Tag Archives: Family

GINGER SHOT RECIPE AND FACTS

 

Ginger is a great ANTI-FOOD —» it’s anti-viral • anti-septic • anti-histamine • anti-inflammatory and just great if you have a head cold or sinus congestion.  It’s INTENSE NUTRITION!  BAM

If you live near a beloved JUICE BAR ♥, go in and ask for a Ginger Shot.

They’ll make one up for ya!

Or try this RECIPE from DELICIOUSLY ELLA

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 a lemon
  • 1 large knob of ginger, about 50g

Peel the ginger, then put it into a juicer and collect the juice. Squeeze the lemon either by hand or using a citrus press. Mix the juice of the ginger and lemon together, then drink the shot – don’t sip it though as it’s not the most delicious thing!

↓  THE CHALLENGE  ↓

Can you take a GINGER SHOT and keep a straight face like my little man Iver?

Now here’s a Juicy Tip from Juice Therapy •••
For a warm, comforting, nutritious drink, put a few slices of lemon and ginger along with a teaspoon of manuka honey into hot water.

Because ginger helps to tame nausea, it is beneficial for people undergoing chemotherapy and its associated nausea as well as for pregnancy and its associated morning sickness.

Ginger has been referred to as “the king of anti-inflammatory foods” and is incredibly useful for any inflammatory problems in the body from rheumatoid arthritis to easing muscle pain after strenuous activity and exercise. The reason it is such a powerful anti-inflamatory is because it contains compounds or essential oils called gingerols that help to interrupt the inflammation process. Essentially they interfere with an enzyme called cyclo-oxygenase (COX) that is involved in switching on inflammation and instigating pain. When we experience a cold, we feel all bunged up with mucus, although actually most of that feeling actually comes from inflammation of the of the mucous membrane in the nose and sinuses. Most conditions and pain in the body are associated with inflammation including all muscle pain, arthritis and even skin conditions. … read more here

For some fun Juicy Trivia, check out Juice Therapy! 

A ginger shot is one of the assignments in our Fall Bingo Challenge!  This is a great way to say motivated in November… Let’s do this together!  Come read → HERE ←about the challenge and get your family and friends in on this one… it’s gonna be FUN!!

bingo final

♥ HAVE A HAPPY HEALTHY SEASON ♥

 

 

MOM & DAUGHTER GYM TIME

 It’s hard for me to believe I have a 13 years old!!!!  EEEK!  Really, she is the best and I’m so happy with who she’s growing up to be.  Taylor is smart [er than me], funny, fun, witty, respectful, honest, beautiful, generous, talented and displays self-controll beautifully.

She is at the perfect age for me to introduce her to the fitness world… And that’s SO EXCiTING to me!  When I was about her age, my dad started taking me to the gym and taught me how to squat with proper form with a poll on my back, and now I get to pass this along to Taylor.  At this age, girls are so impressionable and are forming an opinion about their body that will stick with them for the rest of their life.  I am responsible, honored and excited to speak truth into the lives of young girls.

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made”  Psalm 139:13

 

I love the way this scripture is worded in the The Message translation of the Bible:   
“…body and soul, I am marvelously made!”

Continue reading

SLEEPY TIME

First, I would like to start by saying “Thank you” to my dog- Apple– for modeling for us today.

When we sleep our body repairs!

 

 

 

Exercising:  during resistance training, the muscles actually tear.   While sleep, the muscle rebuilds stronger to adapt to the new load demanded of it.

Sickness: during sleep, extra protein molecules are produced that help the immune system to strengthen and mend after being compromised by pollutants and infectious bacteria.

Growth:  we can’t forget that kids do a lot of growing during those important hours of sleep.

 

New studys are suggesting that getting the right 
amount of sleep may…
  • improve memory the brain appears to restructure and reorganize memories- they become stronger
  • improve inflammation– research suggests that people who get fewer hours of sleep—six or less per night—have higher blood levels of inflammatory proteins
I look like I need sleep!

  • improve performance- A study conducted by Stanford University looked at college football players.  Those who got 10 hrs of sleep for 7-8 weeks had improved sprint time.  They also had less fatigue and stamina in the day.

  • improve grades- sleep deprivation impairs learning
  • improve attentionadults get sleepy with lack of zzzz’s, but kids get hyperactive, are inattentive and impulsive  (ADHD-like symptoms)
  • encourage a healthy weight when sleepy, hormones that increase appetite increase in the blood; studies also show that people who were well rested lost more body fat and those who were sleep deprived lost muscle mass

  • and decrease car accidentsin 2009, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that being tired accounted for the highest number of fatal single-car crashes where the driver ran off the road. A higher number than crashes caused by alcohol! Lack of sleep affects decision making and reaction time.
So how much sleep do we need to get these wonderful benefits?
according to Better-Sleep-Better-Life.com
Newborns (0-2 months old) 12-18 hours
Infants (3-11 months old) 14-15 Hours
Toddlers (1-3 years old)l 12-14 Hours
Pre-schoolers (3-5 years old) 11-13 Hours
School-aged Children (5-10 years old) 10-11 Hours
Teens (11-17 years old) 8-9 Hours
Adults 7-9 Hours

 

 
So yes maybe I just want to show off my cute kids and my dog, but I also want us to look at our sleep time as HEALTHCARE!
 It’s necessary for us to be our best… to be on top of our game!
Apple seems to have sleep figured out.
 
Let’s take our cues from her and get some!
Sweet Dreams

BEFORE & AFTER story – Merry Sedlak

Meet my new friend, Merry.  The first time I met her I said, “WOW, YOU HAVE SO MUCH ENERGY!”  I couldn’t help but say that out loud (weird thing to say first off maybe… but I couldn’t help it… she DID).  She was overflowing with joy, passion, excitement and I wanted to know her story.  So many people seem to have a dark cloud over their life from stress, lack, sickness, depression and discouragement… but not this girl!  I found out this wasn’t always the case…

“January 17, 2012 – Physically, emotionally and financially we were broken we prayed for a solution.  We were introduced to Advocare from our dear friends and heard HOPE that our situation could be different!  We decided right then and there to make a change.  We started the Advocare 24 Day Challenge and had AMAZING results.  I lost 14 lbs and 17 inches and Anthony lost 20 lbs and 20 inches!  Needless to say we knew everyone could add value to their life, health and finances through this vehicle so we got very intentional to share our story and help as many people as we could.  Fast forward 2 years and a miraculous pregnancy (we struggled for 8 years and tried every medical intervention possible).  We had our son via IVF  in 2008 but had not been able to sustain a pregnancy until Advocare helped my body to do what it’s created to do.  Advocare does not make medical claims and I know that the Lord blessed us with Genevieve but I also know that Advocare enabled my body to do what it had previously not been able to do.  Anthony and I have lost over 100 lbs combine and have been able to help hundreds of people find physical and financial freedom.” Merry Sedlak

Thank you Merry for sharing your story and encouraging us!!! 

Merry lost 50 lbs in 2013 and she will loose 30-40 lbs in 2014 AND run a 1/2 marathon!!!  You go girl!

If you need a kickstart or maybe even a new start, take the 24 Day Challenge and start writing YOUR story.  We want to see you succeed.  Email ashley@ashleybensonfitness.com for a free evaluation and we will get you set up on what you need to reach your health & wellness goals!



 
MAY WE ALL HAVE AS MUCH ENERGY AND LIFE AS MERRY!  

#lovehome

I just got a text from a friend that said,
 “I think I just saw your son and dog on a commercial.”  
Oh yeah, I tagged one of my pictures 
#lovehome for the HGTV campaign 
and they used it!!!!!!
So here it is.  
Iver and Apple are the 3rd picture curled up on the couch together.  
(Don’t blink, you might miss it!  LOL)
and
Oh, and another picture of Apple with our baby chicks got selected for HGTV’s
“Our Favorite Pets Of #lovehome”
WOOOWHOOOO!!!

Take a look HERE.
Be sure to take a LONG look at picture #11 🙂

Vote For Apple

So this post is not about health or fitness, but
LOVE, LAUGHTER and FAMILY
It’s dedicated to my Dog!

APPLE

At the end of this post, you will have a chance to 
VOTE FOR APPLE
so read on 🙂


November 2008 – Jeremy and I decided to get the kids a puppy for Christmas.  We decided we wanted to rescue one but didn’t know what kind.  On Monday we began looking at different breeds and decided a labrador retriever would be good for us.  I don’t know, we looked at adorable puppies for about 10 minutes, and then came across this face

I mean, what do you do after that?

That was it.  

We were done with the search.

thePROBLEM
We were not planning to bring a puppy home until Christmas… and this cute face was needing a home NOW.  So we decided that if she was still available on Wednesday – 2 days later – Jeremy would be off work and would drive 90 miles to get her.  

You know how you aren’t suppose to “move yourself into the house” when you are looking to buy?  Don’t get attached until you know it’s yours?  Well, the same should be said for puppy shopping.  That night I dreamed that this puppy was sleeping on her bed next to my side of the bed.  She started whimpering, I reached down to pet her on the head, and then I woke up.

Oh man I was so mad at myself.  
DUMB!!!!

I didn’t tell Jeremy about my dream.

The next night [Tuesday] I did it again!!!  I dreamed that the cute puppy was running up and down the hall playing with my kids.  She was a part of our family.

OH.   MY.   GOSH.

I did it again!!!  This time I told Jeremy and we agreed that he would leave his early morning meeting and go straight there and get her.  Well, I could’t wait and I called the shelter.  When I asked if puppy number [whatever number she was] was still available, they told me that she was on hold and if they don’t come get her they I would get a call.  NO!!!!  
I cried.

Jeremy called as he left his meeting.  I told him not to go, our puppy was on hold.  Then he said, 
“I know, I called early this morning and put her on hold to make sure no one else got her.”

WooooWhooooo!

So Jeremy drove 90 miles to get our little Apple and 90 miles back home with her curled up on his lap.

We surprised the kids with their early Christmas present!


Watch Apple skateboard!

If you think Apple is so cute and sweet, please vote for her in this          “CUTEST PET CONTEST” by clicking HERE.
Thank You!


Apple has made an appearance in:

PILATES. ALIAS. AND THE GIRLS.

TAYLOR AND I STARTED WATCHING ALIAS ON NETFLIX OVER THE WINTER BREAK.  IT IS SO GOOD!  
WELL, NOW THAT SCHOOL AND LIFE ARE IN FULL SWING, WE DON’T SEEM TO HAVE THE TIME TO WATCH IT.  🙁  WE TRY TO DO 2-3 PILATES SESSIONS A WEEK TOGETHER… AND AS YOU PROBABLY CAN UNDERSTAND, IT’S HARD TO MAKE TIME FOR THIS AS WELL.
 
ourSOLUTION…
WE DECIDED THAT IF WE WANTED TO WATCH ALIAS DURING THE WEEK, WE HAD TO BE ON THE FLOOR DOING PILATES AND CORE WORK THE ENTIRE TIME WE ARE WATCHING THE SHOW.  
THIS WORKS GREAT FOR US!  WE GET A GREAT WORKOUT AND WE ONLY WATCH ONE EPISODE… BECAUSE WE DON’T WANT TO DO 2 HOURS OF PILATES!  (you know if we were sitting on our behind we would HAVE to watch one more!)  LOL 
WIN WIN… WIN.

PILATES DOG

 GREAT WORKOUT TAYLOR and APPLE!
WOW! APPLE IS EXHAUSTED AFTER OUR SESSION 🙂
 
FIND WAYS TO ENJOY YOUR EXERCISE AND INVITE YOUR KIDS TO JOIN IN!

SLOW-CARB DEVILED EGGS… w/AVOCADO

My friend, Teresa, brought deviled eggs to the Healthy Food Sampling Party we had at my house last Friday.  They were SO good and I had to try it out myself.  Teresa found this recipe on Pinterest that led to a cute website My Kitchen Of Love.  To make it slow-carb, we left out the mayo and tweaked the seasoning a bit.
My girl Taylor wanted to take this project over last night, so I must give her credit for the eggs “we” made.  SHE actually made them and they were GREAT!
 
what T A Y L O R did…
 
 She made 12 hardboiled eggs and peeled them after they were cool.

She cut the eggs in half length wise, scoop out the egg yoke and put them in a mixing bowl. She smashed the egg yoke, along with an avocado, and seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder and olive oil.
Just like traditional deviled eggs…she transferred the mixture to the egg white halves and then sprinkled them with paprika.
We didn’t take the time to make these look pretty, 
but in the end it didn’t matter that much… they were gone in seconds!
Taylor added mustard and loved it.
INGREDIENTS:
12 hard boiled eggs
1 avocado
salt and pepper
garlic powered
olive oil
paprika 
Thank you TAYLOR for helping out in the kitchen!

No More Stains on White – Baseball Season

My 6 year son is playing BASEBALL this spring, and he has a great looking uniform.

A Blue jersey and WHITE pants.

Again…

WHITE pants!

 My first question to another mom was,

“How will I EVER keep those pants white?”

Iver spends his time on the ground- rolling, falling, diving, sliding and any other way you can think of to end up on the ground!

These are the pants after the first game.

I was told to scrub with FELS-NAPTHA.

So I did.  Then washed them in my normal DIY detergent and added extra Borax for an extra boost.

I am surprised and proud to say they ended up

WHITE again!

 

WINNER!!!!!!!

To All My Prego Friends Part 2

This is my personal experience with exercise during pregnancy.

Round 1

Prior to my first pregnancy, I was working at the Memorial Hermann Wellness Center in Houston, Tx.  I worked as a fitness specialist and also taught various group exercise classes like step aerobics, ball & band classes, and abs and stretching.  I was in good shape.  When I became pregnant, I kept the same exercise schedule for a while.

A friend of ours was a massage therapist, certified to work with pregnancy, and worked on me a few times during that 9 month period.  Early on I had a little sciatic pain that he was able to help relieve.  I continued teaching – following the pregnancy guidelines.  I do remember that it was much harder for me to teach while pregnant.

 At the end of my 5th month I went back to my massage friend with quite a bit of sciatic pain.

He said I was too strong to be having this pain and asked what all I was doing.  When I told him I was still teaching step aerobics, his eyes grew large and he said, “STOP THAT!”  All of the knee lifts were doing a number on my back.

 Gradually I weaned my way off of my classes and in my 7th month got promoted to a

“Sit and Be Fit” class!  LOL  The sad part for me was that this class even became hard!  It was hard to bend and twist… even sitting down!

The last month I found my way to the water.

I started attending some water classes and LOVED it!  It was just what I needed.  I felt better on the days I swam and I slept better on those nights.

Labor and Birth

I went into labor in the spring of 2001.  I chose to have a natural birth and had prepared for it mentally as best as I could.  My doctor was not supportive of my choices, but I stuck with her anyway not realizing I had a choice.

I labored for 8 painful hours and pushed for 7 minutes.  That was a LONG 7 minutes.  It was hard and it hurt!  After it was all said and done, I found out that I had been given regular doses of pitocin… a medication given to induce labor.  Instead of my body contracting at its own pace,  the medication was controlling the contractions.  Pitocin is supposed to be given with an epidural…  I WAS NOT GIVEN AN EPIDURAL!
Well, it hurt worse than it had to, but I did it!
My baby girl was born 🙂

The 6 Week “Go Ahead”

I recovered quickly after having Taylor.  I was up and moving in no time.  It felt like it took forever, but finally I had my 6 week checkup and the doctor said I could start exercising again!  Yay!

So THAT night I attended a kickboxing class……..

BAD IDEA!

My brain thought I was right back where I was before pregnancy.  My body was not!

What I thought I looked like.

What I thought I looked like.     
FotoSearch

What I ACTUALLY looked like.

Parents Square

I remember hardly being able to jump off the ground.  I remember my heart rate being high and my feet not moving quickly.  I also remember having to leave class a few times for the bathroom 🙂

It made me mad that I couldn’t do it like the other women, so I pushed harder…..

ANOTHER BAD IDEA.
 I hardly made it home.  The rest of the day I laid on the couch and couldn’t get up.
 I felt BAD.
I learned to start back slowly and not to expect to be like I was right away before pregnancy!

A Year Later

I stayed home with my baby for the first year and began teaching classes again after her 1st birthday.

 At this point I was weaning her off of nursing and ready to get out of the house,
so I started back teaching my exercise classes.
Soon after, my boss began training me in Pilates.

After a few months of studying and teaching this type of exercise, I decided to stop teaching the high impact exercise for good and focus only on pilates.

5 Years Later — Round 2 

During the time I was blessed with our second child,

I was teaching only pilates classes throughout the week.

I continued instructing until the end of my 1st trimester.  At this point it was not smart to lie on my back anymore.  The first half of my class was performed lying on our back, while a good portion required us to lie on our stomach… not great either!

In the 2nd trimester, the uterus gets bigger and when you lie on your back, it puts pressure on the vein that returns blood from your lower body to your heart. This could interfere with the flow of blood & nutrients to the placenta & your baby.

The 2nd Trimester

When I stopped teaching pilates, I began weight lifting.  This was not new, I had consistently lifted weights long before my pregnancy.  I began having braxton hicks contractions during weight lifting in my 5th month.  I kinda ignored them and continued lifting.

We also moved during this time.  Me being me couldn’t wait for my husband to come home and decided to unpack and rearrange all the furniture… by my self.  Again, NOT SMART!

In the beginning of my 6th month, my contractions were VERY regular and I was told to avoid ANYTHING that caused contractions!  WOW, what didn’t????  I wised up and took it easy from this point on.  I even had to walk slower to avoid contractions.

Labor & Delivery

My baby and I made it to full term!  This time around I knew that I had a choice in doctors and found one who supported my natural birth plans.  He was a great doctor and I had a great day.  I labored easy from 6 am to 4 pm.  Then I labored hard from 4-5:15, and then I met my son!
It was such an easy experience.  First of all, not being shot up with pitocin made all the difference.  Second, my body was a rock star in pushing my baby out.  3 pushes and ta-da!!!!   When the baby popped out, my nurse turned to my mother and asked, “What does she do?”  As I was delivering my afterbirth
(I hope this is not TMI for you… it’s just reality!),
I explained what pilates is and how it has changed my body.

The Future

I don’t know what the future holds for us.  I am so happy with the way my family is right now, but if we were to grow in number, it would thrill me!
What I DO know is that I will learn from my mistakes!
I hope my mistakes can help you have a healthy, blessed pregnancy.

Enjoy this unique season!