Dana Lynn

Its SPRING here in Jersey and I’m here to bring you up to date with what’s going on with me (if anyone out there cares!! haha!) Well I finished my first 12 week of diet and training. I worked really hard and was really seeing some nice changes to my body. My muscles were becoming tighter and more dense and my body fat was SLOWLY melting off. After the 12th week of training and seriously kicking some butt we went on our annual family ski trip to Aspen. The trip was going so well. We were having a blast, other then the fact that my baby’s schedule was a bit screwed up from the time change so he was up at 5am and sleeping for the night by 5pm. Anyway, we were having a blast everyday. We went skiing, sledding, snow mobiling and mom and I hit the spa twice for massages and body treatments. The weather was wonderful and perfect conditions for winter fun! Well, on Thursday I was skiing AJAX, a more advanced mountain in Aspen and we had been out there for a couple of hours already. We went down a tough run but I was doing well… all of the sudden I took a turn and somehow lost my balance and knew I was going down. My body went down one way and my ski along with my foot and knee went another way. I felt a crunching and tons of pain. Ski patrol came and got me to the bottom of the hill since I couldn’t ski down myself. Went to the ER, got an annoying leg brace and there went the rest of my fun winter sport vacation.
So now I’m back in Jersey and its confirmed that I tore my ACL in my knee. I’ve been very depressed. This really through a wrench in all of my spring/summer plans but at this point there is nothing I can do except go to physical therapy to get ready for my surgery on April 28.
I’m still going to the gym to train upper body and I’m able to ride the bike and do the elliptical trainer. My goal is to continue doing as much as I can before the surgery and from what the doctor says, I’ll still be able to enjoy my summer. I’ll be on crutches for a week and then a full leg brace for a month and it will be a full 6 months until I’m ready to get back to “normal.”
So thats my update. I won’t be able to do my show like I was aiming for. This is a huge bummer for me. I was so fired up and really working hard to get there. Maybe a show just isn’t in the cards for me until another window in life opens up again. Its just extremely hard to work in training for a show anyway with some many other things in life that are WAY more important. There are only so many hours in a day and I’d like to put them towards more important things like my family, home making and work. I am so excited the spring is here!
DL

Ok, so I’m in 6 week into my dieting and prep work for my spring/summer competition and I’m not going to even lie… I’m frustrated as hell! I know I said, “Slow and steady wins the race” but this is ridiculous! At 5am this morning, I weighed myself but I ate or drank anything and I was 153 lbs. WHAT!!! WHAT??? Two weeks ago I was 151.9 lbs. I’m supposed to be LOSING FAT!!! Now, last week I had to take off 3 days from the gym and cardio because I hurt my back (putting my baby into his stroller, go figure!) However, I stuck perfectly to my OFF day diet. I mean, I weigh EVERYTHING I eat right to the number and I train hard! I wish the numbers on the scale and in my measurements reflected that. It made me want to get back into bed at 5am this morning because I was like, ARE YOU SERIOUS?? But I didn’t. I ate my oats and eggs, bundled myself up and headed out into the dark, cold tundra to the gym to kick some butt. I can’t let this slow me down or upset me. I must keep on keepin’ on because one of these days I WILL see the fruits of my labor. It takes time and patience and hard work and this time I intend to get there and stay in great shape without a rebound from all that stupid crazy cardio I had to do last time.
Oh a good note, I did fit into my pre-pregnancy winter corduroy pants this week. That was definitely a highlight!
Ok, time to hang out with my little guy before its time for work!
DL
Here’s a funny picture from November when I was TRYING to walk my little dog, Swayze. This is what happens when he doesn’t want to walk and there are lots of leaves on the ground… he brings them with us!

Slow and steady wins the race. Thats what I keep having to remind myself of. Today is 4 weeks that I’ve been on my new diet and training plan and I’ve been working pretty darn hard but the scale and my measurements from the last 2 weeks don’t want to reflect that…. YET. The scale stayed exactly the same and my measurements either stayed the same or WENT UP! Ugh! I have to remind myself that I’m eating clean and training hard so SOMETHING HAS to be going on even if I’m not seeing it yet. Plus, the scale doesn’t mean very much. It just tells me what my total body weight is. Who cares if I’m 115lbs if its all FAT! I want to be MUSCLE! I’d rathe the scale say 150lbs of MUSCLE then 115lbs of FAT. So, I have to just hold strong, have faith and keep on truckin’ ahead. I can feel my muscles working and getting tighter and stronger but of course the thing everyone, not just me, wants to see is in the mirror! Like I said before, Slow and steady wins the race!

Ok, so I’m in my 4th week of contest prep and things are moving along beautifully. I feel great! I have lots of energy and I’m lifting so hard at the gym (this morning I used 30lb dumb bells for chest. Muscle memory is such a wonderful thing. I’m getting stronger each session and it’s so exciting. I’ve been waking up at 5am to have my coffee, eat my oats, eggwhites and blueberries and hit the gym by 6am. I lift from 6-7am and I’m home before my cute little baby boy even wakes up. I don’t want to take any time away from my family that I don’t have to. Plus, getting my workout done this early in the morning takes the fact that I have to go to the gym off my “to do” list for the rest of the day. I hate having that, “I have to get to the gym sometime today” feeling all day long.
So in my first two weeks of training and dieting I’ve made HUGE progress already. I lost 4lbs on the scale and also lost 4 inches… thats right, 4 INCHES in my waist and 2 in my hip/glute area. How AMAZING, right? Not to mention I’m only doing 2 cardio sessions a week at this point.
The next time I’ll jump on the scale and measure myself is this coming Tuesday so hopefully I’ll be in for some more great news. I will have to say that this is the quickest I’ve ever seen changes in my life. Plus I’m eating great food and I never feel deprived. Hard work pays off and I’m so excited to look amazing for the contests I have planned in 2010!
Ok.. stay tuned for some results…
DL

Today is the start of week 2 and things are going perfectly! My diet and training were right on track last week and I’m off to a great start! Yesterday was my first pretty intense leg workout in a long time and today I’m beyond sore! My hamstrings and glutes are struggling! It hurts to sit, walk and breathe. haha! I can’t express how happy I am to be doing this. I feel like I’ve regained control of myself. The crappy news is that the competition that I really want to do looks like it’s only for NBBF Pro’s. I have to find out if thats the case. If it is, I will have to find another show to do. Its fine because no matter what-show or not- I’m loving dieting and training now but I will find a show because I do love having that goal date to reach for.
Since I’ve been living under a rock lately, I just found out that figure rules changed. Now we only have to wear a 2 piece suit! That works for me because I wasn’t a fan of the one piece anyway! I love my 2 piece suit so I’m very excited to wear it again.
Well, I’m off to do some more housewife duties while my little one naps. We’re heading to Florida for a few weeks of warmth and sunshine and we can’t wait!
DL

HERE I GO… its Day 3 of my prep for my next figure competition on May 1, 2010 and I’m feeling on top of the world! I can’t tell you how wonderful it feels to be back to eating clean and training hard. All of the BIG EVENTS (wedding, baby, ect) are over (for now) and now its time to get back to something I love- being fit! I thought I enjoyed not being on a plan and “doing whatever I wanted” but I was actually really unhappy. I hate not feeling in control and most of all, I HATE not fitting into my clothes! I love waking up with a purpose and having a goal to reach. Each day I have my mission to accomplish and when I go to sleep at night I know I have another successful, healthy day under my belt. Its like I took another step towards my ultimate goal. This time is different though. This time I’m not looking at the competition as the “end” to my goal… its just the beginning to being fit and staying fit for the rest of my life. Even when I’m pregnant with my next child, I will stay healthy and fit. There’s no excuse not to and I had to learn my lesson the hard way. Ugh, why does it seem like I’ve had to learn a lot of my lessons that way? I guess it’s so that the feeling is so deeply imbedded in my brain so I never do it again!
I just got back from a training session. I got to the gym, trained and home all while my son took his nap. He never even knew I was gone! My hubby stayed home since we didn’t have a sitter today but usually my husband and I train together. Right now my lifting is 4 days and week and cardio is only 2 times a week! I’m hoping I pack on a nice amount of muscle. I am constantly day dreaming in my head about what my physique will look like down the road. I want to blow my last time on stage away!
Getting back into the swing of dieting and training will probably take a week or so. I forgot how much work it is to prep all my food- but its soooo important to making any plan work. I have all my chicken, lean beef, tilapia, tuna, sweet potatoes and brown rice in the fridge just waiting to be weighed for each meal. The fun part is coming up with interesting recipes to make the meals more fun and exciting. I made my oatmeal and egg whites the normal day on day 1… never again. I’m back to making my yummy egg white oatmeal pancake and I even make a blueberry syrup to go on top! Yum!
My husband is super supportive and really excited for me to be back to my training. If you’re reading this, Thank You, Honey! I love you!!
Ok, my post workout shake is done and its time to check on my still sleeping baby! What a great sleeper!!
Now its time TO ROCK!!! Keep checking back to hear my progress!!
STARTING WEIGHT: 155lbs (I have pictures but I’m not quite ready to post them! LOL!)
DL

Hello everyone! (if there’s anyone out there who is even reading this) Today is 16 weeks after having my new baby boy and life is wonderful. I now have a gorgeous healthy son and my husband and I are completely thrilled and blessed. It has definitely been life changing and has taken some adjusting and figuring out but we couldn’t be happier or more proud parents. We’re living in our newly improved home now too and just thrilled at how it came out. I’m thrilled to have my cardio machine back (and a new one my hubby bought me) and the only thing I am missing terribly is my BODY!!!
So pregnancy did a number on my body. I gained a ton of weight. A whole lot more then I should have but the end of my pregnancy was really rough. I had edema and become extremely swollen. I was gaining loads of fluid and water weight everyday. My legs, ankles and feet became HUGE and I couldn’t even fit anything on my feet except one pair of flip flops. My weight hit 210lbs!! Thats right! I was massive! Luckily 40 lbs of that weight (I gained a total of 70 lbs!!!) came right off after I delivered. It took a few weeks but the fluid was finally draining. I then continued to lose another 10lbs without any diet or exercising. However now I have started to do my cardio again (yeahhh!!) and I’ve started to really watch my diet and more weight is slowly coming off. HOWEVER, my body is not the same and its very depressing to even look in the mirror at times. With a new baby I have found it so hard to find time for everything. Cardio and lifting weights at the gym take a lot of time and energy and in the beginning with a new baby, it was so hard for me to find the time. So now that cardio is in place almost everyday, lifting needs to happen as well. Its a MUST. I feel like a mush. I feel like I have lost so much muscle and shape to my body. So this will be my biggest challenge EVER!
My short term goal is to continue to shed all the baby weight and my long term goal is to compete again in May 2010!! I will do a local show here in Jersey. I’m still waiting for the date of the show to be announced but in the mean time I had my work cut out for me!
So here starts a new journey. A new challenge and its my biggest one yet. My baby belly is still sticking out and all blobby and I hate it! I’m not used to having belly fat. Ugh! So getting this belly down should be fun. I haven’t started a strict diet plan yet. I’m making healthy choices and watching my portions. I do feel a bit of pressure though because its winter time now and my freakin winter pants don’t fit yet!! That’s an issue because I don’t want to buy new bigger clothes.
Well, my baby should be waking up from a nap soon and then we’ll head to the cardio room together. He’ll work on rolling over and I’ll work on my rolls! haha!
Thanks for coming back to my journal. I hope you stick around!
DL

Well, I’m in the home stretch now. Its already 3.5 weeks into the third trimester and its kicking my butt. I’ve been so tired again and feeling HUGE, to say the least. I’ve had some REALLY tough nights filled with heartburn and pains in my back and upper stomach area. I’m the biggest I have ever been in my life and I can’t say I’m feeling a “glow” anymore. I’m just trying not to freak out at the size of my thighs and butt and just remember that within 8 weeks or so our little baby will be here and I can start on the road back to my pre-prego clothes. Cardio hasn’t been happening much lately because it gets me so tired but I know that shouldn’t be an excuse because its really good for me to do. I’ve grown out of most of my maternity size medium pants and now I’m wearing mostly large. Its so depressing. Luckily I gain evenly all over and so far no stretch marks on my belly! yeah! I’ve been really good with putting on creams and lotions (whether they really helps or not, who knows, but at least I’m doing something.)
I’ve been thinking a lot about my after baby program. I have the itch to really get back into awesome shape again. I miss the intense cardio and hard lifting that I used to do.
I’m SOOO happy he’s coming the beginning of the summer and not the end. I would NOT want to be waddling around in the heat all summer so his timing is perfect!
Monday is our next ultrasound and we get to see our baby’s adorable face again. I can’t wait to hear what he weighs now. I’m going to guess it in 4lb range.
Well, time to get ready to enjoy our first day in the 70’s!!! Its about time for some warmth and sunshine!
DL

Ok so I haven’t been the best at keeping up with my blog but let me tell you, the days are crazy busy and by the night time, I’m totally beat. We just returned from our annual Aspen ski trip which of course was wonderful as always. This year was a bit strange for me because i didn’t wake up and put on my ski clothes before eating breakfast like usual. Infact, I didn’t put on any ski clothes and that was tough. The weather there was insanely nice for the entire week. At some points we weren’t even wearing jackets to walk around town because it as so warm. Its funny because as soon as we left, NJ got hit with a massive snow and Aspen got warm and sunny. Then when we tried to leave Aspen, they got hit with snow and NJ warmed up and melted all the snow here. The weather and the economy are both getting pretty darn wacky!
So this week is my 26th week of pregnancy and its getting a bit more uncomfortable. My baby used to be much lower but as he grows, he’s about 2lbs this week, he’s pushing up higher and its making me feel a bit cramped. Sleeping is getting harder too. I have a wonderful pregnancy pillow called a Snoggle to help me because I’m a belly sleeper and that isn’t happening now. I got heartburn, which I never had in my life, and that hasn’t been fun, not to mention the horrible gas pains that shoot up my back like I’m being stabbed. Oh the joys of this beautiful time…
So tomorrow we get to see our baby boy on ultrasound again. I can’t wait. Its to the point that on the 3D ultrasound we can probably see what his face looks like. I can’t wait!!! We still don’t have a name picked out. I know names I like but my husband won’t commit to anything quite yet. I keep giving him the baby name book to pick names he likes but it collects more dust then gets read. Oh well…. the baby will have to get a name so if he doesn’t crack the book soon, looks like we’ll have to go with the name I like. At least he can never say I didn’t give him a chance to pick one since we’ve known we were pregnant since week 5
Some good news is that my appetite isn’t as big as it used to be so hopefully I can get this weight gain under some control. I’m seriously feeling like a MOOSE. I had to buy bigger pants, which was sooo depressing. My body loves to store fat in my butt and thighs. I know it will come off, because I will MAKE it all come off, after the baby is here but its still tough dealing with it now. I have never been this big in my life… even at my all time biggest. At least this time, I get to lose the weight AND have a beautiful baby boy to love all up!! It will definitely make for some GREAT before and after shots!
Well, I’ll post some pictures soon. I should be taking a 26 week belly shot. He’s growing leaps and bounds now and packing on his baby fat so each week my belly will be getting much bigger… and he’ll be packing some tougher punches.
DL

So I feel like I’m becoming the size of a small whale and I can’t say I’m loving this part of being pregnant. I love the fact that I have a little baby growing inside of me. I love the fact that its half me and half my hubby. I love feeling him kick and seeing him having fun on the ultrasound but I’m not loving what its doing to my body. This is definitely the toughest part- other then waiting for him to arrive. I’ve never been a skinny girl and never for a second did I think I would be the type to just have a cute little basketball belly but GEEZ! I just feel bigger and LOOK bigger then I ever have in my life and its a tough feeling to get used to.
I did my 45 min of cardio this morning but for some reason it just doesn’t seem like it does as much as it does when I wasn’t pregnant. I like doing it because it makes me feel good and I stretch after but I just feel like a big blog of a person moving around. Another tough thing about all this is that my appetite has shot up so much. I get hungry.. and not just mentally hungry, but physically hungry at least every 2 hours. You would think I’m going to give birth to a football player! I saw a picture of myself from this past weekend and almost fell off my chair. Thank goodness I have a husband who loves me and knows that this baby weight will come off once our little man is here. Only 19 more weeks to go…