How Progress Pics Helped Self-Confidence

For the past 16 years I've struggled with self-confidence and body image. By age 14 I was anorexic and suicidal and while it was only for a short time, the impact of those feelings has stayed with me over the years.

Always seen as "the skinny girl" and struggling with massive hormonal changes, I could never really figure out who I was or see myself as a woman God created in His image and likeness, and to this day there are still brief moments when I struggle with these feelings, but overall, especially over the past 13 months, my mindset has shifted in a far more positive direction.

I started my fitness journey 6.5 years ago to get rid of stress in my life. At that time I started, I'd managed to maintain my weight of 118 pounds for about 3 years and while I dreamed of having a toned body like the girls in movies and magazines (at the time I had no idea how airbrushing affected the industry) I didn't think I could ever come close to achieving those results without hours upon hours at the gym and limiting what I was eating.

So I worked out for 30 minutes/day, 4 days per week, pretty much ALL on the elliptical and I felt great! My energy was up, had almost 0 physical results, but I didn't have stress and that was why I had started in the first place so all was good :)

About a year after making fitness (aka the elliptical) a part of my lifestyle I started to get a little frustrated, I'd been in the gym for a year and saw tons of girls with toned abs and great thighs, why didn't I have that?? I was working out, I ate fruits and vegetables (and a lot of other things I didn't realize were total crap at the time) why didn't I have that body?

After 3 years of my elliptical journey, my friend introduced me to proper nutrition and balanced fitness with weight training! Within about 6 months I could see a huge change in my body, I was toned, I was lean, I was feeling AWESOME!

Fast forward 3 more years to January 1, 2014. I had ignored proper eating habits while overcoming a knee injury from August 2013 and I felt like I was in the worst shape I'd been in since before the elliptical days. I felt soft and did NOT enjoy looking in the mirror.  My clothes didn't fit the right way and I was 123 pounds, the most I'd ever weighed (something that was really bothering me at the time). While it's not heavy for most people's standards (including my own), what I FELT was not good. I was starting to hate my body...

 

   

About 13 months later, it's February 16th, 2015 and I am the happiest I've ever been in my entire life and I owe so much of it to progress pictures and tracking the little things for putting it all into perspective! I'm now between 125-126 pounds and I've never felt healthier! I have a balanced diet, read God's word daily, exercise 5-6 days/week, have quality conversations with my husband every day, listen to at least 15 minutes (usually more like 45) of personal development every day and work at least 50 hours/week. I don't say this to brag, I say this to SHOW you that SO much of your struggle is in your own head. It's you vs you! Stop looking at the scale to show you your accomplishments, look at yourself, look inside, look to your relationships with God and those you love! THOSE are the areas of life that help you measure and see if you're on the right track. Yes it takes work, it doesn't come naturally, but the small seemingly insignificant tasks are the ones that make the biggest impact on your life in the long run! 

Here are a couple areas where I made changes that helped me and I hope they can help you too:

1. Reading/listening to Personal Development (I'm going to be creating a tab of books I've listened to so you can get started)

2. Committing to follow the schedule of the exercise program I'm doing at the time 

3. Reading God's word/intentionally praying every day

4. Taking progress pictures in the same bikini at least every 60 days (I shoot for every 30)

5. Repeating to myself "Don't compare yourself to others, God made you exactly how He wants you to be" 

Like I said, I still struggle, but these 5 things have drastically changed my life for the better over these past 13 months, I hope they can help you too! And if they do or if you need help, would you please email me and let me know? I'd love to hear your story! 

samanthamarlett@gmail.com

52 weeks ago

52 weeks ago I posted this on Instagram...

I had a dream and a vision to help 100 people transform their lives and in the process transform my own life as well. 

52 weeks later I haven't quite changed 100 lives, but I've transformed my own life exactly how I had envisioned.

52 weeks ago I was a full time ER nurse working night shift and just trying to survive. 

52 weeks ago I started to see a change in my business and my team

52 weeks ago my self-confidence was low

52 weeks ago we had $17,000 worth of more debt

52 weeks ago I was struggling with my fitness

52 weeks ago I believed in my dream

I took the whole "new year" opportunity to an extreme last year, I wanted a FRESH start and that's exactly what I gave myself. Put the past behind you and know that YOU design your future. 

In the past 52 weeks I've helped over 50 people transform their life with their health and fitness, I've gotten off of night shift and cut my hours back to part time, I've continued to build an amazing team of people committed to helping end the trend of obesity, my husband and I have paid off over $17,000 of debt and accumulated $0 of debt, I'm now in the BEST shape I've ever been and have had a FULL year of ZERO injuries....

I say this NOT to brag, but to show you that when you TRULY believe in your dream, create your vision, map it out and WORK hard for what you want, you WILL achieve it!

Make this year your fresh start. You have nothing to lose and your dream life to gain! Get after it! :) 

What's your #1 goal for 2015? Hold yourself to it and post it in the comments :) 

Happy 2015!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! 

Enjoy your time with your friends and family and don't over think these next few days. Don't over indulge, but enjoy yourself, this day only comes once a year :)

4 Simple Tips for a Healthier Christmas Day
1. Get a Christmas workout in

2. Make sure to eat tons of fruits and vegetables before you head over for seconds or desert

3. Drink water between cocktails/alcohol

4. Don't over do it *moderation is key*

I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!

Day 1 of Insanity Max:30 Modified

WOW

Oh my goodness

That was an AMAZING workout

    

I may only be 25, but with my history of knee injuries in the past, and with listening to my body throughout 2014 and getting my best results yet, I'm not risking injury again. Insanity Max:30 is going to help me stay away from those injuries because, not only did they include a modifier, BUT they have a split screen option to where I can SEE the modifier the ENTIRE program! BRILLIANT!

So I haven't done a lot of cardio this year and was a little nervous going into day 1. But I want you to know I killed it! Even modified I still got my heart rate up AND maxed out! (what is maxing out? you go as hard as you can for as long as you can and when you need to take a break, that's your max out time) 

I wouldn't call this a beginning program, but if you're fairly active or recently started getting active, the modifier can be the perfect ease in option for you :) I took before pics and measurements so I'll be sharing those throughout too :) 

Any questions so far about the program, the meal plan, etc?

Just post a comment below and I'll answer them for you :)
***Oh and don't forget to subscribe so you can get updates***

How to survive the Christmas parties

Here's a  4 step guide to how I survived 2 Christmas parties in 2 nights! 

Normally I give in, but this year has been my BEST year of health and I didn’t want to quit on month 12, so I created a plan. I knew I still wanted to have cookies and alcohol, but I didn’t need to over indulge, so I planned.

            Step #1: I planned to workout during the day of the party, extra goodies on top of no workout is a bad idea…. so make sure to get that workout in and go hard on party days
Step 2: The next plan was to eat well throughout the day of the party, I made sure to get my typical turkey bacon and eggs, fruits, veggies, etc J There’s nothing worse than eating terrible all day long then adding more bad choices on top of it…set yourself up for success and eat well that day

The trick is the next part…

Step #3: I planned to drink my shakeology about an hour before the party started. This was the WINNER! I’ve done the first 2 steps in the past and still failed at the party, so step #3 made a huge difference! Why did it make a difference? A couple reasons:

            1. It kept me full. When you’re full it’s a lot harder to over indulge and eat until your pants come unbuttoned.

            2. It curbed my cravings. I have a HUGE sweet tooth, but when I prep with shakeology, the sweet tooth melts away. I actually want to eat more healthy food instead of sweets.

Step #4: I planned to only have a small amount of alcohol. Alcohol will sabotage all of your progress if you have too much. I’m sure this is a step a lot of people would like to skip since it’s part of the season, but this step right here makes a BIG impact on your results!

I hope these 4 steps help you during your Christmas parties as much as they’ve helped me! If you want more details on Shakeology, be sure to email me (samanthamarlett@gmail.com) or leave a comment on this post. I truly believe it’s saved me from so many bad food choices this year! 

3 Halloween Tips

I was sitting around thinking about how tough these next 3 months can be and Halloween is first on the list so I wanted to give you my top 3 tips to having a healthier Halloween and trick or treat season :) 

Recap:

#1: Load up on fruits and veggies. This is probably one that makes you scratch your head, but seriously, if you load up to the point that you're full you're not going to have room for candy :) 

#2: Track it. Simply use the note app on your phone and write out ever piece of candy or junk food you're eating. It will have you thinking twice pretty quickly

#3: Get rid of it! This is probably more difficult if you have children, but get it out of the house as quickly as you possibly can :) 

What are some of your tips? Comment with them below...

2 tips to help you sleep better

Scales SUCK!

I've always been all about ditching the scale, it's lame, it doesn't SHOW you what you're doing right or wrong, it's just a societal measurement that we can't seem to get rid of! It frustrates me just as it does most of you and recently I've been succumbing to the power of the scale and it's had me pretty down for the past month or so...that is until today :) I was scrolling through my Pinterest page and found this picture I posted almost to date 2 years ago! At the time of the first picture, I was struggling to gain weight (apparently due to stress from my wedding...I don't remember feeling stressed, but as soon as it was over I got back to my normal weight so I'm assuming that's what it was) So during this picture first picture I weighed 114 pounds, I was exercising regularly, eating a TON of healthy foods, but not packing on the pounds. I was down about it, but within about 6 months I got back to my typical weight of 118.  Back in 2012 I had been 118 pounds for almost 6 years, that length of time gets you tied to that number....Well enter December 2013, I was up to 123 and not feeling awesome, I had suffered a knee injury back in August 2013 and gave myself a LOT of excuses. So I decided to go through P90X3 at the start of 2014 and got some freaking AWESOME results, but I only lost 1 pound on the scale...for me it was still a win bc I LOVED the pictures and measurements at the end of my 90 days...

Fast forward through this summer of 2014 and I've managed to gain another 3 pounds (yep I'm at 125 pounds)...for the past few months I've been struggling with this a lot...my weight was 118 for so long, that's where I'm supposed to be, right?

I'm thinking WRONG, especially since seeing these pictures side by side! Do you see 11 pounds?! I know I sure as heck don't and I'm SO much more toned now than I was then! The point is, you've got to start taking progress pictures! They will show you the REAL story, not that dumb scale! 

How often are you going to commit yourself to taking progress pictures to see the real story?