Recipe: Spaghetti Squash and Garlic Shrimp

Spaghetti Squash and Garlic Shrimp!

This recipe is so easy, quick to make, and most important DELICIOUS! 

Ingredients:

1) 1/2 pound of shrimp 

2) 1 spaghetti squash

3) Garlic

4) Salt & Pepper

Directions:

First begin by preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Then start by washing and peeling your shrimp. Once everything is washed and peeled, throw your shrimp into a skillet and turn it on low to medium heat. Add one garlic clove, salt, and pepper. 

Once your oven is ready throw you squash into the oven for 30-45 minutes. REMEMBER to poke a few holes into the squash. 

Slowly allow your shrimp to cook until they turn a red-pink color. 

Once the squash is ready to come out of the oven it should be very soft and HOT! Let the squash cool down enough so you can cut it right in half. 

After the Squash is cut in half remove the seeds from the center and place them in a separate bowl to discard.

Once all the seeds are removed take a fork and start carving out the squash. You should get spaghetti like strands. 

After you collect enough squash noodles from the squash, place the noodles into a skillet on medium to high heat. Add a little bit more garlic, salt, and pepper. Cooking this a second time will make the noodles nice and firm, but remember to keep stirring the noodles. 

Enjoy! 

Accomplishments

This week was full of accomplishments. I completed my week full of running and working outs, and realized how far I have come. A couple months ago I could barely run a mile. It was the hardest thing in the world, and I couldn't understand how people enjoyed running. Sunday was my first long distance run and I killed it. When I started training I was used to running 3-4 miles, but I had to go a little farther and run 5! I absolutely hated running and I thought it as a chore. The more I started to run the more I really started to enjoy it. It is the best way to clear your head at the end of the day.

Drinking water was another thing I strongly disliked. I would drink everything but water, but now water is all I drink.  Drinking juice all day was really unhealthy. It was full of sugar and not good for losing weight. Water has so many benefits such as removing toxins, increases your metabolic rate and improves your digestive system. That is only a couple examples of what water can do for you. I had to make the switch so I could create a healthy lifestyle for myself. Eating healthy and drinking A LOT of water is very important when working out, and it is the best thing you can do for yourself. Today I drink a gallon of water a day and I have not felt better.

I have overcome the two things I hated the most. Today I can’t live without either one of them. You can do anything you want to as long as you put your mind to it. Of course it is not easy, but it can be done. Like anything else it takes work!

Here are just a couple pictures of my third week of training. 

Gym workout followed by a mango banana protein shake! Yum!

I DID IT!!!! 5 miles complete!

Wake boarding and tubing on Saturday. It was definitely a workout. 

Thank you everyone for all of the support. I cant believe that I am on my fourth week of training! 

Please take a moment to follow me on Instagram! You can find me at Ashley_davis06.

Recipe: Homemade pizza

Homemade Pizza! 

Ingredients:

1. Premade flat bread pizza dough
2. Pesto sauce (I used homemade pesto)
3. Spinach
4. Grilled chicken 
5. Green peppers
6. Black olives
7. Tomatoes
8. Parmesan
9. Mozzarella

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Start off my grilling your chicken and cutting them into bite sized pieces. While the chicken is cooking start by cutting your green peppers, tomatoes, and black olives. Once everything is cooked and cut, its time to start making your pizza! 

Take your premade flat bread dough out of its package and lightly spray water onto the dough. This keeps the the bread soft. Next apply a thin layer of pesto, spinach, grilled chicken, green peppers, and black olives. I would then add your tomatoes lightly coating them with Parmesan. Finally its time to add the cheese! Sprinkle Mozzarella all over the pizza and throw it in the oven! 

Cook your pizza until the crust is light brown and all of the cheese is melted. Once you take your pizza out of the oven I would recommend waiting 5-10 minutes before cutting the pizza. That gives it enough time to cool down and it will make cutting it so much easier. Finally ENJOY! 

If you try this recipe please make a comment below on how you liked this recipe.

Take a moment to follow me on Instagram at ashley_davis06.

Overcoming A Challenge!

This week started out rough. On Sunday 7/28/13 I woke up with a sore throat. I didn’t think much of this sore throat, because it felt like it was probably really dry from sleeping with my mouth wide open.  I went on my Sunday run as usual and then went to my mom’s house to spend the day with her. She also had a sore throat and wasn’t feeling well just like me. On Monday morning everything seemed to get worse! Mondays are my day off from working out, so I was excited to relax, sleep, and feel better.  After I got off work I took a really long nap and woke up feeling the same as I did before, maybe even worse.  I tried taking a warm bath but still felt really crappy. I put my shoes on and headed to the grocery store to pick up some Nyquil and Sprite. I went to bed at 7:00 p.m. hoping to get enough rest to feel better by Tuesday. I woke up and instantly knew that it was going to be a HORRIBLE day. I got to work and could barely sit still without wanting to vomit all over everything and everyone! I went home and went right to bed! I slept a total of five hours, and it felt great. I knew I could not go running that night so I then decided that I took my two days off this week so I will have to push through it. 

Here are some picture through out my week...

Wednesday

On Wednesday I decided to get my 3 miles over with on my lunch hour at work. It was a nice afternoon to go because it wasn't too hot. After work I went home and took another long nap to prepare for tomorrows run! 

Thursday

Today I decided to break up my run and do two miles at a time. I ran two miles on my lunch hour while it was still cool outside. I then went to the gym with Wendy after work and ran another two miles along with more cardio workouts and a little bit of weight training. 

Friday

Friday morning I was feeling back to normal. I continued to drink my gallon of water and ate a delicious breakfast at work. 

After I got home from work on Friday i busted out my 3 miles and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Saturday

Saturday I did my cardio for the day. I went to the gym to lift some weights and work on toning. After my workout I went to my moms house and we went on a long bike ride. It was day for working out. 

Sunday

Sunday morning rolled around and I woke up at my usual 6:30 a.m. alarm. I found a new route to run and I loved it. There were lots of sprinklers to run through which made it so much more enjoyable. 

This week is finally over and I am ready to start week three! 

If you would like to see more pictures please follow me on Instagram at...

Ashley_Davis06

Recipe: Wheat Crepes

Since breakfast is the most important meal of the day, I thought I would share my absolute favorite breakfast recipe.

Wheat Crepes

Ingredients:

1.       ¼ cup wheat flour

2.       1 packet of stevia all natural sweetener

3.       Dash of salt

4.       Dash of cinnamon

5.       2 egg whites

6.       ¼ cup low fat milk (or almond milk)

7.       Toppings are of choice

Directions:

In a medium sized bowl mix together your dry ingredients flour, sweetener, salt, and cinnamon. In a small bowl combined your wet ingredients starting with your eggs to ensure no shells are mixed in. Once everything is all mixed together slowly add your dry ingredients to your wet ingredients. Now whisk everything together until everything is combined.

Now heat up a 10-12 inch skillet over medium to high heat. Once the pan heats up spray the pan with cooking spray to keep the crepes from sticking to the pan. Now take about ¼ cup of batter and pour it into the center of the pan. Move the pan around until the batter spreads evenly around the pan making a large circle. You will start to see the outside of the crepe peel up along the edges, that’s when you know it is time to flip the crepe. Once the crepe is cooked on both sides remove from the pan and add your filling. I like to use fresh banana’s and strawberries with a little bit of honey. Roll the crepe up and enjoy! 

If you guys try out this recipe please make a comment below and let me know! Thanks again everyone for your support! 

Take a moment to follow me on Instagram at Ashley_Davis06. 

Sweat Fest!

Hey everyone!

I completed my first week of training and I cant wait to share with you my experience. 

First of all I would like to share the best/worst part of my week. The WORST part of my week was scraping my knee on Saturday. Since the roads are being repaved there was a lot of loose gravel on the road. When I was running between side walks my foot slipped on the loose gravel and I went down. Lets just say it was a hot mess. The BEST part of my week was on Sunday. I ran my 3 miles and then I picked up my bike and road 6 miles on the green belt. It was so enjoyable and quiet. I am planning on riding my bike on the green belt every Sunday after my runs. Over all I would say this week was pretty easy. I ran a total of 16 miles this week, and I think I am off to a great start. The one thing that made running this week a challenge was the weather. Since it is 100 degrees out during the day it stays really hot in the evening and that's when I run. I am planning on purchasing a hydration backpack for my long runs. If you use a hydration pack when running please let me know which one you recommend in the comment section below. Thanks everyone for your support! I will be posting my weekly updates every Tuesday! 

Saturdays workout

Sundays workout

Motivational Quote: 

Please take a moment to follow me on instagram at ashley_davis06. Thanks everyone!!! 

Recipe: Protein pancakes/waffles

The recipe is finally here! When I decided to make the change to eat healthy, I thought I would have to give up the good food and replace it with the boring food. I was so wrong! When I am craving something I know is not healthy such as regular pancakes I go straight into the kitchen and make up my own healthy version. So today I am sharing my version of pancakes/waffles.

Let me know what you guys think of my new recipe. I just heated up my frozen fruit in the microwave and threw them on top. It worked out great because the juice replaced the syrup. If anyone tries this recipe please leave a comment below on what you thought or what toppings you used. Thanks everyone.

Day 1: Goals

I am going to start this blog off by saying how excited I am to finally be creating a blog about the lifestyle that I am trying to achieve. Working out and eating healthy can be a huge challenge in the beginning and it is something you will have to work hard at EVERYDAY. I am not an expert, but I am a regular girl who has some serious goals! Speaking of goals I would like to list mine off right now! The FIRST, and the most important goal that I have is feeling healthy. I am not going to hover over the scale every hour, or not eat a meal to lose that last pound. To me feeling healthy is going to the gym and sweating my ass off! My SECOND, and most exciting goal is the half marathon race I have coming up on October 13,2013. Of course my goal is to complete the race and do a kick ass job doing it! Finally, my THIRD and last goal is to have balance in my life. I think it is so important to have a good balance between family, friends, school, and work. I feel like I get so caught up in working out that I forget to spend time with the people I love most. I do have to remind myself to take a step back and to enjoy life and not live it in the gym 24/7. 

Every Tuesday I will be writing a blog about my fitness lifestyle. I will share my best/worst moments of the week, workouts,quotes, and recipes. 

Since today is day 1 of my half marathon training schedule I would like to share with you my week schedule for 7/23-7/28. Tuesday-Thursday: 3 miles Saturday: 4 miles and Sunday: 3 miles. This will be an easy week for me as I am used to running 4 miles at least 4 times a week! I will be running my 3 miles at the gym today with more cardio workouts and some weight lifting. 

I will be posting pictures daily to my Instagram, and you can find me at Ashley_Davis06. If you have any questions please leave a comment below. Thanks again to everyone who supports me! 

P.S. To start this blog off with some motivation a friend of mine has sent me a link to a great motivational video that I would love to share. 

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbkZrOU1Zag&feature=youtu.be