Dana Lynn

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