December Vision

2016 has been a rough year to say the least, in struggling with infertility and utilizing multiple hormone treatments I've gained about 10 pounds and dealt with more loss than I could have imagined a year ago, but God has placed it in my heart to turn my attention to coaching and helping others. So I'm focusing on ending 2016 strong and with a new vision to figure out the best way to help other's reach their fitness & health goals!

Top 5 December Tips:

1. Do a workout program you ENJOY (yes it's possible, reply back to me if you haven't found one you like doing yet. 

2. Eat BEFORE you go to any parties. 

3. Make a mental choice to set and achieve a goal. (ie. I am losing 5 pounds this month and I will do the 3 Day Refresh and then Core de Force to achieve this goal. I will not let parties or peer pressure stand in my way. When asked to indulge I will reply with something like "No thanks, I'm doing really great on my program and I really don't want to mess it up" <-- I've used that multiple times in the past and people typically respect it) 

4. Plan, Prep, Eat! Follow the 12 hour eating plan to help you plan out your meals about a week at a time. Take 10-15 minutes to plan and create your shopping list, then prep your food. Then ENJOY the delicious meals with your family!

5. Reflect don't regret. If this year has not gone as you've planned, reflect on what obstacles you've faced and look ahead at how you can overcome obstacles in your future. Use pitfalls as learning experiences and grow from them. 

Book of Transformations

I just created this binder. My goal is to fill it with YOUR transformations: physical, emotional, spiritual. I want to make sure I'm helping YOU reach your personal goal and documenting your journey along the way. 

Want to be one of the first ones in? Just fill out this short form to send me your December goals and I'll help you work towards them! 

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

How you can feel better in 11 months

The past 11 months have been some of the absolute best in my life for so many reasons, but I truly believe one of the main reasons is because I've tracked my fitness progress with pictures. This is something I've always told my clients to do "focus on your pictures, how your clothes fit and how you FEEL, not on the scale!"

This year I finally decided to take my own advice and I've never been happier! In the last 11 months I've gained 3 pounds and MANY of my pants were getting super tight. Most women would FREAK out over this, and I'll be honest there were times when I thought to myself "What the heck? I feel like I'm in the best shape ever and my nutrition in on point moreso than it's ever been, what is going on?" 

Whenever I would think those thoughts it was time to take a progress picture, I wasn't great at doing them every 30 days, but I did them this year more than any other and I am AMAZED by my progress! The scale was moving up because I was finally gaining muscle and my pants weren't fitting because my butt has MOVED, seriously, it's higher than ever before in my 25 years on this planet...blows my mind!

So how did I get this way this year? What changed? How can you make sure you feel amazing in the next 11 months?

TRACK your progress with pictures, exercise, and eat well

Those 3 things will transform your life. The first picture was my start of P90X3, my second was at the end of P90X3 and the last one was after doing a hybrid of P90X3 and Piyo along with the 21 day fix meal plan (and shakeology of course)! These 3 programs have changed my life this year, they've helped me realize my pants size and what the scale says are NOT important, it's how I treat my body and the choices I make that truly matter. 

This is a journey, you have to embrace the process, it does NOT happen over night, it doesn't happen over 3 months, a year, etc...it's a LIFETIME process so you need to make sure you're creating LIFESTYLE habits to help you through. 

There are going to be SO many times when you feel like failing and giving up, make yourself a promise that you won't. Make yourself a promise that you will see it through!

If you need help with what direction to go in I can help you, just send me an email at samanthamarlett@gmail.com 

Don't hold yourself back, your time is now!

Only 5 spots left for my November 10th Support group

Post by Samantha MarLett.

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?