Making Fitness EASY

                           

First and foremost, I am in no way ‘competition lean.’ If you don’t know what I mean, go check out #bikinicompetitor on Instagram—INSANITY. I don’t have washboard abs, ripped muscles, or popping veins. Personally that last one is really just not my aesthetic 😬 I must be wiser than I once was, because I just don’t see the point in obsessing over every detail and hating your life to look a certain way now, but what I DO know is I have is a body I’m proud of. A body that’s been through obesity, an eating disorder, abusive relationship, a climb back to the top, aaaaaand then a baby. And then a new found meaning of ‘healthy.’ It’s been a journey but I can finally say I’ve found my way, so now, I’m gonna share it with YOU! After all, that’s kind of why I became a health coach, right?

         

Green smoothies are muh jam.

MY PLAN

I love food. Like REALLY love food. And I’ve been on both sides of the spectrum (eating too much/not enough) and both are unhealthy for the body + the mind. The plan I have now is a good balance for me-I have the foods I love but I can keep myself in check. Not over, not under, still pizza 🍕 I follow what I like to call macros for dummies. It’s a simple way to make sure I’m getting the right amount of the right food groups, like you would tracking your macros, but I do it in a more relaxed sense. Instead of checking that I’m eating X grams of protein and Y grams of carbs a day, I track by having 4 servings (3/4 cup) and 3 servings (1/2 cup) of carbs a day, plus fruits and veggies and healthy fats—ya know. It simplifies my life so I know I’m eating within a healthy calorie range, I’m giving my body the fuel it needs to get through my workouts, and I’m eating to reach my goals. And, BONUS it gives me flexibility to still eat really yummy food so I don’t feel restricted. BBQ chicken pizza, burgers, tacos, etc 😍🙏 P.S. restriction is what leads to a binge. Find your balance, find your healthy relationship with food. FOOD IS FUEL! 

Hey baby bicep! 

My workouts change as my mood/life events do, but the one thing that’s always consistent? I get em done, and I do em at home. I have nothing against gyms! I think they’re a fantastic thing for a lot of people—I just don’t wanna go to one. I don’t want to have someone watch Abe while I go, I don’t want to pay to use their equipment, I don’t want to be self conscious while there are 15 people around me doing their own workouts. Also, I have a tendency to mind wander, so I would probably end up counting someone else’s reps and have no idea how many I did myself. It’s an issue. SO I work out at home. It started with body weight/HIIT/walking, but as I progressed I bought my own dumbbells and worked my way up! Right now I’m following a new program-4 days of work, 30-40 minutes per workout. It varies from day to day but the workouts usually consist of some combination of super sets targeting a specific muscle group--I'll do 2-3 exercises, 10 reps each, one right after the other, for 3 rounds. Sometimes the HIIT move is directly after my lifting, sometimes I do it after I've finished a few rounds of several sets and then do a few rounds of HIIT by itself, but I always finish with a few short rounds of core work, ya know, for the abs! It’s a nice balance of HIIT (high intensity interval training, aka cardio) and strength training with my dumbbells. Everything is on my phone/iPad including a guideline meal plan + recipes + food lists so it’s really a no brainer, which works because mine is always in a million other places 🙃 for the other 3 days of the week I like to be somewhat active, chasing abe, cleaning house, throw in an MMA workout or two to keep loose-or just stretch it out, and it really is that simple. I don’t do anything crazy or complicated, I really just move my body. There is no secret sauce. The secret sauce is doing the basic stuff you’ve heard forever and just staying consistent with it.

Left @ 13, right @ 24

Finding balance was always my struggle. Now being older and wiser, I see that it was my brain that needed a reboot. Fitness isn’t everything. Mental health is bigger and more important. I know that I could get to 10% body fat and compete in competitions(or at least look like I do) and be ripped etc etc, but it’s not worth it to me. I just wanna be happy and feel like I’m taking care of myself. In my mind, this used to be ‘the lazy way’ because it wasn’t extreme enough. This is the healthy way. The happy way. A way I can continue to live for the rest of my life, and adjust my meals when I want to change, maintain, gain muscle. If I’ve learned anything as a coach, it’s that if you can’t continue to do it for more than 3 months—diet, workout schedule, etc-it’s not healthy. Perfect is boring. Pizza is life. Happiness is worth the risk 🙏💓

For more info on my current training plan or for help constructing your own(no matter your fitness level or equipment situation) shoot me a message my insta! I post a lot of food there too, so there's that 😬

All my love,

Sammi