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 By: Diana Chaloux
Name: Diana Chaloux
Before: July 2005 Stats - 38/33/42
After: November 2005 To Present 36/27/36
I started personal training about 4 years ago. I became very interested in Figure competitions at the time and started following the sport. I totally admired the amazing physiques that these women worked so hard for, and I vowed to myself that one day I would be one of them. I had the opportunity to work as a fitness director on a cruise ship for a year and despite the fact that I was teaching aerobics classes everyday the amazing buffets were too hard for me to resist at that time. I finished up my year on the ship a good 20 pounds heavier and I was very unhappy with the fact that I had let this happen. In July 2005 I had an "aah-ha" moment. I reached the point where I was just fed up with talking about my goals and not going after them. I was ready to commit, clean up my diet, choose a show and get serious about changing my body. I knew that I could do it if I set my mind to it. I knew that setting a goal such as this for myself would give me the kick that I needed to shape up! I hired my own personal trainer that day, I even found a show four months away and registered for it. That way there was no backing out.
Competing in figure was a dream for me, and more than anything I was afraid of waking up one morning 20-30 years down the road and wondering what could have been. I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it, that I had the discipline, that I could transform my body into my ideal physique.
A lot of hard work and dedication. I increased the amount of my cardio and the intensity. I knew that I had four months to lose about 30 pounds of fat, and what kept me motivated was the thought of my butt on stage in a bikini! I cleaned up my diet immediately, started eating smaller meals 5-6 times a day.
  Click Image To Enlarge. Diana Chaloux. After doing some research on the diet, I decided it was in my best interest to hire a nutritionist. I started working with Justin Harris of www.troponinnutrition.com and he became my guide as he tracked my progress and adjusted my diet as needed throughout my 19 week journey to my first figure competition. I started working with my trainer 3 days a week. We did half hour sessions during which we worked relentlessly in order to burn as many calories as possible. My body started to change immediately. Each week I would set mini goals for myself and it almost became like a fun game for me to see how much body fat I could lose each week. I could see the transformation occurring and that only motivated me even more to stay strong and keep at it.
I took glutamine, BCAA's, flax, multi-vitamin, and my favorite protein powder (Bioplex WPI, Chocolate flavor). I love to mix it in with my oatmeal in the mornings!
I found that carb cycling works really well for me. I would eat 5-6 meals per day, and cycle between low, medium and high carb days. On a low day I would eat carbs with the first two meals of the day and then only carbs from veggies at the remaining meals. Medium was 3 out of 5 meals with carbs and High days 5 out of 6 meals contained carbs. A sample day of medium carb eating for me would look like this:
Cardio 5x per week in the morning before breakfast and 3x a week a second session in the afternoon or evening. I usually would do around 45 minutes per session; this was of course training for my first show so keep in mind that I had a good amount of body fat to lose! Strength training was 6 days per week. Typically I do a 6 day split, one or two body parts per day. That way I can train them to total fatigue and they have plenty of recovery time. A sample would be:
3 Sets of each exercise, I like to do drop sets and work my legs till they feel like jelly.
Usually 3 sets to muscle failure of each exercise:
3 sets of each exercise, again I like to work to muscle failure, which is why I always liked to have my trainer there to spot me!
3 Sets to muscle failure.
3 Sets to failure.
3 sets to failure.
Don't be afraid to dream big. Visualize success. I think that is the most important thing for anyone whether they are just attempting to lose weight or they want to take on the challenge of actually competing. Dedicating to this dream has changed my life, and not just my physical appearance. I see the world as my oyster, I feel like I can accomplish anything. I won first place at my first two figure competitions here in Texas: the 'John Sherman Classic 2005' and the 'Ronnie Coleman Classic 2006.' I had the awesome opportunity to recently compete at my first national level competition: the 'NPC Jr. Nationals' in Chicago and I feel so blessed to have come so far in such a short period of time.
I now have my own web site 'www.dianachaloux.com' and I have started my own business 'Destined 2 Be Fit' (www.destined2befit.com). I recently released my first fitness DVD "Fitness Deadlines" and along with the DVD I offer an online fitness support center via my company web site! Transforming my body has led to a transformation of my entire life; I have so many plans now for myself within the fitness world and I can't wait to see what happens next! 
To View Diana's BodySpace Profile, Click Here.
Diana Chaloux
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