Actually Ashley: Week 8 Healthy Living Check In

I can't believe I'm at my 2 month mark! I'm very happy with where I'm at in my journey. This week was challenging due to the fact that I wasn't feeling too well. I ended up taking Tuesday off to go to the doctor (or Doc in the Box-Care Now) for some medicine. I got some pretty good cough medicine. I did a great job staying on point with my eating. I refuse to let a little congestion get in the way of my goals. Being sick is NOT an excuse to eat poorly. The only thing that suffered was my workout. I just didn't feel like coughing up a lung every time I did a jump or kick. I didn't feel like feeling intense congestion every time I went to down dog on the yoga mat. The last time I weighed in was September 5 when I went to the doctor. I was ashamed at how high I let my weight get. I've never seen a number that high on the scale for me before. I had already planned on starting the journey with Beach Body, but seeing that number made it all the more real and motivating. Fast forward 2 months....I'm back at the doctor and NOT dreading the scale. I step on the scale and it is 20 POUNDS LIGHTER!!! I'm half way to my first goal. I have 20 more pounds to go before I go to the doctor again January 8th. I CAN do this. I WILL do this.

Let's talk food. This upcoming week, I'm hosting a FREE 7 day clean eating challenge on Facebook. I'm sharing recipes, ideas, and motivation for eating clean. This is my first coaching opportunity. I'm excited to continue my journey to help others experience the results I've experienced. Here's my Mexican Lasagna that I meal prepped last weekend.

This serves 6. Look at how much I get to eat in each serving. It is filling, spicy, and delicious.

This is my chicken burrito skillet that I served over romaine lettuce. I used Mrs. Dash's chili lime seasoning. It really was like eating Chipolte at home.

I meal prepped this for the week, too. It served 8. Mr. B and I had this 4 nights this week.

Here's a glimpse of my fridge after meal prep for the week. It's full at the beginning of the week. By the end of the week, it's empty. Time to refill.

That chocolate milk is not mine. It's for Mr. B.

This fudge IS for me, however. This is my sweet treat for the week. Once it's gone. It's gone. I don't make another batch until the next week. This upcoming week's batch is already in the fridge ready for me to eat!

Mix together: 1 cup cocoa, 3/4 cup semi-melted coconut oil, 3/4 cup honey, 2 tsp vanilla extract, and I add in some peanut butter because I'm obsessed with peanut butter. Whisk these together and pour in a wax paper lined 8x8 dish and put in fridge until set. You're welcome.

Thursday I was feeling like a juicy burger with all the works. I kept doing a few things around the house to distract myself to not think about the burger. Mr. B didn't help matters by continuing to ask me what we were going to eat for dinner. I knew he really wanted that burger. Finally, I decided to put on my PJs because if I did that, I wouldn't go get that burger. We ate the last serving of our chicken burrito skillet. I added a bit of feta cheese to it this time. Changed the flavor. So good.

Rudy's BBQ opened up over by us. Mr. B's parents were so excited, they asked us to eat with them Friday night. The place was hopping. I ordered the turkey sandwich with a small side of creamed corn. I ate all the turkey, a few spoonfuls of corn, and gave everything else to Mr. B. I'm getting better at making good, healthy choices when going out to eat. It's not scary anymore. If I want something, I eat it. I just really think about how bad I want it before I do eat it. Most of the time, my inner logic wins out and I pass. It's just not worth it to me.

The weather is getting cooler, so I broke out the leggings and boots. I told Mikah that I needed to be more intentional in taking full body shots so I can track progress. So here is one I had Mr. B take Thursday night. Horizontal stripes and everything.

Saturday I got back to working out. I rolled out of bed at 8:30 and found a message waiting on me from Mikah: "what time are you pressing play today?" Well, I guess I'll be working out today. LOL. My plan was to eat some breakfast, run a couple of errands, workout, then do some work. I know myself. If I didn't do that workout right after breakfast, it wasn't going to get done. So, not even awake for an hour and I was sweating it out with Shaun T. I'd been doing PiYo these past couple of weeks, but I was ready to go back to my first love. This leaves me #sweatyandfabulous

Over these next couple of weeks, I'm going to do Cize and Piyo so I can get in cardio and strength. I didn't start at beginner. I did the first intermediate routine. I took a few extra breaks than usual, but I finished and rocked it.

not the most flattering angle, but hey....there it is anyway

On the menu this week:

21 Day Fix Chili and cornbread

In other news: I had some serious encounters with adulthood this week. Had my car serviced....need new tires. Goodbye $600

Garage door is busted....goodbye $650

before

after

We have the decision of painting the door the same color it was, or leaving it white. This was just too big of a decision for me to make. So I did what any normal person in the 21st century would do: I let Facebook decide for me. Keeping it white won by a landslide. Mr. B was happy since he would have been the one who would've had to paint it had the vote gone the other way.

What would my weekly blog be without some ridiculously adorable pictures of Jude the Dude!?