Fitness with Ashley | Healthy Protein Pancakes

Hello everyone! I have started my clean eating and fitness journey back up again, so I'm going to be doing posts on healthy recipes and different workout things. We are in the process of turing part of our basement into a home gym and if you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen pictures and the video clip I posted of it. 

Today I'm going to share a recipe for healthy protein pancakes! 

I've always thought pancakes were unhealthy because of the premade batter but then I learned how to make my own with only a few simple ingredients!

What you'll need 

-2 eggs

-1/2 to 1 cup of oats

-1 scoop of protein powder of your choice

-2 bananas 

-cinnamon 

This recipe will make about 3-4 depending on how big or small you make them. 

What to do

Throw all your ingredients into a blender to make your batter. 

Cook them as you would noramal pancakes in a skillet. 

Then top with your favorite toppings. I used honey today and didn't have any extra fruit to put on top but you can really use whatever!

Enjoy!

These are one of my favorite things to make for breakfast on weekends when I have time (I don't during the week lol). They are simple and easy and good for you! 

What's your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? 

Also will you guys let me know if you would prefer to see these posts on this blog or would you be more interest in me making a seperate blog just for fitness and health related topics? Let me know your thoughts!!

Fitness with Ashley | Healthy Chia Yogurt Power Bowl Recipe

Hello!!! Today I have another healthy recipe for my 'fitness with Ashley' posts! 

I'm going to share one of my favorite things to eat for breakfast in the morning- a Chia Yogurt Power Bowl. 

What is a power bowl? It's litterly just a bowl filled with different healthy things that have a lot of nutrients, protein, etc. in them. You can make different ones for breakfast or you can do ones with veggies, rice/quinoa and chicken (or whatever meat/non meat you like) for lunch or dinner! 

Chia Yogurt Power Bowl 

What you'll need

- 2-3 large spoonfuls of Yogurt of your choice. I used Organic Greek Vanilla yogurt from whole foods (365 brand)

- 1 to 1.5 teaspoons of chia seeds

- A handful of your favorite granola

- 1 banana sliced and a handful of raspberries, or any other fruit of your choice 

- Honey drizzled over everything 

This makes for a really great late/night time snack too!! It's really yummy and I eat this almost every morning.

You can really put whatever you want in these- sometimes I throw in some slivered almonds, dark chocolate chips, dried fruit, etc. 

Some nutrition facts about the things I put in my power bowl-

-Greek yogurt is super good for you because it is high in protein and calcium! If you perfer regular yogurt, go ahead and use that instead, but since Greek has a lot of protein it will keep you fuller longer during the day. 

-Chia seeds are a great source of protein, fiber and omega-3. They are low in calories, and high in nutrients! 

-Bananas are one of the highest energy fruits. They are also a good source of potassium, vitamin c, and a great antioxidant!  

I hope you all enjoyed this recipe and let me know what your favorite healthy breakfast meals are! 

Fitness with Ashley- Motivation Monday

*Hello!*

Today I'm going to do another fitness and health related post!! I'm going to talk about how to get motived to workout and eat healthy!

A lot of my motivation comes from pinterest! You can follow my health & fitness board here! There is a whole health and fitness section on Pinterest that I get a lot of my workouts and recipes from. There is a wide verity of stuff and they have something for everyone. There are tons of motivational pictures on there too! 

*I want to state that I am in no way a fitness expert or a nutritionist, etc. These are just some of my personal things that I have been doing that are working for me at the moment!*

Here is my number one piece of advice on how to get started. You just do it.  I know it's not as simple as it sounds sometimes, but no one is going to do it for you!! Just make your self start and get through that first day and it will be easier the next. I'm going to admit right now that I do sometimes get lazy and loose motivation, as I'm sure this happens to everyone sometimes. But my main focus is not to quit! Even though I get lazy and unmotivated sometimes, I pick myself up the next day and keep going! 

My tips and tricks to eating healthy and working out

Healthy eating

1. Start off with eating healthy. They always say if you want your dream body, it's 90% what you eat and 10% fitness. Put good things into your body and you will see results! Work out all you want, but if you eat like crap, you will never see the results that you want. 

2. I try to eat 3 small meals a day and two snacks in between. Portion control is really important. Eat until you are comfortable and not stuffed. 

3. No processed foods!! I try very hard to eat everything that's fresh and get things I can mostly cook from scratch. This is very time consuming but totally worth it. No processed foods means no freezer meals, packaged/boxed foods, etc. Basically anything that's already pre made, something that's not in its natural state, or anything with super long expiration dates. I'm not saying that all things like this are totally bad, but it's much healthier to make things yourself. 

4. You need to give yourself a cheat day. We're all human, we go out to restaurants, pick up pizza on the way home ect. Just make sure this doesn't become and everyday or weekly habit. And try to make healthier choices when you go out to eat! 

5. With that being said above, don't feel bad for indulging a little bit. I am a coffee addict. I do not like black coffee. I like mine sugar filled from Starbucks. This is my one treat that I will allow myself to have. I don't drink it everyday but when I do, I allow myself to enjoy it! I get my drinks with non fat milk and I only get half of the syrup put in it! There are ways to cut calories out! And I do no let myself feel bad haha! 

6. This also goes along with the two statements above- one bad meal won't make you fat, just like one good meal won't make you skinny. You need patience because your results won't come right away! Don't let this discourage you! 

Lol...please don't take this picture literal. I just thought it was funny. I do love me some chocolate though. Dark chocolate is good for you in moderation! 

I'm going to do a post soon on what u eat on a daily basis, and things I've changed about my eating habits/healthier alternatives! 

Fitness

1. My number one fitness rule is NO EXCUSES! We all get tried, have long days, are too hungry, don't have time etc. but if you use those as an excuse to not workout, then you are just being lazy. If you really want something then you will make time for it and work for it.  I work about 50 hours a week, and I use to work 60. I still find time to workout and eat healthy.  Even if you only have 15 minutes- using that 15 minutes to workout is better than nothing. 

2. I try to workout 3-5 days a week. This includes 20-30 minute cardio a day and some strength training and full body workouts. As much as I would like to go to the gym, working out at home works better with my schedule. There are tons of easy ways to workout at home, even with no equipment! *I will have a post on how to workout at home very soon!*

3. Just like having a cheat day, you need a rest day too! Just make sure this is only 1 to 2 times a week and you aren't resting everyday. You can't expect to see results if you are only working out once a week and don't push yourself to do more!

This one a a little harsh lol but it's seriously the soild, blunt truth. 

All these pictures came from pinterest! Get on there and get some motivation!

This is all for my motivation post! I hope this gave you all some fitness inspiration! Let's all be fitness buddies! 

*I'm doing a 28 day jump start workout challenge hosted by @fitgirlsguide on Instagram starting today!! This challenge is a monthly workout plan with Sunday's being my only rest day, and a weekly eating plan too! If you want to track my progress, then please follow me on Instagram (@ashleysue_)! Also check out Fitgirlsguide Website for more info on the challenge I'm doing, and their eBook that has the fitness schedule and meal plan in it if you are interested!*

Let me know in the comments if you guys have any request for fitness or health related posts! Expect more soon! 

Fitness with Ashley- Healthy Pumpkin Spice Protein Shakes

Hello!! I mentioned a few months ago that I was thinking about doing some Fintess and healthy/clean eating posts here on my blog. I got a lot of positive feed back from you all when I asked if you guys would like to see posts like these! I have started working out and eating healthier again, so I am pretty motivated right now! I'm going to be calling these posts 'Fitness with Ashley', but this one is a healthy eating post. Maybe I should find a different name since that's confusing? What do you all think? 

For my first health and fitness posts I'm going to share how to make a Pumkpin Spice Protein Shake! It's Fall and we all need some pumpkin spice in our life! Especially if it's healthy right?! 

What you'll need

-1 cup of almond milk. Feel free to use regular milk if you don't want to use or don't have almond milk.

-1/2 cup of pumpkin, canned or freshly cooked. I used canned. 

-1/2 frozen banana. I recommend pre cutting up the banana before freezing. You don't have to use a frozen one, but the banana is frozen it acts like ice so the shake will be a lot more creamy and thick. 

-1/2 scoop of vinalla protien powder or however much you want to add in. 

-1 tsp of cinnamon 

-1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice 

-a pinch of ginger 

*throw all these ingredients in a blender and your good to go!*

This was made with only using 3/4 cup of almond milk and it wasn't as full as I would have hoped. That's why I said 1 cup in the recipe because that's what I'll do next time! 

I personally like to drink protein shakes right after I workout because protein helps you build muscle! Also they are great for breakfast in the morning! Eating protein for breakfast in the morning has a lot of healthy benefits such as providing your body with amino acids and vitimans. Plus it will help you feel more energized and keep you full longer! 

I hope you all enjoyed this fun, healthy recipe! 

*I will be doing occasional fitness or health related posts on my blog a few times a month! This will include some motivation posts, what I'm eating, healthy recipes, and different workouts and fitness things! If you have any request for these type of posts please let me know!*