Fitness Tips with Fitness Model Diana Diaz
Recently, I got the chance to interview my friend Diana Diaz and get her to share some fitness tips on how she manages to stay in great shape. Diana’s currently a spokesmodel for VPX Sports
Q: Besides just living a healthy lifestyle, you’ve mentioned even wanting to compete someday. What inspired or motivated you to pursue fitness the way you have?
Diana: I have always been intrigued by the aesthetics of a beautifully trained body, and this inspired me to uncover my own potential for developing a well-fit, symmetrical physique.
Watching how hard my boyfriend worked at being fit and seeing him reach his goals gave me the extra push and realization that I can accomplish my own fitness dreams.
Q: What advice would you give to someone who’s brand-new to the fight to get and stay in shape and struggling to stay motivated and stick to a proper nutrition and exercise program?
Diana: I would remind them to not lose sight of the big picture, whether its to get stronger, run further, or get leaner, to take it a step-at-a-time. Concentrate on getting TODAY right first.
Concentrate on getting today’s workout, today’s nutrition, today’s recovery first.
Do that, and over time you will develop the necessary habits to develop a lifestyle of change and fitness.
Remember that fit people did not inherit their fitness or bodies, they just continued working on it where other people would stop.
Q: One thing I’d like for you to address because I feel it’s a big one with women, is weight training.
Even nowadays, a lot of women shy away from weight training because they don’t want to look like Arnold. If they train at all, it’s with the tiny pink weights and they never even break a sweat.
You’ve developed a gorgeous, sexy, lean hard body and you couldn’t have done it without weights.
What do you say to these women to get them to not just train with weights but train hard and make it an important part of their overall program?
Diana: Thank you for the compliment.
I would say to these women that there is no worthwhile reward without hard work, and that they are just being self-limiting by not challenging themselves in each and every endeavor—and that’s true outside of the gym as well.
The people and women who “look like Arnold” do so because they INSIST on doing so. Weights do not automatically make you muscular, how you insist on using them and training is going to be the determining factor for your body and physique, and that will never be done without hard work.
Q: What’s the biggest mistake you made when you started and how did you correct it?
Diana: The biggest mistake I made early on in my training was in limiting how hard I could really push myself. It wasn’t until I started training with my boyfriend that I realized I could push out two more reps past the point I would have normally stopped.
This really helped me to understand that my own abilities and capacities can be challenged more than I imagined and that I am capable of doing more. This really helped my training progress.
What do you think is the most important thing or skill you’ve learned with regard to health and fitness?
Diana: That anything can be achieved if you insist on doing it.
Q: What are some common pitfalls you feel people can stumble upon and how do you help them avoid these obstacles?
Diana: Some common pitfalls I see are people not training as hard as they can be and people not having any clearly defined routine.
Remember this is FITNESS, it is not hard, but it does require hard work; don’t sell yourself short and go through the motions, you’ll just end up wondering why all that time spent didn’t do or change anything and will make the mistake of either despising training or dismissing its benefits all together.
Remember to work hard, know what your goals are, and have a plan.
That way you can measure yourself and progress with what is working and whats not.
Working out is about results, and doing what works for YOU to achieve those results.
Q: Moving forward and knowing what you know now, what would you have done differently with your own journey, if anything?
Diana: Thomas Edison said when trying to invent the lightbulb that he did not fail 9,999 times, he just discovered 9,999 ways to not invent a light bulb.
Looking back, I wouldn’t change anything; even the mistakes and misconceptions I had about weights, fitness, and my own abilities, forced me to find the right way to train, stay motivated, and continually challenge myself.
Q: The most common excuse I hear from people who don’t eat right or train is that they don’t have the time.
What advice do you have for people who use ‘lack of time’ as an excuse to eat poorly and avoid exercise?
Diana: Rarely do people make time to change something if that change is difficult.
It is easier to go home and sit on the couch and watch tv after work than it is to go do a set of squats. A lot of people accept the fact not that they don’t have time, but they would rather not make the time.
The people that are in shape and eat healthy do not have special gifts that the people who don’t do not.
The people that train are not awarded any more hours in the day to complete their tasks then the ones who say they don’t have the time.
Q: What’s a typical day for you when it comes to training and nutrition?
Diana: A typical day begins with some type of cardio activity, whether it’s a class at the gym, a run around the lake or park, or just jump roping in my driveway; anything first thing in the morning to facilitate fat-burning and jump start my metabolism.
3-4 days of the week I do my weights in the afternoon, after I have already had a good 2-3 meals in me of quality protein, good carbs, and vegetables.
I also afford myself a cheat day on the weekends, which helps me stick to my diet during the week, and re-motivates me to get back in the gym the next day.
Q: How are you able to consistently fit them into your busy schedule?
Diana: As I said before, it is because I insist on doing so.
Whether that means getting up an extra hour before work, or training later in the eve after a long-day, I accept the fact it is what needs to be done for me to obtain the physique I want.
The challenges of working out and having a career and family life are not unique to me. Other people do it successfully and I want to be one of those people.
Q: What do you think are the keys to becoming successful, whether it’s competing or losing 15 pounds of fat?
Diana: I think its important to learn everything you can about what is required to achieve that goal and explore what resources are available to you. Whether its books, magazines, or a personal trainer.
Then every decision you make should be a decision that supports that goal; your life should be an extension of that goal; get in the habit of making choices that support that goal, rather than self-limiting ones that contradict or hinder it.
Q: What’s one of the things you find most challenging about what you do?
Diana: To not lose sight of the big picture and remind myself that the goals and dreams are always in reach.
Because I tend to be so motivated and goal oriented I sometimes run a little impatient with my results — I want them to come overnight!
That is when I remind myself of all I have accomplished this far and that success that comes overnight usually disappears just as quickly.
Remember that there is nothing worth obtaining that does not require hard work.
Q: What are your future plans?
Diana: My near future plans are to continue improving with the idea of competing and doing some more fitness modeling.
I would like to use those platforms to hopefully inspire other people to achieve those things; even if it just motivates one person to get up earlier and train, or train while exhausted after a tough day at work, I will feel accomplished.
You can check out Diana on her Body Space page
