If it ain't broke...

My first morning without Shakeology in a week and the whole day didn't fall apart! James spent the night in Atlanta last night so after I got Ethan off to school Kaylee and I laid back down and I woke up in time to have "brunch."

turkey bacon, egg, and fat free cheddar on honey wheat toast and a clementine

Since James was gone I didn't go to the gym and instead did Turbo Fire HIIT 30. Chalene Johnson always humbles me because I feel strong because I'm "Shaun T trained," but those drills make me a little pukey some times. I also went back to these old faithfuls.

I am a believer that Adidas makes the best running, cross training, and walking shoe. As a self proclaimed Nike hater I bought these a couple months ago. 

Why? Because they were a pretty color.. Ridiculous. I've been having some trouble with my ankle so I went back to what I know feels good.. If it ain't broke.. :)

When James got home this afternoon he wasn't in the mood for baked chicken so we went out for sushi and hibachi. It was great.

See?

Then I came home and had a York Peppermint Patty ice cream. OMG if you haven't had them go out and buy them now. Worth every. single. calorie!

Confessions

I HATE the "dreadmill." It's boring and because I am not the fastest runner and I watch the clock the entire time just wanting to be done. I should stick to Beachbody workouts but I WANT to be a good distance runner. I don't really care about speed I just want to run far.

In order to get through my time on running on the treadmill I watch the tackiest shows.. 

Thank goodness no one is in the gym when I'm there in the mornings. I'm embarrassed to admit I watch this garbage!

The diet was good today. I always feel like I do better when I start the morning with a workout and Shakeology which I did today. I tend to stay on track if I start out right. I had a banana in my chocolate Shakeology today (my hubby likes PB).

LUNCH! I'm really loving those sandwich thins with an egg, fat free cheddar, and mustard. I've never been a huge fan of eggs but lately I've been having them for lunch.

I went out shopping for a dress for A-Day this afternoon and the kids were starving and I saw Logans had an appetizer special and since James was in Atlanta working we went there. I had an AMAZING southwestern grilled shrimp appetizer. It was only 5 dollars and so good!

I did find a dress. Which I really like but I HATE my hips.. More oblique exercises please Shaun T!

And speaking of Shaun T. I found this great shirt at Target. This is definitely perfect for all of us Insanity/Asylum people!

5 months later!

My husband would describe me as a blog-aholic. I faithfully read about 20 blogs but I always end up neglecting my own, oops! I've been gone for so long I'll just throw some updates and photos on what I've been up to and hop back on this blogging train!

-We moved to Auburn, AL and I am so THRILLED to be here. Russell County had terrible schools, a ton of crime, and no shopping. I feel safer in Auburn, the school system is amazing, and I can walk to the Village Mall or be at Tiger Town within ten minutes!

-The love and I took two trips to Panama City and had an amazing time.

-I've been working on items for my boutique.

-Doing my best to eat healthy and my hubby has joined me full force!

-Fitness! Always make time for fitness, no excuses!

- Since our last trip to PCB I have been problems with my ankle so I bought these yesterday we'll see how they work out for me. 

- Aside from taking care of and spoiling these two cuties I think y'all are about all caught up on the Ashleys!

***EDITED TO ADD

-My boys won the NC!! GO CATS!!!!

Lightened up brownies

A while back I was baking a cake and Ethan asked me whose birthday it was. That's when I realized with my healthy approach to eating I was depriving them and needed to make more of an effort to make healthy and lower calorie desserts instead of cutting them out all together. This is the easiest dessert to throw together on a weeknight. It's not the healthiest dessert but everyone likes brownies and I cut calories where ever I can.
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Ingredients:
Box brownie mix (or cake mix)
Diet coke (you can use diet cherry coke or any diet drink)

Mix one box brownie (or cake) mix with one 12 oz can diet coke.

Spray cake pan with cooking spray and spread in batter (it will be pretty thick)

Bake according to box instructions.

No calories from the oil or the eggs.

Makeup?

I have been asked to blog about some pretty odd topics but when I posted this picture on facebook, I was inundated with messages asking me to blog about makeup.

I am a self proclaimed makeup novice. I didn't start wearing makeup until way after all of my friends, in fact I think I was in college before I started wearing makeup. Even now I'm completely intimidated by makeup and on a regular basis I have 3 things that I use.

The Sublime Bronze is a Loreal airbrush tan. I do tan in a tanning bed but I like the airbrush finish I just feel like it evens out my skin and gives it the "airbrushed look." Some people think it gives me an orange-y color, but I spray tanned through my pregnancies and I actually love the bronze glow. I usually do this every other night, and only on my face/neck/chest area.

I use a dark brown eye liner, I think this one is black/brown. I don't use it every day but I probably do have it on in most of my pictures. I have huge eyes anyway so I could probably go without using it at all but sometimes I'll put it on anyway. I just use a little bit on my lower lash line and smudge it so it's not a harsh line.

I use black mascara and I'm never so sure about that because a lady at the cosmetic counter at Dillards told me I shouldn't use black mascara because it's "too harsh for green eyes." For the record that was unsolicited advice! 

I'm actually the one who needs makeup tips because I'd love to be able to do a smokey eye or even to make my little skinny lips look plumper or accentuate some cheek bones that I don't really have, but really y'all I'm clueless, lol!

Adding flavor, cutting calories

Y'all know I never jumped on the low carb band wagon. There is no way I could ever make it through my workouts if I gave up carbs. Unfortunately pasta, potatoes, and rice come with a healthy amount of calories. The way to combat those extra calories is to bulk up your dishes with vegetables but keep your serving sizes the same. I'll show you the calorie breakdown after I share this recipe.

Garden pasta

16 oz box garden rotini

2/3 cup fat free italian

chopped veggies 

fresh grated parmesan cheese (optional)

-Boil pasta until al dente and drain

-Mix in italian dressing

-Cool in refrigerator 2 hours

-Stir pasta and then mix in fresh chopped veggies

-Top with fresh grated parmesan cheese

You can use any veggies you want in this. I used tomatoes, black olives, and green peppers. I had a cucumber to use too but for some reason my refrigerator was turned up too high and it froze! I also think spinach leaves would be good in this recipe. 

Calorie breakdown:

1 cup of this pasta without the veggies would be about 250 calories. Now with the veggies added approximately 1/3 of that cup is going to be filled with the veggies taking away 83 calories. The veggies that were added and are taking the place of those extra pasta calories are under 5 calories. You just made a 

250 calorie meal 170 calories and made it taste better. Obviously the more veggies you add, the more calories you're cutting.

Let me help you!

In the comments let me know what your favorite comfort foods are and I'll choose some to make a healthy version of.