What Comes Next?

What a wild ride! My first fitness competition is officially in the books. I can't begin to thank you all for the kind words, emails, messages, texts and encouragement along the way. I'm truly blessed beyond measure!

After training and clean eating for 125 straight days, this way of living has really become my lifestyle. Last week, I ate whatever I felt like eating. It actually made me feel pretty crappy and I gained 5 pounds within a few days. I felt sluggish and I was a little grumpy. It also made it really hard to sleep.

So what comes next? 

I'm back on track this week with my clean eating and training. I already have my sights set on competing again the first weekend in November. 

When I started this journey, my biggest goal was to become healthy and feel good about myself. Competing was secondary to my main goal. Now that I've done it, I can't wait to do it again. I also think it's going to help me stay on track with my eating and workouts. 

So many of you have reached out to me asking me which specific diet I have been on to achieve the results that I have. The answer isn't simple. Every body is different. Every person is made up of different components. Something that worked for me might not work for you. 

Here are the basics of what  I did:

• Drank at least 128oz of water each day
• Lifted weights 6-7 days per week
• Did 30 minutes of cardio 4-5 times a week
• Followed a clean diet
  • Low carbs- no bread, no real pasta 
    • I did eat lentils, brown rice, zoodles, brown rice pasta, oats. Only 2-4oz total a day.
  • High in lean protein- Chicken, ground turkey, 93/7 beef, sirloin, egg whites/eggs
  • Good fats- avocado/almond butter/olive oil
  • No cheat meals- this is different than what other people do/have done. I didn't eat cheat meals.
  • No fruit- Fruit is loaded with natural sugars
  • A LOT of green veggies- broccoli, asparagus, brussel sprouts, green beans
  • NO SUGAR- I use Stevia to sweeten my oats, coffee, etc

While changing my eating habits, I learned to try things I'd never tried before. I ate avocados and brussel sprouts and I actually enjoyed them! I also learned to bring my own food to events and friends dinner parties. 

One of the biggest keys to my success was preparation. I tried to pick one day of week to cook and prep out all of my meals. Doing that has been really instrumental because I'm super busy. 

The most important factor is staying disciplined, even when it's hard and you're not seeing the results you want. Losing fat takes time. Gaining muscle takes time. You're not going to see a change in your body right away. If it was easy, everyone would do it. Like I always say, it's not always easy, it's always worth it.

If you're tired of the way you look, change it! If you want something bad enough, you will stay committed and disciplined. We all have excuses; "I have three kids and I don't have time'" "I work bad hours and it's hard to make it to the gym" "I don't like eating healthy" "I'm embarrassed to work out in front of people" "I can't afford to eat healthy". 

STOP MAKING EXCUSES! 

If you can't find a way, make a way. Life is too short and too valuable to be living unhappily. 

I used to use every excuse in the book as to why I looked the way I did. I hated the way I looked and I complained constantly about it. I stopped giving a crap. That feeling translated into every aspect of my life, from my job to my marriage to my friends, or lack of friends. 

There are so many reasons we fall into bad habits. The good news is that we can break away from that way of living and create a new lifestyle. It's never too late to make a change. You're never too old or too weak to re-invent yourself. 

Don't wait any longer! Don't start next week or next month or 30 days from now. Start right now! Take control of your life. 

My next step in this journey is to start pursuing some of the other goals I've given up on in the past. I feel like I have a new life and a new confidence. 

More than anything, I want to inspire others who have faced similar setbacks in their lives. 

If you're reading this and you need extra encouragement, words of advice or someone just to listen, I'm here. I want to help! Please reach out to me. You're not alone in this. Your road of life doesn't end here. 

If it doesn't challenge you, it won't change you! 

I got to go on Colorado's Best and talk about the competition, check it out here: http://kdvr.com/2018/04/30/daras-transformation/

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