gymnrockgrl’s BodyBlog

Hmmm… yes we are never standing still are we? Always moving in a direction… towards our goals (if we have them) or away from them and away from our dreams….

We are losing weight or gaining…. we can never really "just be" because everything around us is constantly changing.

Isn’t it so frustrating, when you feel like you are moving backward?

The last two weeks, I’ve had a pretty bad eye infection… and while, "it could be worse" as they say… it STILL SUCKS!! Its drained my energy, kept me out of the gym for many days, kept me grumpy and in pain and not too happy… its when you have to sit out, that you really seem to feel or notice, those that are passing you by… 

I have really had to let myself take a step back, and realize that I cannot RUSH anything. My body will heal in due time… and what I get from trying to rush it, is an extra week of glasses and 4 extra visits to the doctor! Not worth it… also not worth it, by the way, is sleeping in your contacts… note to self TAKE THEM OUT!! OK OK OK OK!!

Anyway… enough of that!! Next weekend is the Los Angeles FIT Expo and Ironman and I am SOOOOOOO excited about this one because my husband gets to work at the booth with me!!

He’s actually been eating clean, bringing lunches to work, and making a REALLY big effort to eat better and take care of himself… I’m beaming like a proud parent!! I’m super proud of him, and besides, it makes my "dieting" that much easier, when we’re eating similar things:)

So, please stop by the booth and say Hello! Let me know you’ve seen me on bodyspace…

I’ll start posting some more blogs, as I have been requested by the BB.com BLOG MASTER:)

 Take Care and Train hard!!

Danny J 

I can’t tell you all how EXCITED I am for this year, and this season to begin!! I finished my degree, the wedding and honeymoon are done, and I am ready to give 120% focus to my training and getting more work in this industry.

I decided that personal training is where my heart is…. and in a few months, I will be leaving my current job/career to go back into training and helping people.

 I just found out that I am going to get to go to the ARNOLD!! This was a goal of mine last year, so I am SO excited… its not to compete, just to work at the Egg Whites International Booth…. but just the fact that I get to be there, is making me so HAPPY!!

 I was also asked to work at the Egg Whites booth (AND my husband) at the FIT EXPO in Los Angeles on Feb. 15-17th! It is hard work, but I love the product, and Mac the owner is great. Besides, I just love being around all the people who also enjoy a fit lifestyle.

So, PLEASE come by and say Hello to me in LA or in Columbus… the Egg White booth will be right next to Bodybuilding.com at the Arnold, so you can’t miss it!!

Can’t wait to meet you all… Stay fit! Stay healthy! Stay happy!

Please feel free to send me any messages with questions… I’ll always try to answer (sometimes I take longer than others, but I’ll get around to it!!)

More pics to come also!!

Danny J

Well, this is titled Olympia weekend, but I have some other things to "blog" about first… it is OVERTRAINING… ironic, how I am going through this, then I get the new Oxygen in my mailbox, talking about it….

As some of you know, I just got married (11 days ago to be exact) and planning a wedding is well… wow… time consuming and stressful are only two adjectives that don’t even come close to describing it… EVEN with a LOW-KEY wedding such as mine… sigh…

so I am not one to make excuses for myself… EVER. Especially when it comes to not having TIME for something… but what the hell would you know when I had plans to work out nearly every day and nearly every day could not do it? My god! Are you serious?! I mean I guess I could have actually gone, but my body was begging me for sleep, of which I had only been getting about 4 hours anyway (if I was lucky)

So, after USAs my body went into major "WTF?!!" mode…. months of dieting, cardio, mental discipline, etc etc… and my body just said STOP!! So, I listened…. OK< Not really… UGH!! I kept TRYING to keep up my cardio, oh, a whole slew of things, but I started my period again (after 5 months…. hmmm, probably not healthy to go that long without!) So, my body was all a mess, let me tell you, breaking out, PMS, basically WTF?!

I was doing cardio and barely making it through 20 minutes without stopping to catch my breath, at the lowest levels… I kept thinking "What is wrong with me?" So, after weeks of this, stressing about the wedding, and still gaining weight, despite 1-2 hours of cardio.. my trainer advised me to stop lifting and rest because I am over trained…

ahhhh… this is not something any athlete wants to hear.. to STOP… but I think it was something I needed to hear. I have been feeling so tired, so unmotivated, so achy all over and so frustrated with not seeing the results that I usually do, and I think he was right!

Overtraining isn’t necessarily about training too much in the gym.. I think a lot of it has to do with your mental stress… mine, was due to the wedding, my job, among other things… So, I needed to just get TOLD to slow down, or I’m going to pay for it later…

So… my abs are still there, just not "as shredded" my legs are still looking ok, and my husband likes my ass a little fuller, so thats OK:)

AHHHH… now that I’ve exploited that whole part of my life…

OLYMPIA WEEKEND… Come see me at the Egg Whites International booth. I have the privilege of working at the Olympia this year and I am so excited about that. Let me know you are one of my bodyspace friends and you read my blog (that way I can really be embarrassed!!) Hopefully in 2009 I’ll be up competing on that stage instead of just working the Expo, but I gotta take care of myself, and right now I am just enjoying all the opportunities coming my way, and enjoying being a great new wife to my wonderful man:)

See you this week!!

Danny J 

Well, this is titled Olympia weekend, but I have some other things to "blog" about first… it is OVERTRAINING… ironic, how I am going through this, then I get the new Oxygen in my mailbox, talking about it….

As some of you know, I just got married (11 days ago to be exact) and planning a wedding is well… wow… time consuming and stressful are only two adjectives that don’t even come close to describing it… EVEN with a LOW-KEY wedding such as mine… sigh…

so I am not one to make excuses for myself… EVER. Especially when it comes to not having TIME for something… but what the hell would you know when I had plans to work out nearly every day and nearly every day could not do it? My god! Are you serious?! I mean I guess I could have actually gone, but my body was begging me for sleep, of which I had only been getting about 4 hours anyway (if I was lucky)

So, after USAs my body went into major "WTF?!!" mode…. months of dieting, cardio, mental discipline, etc etc… and my body just said STOP!! So, I listened…. OK< Not really… UGH!! I kept TRYING to keep up my cardio, oh, a whole slew of things, but I started my period again (after 5 months…. hmmm, probably not healthy to go that long without!) So, my body was all a mess, let me tell you, breaking out, PMS, basically WTF?!

I was doing cardio and barely making it through 20 minutes without stopping to catch my breath, at the lowest levels… I kept thinking "What is wrong with me?" So, after weeks of this, stressing about the wedding, and still gaining weight, despite 1-2 hours of cardio.. my trainer advised me to stop lifting and rest because I am over trained…

ahhhh… this is not something any athlete wants to hear.. to STOP… but I think it was something I needed to hear. I have been feeling so tired, so unmotivated, so achy all over and so frustrated with not seeing the results that I usually do, and I think he was right!

Overtraining isn’t necessarily about training too much in the gym.. I think a lot of it has to do with your mental stress… mine, was due to the wedding, my job, among other things… So, I needed to just get TOLD to slow down, or I’m going to pay for it later…

So… my abs are still there, just not "as shredded" my legs are still looking ok, and my husband likes my ass a little fuller, so thats OK:)

AHHHH… now that I’ve exploited that whole part of my life…

OLYMPIA WEEKEND… Come see me at the Egg Whites International booth. I have the privilege of working at the Olympia this year and I am so excited about that. Let me know you are one of my bodyspace friends and you read my blog (that way I can really be embarrassed!!) Hopefully in 2009 I’ll be up competing on that stage instead of just working the Expo, but I gotta take care of myself, and right now I am just enjoying all the opportunities coming my way, and enjoying being a great new wife to my wonderful man:)

See you this week!!

Danny J 

 I competed this weekend in my FIRST NATIONAL Figure show! It was quite a different ballgame than anything I’ve done or seen before. EVERY girl looked amazing and there were over 200 of us!!

How can any judge decide?! What they look for is still over my head.

I did well, finished in the Top 10 in Class C (8th place!!) What excited me was knowing that the OVERALL Champion (Allison Jones… congrats AJ!!) was 11th in her class last year… so theres hope!! Actually, looking at last years roster, quite a few of those in the top 10-15 are now PROS.. so good work for all those girls, and it gives me something to work for!
Part of my drama was not having a two-piece suit until the DAY of the show… Jessica Norlander (5th class C..way to go Jess!) let me borrow her purple one piece, so I didn’t have to go out in my panties:)
So, next on the list is to get a new two piece… maybe in purple?? I don’t know, I kind of liked it on me…we’ll see.

I will post some more pictures, as I did a few photo shoots, as well as some pictures with friends… feel free to lie and tell me I looked better than EVERYONE and I should have won.. ha ha…

Not sure when my next show will be, since there’s really only one more national this year… I’ll be training harder than ever though… and hopefully you’ll be voting for me on TV soon, cross your fingers, we’re trying to win a TODAY show wedding and we’re in the running:)

I’ll keep you posted! 

so this is the part of my prep where I drop all my sodium and start eating fish for breakfast instead of egg whites… mmmm…. (hold on, let me stop gagging)

I am super excited about this weekend to begin… a part of me is just ready for it to be over…. but really I just want to enjoy each experience and make it last as long as possible.

I have seen incredible changes in my physique over the past 7 months, I feel absolutely amazing, and I feel like I have a much more positive relationship with food and my body than I ever have.

I am crossing my fingers and of course I want to win, along with every other girl on that stage, but I am fully aware that the judging is ALWAYS so different, that you never know what to expect… maybe it will be my day.. maybe someone elses.. we can only wait and see….

THe one thing I have found in telling people about this show is how many out there at the gym are supporting me, cheering me on, and genuinely excited for me to be doing this! I wish I had known that all along, because it sure has kept me motivated in the gym the last few weeks.

As some of you know, I am also "trying" to plan a wedding at the same time and I also work two, sometimes three jobs… needless to say, I don’t recommend it. It is nearly impossible to give yourself 100% to a million different things… so, I hae done the best I could with the amount of time and stress.., now, lets just have confidence, relax, and BRING IT ON!!

Love you all! Thanks for your support!

Thank you Nathan for your endless love and support! It means more to me  than you’ll ever know! 

OK, so its about 1am and my fiance is out of town, and I’m all myspaced out, and I’ve looked up all the sites I look up , 3 times, and I’ve checked my email 4 times, and read about Paris in jail… oh yeah, I’m going to check out that bodyspace thing….

so here I am… this is actually my first time ever posting a blog too.. so now that I’m writing it, I can’t think of anything to say:)

Well, I’m getting ready for USAs in Las Vegas on July 27-28th… I’d really like a lot of the locals to come out and support me.. so send me a message if you will be there… I want to have all the positive vibes and love I can get!!

Hope to meet some great people here!

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