Samantha Bowers Interview – The Fit Brunette

Daily fitness tips, healthy recipes and time management advice from personal trainer and fitness expert, Samantha bowers of the fit brunette!

In light of last weeks post on the 7 benefits of female weight training, I decided we needed to have a fitness expert come on Hello Spoonful to give us the lowdown. Samantha Bowers is a literal ROCKSTAR. If you haven’t heard of her — you need to hop on google ASAP and do some fitness research.

If you’re ever needing some motivation to get your booty to the gym — she’s your gal. One glance at her instagram and you’ll understand what I mean. Samantha and I connected through social media and IM SO GLAD WE DID. Samantha is a personal trainer, model, recipe developer & blogger. Not only is she all of those titles, but she is just plain sweet. Samantha has an infectious personality and did I mention she was former Miss Missouri Teen USA!?

She’s kind of incredible which is why I HAD to have her on the blog.

Soooo, let’s get to it!

1. Introduce yourself to the Hello Spoonful Community!

Hi everyone! Thank you for inviting me to do this interview, Elizabeth. I am excited to share a little more about myself with your community! My name is Samantha Bowers, but some people know me as The Fit Brunette. I started my fitness and healthy food blog about seven months ago after I became a certified personal trainer. I am currently a journalism student at the University of Missouri, where I am also a personal trainer and group fitness instructor. I have always had a love for living a healthy lifestyle, but I became even more invested in this way of living while I was training for the 2014 Miss Teen USA pageant as Miss Missouri Teen USA. I began researching different styles of training as I prepared for the swimsuit competition and searching for ways to satisfy my sweet tooth while still maintaining a healthy diet. After I began sharing a few photos of my healthy desserts and workout tips on my Instagram account, I decided to launch The Fit Brunette, a blog and guide to help others live their best lives.

2. How do you manage running a blog, modeling, working as a personal trainer AND going to college all at once!?

For me, time management is all about prioritizing. If something is important to me, I make time for it in my day. I think this goes for everyone when it comes to anything in life – but specifically fitness – if you WANT to do something, you will do it. So I honestly just try to prioritize what tasks are the most important and what will help me move closer to my goals.

{ have you all heard about these time cubes!? Lauryn Evarts of The Skinny Confidential SWEARS by them! }

3. Favorite way to sweat?

Oh this is a tough one! I love to sweat in all different kinds of ways. I am a firm believer in mixing up your workout routines to keep things fresh and prevent boredom in the gym. My typical workouts involve a lot of weight lifting and high intensity interval training, but I also love hot yoga and pilates as training styles to balance out my body and always keep it guessing.

RELATED: 7 Female Weight Training Benefits | 12 Daily Fitness Tips | 11 Ways to Eat Healthy When Dining Out

4. You’re always so motived – like what the heck – how do you stay constantly motivated!?

I don’t. Haha, a lot of times if I post something EXTRA motivational it’s because I need to hear it too. My goal with my blog and social media accounts is to shine light in to the lives of others and hopefully leave a lasting impact on them in some way, shape, or form. So whether that is through a motivational quote or photo caption, a healthy recipe, a workout, or a tip that they find useful, if I have helped one person and they can take something away from my content and apply it to improve their lives – then my job is done. I think there is so much negativity online (especially centered around fitness and body image) and I want to do my best to counteract that.

5. How has fitness evolved to where it is now?

I think it is a slow – but positive – process. We are seeing more and more women stand up and say, “I want to be strong, not skinny.” and I think that is so awesome. More so now than ever there is a movement for body positivity and the building of a community centered around health and wellness.

“Fitness is becoming more than just “working out,” it is becoming a combination of movement, nourishment, mindfulness, and community centered around like-minded, empowered women.”

6. You have accomplished a lot at a very young age. Tell us your background?

Aw, thank you so much! That means a lot to me. I believe in day-by-day hard work, and if you do things absolutely every day to move yourself one step closer to the goal you are trying to accomplish – you will get there eventually. My parents have played a huge factor in the development of my work ethic. Before I became involved with modeling and pageants, I grew up playing sports. I can remember spending hours in the driveway shooting free throws with my dad, trying to perfect my shot. As I would practice he would say, “If you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re righ

t.” This is a quote by Henry Ford and it is one that I keep in the back of my mind as I take on new tasks.

“I truly believe that the body achieves what the mind believes and your actions directly reflect the kind of thoughts that run through your mind, so it’s important to make sure they are positive.”

7. Why did you originally create The Fit Brunette?

My main goal with my blog and any of my social media accounts is to leave someone better off than before they came across my content. Whether I may reach them through a motivational quote or message, a healthy recipe, a workout or fitness tip, if it improved their lives in some way, then my mission with The Fit Brunette has been accomplished. I really just created it as a way to share my love for living a healthy lifestyle with others.

RELATED: 7 Female Weight Training Benefits | 12 Daily Fitness Tips | 11 Ways to Eat Healthy When Dining Out

8. Do the things or feelings that drove you to start then, still drive you now?

Absolutely, every day! Before I write a post, or press share, I think to myself: is this content that I am sharing relevant and useful to my audience? If yes, then I share it, if not, then I have some re-writing to do.

9. Quick skinny tip or daily fitness tip?

Hmm… This is a tough one! There are a ton of quick tips that you can easily implement in to your daily lifestyle to improve your health and fitness journey that I have shared on my blog, but in all honesty there is no “quick fix.” To see real results and a true lifestyle change, practicing daily wellness habits, exercising regularly, and eating a clean diet is the only way to really change your life for the better.

10. Favorite healthy snack?

OMG. I am such a snacker. I LOVE snacks (as shown on my Instagram account, haha). I eat about every three hours so snacks are a huge part of my diet. If I am craving something sweet, my go-to is fresh strawberries and a protein shake, but if I want something more on the savory side, I love fresh bell peppers and grilled chicken. So simple and boring, I know, but so tasty!

I am also a huge fan of nut butters. Justin’s has some great natural nut butters without tons of added oils and sugars. I always make sure my snacks have a good amount of protein in them, because I do work out quite a bit between my own sessions and personal training. Often times I just find myself craving protein.

11. Share a day in the life — every little detail — we wanna know!

Every day is pretty different, but I can definitely give you a rundown of “a typical day.” I am a college student so a lot of my time is spent in class and doing homework (boring I know).

1. Typically I wake up at 4:25 a.m. and my day starts from there. My morning routine is something I refuse to sacrifice – it helps set the tone for the rest of my day and I have found I am not as productive when I do not follow it. I eat breakfast first thing when I wake up (I am always so hungry in the morning) and then I go work out.
2. I usually lift weights followed by a HIIT routine for about an hour and a half (depending on how much time I have that morning) and then I leave for Mizzou’s campus.
3. I usually stay all day on campus and go to class, train clients, and blog during my breaks in time.
4. I usually get home around dinner time, cook a meal, finish up some homework and prepare my clients’ workouts for the next day, and go to bed around 10:00 p.m. or 10:30.

For me, it’s all about finding those little breaks in time when I can be productive. One of my favorite productivity hacks is to do homework or blog on the stair climber. It’s actually surprisingly easy to balance a laptop on them. 😉

12. What can we expect from you in 2018?

I am actually pretty excited for 2018. Of course, I can plan all I want and still not know what’s in store. But as of right now, I will be finishing my spring semester at Mizzou and then moving to New York for the summer for an internship in the journalism field. It is my dream job to host my own healthy cooking and fitness show – so I am excited to see what opportunities arise during my time in the Big Apple. After the close of the summer I will come back to Mizzou for the fall semester. I am also planning on getting back in to the world of pageantry this year – something I am extra excited about.

As far as things go for The Fit Brunette, I have a lot of projects brewing in my mind that I can’t quite share YET, but hope to launch in 2018. I hope to broaden my reach and help even more people live a healthy lifestyle, and I think the things I am working on will allow me to do that. But, just like with everything else – it takes time, sweat, and a LOT of hard work, so stay tuned!

For more daily fitness tips, healthy recipes and fashion inspo, follow Samantha on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and subscribe to her blog!

related posts: 7 Female Weight Training Benefits | 12 Daily Fitness Tips | 11 Ways to Eat Healthy When Dining Out