Be yourself, and just work on being better a little each day.

Life is a game, a competition, and too important to be taken seriously.

The only person who you are really competing with is yourself. The person who you were yesterday, the person you want to be tomorrow.

We are all different and it's really no use to compare yourself to someone else. We all have our strengths & weaknesses. Every single one of us. We can even turn our weaknesses into strengths.

The people who never had to overcome anything are not the strongest people. "Smooth seas don't make for strong sailors."

Embrace your differences, your struggles, own your faults, overcome your obstacles. Nothing is ever a failure until you quit trying.

Make today awesome. :)

Samantha Marie

Savory Colorful Veggie Recipe

Hi all!

I wanted to share for my first recipe, one of the very first things I cooked when I 1) decided to venture out cooking something besides grilled cheese & Ramen (both which I made fabulously btw) and 2) when I wanted to start eating healthier.

I'm one of those people who didn't know how to cook pasta until her mid-twenties, used to eat Bacon Ultimate Cheeseburgers from Jack in the Box three times a week, and still on occasion messes up hard boiled eggs. Obviously I needed something easy & delicious to start with this whole healthy cooking thing. Hopefully it is easy & delicious for you too.

*Disclaimer: I will explain in detail for those of us that are not accustomed to cooking. For those of you that are, you could probably read this once & know how to cook it in 30 seconds. Bear with us.

What you will need:

- 6 oz carrots (regular or baby)
- 2 medium zucchini (or 1 zucchini & 1 yellow squash)
- 3 to 4 baby red potatoes (approx. 10oz.)
- Garlic (either 1/4 cupped pre-crushed or chopped, or a whole clove if you're feeling awesome)
- Olive Oil
- Balsamic vinegar
- Earth Balance Organic Buttery Spread (or regular butter if you must)
- Basil in a spice jar
- Rainbow or Black Pepper in a grinder
- Large pan & pan cover
* bonus: olive oil spray &/or cayenne pepper


What to do:

1 - Wash all veggies & cut into approx. 3/4 inch cubes. If you're being awesome with a whole clove of garlic, slice it all very thinly. That part may be a bit time consuming but totally worth it.You can cut veggies in order you will put them in to save time: Carrots & garlic first, then potatoes, then zucchini/ squash.

2 - If you have olive oil spray, spray it in your large pan. If you don't, THINLY coat your pan with olive oil. Throw a few drops of water in there to thin it out.

3 -  Put stove on medium/ low. For example, if it goes 1-10, put it on 4.

4 -  Throw in cut up carrots evenly in pan first, then sprinkle garlic over.

5 -  Get your spices. Start with a pinch of cayenne over the garlic if you have it. Do NOT use any more. Put a couple twists of your pepper grinder over it. Move your veggies around a minute.

6 -  Throw in cut up potatoes. Repeat step 5, minus the cayenne & this time add a few shakes of basil.

7 - Your pan should be wanting more things to coat it & the veggies now. Put in 2 teaspoons (or 1 tablespoon) of Organic Buttery Spread, about 1tbs of olive oil and 3tbs of balsamic vinegar. Move your veggies around a minute.

8 - Throw in zucchini squash. Repeat the couple twists of pepper grinder & a few shakes of basil one last time.

9 - Cover pan for a few minutes. Check to see you're not burning it, move it around, and cover it a couple more minutes. Take lid off to finish cooking a couple mins & turn off stove.

10 - Eat it! YUM!

He who has overcome his fears will truly be free.

He who has overcome his fears will truly be free. 

Welcome to My First Official Blog Post!

Let me start by introducing myself.

I was born & raised the first 25 years of my life in South San Francisco. Yes, South San Francisco is not in San Francisco, it is south of it. I used to say I do everything in San Francisco except sleep, but now I am official resident of one of the most fabulous cities in the world.

I started dancing when I was 3 and trained heavily in tap, jazz, ballet, lyrical (my fav!), hip hop, Afro-hatian, modern and character dance all through my grown up years. By the time I was in high school I was choreographing my own competitions - some even against my teachers - and teaching for my peers. My life and world revolved around music & dance to the extent that I could never see my reality outside of it. The happiest moments of my life have been seeing a production come together, and having this vision you saw in your head & hoped you could make it real actually become real. It's definitely still at the core of my heart to this day, but life has a way of turning your world upside down, doesn't it?

Fast forward a few years into my 20's and doctors started putting me on pills for anything that was wrong with me. (That's what they were supposed to do, right?) I had struggled with depression since I was in junior high, but I developed an anxiety disorder that felt like it came out of nowhere, and things went pretty downhill after that. Within a few years I was having some major heart issues and was in the ER about a dozen times. I couldn't work, I couldn't dance, I couldn't do anything and I really felt like I lost everything I had in life at that point. I was getting worse & doctors wanted to put me on more pills & I just wanted it all to stop. I really believed in nutrition and I wanted to try & fix myself naturally. I had studied a bit previously, but by no means was I an expert. Around this time I also lost my home, as being a freelance makeup artist was not enough to make ends meet forever. I'm not sure how I mentally got through all that, but I think that's something I'm learning about myself in time. Something had to change, and in 2012 I began the year-long process of getting myself off prescription medication, and getting myself healthy enough to get out of bed & be active.

From being a hardcore ballerina, I wanted to jump right in to being active once my heart was officially okay to do so in January of 2013. By that I mean I overcame tachycardia (where your heart rate is never below 100bpm) and lowered my blood pressure from 150/100 to 117/78. What did I decide to do? The Insanity home workouts, of course! Well that was obviously not a good idea for someone who's arms would hurt from moving a laptop, but hey, we learn. After a couple of weeks learning how to pace myself, I was getting good progress. I was also consistently tracking my food & nutrients in MyFitnessPal - which I encourage everyone & their mama to use. Food is medicine - that is the truth. I was eating so amazingly right for my body that I felt - and still continue to feel - better than I ever had in my whole life. I have more energy than I did when I was a teenager or in my 20's, and get this - I'm HAPPY! No, I don't have everything in the world or a lot of "things", but I feel actual pure happiness. That is something I never had before. I tried, I wanted it, I faked it a lot, but between good food & vitamins, I now have it.

In a matter of months I decided to finish getting my Personal Fitness Trainer Certification, because I wanted to help people not have to go through the things I went through. I want people to have the right tools & education to help themselves and not feel like a pharmaceutical is the only answer. I want people to be healthy and happy! Of course, I am continuing to further my education in nutrition and looking forward to being all nerdy excited about food. 

So here we are - Natural Beauty and Body! Feel good, look great, eat wonderful, exercise awesome, better yourself and your world around you.

This journey is going to be filled with easy healthy recipes, fitness tips, home and gym workouts, nutrition information, beauty info and tutorials, natural remedies and mindful things to be aware of for our planet. We're also going to have fun and feel amazing!

Thank you anyone who took the time to read my first post. I look forward to taking our exciting journey together. :)

Sincerely,

Samantha Marie