Dana Lynn

What an emotional time I’m having in my life. Sometimes life seems so good. You know what your doing and where your going then sometimes it gets tough. Things change and choices need to be made. Well, right now things are tough for me. I’m trying to make the best decisions I can about my life but its hard. My mind goes in all kinds of directions and scenarios. The “what ifs” and the “is that the right choice” all come into play. I’m trying to figure out what step I need to take with career and my personal life right now. Its scary when it seems like chapters and closing even though you know this new one could be a great decision… but what if its not?? I know I’m speaking in general term right now because I’m not really in a place where I want to lay it all out there but in time you’ll find out whats going on as my chapters unfold.

Today I woke up already a bit down and depressed. Somedays I just wake up like that for no reason at all. I have been sticking to my workout plans and really doing well with my eating with an occasional splurge here and there. Well, I got on the scale (which I don’t do often AT ALL anymore) and I was only down ONE stinking pound in the 7 WEEKS that I’ve been eating great and working out everyday!! UGH!! I swear, the scale is the devil! My body is looking a hell of a lot better but for some STUPID reason the scale number still bothers me! My calories have been in check and my workouts are great.. so WHAT gives? I HATE the excuse thats its muscle or water weight but maybe it is. Anyway, that kind of put me over the edge and I needed to get out a good cry. Luckily I do go to a therapist who helps me sort my thoughts. Its really such a great thing to have because you get a view from an outside person who isn’t emotionally attached to you at all. So I spilled it all to him and by the time I walked out an enormous amount of pressure was lifted. Who knows how long that will last because my crazy mind does seem to wonder back again but he did help me come to some answers once again.

I have been reading a lot lately. I really like reading autobiographies. I love hearing other people’s stories and what people have been through to get where they are.
Today I have been cleaning up my house like crazy. Once again I let things go a bit and I needed to make things all nice and clean before I felt good. Cleaning always helps me relax and clear my mind a bit. Later I’m going to go down to the beach with my friend and go walking for a while. I am waiting until the sun isn’t quite as strong so I my face doesn’t burn. I don’t want a red nose! Then I think we’ll grab a slurpee! YUM!!

OMG!! I just got word that there is a HUGE fire by the HOLLYWOOD SIGN!! I’m sitting out on my deck right now and I looked over and there is a HUGE cloud of dark smoke!!! HOW SCARY!! I can smell the fire now too! I hope it doesn’t spread because I am really close and I don’t think being homeless right now is going to help me at all

Alright, I’ll keep you updated! Have a GREAT weekend! Oh, and here’s a picture of one of my little pooches. This one is Swayze. Yes, after Patrick Swayze… I LOVE Patrick Swayze!!
DL

Good morning! Its Thursday morning and I haven’t written here in a few days. I actually went to Vegas on a short little trip on Monday and didn’t bring my laptop. Vegas was a total blast!! I had such a fun time. Even though the trip was short, we fit in a lot of stuff. Well, the first day we got there started early because we left out of a flight from LAX at 7:45am. So we were up at 5am and arrived in Vegas by 8:45am. It was great but felt so early. We were so tired. While I was there i met up with a friend of mine who lives in Vegas. I met her at the LA competition I did in July. She actually stood right next to me in the line up on stage. Anyway, we had lunch together and caught up for about 3 hours and it was great. Jay is actually there for work. He goes twice a week now to meet with a client of his who is there for about 7 weeks. So I decided to join him. When he was done working he joined us for a late lunch.

Monday night was awesome! We went to a incredible restaurant at the top of Mandalay Bay called The Mix. It was so pretty. My cousin who is an architect told us about it because she saw pictures of it in a magazine. Well, it ended up being amazing. The food was great and the service was wonderful. After that we had tickets for a show called Mystere. Its one of the Cirque du Soliel shows in Vegas. OK.. when I say this show was impressive…I mean. WOW. I can’t even explain the acts of strength being performed. The bodies on these people were the most AMAZING I have ever seen. None of it comes from weight training either… all core work and strength moves. It was full of captivating dancing and breathtaking acrobatic moves. They used hand to hand balancing, Chinese poles, high bars and bungees. It was live music and the costumes were bright and vibrant. Anyway, it was just great! In two weeks when I go back we might catch another show. I can’t wait.

The next morning I woke up early and walked about 40 min to the strip. The little condo Jay has is just a bit off the strip. I made a massage appointment at The Four Seasons Hotel. Lucky for me it also happened to be the first hotel on the strip closest to us! Since I had an appointment there I was also able to use there spa and fitness center.. WHICH WAS MY PLAN! So I weight trained some legs, chest and shoulders and then hit cardio for another hour or so. After that I changed and sat in the relaxation room and read my book until it was my turn. The massage was great and really needed. Then I showered and hung-out in the spa and took a taxi back to the condo. What a great day! That was just in time to meet Jay for some lunch and then catch a plane back to LA.
So today I’m about to have some coffee and then do some cardio…
I’ll check in soon and get some pictures from Vegas off my camera.
bye for now!
DL

YEAHHHH!! My first 3.5 hour website lesson just ended and I’m so excited. We made our first little changes to the site. I changed some text on my welcome and bio pages and we created a new links page because I wasn’t thrilled with the picture that was up there. We also added stars that come up when you scroll over the menu bar on the left side. HOW COOL!! We added a couple pictures on the welcome page too. How fun! Check it out! You wouldn’t believe how long it takes to do each thing. This is only the beginning. I have lots more up my sleeve!
DL

Ok, So last night we went to the movies and saw the WORST movie!! There were five of us who went and we all wanted to shoot ourselves! Infact, I was so hungry during the movie that I actually thought about getting up, walking out and going to buy food. Well, a couple of the friends we were with bought popcorn and TONS of candy. I couldn’t believe it! I haven’t bought candy at the movies since I was like ten! The popcorn at the movies is SO SO fattening! Don’t get it if you go. My grandpa once taught me to pop my own popcorn and bring my own can of soda to the movies. He is a total genius!! Ladies, THAT is what big purses are for! And guys…. well.. bring a lady with a big purse or you can carry a man purse but thats kinda weird so…. don’t do that. Well, I forgot mine but if I had brought popcorn I would have brought a mini bag of 94% fat free kettle corn! yum!! Its so good!!
OH… duh… do you guys wanna know the movie we saw? Its with Chris Rock and its called, I THINK I LOVE MY WIFE. I was thinking.. I THINK I WANT TO KILL MYSELF… or I THINK I CAN’T GET THIS LAST HOUR AND FORTY MINS BACK OF MY LIFE AND I’M PISSED ABOUT THAT!! Don’t even get me started on the details because I could blog all night.
Anyway, here are some pictures from me at the movies in total shock of all the crap my friends were buying….

Have a GREAT night and I’ll see you guys tomorrow! Oh yeah, I have lessons on how to revamp my website in the morning so I can finally make some great changes soon! YEAH!!
DL

Good Morning everyone! Its Thursday and its so pretty outside here in L.A. I can feel a long walk coming in my future. Yesterday was cloudy and chilly so I went to the gym and had a great cardio session on the arc. My legs are still so sore from my workout the other day. I really worked hard because my glutes, calves and hams are aching.
During my training for my show I went to San Diego a few times to work on my posing with my good friend, Gina Aliotti. Well, she introduced me to the most amazing treat on a hot day… 7-11 Crystal Light Slurpees! OMG, they are awesome! They fill you up and cool you down. Well, the other day my friends and I went out for one. Every 7-11 I have been to has a different flavor from the last. I’ve had raspberry lemonade, fruit punch, a citrus one… WELL, we found a REALLY yummy one the other day called Berry Pomagranate. We each buy a big one and as we are leaving 7-11 heading to the car we turn to speak to one another and at the same time say, “LOOK AT YOUR MOUTH!!” “NO! LOOK AT YOUR MOUTH!!” We look like we were punched in the teeth! Our mouths were BLOOD RED!! It was so funny. The stayed that way for hours… even our teeth were red.
Anyway, the point is… if your looking for a healthy, super low calorie treat, go to 7-11 and grab a Crystal Light slurpee! Just DONT get the Berry Pom before you go to ANYTHING important!

SUCCESS!! Back from the gym!! What a great workout!! I ended up just training legs today. I started with leg press (3 sets of 20 reps each) and then went to leg curl (3 sets of 20) then did 2 sets of single leg squats and finished up with 3 hard sets of calves. I worked really hard and felt like I was going to have a heart attack on the single leg squats. I am sure I’ll be sore by the end of day! Then I went back down to cardio and busted out 60 awesome minutes on the arc, as planned.
So now I’m home and a sweaty mess. I took my glutamine and aminos and I’m drinking down a whey shake and then I’m going to jump into the shower. Another successful day under my belt! I think I’m going to get back into Spinning more. I havent been spinning for a while but I walked by the spin class today and felt a bit sad that I havent been keeping up with mine.
Ok, time to shower.. the dog just gave me a dirty look because he must think I’m smelly.
DL

I just thought I’d check in before I get changed to head to the gym today. I wanted to let everyone know how I’m doing. Last week was rough and I’m hoping this week is a lot better. I will say though that last week’s workout kicked major butt. For real, my body is coming down like crazy and I’m so excited. I’ve been eating so well and I was so active last week. My friends and I walked for miles and miles almost everyday in addition to my morning cardio sessions. I’m going to weigh in on Friday and see whats going on weight wise but as far as how I’m looking… big difference and I couldn’t be more pleased with myself and all my hard work. The way I’m dieting now and working out isnt the same way I was dieting for my show so I’m guessing the look I’m going for is more of a tight/fit athletic build without being “ripped.” You know what I mean?
Well, I’m going to get myself together to head to the gym for cardio. I’ll be doing my favorite gym machine, The Arc trainer, for 60 min after I weight train a bit. I think I’ll hit each body part at least once today for an overall full body workout today.
I’ll let ya know how it goes

DL

Good afternoon and Happy Thursday! Its a really pretty day out here in L.A. Lets see.. for this post I will discuss my recent growing experience with you all. Its a lesson that has taken me a long time to learn but maybe by me sharing it, I can help someone else.

This past week has been extremely stressful with some pretty serious personal things going on in my life. Major things are happening that have caused me to have a rollercoaster ride of emotions. Now, how have I grown, you ask? Well, in the past when times of heartache and struggle have emerged I would have usually crumbled. I would eat terribly and not worked out at all. I would let myself go and in the end suffer even more. Well, this time, as hard as things have gotten I have kept my head up high and my ultimate goals in mine. I can’t self destruct when tough times happen. I have kept my diet great all week. I have not grabbed to binge on the wrong foods when I get depressed and sad. I have reminded myself that food is not the answer. It will NOT solve any of my problems or cure any pain. I have also made sure to wake up and do my cardio every single day. I force myself out of my house to take long walks- even if I’m sobbing all the way. Exercise actually makes me feel better because of the endorphines. What a great bonus when you really need that pick me up!!

Now, dont worry about me. I’m doing really well today and feeling good again. Life is full of hard times and it shows me that I’m growing and learning each time things get tough. That alone makes me feel so good! Now that I’m feeling better I am so glad that I didn’t fall apart the last few days with my healthy lifestyle. If anything, doing that helped me and now I’m not left feeling badly about what I did to myself.

I hope my little lesson can help you next time things get tough because I promise you, things WILL get rough in your life (unless you are a person who has a PERFECT LIFE- nope, didnt think so) and it will really help if you prepare yourself with a plan NOW.

I hope everyone is having a great week!
DL

Alright.. my little plan for Aspen kinda didnt work… when I got there it was like I was in a warp zone… I totally went into vacation mode. I had a ABSOLUTE BLAST so I have no regrets but I did put on a few pounds… about 5lbs. I knew I would. I could feel my belly growing with every hot chocolate and heavy dinner I had. My ski pants started to get tight by the end. Well, its ok. This week I’m back to business. Today I did my cardio and I’ve been eating clean again. I guess thats what its all about- getting back up on the horse and riding on…
I’m back on the road again this weekend for a wedding back east… we’ll try another plan for that
OH… on another random note… I got my hair done before Aspen and I got long bangs! I’ll take a picture right now to show. I wanted something new… What do you think?
Hope everyone’s having a great weekend!
DL