July Resolutions

New Year's in July

Can you believe that we only have about 5 months left of 2015?! ... Neither can I!  This year has flown by! (I feel like I say that every year) Now, I have another question... Have you stuck with your New Year's resolution? Or better yet,  do you remember the resolution you made almost 7 months ago?  

If you answered no to one or both of those questions, I have good news for you! We still have 27  weeks left of this year and that's plenty of time to create your own fresh start!  There's no rule that says you can only start over on January 1st or on Monday or at the beginning of any month.  One of my favorite quotes is, “A year from now you may wish you had started today.” 

Whether you are trying to lose weight or just trying to start living a healthier lifestyle you have to “Sacrifice what you are, for what you will be become” –Eric Thomas.  I think THE most important thing a person can do when starting this journey is to remember that it is a JOURNEY.  It’s a process and it’s far from easy, but it’s completely possible to achieve those dreams and goals.  There will be good days and there will be bad days, there will be easy days and there will be hard days, but a year from right now will you be so happy that you started today.

So, I think the big question here is how do create a game plan and stick with it... for more than a few weeks!  

Here are a few ways that I personally go about making my dreams, my reality.  

Game Planning

It’s so important to sit down and actually take the time to write out your goals.  “A goal without a plan is just a wish” There is something about writing your goals down on paper that makes them so much more realistic.  I highly encourage you to do this! Once you have your goals written out, hang them somewhere so that you can look at them everyday! I have mine on my bathroom mirror and I read them every morning while I brush my teeth.  I also like to set mini goals.  If my ultimate goal is to drop 10lbs by a certain month I will divide the pounds by the amount of weeks I have and then I will set mini dead lines.  For example:

Let’s say you weigh 160, You want to weigh 150 by Christmas... 

Which means you want to lose 10 lbs in 5 months.  That would mean you should set a goal of losing 2 pounds a month, or .5 a week.

 I like to make mini deadlines so every two weeks I would set a different goal.  This
helps keep you on track and holds you accountable. 

I also like to sit down on Sundays and write out my meal plan.  I mean like, to the T! Every meal and every snack down to the portions! If you do this, there will never be any question on what you are going to eat, leaving minimal room for error! We fall off of our diets when we’re confused and unprepared.

Create A Dream Board

I know this may sound like a silly and tedious task but I am telling you it’s so worth it! (and it can be fun!)  Make a copy of your goals and paste them into the middle of a blank poster board.  Once you have done that go thru magazines and cut out anything that inspires you! It could be a quote, a food item, or maybe someone’s physique.  I also like to print out pictures of people who are close to me that inspire me.  Giving your dream an actual vision is a powerful thing! Hang your poster in a place where you can look at it everyday and constantly be reminded of why your making
these changes!

Balance is KEY

We all get discouraged at times.  It’s just a part of the journey.  Getting discourage can hit us out of nowhere and sweep us right off of our feet!  These are the times we have to remember why we started in the first place.  If you fall off track with your diet… it’s not the end of the world. It’s so important to take BABY STEPS.  If you eat healthy for one day, you are not going to see results immediately (very unfortunate, I know) it’s a process that takes time.  And likewise, if you have been eating very healthy… one “bad meal” will not cause you to gain 10lbs.  If you end up cheating at lunch that doesn’t mean you have to cheat for dinner as well.  Someone once said to me, “If you dropped your phone on the floor, would you keep smashing it until it was completely broken?”  Of course my answer was no, and their reply was, “Well then why would you do that with your diet?”  It’s something that we all do at times… We have a slice of pizza that we weren’t intending to have and we think “well I already cheated… now where’s the dessert?!”  There will be days when you give in but that doesn’t mean you should give up.  Keep going, keep striving, keep dreaming, and keep reaching to achieve those goals!

 I hope you all have a wonderful, wonderful week! 

xoxo

-Ashley

For Daily Tips and Recipes follow me on: 

Instagram: ashleynicolemora1 

Twitter: MissAshleyMoora 

Tips to Feel Skinnier by the End of the Day

Did you have too much of a good thing over thanksgiving?  Don’t beat yourself up.. we all did!  The best way to bounce back from a weekend of overindulging is to counteract with consuming as many fruits and veggies as possible.  Follow these simple tricks and by the end of the day you will shed some of the bloat!  

Morning: 

Start the day off with 1 glass of fresh lemon, ginger water. 

Take a shot of apple cider vinegar in the morning and before all meals.

This will balance your entire body… which after a weekend of eating bad foods, we mostly likely threw our bodies completely out of whack.  Apple cider vinegar not only has detoxing properties but it will also stimulate your digestion and suppress your appetite.  It also regulates the amount of sodium stored in the body.

For breakfast, have a green smoothie or juice (for recipe click HERE) with parsley.  If you are thinking..”ew, no way!” you wont be able to taste the parsley, I promise.  Parsley helps flush fluids from the body and encourages digestion.  Parsley also has several anti-inflammatory properties!

Snack: 

Fill up a big water bottle full of water and aloe vera juice and sip throughout the day, all day long.  The water and the aloe will flush your system.

Tea to sip on throughout the day: 

Green Tea 

Dandelion Root Tea 

Ginger Tea 

Peppermint Tea 

Apple Cider Vinegar with Hot Water 

If you hate drinking tea, you can purchase dandelion root pills.  The pills are actually more potent than the tea which help you lose water weight more quickly.    

Lunch: 

Water Weightloss Juice with Detox Salad & Lemon Dressing 

Juice Recipe: 

juice or purchase fresh, plain cranberry juice. mix with two dandelion root tea bags, lemon juice, and water.  This helps you lose water weight because it breaks down waste and fats during digestion.  

Your detox salad recipe:  2 cups of Kale, 2 cups of purple cabbage, 1/2 cup of parsley, 1 cup of carrots, 1 cup of sunflower seeds, 1 tablespoons of sesame seeds, cherry tomatoes, 1/2 avocado sliced up.  For the dressing, mix 1/2 cup of lemon juice and 1/2 cup of olive oil.  Mix in 2 tablespoons of garlic, a dash of salt, a dash of pepper, and a pinch of cayenne.   

Dinner:  

For your last meal, enjoy this delicious detox quinoa & veggie salad.  click HERE for the recipe!

End your day with a relaxing Detox Bath and Smooth Move Tea. 

The bath will help pull out and remove toxins from the body.  The smooth move tea is great if you feel backed up and bloated. You can purchase smooth move tea at most health food stores!

Bath:

5 cups of epsom salt 

2 cups of baking soda 

1 cups of sea salt 

1 tbs of ground ginger 

1 cup of vinegar 

a few drops of oil (lavender, tea tree, orange peel etc.)

XoXo 

Ashley 

For daily tips and recipes, click HERE to follow me on twitter or follow me on instagram at ashleynicolemora1

Best Apps That Assist With Weight Loss

"Keep Your Goals In Front Of You" 

In order to accomplish any goal, it's vital that we constantly remind ourselves why we started in the first place, especially when trying to lose weight.  It's no surprise that losing weight can be difficult.  We can become tempted, tired, or hit a plateu at any given moment.  

In most cases, we are on our cell phones 24/7 whether it be texting, emailing, surfing the web etc.  What we are constantly looking at and listening to affects us more than we can possibly imagine!  It becomes a part of who we are, it starts to define us.  This is why I think it is so important to keep a few apps on your phone that can not only assist you in your weight loss journey, but apps that will also keep you on track and motivated. 

1.  My Fitness Pal- Free 

This app is both iPhone & Android friendly.  This is one of the most useful apps you can use! From the beginning it takes your weight, height, goal weight, and lifestyle and then gives you recommendations.  This app completely takes the "guessing game" out of eating and eating out.  Not to mention.. its VERY simple to use.  You can scan the barcode on all the food items you eat throughout the day instead of having to enter and search for what you are eating.  It also has a plethora of restaurant menu items making it easy to track what you are eating when dining out (it even  has local restaurants!) My fitness pal also tracks carbs, fats, sodium & cholesterol so you are aware of exactly what you are putting into your body.  There is so much more that this app does.. I could go on and on, however if there is one app that you decide to download, it should definitely be this one. 

2.  Map My Walk/ Map My Run- Free 

These two apps track just about everything when it comes to walking and running.  They track route, pace, calories burned and distance.  It's simple to use and has several tools to keep you motivated throughout your workout.  Map My Run and Map My Walk feature voice prompts that give you updates throughout your workout but don't worry, the voice comes on in the background so you can still listen to your favorite workout playlist! 

3.  My Model- Free 

This is just a fun app.  You enter in your height, weight, goal weight, skin tone, face, hair, body shape and outfit. This app creates an image of what you look like now, and what you will look like when you reach your goal weight.  It also give you the option to track your weight loss so it will show model like figures as you get closer and closer to reaching your goal!  Like I said earlier, keeping your goals in front of you is powerful!  

4.  7 Minute Fitness- Free

  The challenge is to do 7 minutes a day for 7 months. This app gives you 7 minute workouts that require zero workout equipment.  Sounds easy right?  This app was designed to provide the maximum benefit of working out regularly in the shortest time possible.  The workouts include a variety of cardio, fat burning, strengthening, and stretching routines.  You can also upgrade later on to an app that costs a few dollars and provides more workouts but it's not nessecary.  

5.  Juicing- Free 

I like this app because it's free and offers thousands of juice recipes.  You can hit one button 'Add Ingredients To Cart' and it provides you with a grocery list.  It also shows the calories in each recipe and offers anywhere from a 1 day cleanse to a 30 day cleanse.  You can set reminders on this app and it will notify you of when you need to drink your next juice! 

6.  Bible Encouragement- Free 

Love this app! It provides encouraging Bible verses to accommodate you through the roller coaster ride of weight loss.  It's easy to use and it's so satisfying to tell God exactly how you are feeling.  There are over 35 different emotions to chose from, all of which provide Bible verses and a quote that correlate with what you are feeling.  

 7.  Daily Fitness Motivation 

This app shows motivational images and allows you to set reminders with motivational affirmations and images.  The affirmations and quotes will always put you in a positive mindset! 

8.  Songza -Free 

Have you ever gone to a workout, spin class, yoga, or aerobics class and LOVED the music?  This is the only place I have been able to find similar pump up playlists and the REAL artists are singing (not a knock off version of a song, a lot of the remixes online sound like kids bop) You can choose playlists based on your activity or your mood.  My favorite playlists are Massive Pop Hits: The Remixes and 00s Club Bangers ;) 

I hope you enjoy some of, if not all of these apps! I use most of them daily and I absolutely love them.  Don't lose sight of your vision and your goals.  Set those daily reminders to trigger your motivation and most importantly, remember why you started! Weight loss is a journey and all you can do is take it one step at a time :) You can do it! 

XoXo 

Ashley 

For Daily Tips and Recipes follow me on: 

Instagram: ashleynicolemora1 

Twitter: MissAshleyMoora 

Total 3-Day Detox

"Let food be thy medicine and medicine thy food." -Hippocrates 

Every few months it's important to take a few days and cleanse your mind and body. We all need it!  Toxins are everywhere... they are in the air we breathe, the food we eat, cleaning products we use... the list goes on and on.  Stress, anxiety, & negativity, also release toxins within our bodies.  It's impossible to live toxin-free, that is why it is so important to take the time to detox.  Every few months I like to follow these seven steps in order to detox my mind & body.  The length of my detox always varies.  It can be as short as 3 days or as long as 7.  You can make it however long you would like but if you are new to juicing I would recommend starting off slow!

Things to avoid while detoxing: 

Solid Foods 

Coffee 

Sodas 

Bottled Drinks 

Alcohol 

Gum 

Smoking 

What to Take in while Detoxing: 

Fresh Juices without pulp 

Water 

Detox Tea 

Hot Lemon Water 

Step One:  Prepare for a Juice Detox.  Try and purchase organic produce while detoxing.  It will help aid the entire process.  I typically drink 6 16oz fresh juices a day during a detox.  I make all of my juices with a Breville Juicer (Not a smoothie maker) and I store the juice in mason jars.   

Step Two: Drink lots and lots of Hot Lemon Water.  There are so many amazing benefits to drinking hot lemon water especially while detoxing! Here are Few of them: 

• Aids Digestion 
• Better than Coffee
• Clearer Skin 
• Weight loss Aid 
• Natural Diuretic 
• Balances PH levels 
• Boots Immune System 
• Helps purify and Stimulate the Liver 
• Flushes Unwanted Materials
• During a juice detox, lemon water helps dissolve mucus and toxins from our cellular tissue!!!

Step 3:  Drink two cups of Detox tea a day when detoxing.  I prefer the Yogi tea... You can purchase it at almost every grocery store.  This tea is fantastic! Perfect for when you've had too much of a good thing over the weekend.  I especially love drinking it when I'm detoxing.

 Step 4:  Take a Detox Bath.  This is personally one of my favorite steps! A friend of mind by the name of Kylie turned me onto this detox bath recipe and I ALWAYS incorporate into my detox process now. Make a relaxing playlist, light some candles, add some rose pedals and enjoy! Go all out... You deserve it!

• Set aside 40 minutes of your day for your bath (The first 20 minutes are for detoxing, the second 20 are for absorbing all of the minerals in the water) 
• 2 cups of Epsom Salt 
• 2 or more cups of Baking Soda 
• 3 pints of Hydrogen Peroxide
• 2 ounces of Ground Ginger (or Ginger Tea Bags for less of a mess) 
• Tea Tree Oil ( I recommend using a small amount of Tea Tree Oil.. it can burn if you put too much)  

Step 5:  Take a break from the internet.  This is such an important step and it's so nice to do this every once in awhile! Spend the time you're detoxing, reflecting on things you are most thankful for in life!  

Step 6:  Write down 5 positive affirmations every morning and every night.  Take this time to reflect on your life.  The things you are thankful for, the things you want to succeed in, your goals, and your ambitions.  We are surrounded by so many beautiful blessings and sometimes we get distracted by our never ending to-do lists.  It's easy to take the small things for granted so use this time reflect and most importantly take this time for yourself.  

Step 7:  Relax your mind and meditate.  Spend a little extra time over these next few days praying, and quieting your mind.  Like I said earlier, toxins do not only come from bad food and cleaning products, They also come from stress and anxiety.  Take a hot yoga class, or before bed spend some time in a peaceful room alone reflecting on your life and the things you are most thankful for! It will make all the difference in the world. 

And there you have it! All the necessary step to a successful 3-Day Detox. Hope you all enjoyed this blog!

If you need recipes for your Juice Detox, You can check out my 50+ Juicing Recipes and My Super Green Detox.  

XoXo, 

Ashley

For Daily Tips and Recipes follow me on: 

Instagram: ashleynicolemora1 

Twitter: MissAshleyMoora 

Top 5 Rules of A Cheat Meal

Oh The Glorious Cheat Meals We All Love! 

We LOVE our cheat meals, there's no doubt about that...Until we step on the scale Sunday morning and realize we gained everything back that we had worked so hard to lose, right?  Carefree weekends can easily destroy a weeks worth of hard work and lets face it, nothing makes us feel more defeated than gaining back weight that we lost.  

So here are the Top 5 Rules of a Cheat Meal: 

1. No Guilt.  Enjoy every single minute of it.  If you allow yourself to feel guilty, you are missing the point.

2.  Plan Your Cheat Meal Place In advance.  Spur of the moment decision could lead to over indulgence. Do not wait until the last minute to pick where you are going to go out to eat.  (But lets be honest, we have our cheat meals planned to a T by Monday afternoon haha)

3.  Don't Forget Everything You Know About PORTION CONTROL.  A cheat meal should be treated as a small indulgence,  it's not a license to binge.  

4.  Limit Your Cheat Meals.  This varies on personal goals but for those just trying to maintain weight, you should not have more than two cheat meals a week.  If you are trying to lose weight, you should only have one cheat meal a week.  

5.  Move On.  Say addios to the calorie and carb consumption you just took in.  HOWEVER, Don't allow a cheat meal to be a trigger to more bad eating.  Do it, love every second of it, and move on.  

Happy Weekend Eating To You All! ;) 

Xoxo, 

Ashley 

For Daily Tips and Recipes follow me on: 

Instagram: ashleynicolemora1 

Twitter: MissAshleyMoora 

50+ Juicing Recipes

There's nothing like starting the week off with some brand spankin' new juice recipes, so here ya go... 50+ of my favorite recipes!  

*** Just a few little tips***

Kale is pretty tasteless, so I like to add it to almost every recipe!  It's an easy way to sneak some greens in your juices.  

If you're craving a coke or maybe you're doing a cleanse and need a little boost, add sparkling water to any of the recipes and it adds a little flare to your juice.  I love adding sparkling water just to switch things up and trick my mind! 

Another fun thing to do with your juices is add chia seeds! They add a little bit of texture and they're packed with health benefits! Check out Chia seed benefits online when you get the chance, you wont regret it! 

There are a lot of fruit recipes in my blog... I get asked all the time if drinking mostly fruit juice is ok because of the high carb and high sugar content. Well, for me it was not only ok but drinking mostly fruit juices is how I lost 20lbs.  When I first started juicing I jumped into these crazy veggie juices thinking I would magically love the taste of vegetables but boy was I wrong.  In fact, drinking those straight veggie juices was kind off a turn off because I thought "juicing" was gross.  So my advice to you is start off slow... make those really yummy fruit juices and then slowly start adding in the veggies.  Before you know it, you will be craving fresh produce and a homemade V8 will sound and taste delicious BUT it's no change your taste buds will make over night.  

 Happy Monday and Happy Juicing!

Bluepeary

2 Pears

1 cup of Kale

1 cup of Blueberries

Replenish (A fav of mine)

½ pineapple

Mint Leaves

2 Green Apples

1 to  2 Lemons

Morning Glory

10 Strawberries

3 peaches

Half a mango

Half a cucumber

Chunk of Ginger

Metabolism Booster

2 Green Apples

1 Small cucumber

1 small beet root (beets are very earthy so use sparingly)

1 lemon

chunk of ginger

Simple Green Juice

Cup of Kale

2 Pears

1 Cucumber

Chunk of Ginger

1 Lemon

Fire Me Up! (All Time FAV!!)

2 Oranges

2 Green Apples

2 Limes

3 Medium sized Carrots

1 to 2 Jalapenos

SOO GOOD!

Anit-Flammatory

3 purple cabbage leaves

2 sticks of celery

2 pears

chunk of ginger root

Afternoon Pick Me Up

4 carrots

2 apples

1 lemon

chunk of ginger

Cranberry Cleanser

1 pear

1 apple

1 celery stalk

1 cup of spinach

1 cup of cranberries

Green Juice (Not for beginners)

Kale

Celery

Cucumber

Broccoli

Romaine Lettuce

Spinach

Green Apples

Lemon

Thyroid Remedy

1 cucumber

5 celery stalks

5 carrots

1 lemon

1 cup of pure coconut water

Thyroid Tonic

6 Carrots

1 cucumber

½ lemon

10 radishes

Allergy Reducer

1 medium sized carrot

2 large oranges

½ cucumber

handful of mint leaves

chunk of ginger

Immune System Booster

1 apple 3 stalks of celery

4 stalks of kale

½ lemon

chunk of ginger root

V8 (Not for beginners)

4 tomatoes

4 green onions

½ green pepper

2 carrots

2 s talks of celery

handful of cilantro

handful of parsley

2 lemons

chunk of ginger 

pinch of garlic

Vitamin C Blast

2 Oranges

1 cup of Kale

2 Lemons

Handful of Mint

On Fire

2 Carrots

2 Oranges

1 Lemon

Chunk of Ginger

Cayenne

Green Ocean

½ Pinapple

1 Cup of Spinach

2 Green Apples

Pure Coconut Water

Skinnie Minnie

1 Cucumber

2 Green Apples

1 Cup of Kale

1 Cup of Spinach

1 Lemon

Chunk of Ginger

Cayenne

Carrot Cake

4 Carrots

2 Oranges

2 lemons

chunk of Ginger

ABC’s

2 Green Apples

3 Carrots

3 stalks of Celery

Princess Juice

4 Carrots

2 Apples

Chunk of Ginger

Veggie Lover

2 Celery Stalks

1 Cup of Spinach

2 Carrots

1 Cucumber

Handful of cilantro

Shine and Sparkle

2 Celery Stalks

2 Green Apples

1 Cup of Spinach

1 Jalapeno

handful of cilantro

Blood

2 Apples

Beets

Chunk of Ginger

2 Limes

Power Green

2 Green Apples

Cup of Kale

Cup of Spinach

Handful of Parsley

Romaine Lettuce

2 Celery Stalks

 2 Limes

Chunk of Ginger

Detox Juice

2 Apples

Beets

Cup of Kale

2 Celery Stalks

1 Lemon

Chunk of Ginger

Pretty In Pink

Beets

½ Pineapple

15 Strawberries

2 Red apples

Chuck of Ginger

Immunity Booster

2 Carrots

½ Pineapple

2 Oranges

2 Grapefruit

1 Lime

Chunk of Ginger

Hangover Helper

2 Green Apple

1 Cucumber

1 Cup of Kale

Ginger

1Lemon

Aloe Vera Juice

Pinch of mineral salt

Calcium Cleanser

2 Green Apples

½ Pineapple

1 Cup of Kale

2 Celery Stalks 1 Cucumer

1 Lemon

Dessert Juice

2 Medium Sized Carrots

1 Orange

handful of Strawberries

Handful of raspberries

1 Lemon

For Your Skin

2 Carrots

1 Cup Of kale

2 Cup of Cranberry

2 Golden Apples

Sleepy-Time Juice

1 Carrot

2 Green Apples

2 Stalks of Celery

Lettuce

Handful of Mint Leaves

1 Lemon

Kale Yeah

2 Cups of Kale

2 Green Apples

2 Pears

1 Lime

Summer Lovin’

1 Watermelon

1 Cup of Blueberries

1 Cup of Pomegranate seeds

Apple Pie

1 Sweet Potato

2 Carrots

1 Orange

Dash of Pumpkin Pie Spice

 Peach Chia

3 Peaches

10 Strawberries

Chunk of Ginger

Chair seeds

Cranberry Crush

1 Cup of Cranberries 

1 Red Apple

1 Orange 

Ginger Ale  (Great for soft drink replacement)

2 Green Apples 

1" of Ginger Root 

Lemon 

Kale 

Pour over ice and add Sparkling Water 

 Don't let the color fool you! (Good Green "starter" drink)

1 cup of Kale 

1 Pear 

1/2 Pineapple

1 Lemon 

1 Green Apple 

Immunity (Great for the Immune system) 

2 Oranges

1 Cup of Strawberries 

1/2 Pineapple  

2 Medium sized Carrots 

Healthy Orange Julius

1/2 Pineapple 

2 Oranges 

1" Ginger Root 

Pour over ice and add Sparkling Water

Cran-apple 

1/4 Cup of Cranberries 

1 Lemon 

1/2 Cup of Green Grapes 

2 Green Apples

Raspberry Lemonade 

1 and 1/2 cups of Raspberries 

1 and 1/2 cups of Blueberries 

2 Lemons

Pour over ice and add sparkling water 

Liquid Sunshine 

1" of Ginger 

2 Medium sized Carrots

1 Pear 

1 Tangerine 

1/2 Pineapple 

1 Lemon

Wine and Dine Me

2 Green Apples 

1/2 Cup of BlueBerries 

1/2 Cup of Blackberries

1/2 Cup of Raspberries 

1/2 Cup of Strawberries 

1/2 Cup of Grapes 

Skinny Margarita 

4 Celery Stalks 

2 Green Apples 

2 Limes 

1/2 Cup of Kale 

Pour over ice and add sparkling water 

Citrus Soda 

1/2 Pineapple 

1 Orange 

1 Lemon 

Pour over ice and add sparkling water

Green Machine 

1 head of broccoli

1 cucumber 

1 Green Apple 

1/2 Cup of Green Apples 

1 Cup of Kale 

2 Limes 

1" of Ginger Root 

Strawberry Lemonade

1/2 Pineapple 

1 Cup of Strawberries 

3 Lemons

Pour over ice and add sparkling water 

 If you have any questions about the recipes or how to juice certain fruits or vegetables, please shoot me a message! I have juiced almost everything so I know all the ins, outs, tips and tricks!

Well, Until Next Time :) 

Xoxo, 

Ashley

For Daily Tips and Recipes follow me on: 

Instagram: ashleynicolemora1 

Twitter: MissAshleyMoora