i'm gonna be buff!

[thendanisays]

i just got really bummed out because i took some new progress shots and saw that i have made little to no visual progress in two months. and i have been busting my ass and eating right. can anyone say plateau?

[beforewisdom]

I would not get bummed. People get distorted perceptions about themselves in so many different ways. You would get a better idea of whether or not your looks improved by showing someone else the pictures.

[Lean and Green]

Dani, last time i saw your progress pics, it looked like two completely different people. I would bet anything that even if the change in the recent ones wasn't as great, you still probably look amazing and improved in all areas. I wouldn't call it plateauing; some periods change happen very ra[pidly and then you level off to a normal rate of change. Either way, I know you look great and don't ever get discouraged. Just keep at it. No way you didn't progress somewhat!

[veggieprincess]

i just got really bummed out because i took some new progress shots and saw that i have made little to no visual progress in two months. and i have been busting my ass and eating right. can anyone say plateau?

okay... I didn't answer your email quick enough because I was going to make it a long one so I'll have to respond to you here because I can't handle you being bummed.

Dani.... I asked you to send me progress photos of your whole body not flexed so I could get a really good idea of where your at with everything.... but I promise you.... MY BODY LOOKS EXACTLY THE SAME AS THAT WHEN ALL MUSCLES ARE RELAXED. Even when I did the photo shoots for my website... my body would've looked almost identical to those photos you sent me with relaxed muscles.

When you see the girls on the vids and in Oxygen... that is months and months or even years of weight training and laying down lots of lean muscle that allows you to have that look when your not flexed. That does not happen overnight. Go back and compare your unflexed photos to the new unflexed photos of your work over the past several months and I promise you will see a significant redution in bodyfat and tone.

The rest I will address to you privately... but I at least wanted to respond to this part. I'm going to send you the unflexed photos of me on my computer that were a few days before I took the photo shoot of the super toned ones. You will get a better idea of what the body looks like when all muscles are relaxed.

[thendanisays]

giacomo, you always know exactly what to say. i've just been feeling kinda down about it lately. i think i may be hormonal but either way, i have no intentions of stopping anytime soon.

veggieprincess, you have no idea how much better you just made me feel. its funny because my best friend and i were just talking about that the other day: how some people seem to have bulginf muscles even when theyre not flexing, but when him and i aren't flexing, our muscles look like jelly. i didnt know that took so long to build. i didnt know old muscle could be harder (leaner?) than newer muscle. i just thought muscle was muscle.....i would LOVE LOVE LOVE to see those pictures. because i think you have an ideal physique, so any similarities between your body and mine owuld make my day!

[pazios2002]

When ever in doubt you should post your pics so that others can give you objective perspectives.

[thendanisays]

so as some people know, i have been a little diasappointed in myself. I have made progress and i am proud of myself for that, BUT i have been stressed about a few things and that leads me to snack mindlessly. ive been pretty good at going outside and walking around when i feel like i'm gonna do that. and i have been trying very hard to enlist the help of my friends (who do not understand why i "can't have" pretzels or sushi, etc etc) and they're getting better at helping. i feel like no body here takes me very seriously when i answer them with "well, i'm on a sort of body-builder diet to cut fat while maintining muscle....." they look at m elike i have three heads....as opposed to the two headed look they give me about being vegan anyway....SO!

i took a couple of pictures of myself today before i left for the beach. I am TRYING to look as lean as possible....keep in mind, i think i pose really well, because i do not actually look like this 99% of the time...but whatever they make me happy!

[robert]

You look pretty awesome! Look forward to training with you soon!

[GregX999]

Holy crap!! You're hot!

I just found this thread and went through all the posts. I didn't look at the pics because they don't actually display in the post, just the links. Except for this last post, those ones are "in" the post.

You've got to totally have guys drooling over you at the beach!

Great job! Maybe I need Veggieprincess to whip me into shape too.

Greg

[Lean and Green]

DANI (in a you have to be kidding me tone of voice) you've got to be kidding me! lol Not what I wanted to say but I thought that was funny.

I fail to see this loose skin you were referring to and you look pretty damn lean and firm to me. You must be getting very critical of yourself as you are most certainly in 'advanced' mode when it comes to training and dieting with a body like this.

I have never had loose skin personally but I would imagine it could become an issue. I guess it's from massive huge losses. I get stretch marks at best but luckily for me they always go away shortly thereafter once the body adapts to the new weight. The marks are never like those tremendous thick red ones that some get, just discoloration and wiggles over the skin that aren't always noticeable right away but if you look you can see them visibly. I actually have some right now from dropping 26lbs in 39days. They are on the sides of my glutes where my hips are and a bit on the insides of my leg but not as much. I would imagine they're going to go away as usual... THEY BETTER. What I cannot understand is how come i never get marks when I gain weight, only lose?

Your like whoa comment reminds me of that Black Rob song Like Whoa
Dani's physique is LIKE WHOA

Nice display of vegan power with the 75lb bp; the slightly assisted pullups and negative 50lb curls! Interesting how you compare lat pulldown reps with pullups. I never thought of that. But actually I was practically able to rack the lat pulldowns (250lbs) more or less for a rep and do sets of 6-8 with 200-230lbs BUT I wasn't able to lift my bodyweight of 200lbs for even one pullupbso not sure if it's an appropriate gauge?

Unless for some reason it helps you, don't get down on yourself for lack of accomplishment or lack of progress. No way! The further we go the more we want but everything in good time. I bet if you were asked what you wanted your body to look like before you started on the road to becoming fit and a computer generated this image, you'd be like YEP. But now that you are here already, you can't see that as you can only look forward to the next level which is fine but be proud and have that optimism continue to accelerate and fuel your endeavor in the pursuit of your ideal perfect shape. Continue to mold as you have been, your body is amazing

[pazios2002]

Dani representing Mass. you look great in shape, Dont forget to tell everyone you are vegan made.

[Wobbly Lifter]

wow. babe alert!

[veggieprincess]

you look fricking AWESOME in that bikini. Extremely fit and toned.

Giacomo is right. You're too hard on yourself. Those pix look like they belong in Shape Magazine.

I'll be sending you your new routine shortly.

[thendanisays]

hey everybody. thank you very much! i knew posting those would make me feel better. it did. funny thing is though, that this forum is the only place i would ever feel comfortable posting them, short of a few very close friends. and as you can probably tell, those pictures are cell phone pictures and today one of the other bartenders asked if he could borrow my phone and he WENT THROUGH MY PICTURES! and of course its a friday night so i'm getting my ass kicked with raspberry mojitos and freaking sangrias up the wazoo so i can't even moce from my 3 foot square service bar for a minute to snatch it back....oh my god. mortifying. i was so embarrased. oh well. like i said, no one takes me seriously here. anyway i thought maybe someone would get a kick out of that.

[Zack]

hey everybody. thank you very much! i knew posting those would make me feel better. it did. funny thing is though, that this forum is the only place i would ever feel comfortable posting them, short of a few very close friends. and as you can probably tell, those pictures are cell phone pictures and today one of the other bartenders asked if he could borrow my phone and he WENT THROUGH MY PICTURES! and of course its a friday night so i'm getting my ass kicked with raspberry mojitos and freaking sangrias up the wazoo so i can't even moce from my 3 foot square service bar for a minute to snatch it back....oh my god. mortifying. i was so embarrased. oh well. like i said, no one takes me seriously here. anyway i thought maybe someone would get a kick out of that.

he was admiring you, nothing to be embarassed about.