Andrea Dumon

Hey everyone!! Just got back today from Vegas for the USA’s where I worked for MetRx and had some girls in the show (see last post). It was a crazy weekend and ended with a new crop of pros!! Congrats to everyone who competed, you all deserve the best as this is a tough journey and takes an amazing amount of dedication, discipline, and hardcore training to get where you are all at!!

I am now prepping this week for Jacksonville!! I am headed out on Thursday am (sooo early!!) so will be in the gym training hard until then. I am looking forward to hitting the stage with an improved physique and to better my last placings!! I will keep you posted as the week proceeds!! In the meantime….I am off to get some zzz’s!!!

Here is to a great week!!!

XOXO
ANDREA

A HUGE Congratualtions to Jessica Shannon and Jeanne Nimmer for awsome placings at the USA’s!! Both competed in the “F” class, Jeanne placed 8th and Jessica placed 12th!!!

I am so darn proud of you both and had such a great time!! Now need some serious sleep to get my mojo back..!!

Check out my character “Poison Ivy” at my members site:

www.fitnessdivas.com/sites/andrea

Hey everyone!! I know…been A LONG while, eh?? I apologize but I am back at this and keeping my site updated. This past year has been filled with many challenges and changes in my life. I have gone through some rough times but have come out much stronger!!

 The first half of my competitive season did not fair well. I had many set backs and didn’t train at my best, I tried but just couldn’t give it my all. I learned just how much stress can do to your body, that is for sure. I encourage everyone to learn how to manage stress because the damage it can do to your physical and mental can be so detrimental. I am finally in a good place in my life and training at a hundred percent!! I am getting ready for the Jacksonville Pro Figure next week and am hoping to better my placings!!

 I am back now and ready to take on the rest season with success and to enjoy life!! I am truly blesses with those in my life now and for all the love and support that they have given me these past few months. Thank you to those, you know who you are!!

Keep checking back for more here….

XOXO-

Andrea

Well…It is Tues. and I am finally home and recovering from a great weekend. I placed fifth at the Sacramento Pro Show and am now done with my season. I feel that I brought in my best look yet for my pro career and many agreed with me. I am, of course, a little disappointed that I did not place higher and requalify for next year, but am very proud of the girls that did: A big congrats to Michelle Flake, Mary Jo Cooke, and Darlina Brown as they all looked amazing and deserved it!! It is the nature of the beast in this sport and what I always tell my clients that are competing: You can be beat by anyone on any given day, you just have to be proud of what you brought to the stage and know you are at your best.

I would like to congratulate Carly Mckeever for placing tenth in the NPC Sacramento show. It was her first show in nearly two years and her first in training with me, she looked amazing and I am so proud of her!!

I will have three competitors in the NPC Arizona Western Regionals this weekend: Shanna Fisher, Darlene Hunter, and Carly Mckeever. If you are attending please give some shouts out to my girls!! I will be hosting the night show, of course, and my girlfriend, IFBB Pro Gina Aliotti, will also be there, so please take time to say hi!! The contest info can be found at www.npcmilesproductions.com.

I am off season now but that does not mean resting and eating!! LOL!! I am taking this week and little easy but next week will be attacking the gym with a plan to improve my lower half and fine tune the upper. I will post some workouts on here and tips in weeks to come so please stay tuned!!

Thanks for an awsome season and here are to the holidays approaching!!!!

cheers,
A

Well…I am two days out and and couldn’t be happier!! My abs are ripped, I am vascular like no other, and am feeling pretty good!! I am very excited to step on stage and present probably the best package this year, and no matter the outcome, I am so darn proud because I have worked so hard. I can appreciate the sweat and muscle soreness that I went through to get here and will wear that smile on my face knowing that. Each girl has trained so hard and sacrificed so much to get on that stage and I have all the respect for these ladies.

I will keep you all posted over the weekend on the show. I am headed out early tomorrow so off to sleep for me. Thanks for all the support this year and can’t wait to see what happens!!

xoxo-
A

“The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.” –Tommy Lasorda

“Extraordinary accomplishments only happen when your passion produces extraordinary effort. If it doesn’t consume you, be ready to accept mediocre results.”– John Rennie, Duke University Soccer.

“Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s heaven for?”–Robert Browning

OK…do you get the picture?? What get’s you through not just good and bad times, but to the next level?? I always find it interesting to listen to how people made it to their goals, not just the step by step process one has to follow, but the little things. Mine ranges from inspirational quotes to crazy superstition!!

I bring this up as I am now in my “off season” and really training hard to be competitive at the next level. It can be tough sometimes as I have spent the last year and a half dieting and competing solid! My body has taken a beating and now needs some serious repair and revamping. I can tell myself this, but somedays I find it hard from one extreme to the other. I mean from getting the motivation to get to the gym and push the wts (this being one extreme) to telling myself that I DON’T need to do an extra session of cardio or that it IS ok to have a cheat meal this week!! I am a creature of habit and can either get to comfortable or can get to driven. I need these quotes to either push me or to slow me down. I need to realize that everything has its timing and will happen at the right time if I keep my goals in check and what the next level requires me to get there!

“Sweat plus sacrifice equals success.” –Charles O. Finley, Oakland Athletics Owner

“The ability to prepare to win is as important as the will to win.”–Bobby Knight

I just keep these quotes around me and an image of what my next goal is and that is enough to keep me motivated, gets me through it to the next level. Think about what it is that gets you through it, to your next level, whatever your goal is, it is important because it is YOUR goal!! Share and let me know what you do or what you use to keep you motivated!!

xoxo,
A

This is a blurb I wrote during my first year as a pro and found it full of motivation and inspiration as well as humility, enjoy:

Hey everyone….I didn’t disappear totally!! I have been on a four week “off season” and man did I need it!! I am back and started dieting yesterday for the Olympia and have my “fire” back under me!! I wanted to share some motivational stuff with you as a lot of you are about to go into national shows, your first shows, or just trying to get back in to shape. I will try not to ramble, but if I do, forgive me!!

Last season I had an amazing year, kind of a “Cinderella” story but figure style…lol!! I had been competing locally in AZ for a few years when I decided to take it to the next level and go on to do the Iron man and Emerald Cup last year. I placed fourth in the Iron Man, both third in the Orange County and Emerald Cup and I was thrilled but knew there was something missing from my package to make it complete. I met Kim at the Emerald Cup and I started with him immediately for the National shows. You see, from the start of last year I had it in my mind that I was gonna get that pro card and I wanted to get it right then and there, I had the fire/drive/ambition to do it, that I knew, but honestly still had doubts as to what to really expect. My physique changed in ways I didn’t expect and the results were phenomenal as I placed 4th at Jr. Nats and then went on to get my pro card at the USA’s. In only two national shows I got my procard…truly “Cinderella” in my eyes. I went on to the New York Pro Show and placed 10th–another amazing result!! BUT….I was burnt/spent/done/fried!! I felt for the first time a major burn out and both Kim and I knew it. My body was tired as well as my mind, I needed to take time off and rebuild my body. Even though I was spent, I still was on a cloud by all that I accomplished and even though it was a little tough mentally to gain back some wt and put back on the muscle, it also felt good to see “me” again!!

Fast forward to the San Francisco Pro show: I did fourteen week diet starting on Dec. 1st and the way my body changed from even last season was shocking!! I had a different body alright, but filled with dense and mature muscle. I was fresh and full of confidence and I think you could tell that at that show. I placed third and qualified for the O!!!! Another “Cinderella” moment for me, for sure. I lived on my cloud after that and started to prepare for the Colorado and Cal Pro shows, and will fully admit that I had a bit of an ego thing thinking that I will do well in these shows as well. Now that I was qualified, Kim and I decided to “play” with my body and see what the judges liked so that we could get an idea of what to bring to the Olympia so we brought it in smaller for both shows…..and guess what….I got WHACKED!! It wasn’t anyone’s fault, just a fact that I am a small girl and need to size I had at the San Francisco to match up with all the amazing pro physiques, but man did it do a job on me mentally!! In the past two years, I had never gone from 3rd to 16th at the Colorado and then did a little better at the Cal with a 13th finish. It was devastating for my ego, but what a blessing in disguise!! I needed that reality check to show me that not everything is a “Cinderella” story!! We all have and deserve success, but we also need the negative to retain the humility that makes us “real”. I hope that makes sense!!

I had a chat with Troy Alves the other day and we were talking about the “fire” that he felt he had lost because of coasting on such early success in his career, but after a few bad placings early this season and a long chat with Phil Heath, he saw the “fire” in Phil and decided to rekindle his own to get his butt movin’ for the O!! He sparked me for sure that day…he is an amazing person and definitely keeps my butt motivated every time I see him!! I was so down from those past two shows, and everyone kept telling me that I was already qualified and it doesn’t matter, I disagree, it does matter not because of my placings, but because of the message it sent to me and that I hope to refer to you all:

“Extraordinary accomplishments only happens when your passion produces extraordinary effort. If it doesn’t consume you, be ready to accept mediocre results”– John Rennie

Results just don’t mean placings, they are what you do to your body, mind, and spirit. This sport, like others, is about building a stronger, healthier, and better you, not just how you place. Keep the fire going, everyone, and spread it around because it is infectious, that is for sure!! As I prepare for the Olympia, I have my fire under me and I am focused!! It is a dream to be on the Olympia stage for me and to do it in my first full season as a Pro, is the icing on the cake!! With devoted hubby David, Kimbo, and all of the angels as my support, I know no matter where I place the experience and memories are the things that matter most!!

Good luck to all of you in whatever it is that you are working so hard to achieve!! I am so proud of each and every one of you!!

lots of love,
Andrea

Ok…I am less then a week out and I am feeling really good!! I am, of course, tired and starving but am happy with my physique and the package I will bring to the stage. I am existing on fish and asparagus right now but will start to carb/fat load in a few days and can’t wait to tap into that almond butter that has been teasing me the past few days!!

I am a tad boring on here but will be posting some articles that I have written in the past. Look for them soon under the categories of “Andrea’s soup”.

Ok…will keep ya posted!!

XOXO-A

Hey everyone!! As you can see, I have launched my new site!! It is still being built and I will be adding some extra’s that my old site did not have. You will find more pictures and highlights from shows and the fitness industry, spotlights on clients and stories of their success, and tons of fitness tips/recipes/and motivational ideas. I am happy bring a site that caters to everyone and I hope you find what you are looking for!!

I am one week away from the Sacramento Pro Show and am very excited. I feel that I am at my best thus far this season, even after four shows so far this past year. My proudest moment of the season was winning the Atlantic City Pro Figure show. Not only was it not a planned show to do but after two disappointing placings at the Houston Pro Show and the Europa, I was a little leary. I did my homework, though, and brought a winning package!! When they called my name for first place I just started shaking!! Jen Cooke, doll that she is, whispered that if I fell that she would catch me..lol!! It was a dream that I finally had achieved and words can’t express my emotions that I have felt about that moment. It just goes to show that you can be beaten down, brushed aside, or worst, lost faith, but when you reach deep inside yourself and remember what it is you truly want and desire, you reset your heart and drive. You overcome and persevere to follow your dreams and make them reality. I did this, so can you!!

Ok….how was that for inspiration!! It is late and I am hungry..haha…so off to eat and bed!! Enjoy the site and drop me a line to let me know what you think or what you want to see!!

Good night!!
Cheers!!
xoxo-Andrea