Clean Eating Spaghetti Pie

Last night for dinner, my Sister, Noah, and Cooper came over.  We had planned for the night a Clean Eating Spaghetti Pie.  I wasn't sure if they would be up for that (not everyone in my family is on the healthy eating kick like I am) but we went ahead and made it. 

I got this recipe from The Gracious Pantry.  If you have never heard of the site, or been there, GO! There are tons of recipes and a lot of information about eating clean.  I was directed to this site from my coach and I refer to it at least a few times a week.  I've also made the Balsamic Pork Chops, which is actually on the menu for tonight.  I'll be posting about that tomorrow!

I didn't take a picture of the spaghetti pie, like I should have.  But, this is what is on the Gracious Pantry's website and it looked similar. 

 

If you don't know much about clean eating, it's mostly about no additives, no sugar added.  Very simple and very healthy meals. 

 

 

Ingredients for Spaghetti Pie:

 

- 1 1/2 lb ground turkey, cooked with 1 tbsp of olive oil

- 2 tsp garlic powder

- 2 tsp onion powder

- 1 (15 oz) jar spaghetti sauce (no sugar added)

- 8 egg whites

- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning

- 16 ounces whole grain spaghetti, cooked and drained

- 1 cup Parmesan cheese (optional)

 

For the directions, please visit The Gracious Pantry.

My Reviews:

It was different.  I'm used to a lot of sauce and this was VERY dry.  The next time I make it, I will make sure to put additional sauce in it and to have it covered in the oven the whole time!  I liked the ground turkey and the spices.  It was just missing sauce!  I fixed this along with a side salad and it was very filling!

Let me know how you like it :)

Focus T25

As you are all well aware, I am in the middle of Insanity.  I have no plans of stopping now as I am about to go into the recovery week before I hit the second half of the program!  Please cheer me on and wish me luck as my workouts are about to get SO.MUCH.HARDER!  I am just now getting to the point where I can just about do a whole workout and now they are going to be upping everything on me.  Whew.  I can't even think about it.  Especially since this bad boy just came out.

Introducing, Focus T25.  The creator of Insanity, Shaun T, has come out with this super awesome new program called Focus T25.  It's 25 minutes a day, 5 days a week!  My favorite part?  A girl modifies the whole workout so that if you are a newbie to working out or have some knee problems and low impact exercises, you can follow her throughout and still get a killer workout.  I wish Insanity had that! 

I just ordered Focus T25 since it's at such a great price for the month of July.  NOW is the time to get this if you are waiting on it!  If time has been an excuse in your past, then this is definitely for YOU!  All of the talk around Facebook is about this and MANY people are starting Focus T25 Challenges.

Here is a transformation from one of the girls from the "test group":

 

 

If you are interested in this program, watch this video about it!

 

If you are ready to purchase, sign up for a FREE Beachbody membership with me as your coach by clicking here

You can also purchase the product directly here

OR find me on Facebook to find about my upcoming Challenge Group starting July 15th! www.facebook.com/laura.ashworth3

 

 

What is a Challenge Group?

Okay, so if you are a friend of mine on Facebook, you are well aware that I've been advertising for a Beachbody Challenge Group.  So, what exactly is it?  Is it free? What do you do?  I get SO many people who are interested in it and aren't so sure what it all entails.

I will be doing a video within the next week and will be posting that as well about challenge groups. 

So, what is a Challenge Group?

My Challenge Groups consist of a small group of girls who are all looking to achieve the same things.  We want to better our lifestyle by eating healthier and by exercising.  We interact on a daily b basis through a private FB group.  We post fun pictures, complete little assignments, and really we just talk about how our day went: how was the workout? have you completed your workout for the day? what were some things you are proud of?  Also, we talk about some of the negatives going on in our lives... about the piece of chocolate cake we ate and shouldn't and how you will prevent that from happening again.  Also, your coach (which would be me) would start discussions about certain topics, I will provide information about eating clean and healthy.

What will I do as your coach?

I will say this again and again and if you know ME you know this is TRUE! I am NOT a personal trainer (people would probably laugh at me if I ever said I was) and I am NOT a fitness or nutritional expert.  But, I do have resources and the knowledge to share with you information that I've received and that I've implemented in my lifestyle to help me change for the better.  I will also support, encourage, motivate, and help keep you accountable throughout your WHOLE journey to reach your goals (whether it takes 60 days or 2 years).  I am SO passionate about this and I am so inspired by this company, I will and I WANT to help YOU accomplish and achieve ALL of your goals!

 

What do you need to get to be a Challenger?

 

In order to be a challenger, you must do 2 things: Commit to a Beachbody workout program of your choice (P90x, Insanity, Focus T25, Slim in 6, Turbo Fire, etc.) and drink Shakeology once a day in place of a meal.

 

So, yes you must INVEST in this.  You must INVEST in yourself!  Challenge packs start at $140 and go up from there.  It just depends on which workout you choose.  Also, if you have a workout, the Shakeology starts at $130/30 day supply.  



How often do I hold Challenge Groups?

 

I  have a challenge group once or twice a month, depending on what I have going on and how many challengers I have that are ready to commit.  My next challenge group will be starting July 15th. 

 

How do you get into a Challenge Group?

 

Are you ready to commit to a Challenge?  Find me on Facebook and send me a message OR e-mail me at ashworth_laura@ymail.com and let me know why YOU are committed to a challenge.  Hurry, spaces are limited!  If it happens to be full, I will get you set up on my next one.  I look forward to working with you to achieve all of your goals!  



Week 3 of Insanity=Complete

Whew! Just the thought of finishing Week 3 of Insanity is exhausting! It has been a tough ride, but it's one I'm sure I will never forget.  I also KNOW it will change my life... for the better!  I've been itching at looking at results from when I started.  I know it takes a while to see results and I've also been told the second part of Insanity is where you will see most of the results.  But, I decided to go ahead and snap some pictures at Day 22 (not even half-way into the program-- It's a 60 day program).

So, here are my results:

 

 

I will keep updating you along my journey and hope to have a YouTube of an Insanity workout that I'm doing... I haven't been that brave yet! ;)

 

And, stay tuned for after pics around August!

Introducing... Vanilla Shakeology!

I am SO SO excited to announce that Beachbody officially has Vanilla Shakeology available NOW!

It took nearly 2 years for them to come up with the right flavors that would not compromise the nutrition.

It was introduced at Summit (a HUGE conference for the Coaches) last week and I've heard amazing things about it!  Some even say it tastes like cake batter.  Can you say YUMMY?!

Here's a little video talking about how they came up with the Vanilla Flavor:



Also, this is something I JUST saw and I am SO EXCITED about- the different Vanilla Shakeo Recipes.  I've already fallen in love with MANY of these and cannot wait to give them all a try.  I LOVE my chocolate Shakeo BUT I am a vanilla girl ALL THE WAY (give me vanilla ice cream over chocolate ANY DAY!)

If you are interested in getting Vanilla Shakeology, click here!

A review will come as soon as I get the Vanilla Shakeo in! :)

August already??

Is it really already August?  Where in the world has summer gone?  Although summer flew by, I am so ready for Fall.  Cooler temperatures, pumpkins, leggings, boots, scarves, FOOTBALL!  Those are just a few of my favorite things about fall ;)

I'll try to do a brief update on my summer and make it {somewhat} short and sweet.

First off, most of my summer involved working... and working... and more working...

I did get to enjoy a short weekend getaway to Charleston with my best friend and another friend of mine.  We got to enjoy Isle of Palms for a couple of days and got to sight see and shop in Charleston.  It was the perfect little vacation and it's moments like this that I will remember forever.

My favorite fountain in the whole world!

Down at the Battery in Charleston, SC

At a Rooftop Bar in Charleston-- very neat place!

Next on my summer festivities was my birthday party! My parents were down in SC for the WHOLE summer!! I loved having them here and hope they will be back soon!  My dad fixed frogmore stew- one of my favorites!  My Aunt Lisa and cousin Kristen and her boyfriend came down from NC to celebrate with me!  I love them very much and I was glad they were able to come.  Also, my boyfriend was in town so he was able to come as well as my two very best friends, Kasey and Ashley.  I had a WONDERFUL night and was reminded how blessed I am to have the life I do.  I have the BEST friends and family in the world.

Blowing out my candles.  I loved my sprinkle cake that my sister made!

Josh, me, Kasey, Ashley

The Saturday before my party- My parents, me, and Kasey went to Elberton (about an hour away from our house) to watch the Swingin' Medallions play a show.  My parents had never seen them and really wanted to see Josh in action before they left to head home to Kansas.  Despite a downpour and thunderstorm on the way to Elberton, the weather cleared up and we had a great time!

Kasey and me before the show

Me and Josh :)

To celebrate my actual Birthday, which was on a Sunday, I went to Greenville to watch a Greenville Drive baseball game with Josh, Kasey, Matt, and Kasey's friend Jeff.  We had a ball at the game and then afterwards went Downtown to a local Sushi place and then went to a little bar and played some pool and darts! I do believe this was one of my best birthdays, ever.





At the Drive game

Things slowed down a lot after my Birthday.  My parents are back in Kansas and I've continued to work.  I am going to take off some time from work tomorrow to help my sister get her classroom organized for the start of school.  I'll try to write another post if anything else exciting happens in my life.  ;)



My Addisonian Baby

Whew! What a busy past couple of weeks and not a good busy either!  Things are finally starting to calm down and get back to normal... at least as normal as can be.

I don't want to bore you with a million details because, believe me, I could.  But, I do want to update you on how things happened and how they are going right now.

About 3 weeks ago, Stella got sick.  It only took a few more days for her to go from sick, to deathly ill.  She vomited a couple of times (once a day at night) for 2 nights in a row.  I knew something was wrong so I made an appointment for her to visit the Vet.  We left the Vet thinking she had a bacterial infection in her intestine, so she was put on meds.  This was when she was sick.  It took a day from going to the Vet for her to get deathly ill.  She stopped eating.  All during this time, she was so weak she could barely walk and literally laid in the same spot 24/7.  Of course I had her bundle up the entire time. :-)

These are all from when she was very sick.  See her all bundled up and then she slept 24/7

Of course, she stopped eating on a Saturday morning.  I called the Vet first thing Monday morning and took her in that morning at 11:30.  She was immediately "hospitalized" due to the fact that she was SO dehydrated and weak.  They wanted to run blood work and get fluids in her ASAP.  Since the Vet does not have people there 24/7 I was able to bring her home that night and I took her back to the Vet Tuesday morning.

At this point, I didn't know what was wrong.  I thought that once she had fluids in her that she would be OK.  Little did I know, this was not the case.

I went to get braces on (terrible, I know) Tuesday morning after I took Stella back to the Hospital.  It wasn't until I finished getting them on, walking out the door when I realized something was terribly wrong.  Stella's Vet called and left me a message to call her back.  When I did, I was informed Stella's health was declining very fast and that her Sodium levels were continuously dropping and that the Vet (Dr. McNinch) thought she had Addison's Disease.  I was told that if I did not take her to a specialist that she might not make it.  I drove my hour back to Greenwood from the Upstate to pick up my baby and take her BACK to the Upstate to the Specialist. 

I freaked out this whole morning, I couldn't even remember the name of what Dr. McNinch said she probably had, and I'm thankful for my mother who helped get everything straightened out for me.  All I knew at that moment was I needed to take Stella as soon as possible to get help.  I literally thought she was doing to die on the way to Greenville.  She was as pitiful as I've ever seen anyone.

Okay, I said I wouldn't bore you with details, but I am.  Needless to say, she was immediately hospitalized at Upstate Veterinary Specialists (and this was a REAL animal hospital- staff there 24/7).  She was officially diagnosed with Addison's Disease and after 5 long nights away from home, she was finally discharged from the Hospital.   

This was the first time I got to see her after being Hospitalized.  She was very tired and completely out of it.

This was the day before she was discharged.  Finally starting to act like herself.

This photo was taken right after she was discharged.  We were coming home!!

In case you were wondering about Addison's Disease, I will give you a little overview: Basically, Stella's adrenal glands are not working.  When she gets put in stressful situations, her body does not produce the steroids she needs.  Normal dogs and humans produce steroids when we are stressed, but her little body cannot. 

Addison's is not curable, but it is definitely treatable.  She is on medication daily, prednisolone and will be getting injections of Percorten about every 28 days.  She will be able to live a normal, healthy life and I'm happy to report she is back to her old self and doing very well.  Here are some pictures of her recently: