Ashley Greene covers the new issue of Shape. It’s a very pretty editorial, and her body looks great/strong/healthy. If you were wondering why she’s on a magazine cover, you are not alone. As it turns out, she does have a job – she’s got a role in the DirecTV drama Rogue, which premieres on March 23. She’s also chatting with Shape because she’s promoting her work with various charities, something I cannot shade at all. You can read the full Shape profile here, and here are some highlights (I found the diet stuff interesting).
On being a morning person, no matter what:
Ashley swears by exercising first thing in the a.m. “To fit my workout into my day, I have to be out the door early. That means I don’t have time to think about whether I’m tired or to come up with excuses,” she says. “And I’ve found that when I exercise in the morning, I have a much more productive day. After I finish my workout, I feel as if I can conquer the world.”On eating for energy, but making sure you’re cheating:
“What I put into my body has a huge impact on the results I get out of it,” Ashley says. “Eating keeps my metabolism cranking.” She mainly eats fish, chicken, and vegetables; swaps spaghetti squash for pasta and cauliflower for mashed potatoes to keep from feeling sluggish and bloated; and drinks green juice. “These foods energize me for my workouts,” she explains. But she also builds splurges into her diet. Her favorites: grits (she loves them so much that her parents gave her a package of them as a stocking stuffer last Christmas), cheese, and a glass of red wine with a piece of Mast Brothers Sea Salt Chocolate.On causes that mean the world to her:
Just as she’s devoted to her workouts, Ashley is committed to volunteering. She works with A21, a nonprofit organization that’s fighting to end human trafficking, the world’s fastest-growing criminal industry. According to the State Department, more than 27 million people around the world have been sold into slavery. “This cause really speaks to me,” Ashley says. “I’m helping A21 increase awareness of the issue.” She also plans to participate in the group’s annual Walk for Freedom in October to raise money for trafficking victims. “It’s easier to help than you think,” Ashley says. “Just bringing an issue to light is important. Every single person can make a difference.”
I absolutely loathe working out in the morning, so I’m the opposite. I find that if I work out in the morning, my whole day is ruined because I’m so tired and sore. My sweet spot for working out is definitely the afternoon – I’ve had a chance to eat and drink water beforehand and I’m not thinking about how exhausted I am or how I have so much to do the rest of the day. As for her diet… clearly, I’m doing it wrong and always have been. I could never, ever substitute squash and cauliflower for pasta and mashed potatoes. NEVER. You will get my mashed potatoes when you take them from my cold, potato-smashed hands. Also: grits? I’m not a fan, and I’m genuinely southern.
Photos courtesy of Shape Magazine.
I do feel really good when I workout in the morning. But during the week that’s just not happening for me. I hate showering and getting ready at the gym. When it’s nice out, I’ll run outside first thing in the morning, then do my regular workout in the evening.
I love potatoes in every way, shape and form. However, I do like pureed cauliflower. But I have to add a ton of butter to get it to taste the way I like, which I think kind of defeats the purpose. As for spaghetti squash, I like squash. A lot. I like spaghetti squash. But I don’t like it as a substitute for pasta. Does not have the same consistency at all.
Applause for her publicist!
Yeah, no kidding.
I’m a morning exerciser (well, running), too – it’s easier just to get it out of the way. However, those morning runs are slower than if I ran later in the day, but with a 9-5ish work schedule that’s not possible. After work I’m worn out and just want to relax.
I’m the same way– at the gym by 6-630. It’s not bc I LOVE to be there, it’s because I want to get it over with, and the the early hours, the gym is the least crowded. I do admit, it feels really good to leave and know you packed that in for the day, and the first cup of coffee after the shower is INSANE heaven.
I don’t even wait for the shower. I get home and there’s a cup of coffee waiting for me, courtesy of my husband who knows me all too well.
I’m with you. I workout at home though and use You Tube channels. Then it’s straight upstairs for my cup of coffee which has become the BEST part of my day.
I like working out in the morning – falling from the PJs into the workout clothes. But I get up at 6AM and leave for work between 7:15 and 7:30. Unfortunately I couldn’t get a workout AND washing/drying my hair in there. And I don’t want to get up earlier 😉
I agree with/support pretty much everything she had to say.
The last kitchen gizmo I got was a spiralizer. My husband got for me, mostly because i found the name hilarious.
I run first thing in the morning. I roll out of bed, go for a run, then start my day. Depending on the patients for the day, I could work up until 6 or 7 at night, then I just want to get home and do family time.
@paranormal
Do you have any tips as for pre-run breakfast/snack?
I would love to be able to run first thing in the morning, but usually as soon as I wake up I am starved out. I need to eat asap, otherwise I simply cannot function. But, I also cannot go running if I have just eaten / drunk something right before. So I would have to wait a reasonable amount of time before getting it going.
I will eat 1/2 of a larabar, or 1/3 – 1/2 of a Power Bar…just enough to take the edge off of my hunger, but not make me feel sick when I am exercising.
A hard boiled egg works well for me.
I used to have that issue and discovered that a slice of bread with a half glass of milk settled me right down.
i just take a quarter or half of a protein bar and a little glass of OJ and i’m good to work out and have my shake or oatmeal afterwards
So she is on the cover promoting her show, why the hell would they use a movie title that wrapped up years ago. WTH Self?
Ι also workout in the mornings most of the time but I need to have coffee and a small breakfast otherwise I feel dizzy and grumpy.
She looks great.
I think the best time is when you can… I just can’t in the morning. Even if I get plenty of sleep I am not a get up and go person. Plus, after work I feel like it winds down my day, gets out the work stress, and helps me transition between work and home.
I’m a morning person and I get how a morning workout energizes Ashley. But all people are different. I also get the comments: “OMG, how can you get up that early”
On the rare occasion that I’m up early enough and get in a workout, my day is absolutely improved by leaps and bounds. It’s just that motivation that continue waking up and working out that eludes me.
I don’t know anything about her and no clue if this cover pic is authentic or not, but it looks beautiful.
I’m the same. The longer the day goes on, the more excuses and other “issues” come up. Get up, get the workout in, get it over with.
I’ll never be a morning person and always workout in the nighttime 5-7pm. I take bootcamp/cardio/yoga classes. It usually relaxes me so I can fall asleep.
Me too! I work, exercise, shower, dinner, relax/read/tv, then bed and I sleep the restorative sleep of angels.
Her life sounds more like a punishment to me…..especially her diet. She could eat anything she wanted in moderation and not get the dreaded fat disease they all so fear. I work out at 4 am, that being the wake up time, with my sister every single morning. She loves it, I don’t, but we’ve been doing it since college. Is she the one that dumped her husband from American Idol? These days they all pretty much look the same.
Man, you’re so lucky to have your sister live near by you. My own lives on the other side of the country, and I miss her badly sometimes.
Kaiser, there’s actually research that points to potatoes being great for you, especially if you eat the skins. They’re metabolized well and full of fiber!!
All the Twilight kids thought they were hot stuff when those movies came out, and a lot of them thought they were on track to be huge movie stars. Ashley should have taken a great job on TV, but instead she held out for movie stardom and waited too long.
If I don’t workout in the morning I spend all day talking myself out of it and never do it. I HATE exercise can always find something better to do. I have to do it before I can even think about it. And I feel so much better the rest of the day.
I am side-eyeing the “a glass of red wine with a piece of Mast Brothers Sea Salt Chocolate”. One glass of wine and one chocolate. Seriously? Who can do that???? One bottle of wine and one box of chocolates maybe. Or is that just me?
I like to shower at night so I don’t like to exercise in the morning. Working out after work is better for me because it helps me burn off any work stress I have and then I can shower and relax. Plus the exercise curbs some of my appetite so that I don’t overeat at dinner and when I go to bed a few hours later, I sleep like a log.
I’m on the treadmill less than 20 minutes after the alarm goes off, well before my brain can inform my body what I’m putting it through. If I don’t exercise first thing in the morning, the list of excuses I can come up with during the day to not exercise after work is quite impressive. And I am so very much not a morning person.