meet disciplined dana

Disciplined Dana can follow any plan you give her. She never seems to run out of willpower – if she makes up her mind, she’s 110% in. Truly, she’s a trainer’s dream client! Dana finds comfort in limited food choices, like somehow life is simpler adhering to her “safe foods” list. Plus! Eating “off plan” leads to bloating, constipation, and generally feeling “off”. Sure, it might be nice to stop flexing that willpower muscle, throw caution to the wind once in a while and eat more variety but since it takes several days to feel back to “normal”, it doesn’t even seem worth it. The body of her dreams comes from the grind, hard work, and sacrifice – right?⁣

Maybe she just needs to be even more committed, restrict further, push harder. ⁣

Naw. Dana needs to honor her body’s signs and signals to eat more and probably scale back on exercise. ⁣

Undereating and overtraining is a stressor on the body that can result in changes to gut function and flora. Enzymes are required to break down the food we eat but production is halted when calorie needs, especially from protein, aren’t met. This results in slowed and/or incomplete digestion, bloating and constipation. Food for your good gut bugs is found in starchy carbs – the first thing to go when Dana feels like she needs to clean up her diet. By eating more and including more variety, she’ll improve every step of digestion, and actually absorb the nutrients from her food.⁣

Dana would tell you she likes how she eats, but what she really means is she likes to prevent scale weight fluctuations. The thought of her pants feeling even the slightest bit tight makes her anxious. At this rate, Dana is risking hormone and metabolic dysfunction to stay within a narrow body weight range – we’re talking libido and fertility problems, accelerated bone loss and injury risk, low energy, no bandwidth and lack of focus. If Dana embraced that her body was meant to change and adapt, she’d probably look, feel and perform like the athlete she desperately wants to be.⁣

Dana could loosen the chains on her routine by downloading the DIY Macros Guide so she can learn how to properly fuel for a full life.