Brief Hiatus
Good Afternoon!
I apologize for the brief hiatus! I have not forgotten about all of you! As many of you know I traveled to Seoul, South Korea, if not you can catch up here. I had so much fun, but the day after we flew back into the States, I came into work, with a little bit of jet lag and a 65 hour work week. Needless to say, I lack sleep and have been overly busy the past two weeks. I plan on cathcing you all up on my travels and sharing all of our fabulous pictures with you! I’ll see you all tomorrow for part 2 of my journal through Seoul, South Korea!
XO,
Rachel Ashley
You Only Regret the Workouts Your Don’t Do!
I love the title of today’s post! I am usually most disappointed in myself when I don’t workout or eat properly! I don’t like the way my body feels when I haven’t worked out and I definitely don’t like the way my insides feel when I haven’t eaten the way I should! If you can’t make it to the gym, go for a walk, run or bicycle ride outside. If its too cold outside to exercise pop in a workout DVD! If you don’t have a workout DVD, use this workout! Basically, I am trying to tell you, there is NO EXCUSE for not working out! Remember how good your muscles and body feels after you workout! Remember how good your stomach feels and your insides feel when you eat properly! I hope that you will remember these feelings when your offered a piece of cake or you don’t feel like putting on your workout clothes and hitting the gym! I encourage you to take small steps everyday to better health, believe me you won’t regret it!
BTW: I love the new RealFlex Graphic Reebok’s! You can choose your colors! I love bright pink, yellow and blue, seen above, no one will miss you in the gym!
XO,
Rachel Ashley
Endocrine Disruptors
Good Morning! I wanted to share with you a little bit about endocrine disrupters that we come in contact with daily. Some of the endocrine disruptions like pesticide laden food, we can avoid, but others like air pollution we can’t really run from. Unfortunately, America is focused more on the bottom line, rather than the health of the people in our country. You may be asking yourself right now, what is an endocrine disrupter; well here is a definition to help you understand what I am talking about. Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that may interfere with the body’s endocrine system and produce adverse developmental, reproductive, neurological, and immune effects in both humans and wildlife. A wide range of substances, both natural and man-made, are thought to cause endocrine disruption, including pharmaceuticals, dioxin and dioxin-like compounds, polychlorinated biphenyls, DDT and other pesticides, and plasticizers such as bisphenol A.
Endocrine disruptors may be found in many everyday products– including plastic bottles, metal food cans, detergents, flame retardants, food, toys, cosmetics, and pesticides. I know this is a heavy topic for some, but it is important for you to know what you’re up against; if you’re true desire is to live a healthy life! It’s sad that we have to fight to have a healthy lifestyle.
Unfortunately, Americas are accustomed to a quick and easy lifestyle, and usually that comes with fast food, long days and late nights, little or no time to work-out or cook at home. The rise of obesity is staggering, cancer is on the rise, and there are more and more people with health related issues than ever before. Did you ever stop to think what could be causing it? What has changed in America over the last century? Here is a list of a few environmental factors that have caused these epidemics in America. In short, watch what you’re eating, putting on your skin, and be sure to exercise daily! If you don’t have your health you won’t have much!
Things to Avoid:
Plastics (have been on the rise since the 1950’s)
Pesticides
Pharmaceuticals
Processed foods – artificial preservatives and colors, artificial sweeteners, high-fructose corn syrup, etc.
XO,
Rachel Ashley
Carb Cycling
Note: Picture is NOT property of Fashionably Living’s
Sorry I have been MIA since Sunday! My life last week was non-stop and I was trying to catch up at work and at home. My hubby’s birthday was Tuesday too, so that added more to my plate, of course! But I am feeling good this morning, feeling blessed and excited that I got a good hour and half workout in before 8 AM! Working out in the morning starts my day off so well and makes me feel accomplished! Now I have to continue to eat right the remainder of the day and we’ll call it a success!
Tomorrow was Workout Wednesday, but we will have to supplement and be okay with Thursday! I have been reading a lot about carb cycling and there are several trainers I really like that push this type of program. Jamie Eason includes carb cycling in the week 10 of her 12 week LivFit trainer. Chris Powell was on Dr. Oz talking about it the other night, and several trainers on Bodybuilding.com also include this type of system in their weight loss programs. I would agree that this type of system is the key to eliminating unwanted pounds. It is critical that we include carbohydrates in our diets, but the key is knowing when we should and when we shouldn’t. So I will try my best to explain it to you! On high intensity workout days, for example legs, you should add more carbohydrates to your diet, but on lower intensity workout days, for example arms, you should minimize your carbohydrate intake. No matter what day it is, you should always start your morning off with a breakfast that includes carbohydrates. Carbohydrates fuel your muscles and your body giving you energy for the day, thus making it very important no matter what day it is to include carbohydrates. A more technical definition would be…carb cycling takes the macronutrients (the proteins, fats and carbs) of your meals and manipulates them to reduce body fat to very low levels, with as little muscle cannibalization as possible. I hope this was helpful information to you. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions.
XO,
Rachel Ashley
Don’t Eat the White Stuff!
Please Note: Picture is NOT property of Fashionably Living’s
Wow, I can’t believe that it’s already Wednesday! Did you all have a lovely Valentine’s Day? I had a wonderful evening with my hubby! When I woke up yesterday I had a dozen long stem roses, Hersey’s kisses, and pink tulips waiting on the kitchen counter for me! I couldn’t believe it, not because my hubby doesn’t do nice things for me, he does, but I wasn’t really expecting anything this year. He was so sweet to me and still makes me feel special every year! I hope you all had a Happy Valentine’s day too!
Well, you all know it is Workout Wednesday! I have a little bit of healthy advice to share with you! When making food at home or eating out try to AVOID the white stuff! If you don’t know what I mean by white stuff here is a small list to get you started.
- White Bread
- White Sugar
- White Pasta
- White Wraps
- White Rice
- White Pizza Crust
- White Rolls
- White Muffins
- White Baked Goods
- White Bagels
- White Potatoes (not bleached but are quickly absorbed within the body leaving you hungry faster and raising insulin levels rapidly).
The two most fiber-rich and nutritious parts of a wheat seed are the outside bran layer and the germ (embryo). White flour is highly processed and is therefore missing both of these components! These two components of wheat help to slow digestion and absorption of grains in our system (so that we don’t spike our blood sugars) and also are very nutritious. We should be eating grains that still have these components! Insulin is our body’s tool for sugar management. The more of these types of foods we eat the faster/more intensely our blood sugars rise and the more insulin we eventually need to pump. The issue here is that insulin promotes the storage of fat so the more we produce the more fat we are going to store. A book I have been wanting to read, is called “Suicide by Sugar”, by Nancy Appleton; its about how sweet white stuff represents one of our biggest dietary hazard
I challenge you today to eliminate white flour and white sugar from your diet. You should be consuming only 100% whole grains for the carbohydrate portions of your meals. Always remember to read the labels and look for 100% whole grain. Be careful, processed white flour also goes by the names: “enriched wheat flour” or “wheat flour.” Don’t be fooled! White bread is “dead” bread!
I hope this information is helpful and even though it may be a bit overwhelming start small!
XO,
Rachel Ashley
P.S. Be sure to workout today! I got my workout in a 7:30 am!
Ready to Lean Out?
Workout Wednesday has arrived again! I am excited to share a great food regime that will help you lean out and loose body fat! So many trainers and fitness experts will tell you that your abs are made in the kitchen, and it’s so true! If you are tirelessly working out and you aren’t seeing the results you had hoped for, you probably need to make an adjustment to your eating program. Don’t give up on working out you still need that component, but you have to remember that 80% of how your body looks is shaped by what you eat; only 20% is shaped by your workouts. You need both components to truly see the results you’re looking for, but the most important component is what your feeding and fueling your body with. The program above is adapted from Kathleen Tesori’s cutting program. If you are to the point where you workout at least 5 times a week, consistently and your eating right, but your hitting a plateau or you need to lower your body fat percentage, a cutting program will help you satisfy these desires. I found this program on BodyBuilding.com and I have fallen in love with BodyBuilding.com, because they have all the resources you need to get in shape! I told you I have been following Jamie Eason’s LiveFit 12 Week training program, which can be found on BodyBuilding.com as well! Check out their website you will find lots of helpful information that will aid you in your weight loss or fitness efforts.
XO,
Rachel Ashley
Eating Clean is the Key to a Healthy Lifestyle!
You don’t get bodies like this eating sugary foods! Love the TONE IT UP girls!
Workout Wednesday is here and I have something that may come as a sensitive subject to talk to you. Do you love sugar? I know I do! The problem is sugar is addicting! Once you cut out sugar you’ll be amazed at the natural sweetness of fresh foods like apples and sweet potatoes. Sugar is in all of your processed foods and even in some “natural” foods. Sugar hides under fake names on labels like high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, rice syrup, cane sugar, glucose, fructose, beet sugar, etc. Sugar substitutes like Sucanat, molasses, fruit syrup, honey, maple syrup, rapadura, stevia, yacon and any are all good options, but they too must be consumed in moderation. While they may contain more nutrients than the sugar, they can be just as addictive. It is very important to stay away from all fake sugars like aspartame, acelsulfane, saccharin, sucralose, etc. These fake sugars work against you just as much as white sugar does. There are so many great books out there to read that will help you understand just how bad sugar really is for you! I would highly recommend “Suicide by Sugar” written by Nancy Appleton. The point I am trying to make here is to get sugar, in any form off your shelves and out of your food. It is not good for you and is working against you! I will say that its hard to get rid of sugar all at once, so take baby steps. Get rid of soda, and little by little exchange refined sugar for natural sweeteners, you will be happy when you do and your waistline will thank you!
XO,
Rachel Ashley
Editor – Rachel Ashley
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