. I’m going to get my hands on some defried oreos, indian fried bread, funnel cake, pickels....

What’s the deal with pop tarts?

I was going through my blog and noticed that I talk A LOT about pop tarts, so what’s the deal? Well they are delicious. That’s it...





















Lol jk. Besides being super tasty, they are actually a go to food for post-workout and I will try my best to explain why. When we exercise, it creates a highly stressful state for our bodies. We naturally release cortisol as a reaction to the physical exertion we are putting ourselves through. Post workout our insulin spikes and our cortisol lowers, which then starts the protein synthesis cycle (rebuilding of musclear tissue). Post-workout you want to initiate protein synthesis as quickly as possible to replenish your body and start muscle repair. The best way is by getting a quick and large boost of insulin into the bloodstream and this can be done by eating high glycemic index carbs (simple carbs/sugars).

Simple carbs include foods such as bread, fruit and our yummy pop tart treats. Whereas complex carbs include things such as sweet potatoes, russet potatoes, rice, quinoa, etc. And no eating pop tarts will not make you gain weight. Post-workout your body can handle the amount of simple carbs and sugars you are eating in order to start protein synthesis. If you’re sitting around and eating a box of pop tarts everyday, then yes you’re going to gain weight. And it’s not like you HAVE to only eat them post-workout, if you’re an IIFYM’er like me, I sometimes eat them as a dessert as long as it fits my macros for the day. But most of the time I will eat them post-workout because if I don’t eat anything I get really shakey, light headed and feel weak. I also drink a protein shake because I’m all about those gainzzzz. Yep, totally sounded like a meat head.

"But Ashley pop tarts aren’t healthy!” If you go back a few posts you will see that I don’t believe in good or bad foods. Life is about eating what you like in moderation and that is exactly what I am doing. I used to be able to eat a whole package in a sitting, sometimes two, but now I only eat just 1 pop tart a few times a week. So I’m not promoting you to eat a whole package whenever you do 10 mins of ab exercises. They are more beneficial after an intense workout session such as lifting weights and strength training. And if you don’t feel comfortable eating pop tarts I would suggest other simple carbs post workout such as fruits. I’m bringing an apple for my post-workout food today because that actually sounds better to me than a pop tart at the moment.

Here are some good videos that explain simple carbs post-workout:
http://www.youtube.com/water?v=M5mjQPjR5VE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOoi5XZhbEg

And the place I got this information from=
http://bmhfitness.weebly.com/3/post/2013/05/post-workout-poptarts.html

What I ate Wednesday

Let’s see how long these “What I ate Wednesday” lasts, espeically since I have school and work. I’m running extremely low on food in the house, like there is nothing left, so good thing I get paid tomorrow. Luckily I was still able to hit my macros pretty dead on, which really matters.

I went to a concert last night and come home late and super hungry. It was midnight so I counted my bagel w/cream cheese towards todays macros. When I woke up this morning I had two blueberry waffles with 4 turkey sausage’s. It must have not filled me up enough because I was hungry like 2 hours later :/ I think I’m going to start eating bigger breakfasts, with smaller lunches, and then a big dinner to keep me full throughout the day.

I go straight from school to work and only have about 15 mintues before my shift so whatever I eat has to be quick and filling to last me. In my junk food days I lived off of hot pockets and recently added them back in my diet (ha). I can’t quite fit actual hot pockets in my macros because of the large fat content, but lean pockets are just as tasty. I also had one of those vegtable steamables because I’m really bad at eating vegtables but those things are quick, easy and somewhat tasteful. 

I had tons of protein, lil carbs and fat leftover, which left me with limited dinner options. It’s kinda fun messing around in MyFitnessPal to see what fits my macros. I ended up with 4 oz of 90/10 ground beef, 1C of black beans, and 1/4C cheddar cheese. Surprisingly it was pretty good with some tapitio on top.

I STILL had protein left over and needed to hit my micronutrientes so I made up a protein shake for my “dessert”. 1 scoop of vanilla whey protein, 1C frozen kale, half a banana, unsweetened almond milk, cinnamon and a lil water. I don’t care for kale too much. No matter how I’ve made it I can’t get over the taste but it’s pretty much tastless frozen. Frozen bananas are also my go to’s for my shakes. When they are raw they make shakes sludgy, but when frozen they make them icy and act as good base for the rest of the ingredients. I also had a pop tart <3<3<3 still on the look out for the pumpkin pie ones!

Here is what my macro breakdown for the day looks like. Oh and I added 10g of carbs (reverse dieting) and have yet to change it on MyFitnessPal so that is why it says I went over by 15g.

What I ate Wednesday

In my last post I mentioned that I would post a day of IIFYM (If it fits your macros) meals to show you what it’s all about. When I started IIFYM I used to track my meals throughout the day but recently I’ve been doing it the night before for accuracy. Like I’ve said before it may seem tedious to track everything I eat but I actually enjoy it so it doesn’t bother me at all. It lets me know what I need to eat more of or what I need less of for the day. Anyways, below are screenshots of my meals from today with breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. As well as an overview of what my macros look like in total. I try my best to hit them dead on, but as you can see I went over on my fat by 4 grams. But as long as I am close to them I don’t stress too much. My macros are 130 protein/200 carbs/50 fat. The numbers are a little off in the screenshots because unfortunately MyFitnessPal only lets you change the macros by % rather than grams. 

Breakfast was a breakfast burrito with full fat cheddar cheese, 2 turkey sausage links, and 2 egg whites all rolled up in a flax flatbread. I tend to eat more egg whites now because the yolk has about 5 grams of fat and I would rather eat my 50 grams of fat for the day in nut butters or avocados. Total macros are = 13 fat, 18 carbs, 33 protein

Lunch was an everything bagel thin with cream cheese, and a gala apple with almond butter. Yes I actually measure both the cream cheese and almond butter, all for accuracy. Total macros= 22.5 fat, 51 carbs, 14 protein

Dinner was penne alfredo pasta with chicken and a side salad with fat free calorie free italian dressing (why I didn’t log it). I kept my carbs lower for breakfast and lunch so I could have pasta for dinner. Total macros= 11.5 fat, 94 carbs, 50 protein

Snacks were a protein shake with water and little cinnamon (post workout) and a 1 cookies and cream poptart for dessert, YUM. Total macros= 7.5 fat, 42 carbs, 32 protein

And this is what my macros look like for the whole day! I don’t have a rhym or reason for how many grams of each macro to hit for every meal, as long as I get it in at the end of the day. The only time I schedule specific macros are for post workout when I shoot for lots of protein and simple carbs (pop tarts) for recovery and muscle repair. But other than that I eat what I want and when I want, as long as it “fits my macros” of course! :)

Healthy relationships with food

Over the past few months I've noticed more and more people jumping on the healthy train, which is  awesome don't get me wrong, but the whole notion of "clean eating" is starting to become a fad. I love that people are becoming more aware of their bodies and making different decisions on how to effectively fuel their body, but it is creating this illusion of good vs. bad foods. Yes, an apple has more nutritional value (micro nutrients) than a cookie, but they are neither good or bad. They both have calories, carbs and sugar and are processed in the body the same way. A cookie is just viewed as bad because it's not "natural" or "wholesome" and we've been told it isn't healthy to eat by doctors, nutritionists or the clean eating police. No I'm not saying eating 20 cookies is okay, but one isn't going to kill you. And it goes both ways. Eating 20 apples in a sitting on top of the day's worth of food isn't the best either (if you're looking to lose weight). If you don't know apples are almost purely carbs and sugar. The body doesn't recognize what you put in it as a bad or good food, it recognizes it for what it is composed of.



I used to be this way. When I made the switch to "clean eating" I cut out EVERYTHING I came to love, which is not easy not matter what someone tells you. But I did, and for a few months actually. I lost a good amount of weight in a short amount of time but that's not because my body knew the difference between the good and bad foods, it's simply because I was eating fewer calories than before. Going from a high caloric diet of taco bell, pop tarts and cereal to veggies, fruits and lean meats will do that to you. 



Cut to a few months later on a trip to Vegas where I'm surrounded by quick cheap meals and I'm out of my kitchen where I'm able to cook my nutritional foods. I was on the mind set of "I'm on vacation so I'm going to eat whatever I want", which is what everyone should do, it's vacation. But I went crazzzzzzzzy. Like eating tons and tons of all my favorite foods that I missed. It was like a recovering alcoholic going to a wine tasting party. And then when I got back from vacation I couldn't get back on track no matter how hard I tried. I would start off eating really healthy and then when dinner hit all my cravings would flood me and I couldn't say no to "bad foods" anymore. One night I found myself hunched over a carton of ice cream shoving scoops into my mouth, and I couldn't stop! Not a pretty image I know, just trying to be honest. And I know everyone has had this happen to them before. Well cut to a few months later over summer and I managed to gain back all the weight I worked so hard to get off and keep off. I found myself looking in the mirror soooo depressed and mad at myself for what I let myself do. Like I was lying in bed one night completely hating everything I was, how could I let myself go? It also didn't help that I was following tons of fitspo's on instragram that were in killer shape and were constantly telling me that what I was eating was BAD.

After I came back from Disneyland I decided it was time to cut the shit and find something that made me happy AND healthy. My all time favorite fitspo recently made the switch to IIFYM (talked about it 1 post back) who also suffered from keeping a healthy body image. I made the switch and I haven't been happier! And I'm not just saying that for the sake of saying it, I am happier in my skin and better yet I have a healthy relationship with food which is SO important. 

Why exactly?? It is all about BALANCE and MODERATION. I'm tired of people saying that you need to cut out everything you love in order to be healthy. I'm tired of people standing over others proclaiming that eating "clean" is the only way to go. And yes that used to be me I will fully admit, but not anymore. It's about incorporating wholesome foods while still enjoying a treat here and there or even every day (as I have been doing). How exactly?? Well if you read my previous post about IIFYM where I explain what it means, it's all about meeting my macro goals and not worrying about whether a food is good or bad. Like I mentioned before, all foods are made up of a  macro ratio, which are carbs, protein, fat and then micro nutrients, which are your vitamins and minerals. Everyday I eat 200 grams of Carbs, 50 grams of Fat and 125 grams of Protein. Yes, you saw that right, a whole 200 grams of carbs. 

People who IIFYM are often negatively viewed as people who eat pizza and cookies all day and get away with it by saying "it fits my macros" when that isn't true. I still eat 85% "clean" because they help me better meet my macros. I can't get away with eating pizza all day everyday because then I would be deficient in protein and way way over my fat and carb goals, which will make me gain weight. I also have to eat nutrient dense foods to meet my micro nutrient goals. I will make a post at a later time showing a typical day of IIFYM with macro and micro information to give an example. 

So how can I fit in naughty yummy delicious foods without gaining weight? Well since I'm eating the same amount of macros each day, my body get's accustomed to this information, which thus increasing my metabolism and my body's will to burn fat. It's bro science. So say I've met my 125g protein goal for the day, but I have roughly 20g of carbs and 5g of fat left and I need to fulfill them. A diet where I need to eat? Yes please. Well guess what? A 1/2 cup of reduced fat Dreyers mint chocolate chip ice cream has 17g of carbs and 4.5g of fat in it. I EAT THAT SHIT because it fits my macros. Which I have been doing for the past 5 nights ;) Let me be an example and just say that you don't have to deprive yourself of the foods you love because they are viewed as bad. If you want that damn cookie, then eat it, or I will

It may seem taxing to have to put in every single thing I eat into consideration, but don't clean eaters do the same? Yeah I have to input everything I eat into Myfitnesspal to figure out my macros and meals for the day, but I love doing it. I look forward to doing it. It fascinates me to see the ratio amounts of the foods I eat. And that is how it should be. Let me say that I have nothing wrong with eating clean all the time and I'm not trying to put you down if you do or follow a different diet, I'm saying there is so much more out there than what is being perceived as healthy.

And let me finish by saying that you should only do it because it makes YOU happy and no one else. I don't eat this way because someone told me I need to, or I want to look like a certain actress, I do it because it makes me feel good. Life is too short to be stuffing your face with salad day in and day out because you're trying to fit your body into society's stereotypes of what a body should look like. I was unhappy and finding something that I actually enjoy has made me so much more happier in life! Happy mind=Healthy life.

Donuts also make me happy :)

IIFYM

IIFYM stands for If It Fits Your Macros and macros are the three main macronutrients such as protein, fat and carbs. IIFYM is also referred as “flexible dieting” and essentially it is making sure everything you eat throughout the day fits your specialized macro breakdown. Everyone is different and the breakdown of macros depends on your weight, height, activity level, age and what your fitness goals are, whether you want to maintain, lose, or gain weight. I’ll cover more about the ratio later.

I follow tons of fitness profiles on instagram and a good half of them use the IIFYM diet. At first I passed it off mostly because they would eat healthy, while still having a pop tart or yummy treat and then follow it with “well it fits my macros.” I didn’t really understand it or cared to understand it, and mostly felt that what they were promoting wasn’t “healthy” and against everything they (and I) stood for. But as time went on I became more interested, especially when my favorite fitspo (fitness inspiration) instagram started following the diet as well. She struggles just like I do with keeping a healthy mentality while eating clean and IIFYM has helped her feel less guilty with indulging every now and then. 

I became interested and took to the internet to do my research. IIFYM.com has been the most useful and I was able to find out what my own macro ratio looks like using their IIFYM calculator. They also have a bunch of other health calculators such as BMR (what your body burns at rest), TDEE (what your body burns throughout the day), etc, which also help you figure out how many calories you should be consuming based on how many calories you burn.

So why IIFYM? I thought eating “clean” was good enough? Essentially yes, but also no. I used to be the same way. “As long as I am eating clean I’m ok,” BUT I didn’t know how many calories I was consuming and my amount of macros was different everyday. For example, before I went on vacation back in May I was hardcore (yeah I used that word) eating clean and would only cheat once a week. But after I came back from vacation and eating dirty food for 3 days I found it hard to bounce back and found myself gaining weight very very easily. Yeah I ate bad foods more frequently than before, but I essentially eat 90% clean throughout the week with exercise 4x a week so you would think I should be loosing weight and not gaining it right?

IIIFM.com explains, "Since our daily calorie intake accounts for the majority of what our bodies look like, it only makes sense that when we eat clean, we lose weight. Eating clean however is not the answer to fat loss, but is simply a trick or technique that helps those who don’t count calories or macros, to lower them. The biggest problem when we eat clean and have no idea how many calories we are actually ingesting (let alone how many our body requires) we end up starving ourselves, and line up our metabolism for a bounce back that is sure to have us putting on extra lbs. soon as we start eating “normal” again.” 

Puts things in a completely different perspective huh? I also used to be one of those people that thought I didn’t need to or I actually shouldn’t be counting my calories because again “I’m eating healthy so it doesn’t matter,” and I always thought it promoted an unhealthy mentality. When really keeping track of what I’m eating is a healthy mentality because it lets me know what I need MORE of, yeah I said more and not less. I use the My Fitness Pal app on my phone to insert my meals and it helps me stay on track with my macro ratio. It may seem like a chore to have to insert my food for every meal for every day but it really isn’t. It takes no longer than a minute and it saves previous used foods to I just have to tap the food I ate and save it. My Fitness Pal then breaks up my macros into a pie chart and shows what the ratio of what I’ve consumed that day next to my macro goals. 

Still interested? To calculate your specialized macro ratio go to http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/ and it will do it all for you! It’s broken down in 4 different steps. 1) you put in your information, 2) select what your goals are, 3) select your nutrition plan (use iifym), and finally 4) view your results where you can choose how many grams of each macro you want. I picked 1 gram of protein, .40 of fat and then it leaves carbs for very last. Based on the amount of calories I burn a day (2100) my goal is to eat 1,725 calories with a macro ratio of 45/30/25 (carbs, protein, fat). It has only been a few days but my body is already reacting very positively. I suffer from “food baby syndrome” and “I promise I’m not pregnant it’s my food baby”, meaning I get bloated very easily from eating too many carbs. I’m still allowed to eat a fair amount but it is helping me not eat too much like I tend to. 

And guess what? At the end of the day if I have some macros or calories left over I can eat what I want as long as it fits! Say I have 30 grams of carbs left to meet my goal and I’m craving something yummy, I’ll eat a pop tart and it still meet my goals. Yeah I could eat a banana and it would do the same thing, but sometimes (or all the time) you just want a damn pop tart ;)

H2Oh

Our bodies are composed of about 60% water (your brain being 90%), which means we need to drink enough of the stuff in order to sustain a healthy body. Water aids in digestion, absorption of minerals/vitamins, circulation, transportation of nutrients, flushing out toxins and keeping our body temperature balanced. It also regulates your metabolism, which is crucial if you are looking to lose or maintain weight. Yet most people don’t drink enough water daily and instead live off of sugary sodas and juices. By the way that’s the first thing that needs to go if you are looking to build a healthier lifestyle. I cut out soda completely 7 months ago and haven’t looked back. I specifically blame soda for all the headaches I used to have and now I rarely ever get them. Soda and juices are simply empty calories and I would much rather eat my calories than drink them. 

Especially living in Arizona we need to be drinking a lot of water in order to stay hydrated during these awful hot summers. The symptoms of dehydration include fatigue, loss of energy, weight gain, constipation, high/low blood pressure, acid-alkaline imbalance and premature aging, just to name a few. Weight gain specifically because people will mistake hunger for dehydration, so the next time you feel hungry or have a craving, drink a full glass of water and see how you feel afterwards. Also, right when you wake up drink a glass, or two, or even whole liter of water before you eat anything. Water in the morning starts up your metabolism, cleanses your colon to aid in the absorption of nutrients and helps purge toxins from the body. 

So how much water should we be consuming daily? What about the “drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water” rule? Well it all really depends, like most things do, on YOU. Depends on your environment, if you live somewhere hot or cold, how much exercise you do, how much you weigh, and if you’re male or female. I found this “hydration calculator” where you put in all your information and it calculates how much you should be drinking a day. You’ll find it here: http://nutrition.about.com/library/blwatercalculator.htm

According to it I should be drinking roughly 2.2 liters (73 ounces), which is an average amount for a woman. So the 8x8 rule can be applied since it is around the same amount of ounces. But I tend to drink more than that, about 3-4 liters, especially on the days where I do heavy HIIT sessions. 

And I know that water can get boring compared to other beverages, but there are many different ways to “spice” it up. Add lemon! It makes it surprisingly sweeter and easier to drink your daily-recommended amount. Lemon water on its own has many health benefits that I will have to cover in another topic. You can also add mint leaves, cucumber, even fruit to give it a flavored taste. Drinking tea can help switch things up, but be careful on what kind of tea you drink. Don’t even think about reaching for the canned tea in convenient stores. Have you seen how much sugar is in one of those? I mean tea bags, the old fashioned way. Add some lemon, a dash of cinnamon and you’ve got yourself a party! I sweat sometimes I’m wise beyond my years, haha.

Anyways drink more water people!! It’s nothing but beneficial for your body!

http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/6-reasons-to-drink-water
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/13-symptoms-of-chronic-dehydration.html
http://www.mensfitness.com/nutrition/what-to-drink/5-reasons-to-never-neglect-water
http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/water/NU00283.html

Cardio: The Ugly Truth

Ahhhh cardio. A concept that seems simple yet carries with it a multitude of speculation and even more of a “He said, she said” type deal. I’ve heard so many different things about doing cardio and I’m sure you have to. Such as, “The more you run, the more calories you burn!” and “Don’t do any cardio, strictly lift weights.” and “Do only cardio, you don’t want to get bulky.” Blah blah blah. I’m going to try to tackle these topics using my own experience and the resource I use that you can find at the bottom of the post.

Okay let me start off my saying that I have a love/hate relationship with cardio, and when I say cardio I’m mostly referring to running. I was on the track and field team in high school but only because my mom threatened me to either join marching band or pick a sport (not kidding) so I choose to run in circles. Why I picked track and field at that time is beyond me because I was reallllly bad at it. Like come in last every single time bad at it. Like the coaches only put me in one race because they had to bad at it. You would think that running skills would rub off on me considering my mom ran in high school and STILL holds running records, and the fact that my older sister got a full ride scholarship to college because of how freakin fast she ran. My brother is even good at it, lapping me when we used to hike when he is a whole 3 years younger than me. Embarrassing I know. But I stuck with it for the whole year and then the year after that I found my true love, swimming. It’s my element and I tend to agree with it more. 

I started to incorporate running into my workout routine about a month after I changed my eating habits but when it started to be as hot as the surface of the sun I moved my cardio inside and onto my moms treadmill. This is when I really started to actually love it. I never really loved it outside because it’s freakin hot and I would always give up when I knew I could go longer. On the treadmill I tend to push myself harder instead of stopping because I know how much time I have left in my set. Also telling myself to “stop being a pansy you have 10 seconds left” helps. 

Anyways enough about me. Like I’ve said before I’ve heard MANY different things about the “correct” way to do cardio and the constant back and forth is nothing but frustrating. Recently I took to google and decided to find out on my own in order to solve this unsolved mystery. This article I found “9 Steps to Perfect Health. #7 Move Like Your Ancestors” by Christ Kesser (not a Doctor if you’re wondering for cite purposes but practices Acupuncture and Chinese medicine). I suggest reading this whole article if you have the time because it’s extremely insightful, but I’m going to try to shorten it.

But let me start by saying that when I talk about cardio I’m referring to the repetitive activity done at moderate intensity like jogging or walking on the stairmaster.

At first he explains that on one hand we have the typical coach potatoes that don’t do any exercise, but also on the other we have the fitness fanatics who will do countless hours of cardio thinking that they are going to loose weight fast when in reality it’s not the case at all. He states that Americans have continually gained weight over the last 40 years in spite of increased leisure time exercise and increased energy expenditure. He goes on to say that people would be surprised to know that the caloric burn during exercise is actually pretty small, people who exercise tend to eat more and increasing specific periods of exercise can actually be detrimental. What did I just say that? Yep it can actually be harmful to your health. I’m not saying you’re going to drop dead the next time you run for 45 minutes; I’m saying a continued effort over a long period of time. My sister is the perfect example. She was literally run into the ground, as in she broke her leg during a race. She was so good that her coaches had her do back to back races at every meet, which damaged and weakened her body to the point where she still has problems with to this day. Yet on the outside she looked like she was in the best shape of her life. What reflects on the outside doesn’t necessarily reflect what’s going on inside.

So how can cardio be harmful? Well our helpful guy Chris gives us a list of scientific reasons such as:

Increases inflammation

Depresses the immune system

Decreases fat metabolism

Disrupts cortisol levels

Causes neurodegeneration

He expands on the topic of cortisol levels (what manages stress) by saying that too much exercise can disrupt our natural cortisol rhythm and drives levels to high at first but over time depresses them over time, which then promotes fat gain and muscle loss. Over exercising can also increase heart disease. Say whattttt? Yep. In the study he mentions 102 runners were compared to 102 non runners. The runners aged between 50 and 72 and ran 35 miles a week. And guess what? They were actually THREE times more likely to have heart damage than the non runners. There were 12 heart attacks among the runners vs. 4 attacks among the non runners. And yes I know this could be based on a number of different aspects like I’m sure you are thinking, but the runners had NO history of heart disease and were exercising like maniacs so you would think they would be healthy right?

This doesn’t mean that the next time you want to go for a run you think to yourself “But Ashley said it’s bad for you!” and don’t end up doing it. I am saying don’t run aimlessly on the treadmill for an hour, instead integrate HIIT into your workout. I’ve talked about HIIT on my healthy instagram before but just to elaborate again for those who don’t know. HIIT in short means = High Intensity Interval Training. So basically short bursts of energy with periods of low intensity in order to keep your heart rate guessing. I really fell in love with running when I started doing HIIT because it meant that I could take breaks during my workout whereas I’ve always been told to run, run, run and to keep running! Now I’m no Forest Gump here, but I believe it has further improved my endurance, my stamina and my ability to say that I like running (never thought I would see the day). 

Here are some statistics to back up what I’m trying to say. In a study, one group was assigned to “chronic cardio” while the other was assigned to intervals of 8-second sprints. After 15 weeks the researchers found that the HIIT group had a significant reduction in total body mass, fat mass and better insulin levels. Another study done at McMaster University found that “6 minutes of pure, hard exercise once a week could be just as effective as an hour of daily moderate activity.” 

So tell me, would you rather run for an hour or do a short 30 minute HIIT session? And HIIT doesn’t have to be just running, it can be anything! You can apply it to any type of exercise of your choosing, such as hiking, swimming, cycling etc. It is very versatile and every time you work out it can be different than the last. Below is my go to HIIT exercise when I’m not feeling creative. It may seem easy but I promise you, you will be dripping with sweat at the end. I typically run on the treadmill 4x a week and every single time I try to make it different than the last in order to keep my body guessing and to avoid hitting a plateau. I’ve also incorporated doing incline walks to help train my body for the Grand Canyon hike I’m going on in October. 

Well if you’re still with me at the end of this very lengthy long post then you’re ready to shake the next person that says “The more cardio the better!” Funny I mention that actually, I follow a girl on instagram who does 2+ hours of cardio 7x a week! Are you kidding me? I wish I could shake the crap out of her. But I’m sure she will pay for it later while her little 106 pound frame is currently reaping the “benefits.” Ha. 

So next time you step outside, or on the treadmill, or hop in the pool, incorporate HIIT and you won’t regret it. Unless you’re sore the next day ;)

http://chriskresser.com/9-steps-to-perfect-health-7-move-like-your-ancestors

A lil about me!

Hey everyone! Or the few that will actually read this. So why a blog now? Well as you know (if you know) I already have a “healthy” instagram where I post meals, recipes and random facts about living a healthier lifestyle butttt to be honest I’m kinda over it and will probably delete it soon. I want an outlet where I can discuss topics of my interest into further depth than allowed on instagram, and where the information is just as important as the image/s. I have learned TONS of stuff since I started this journey back in January that I want to share in the hope that it will help others. 

Throughout my short life I’ve tried to diet several times, which involved me eating a lot of packaged salad, lean cuisines and those wonderful 100 calorie packs. I would be strong for a good week and then  would slowly but surely go back to my old eating habits. While I can’t blame anyone but myself I’m sure it had to do with living at my parents house where the main food choices were pop tarts and 10 different kinds of sugary cereals. And let me tell you, those two things are my weakness. Espeically cherry pop tarts, zomg I’m drooling just thinking about it. Right now if you were to go to my moms you would find 4 boxes of pop tarts in the pantry. Every single time I go over there it is an internal battle to not eat one, which I surprisingly haven’t (yet)! I just love those damn pop tarts. 

Anways, after I moved out of my parents and into a house with my boyfriend my eating habbits still didn’t change. Our meals consisted of hamburger helper, spaghetti and oven pizza, not to mention the countless sugary snacks, little debbies, bags of chips and candy we had stocked up. That was just at home. We ate out several times a week and mostly at greasy fast food restaurants (A LOT of taco bell). Now that I think about it I really don’t know how I was able to eat all that crap, for every meal, everday. I mean don’t get me wrong I love bad food, that’s why I’m even here in the first place. But it’s all about moderation, not access and binging until you feel sick like I often did. The food caught up to me slowly but surely in the most sneakiest ways. Not only was I gaining weight but I was tired all the time, not matter how much sleep I got, I had horrible headaches on the daily and my stomach was always upset. But did I keep stuffing my face? Yep. Things only changed when around this past Christmas I had a whole week off from work and school which meant me lying around doing absolutely nothing except watching netflix and eating my moms wonderfully delicious gingerbread cookies. I was walking through the house with a gingerbread man in hand when I looked down and didn’t recognize myself. And I know I’ll get the comments like “you’re skinny what are you talking about” like I’ve gotten before, but in all reality you have no idea. I was very unhappy and remember feeling so self conscious about the way I looked in my clothes even on Christmas. I wanted to feel comfortable and confident in my body and I presently did not, at all. 

After winter break was over I knew it was time to make the change and stick with it for once. And now 7 months later I’m still at it! Yeah it started out as a mission to get rid of my Christmas fluff but soon it turned into bettering my health and my insides. I don’t know how much weight I’ve lost because I tend to stay away from the scale like any girl should, and I don’t particually focus on weight. Instead I focus on what I’ve gained, like knowledge, insight and a new outlook on food and nutrition. I love this lifestyle and even more I love sharing what I know to others. And let me just say that I don’t have a degree in nutrition and I don’t study it in school, most of the stuff I will post about I research or have found in my own experiences. So I hope that with this blog I can give to others what health has given to me.  :)