Name: Penny Daniels
Age: 28
Weight: 128 off season, 117 contest
Relationship: Married to Greg Daniels for 6 years.
Children: Scout, 5 and Zane 22 months
Occupation: DoD Civilian for the Air Force, Contract Specialist, GS-12
Years of training: 8 years
Contest History:
2006 Shannon Dey Classic, Figure Class B, 7th
2010 Ft Lauderdale Cup, Figure Class B, 1st
2012 Panhandle Showdown, Figure Class B, 2nd (6 months post pregnancy)
2012 Southern USA’s, Figure Class B, 3rd (7 months post pregnancy)
Mother, Career Women, Wife and NPC Athlete: Living the DREAM!!!!
Hi ya’ll J I have decided that it was time for a full time career women to express how balancing a career, children, husband and a healthy lifestyle can be very challenging, but possible! Recently on FB I have noticed a lot of posts from varying sources inquiring about full-time moms and competing. Well, what about full-time “career” mommies, like myself? I am a proud mother of two little boys, ages 5 and 22 months. I also work for the DoD, USAF as a contract specialist. I get asked a lot by my co-workers, especially women, how do I make the time to prep all my food and train 5/days a week, stay on top of my workload and raise a family? My answer, “I just make it happen”. Does that mean it is easy…NO! My life is no means easy, but that is no excuse for me. Being a competitor and prepping for a show can be very challenging for anyone, but when you add the extra workload of raising a family and working full time it can be even more challenging. Competing is a selfish sport that requires an individual’s full attention 24 hours a day. By this I mean, making sure you’re getting all your meals in, your training/cardio done, plenty of rest and let’s not forget about the hours you spend in the kitchen. On top of everything else I just mentioned above, I am also trying to raise 2 little boys that require a lot of attention and time, oh and making sure I am not neglecting the husband…LOL. As you can see my life is very busy and one would think I wouldn’t have the time to work out 5 days a week and prepare all of my food. But I do! Why? Well why not! Working and being a full-time mommy is no excuse to give up on your personal goals. In fact for me, achieving my personal goals is what keeps me going each and every day. I want to be a strong role model for my boys. I want my boys to be proud of their mommy and I want to teach them that if you want something bad enough then you have to work for it and not expect anything to be handed to you without some effort. On top of my busy life, I am currently prepping for the NPC nationals in November and I am doing my own prep, well my husband is really doing most of the prep for me. My personal goal is to earn my IFBB Pro card, therefore I have to put in the work and I won’t stop till it’s achieved. Be on the lookout for more articles regarding my contest prep. For all my “career” mommies out there, you can accomplish anything if you want it bad enough and are willing to commit to your goals and make sacrifices to get there. -Penny Daniels, NPC Figure Competitor
