👋 Hi! Tell us about yourself and your training
Hi! I’m Eve Dawes, I was born in England where I trained and performed as a ballerina, I now live in Las Vegas.
I’m the founder of Dawes Custom Cosmetics a cruelty free, natural ingredient company that creates custom lipsticks in person or via virtual appointments as well as having a ready-to-wear collection.
I’m also a blogger, podcaster and WBFF Pro Diva. I’ve had my blog Glamour and Gains By Eve for over seven years, the Glamour & Gains podcast launched Spring 2019 and my new BFF Beauty, Fitness, and Fashion segment for Spill The Tea Live started December 2019!
I started lifting weights and going to the gym at 16 but had been dancing since the age of three so fitness and nutrition have been a part of my life always. As well as ballet, I also did musical theatre and performed in casinos in Europe and on cruise ships.
I did my personal training, yoga and spin certifications as I thought that would be what I went into when I stopped dancing but my careers evolved a lot since then.
I’m grateful to my sponsors and advertisers, all of whom found me and have made blogging and podcasting a reality and career for me not just a hobby. I’m a content creator more than an influencer and enjoy creating content for brands that I believe in and use.
What I enjoy most about fitness is that it keeps the discipline instilled in me as a dancer going, leaves me feeling energized and healthy, and sets me up for the day.
I’m a believer that how you go about one area of your life, you go about all areas so it’s important to commit, do it properly, never give up or make excuses, give it 100%, complete what you start, and aim for continual improvement.
⏱ Describe a typical day of training
I’m pretty much a stepper/Cybex Arc and free weights girl.
Working outs a habit for me, I lay my workout clothes out the night before and get up and go in the morning before breakfast. Unless I’m lifting and doing cardio, then I’ll eat first. By doing it first, I don’t give myself excuses or a chance for other things to come up. My alarm time gets set by whatever time it means needing to get up to workout before my work day or appointments begin.
I’m quite regimented with my training as that’s what works for me personally rather than being a class person or being someone who doesn’t mind what they do as long as they’re active so I think it’s important to find what works for you and not copy someone else.
I do 35 minutes cardio five to six mornings a week and do shoulders one day and booty another. I only lift twice a week but will up that to three to fives times a week for fitness competitions as I’m one of the very few women that gain muscle easily and can end up looking too hard for the bikini division and especially pageants.
I never lift for more than 40 minutes and train with fast controlled reps not with slow reps. For pageants, I normally stop lifting completely about a month out and then just do cardio and clean up my nutrition.
I haven’t used coaches for four years but I learned a lot from both Bombshell Fitness and Manuel Torres, I got great results with both and did NPC Nationals with Bombshell and won my WBFF Pro card under Manny’s training. I never got injured or over-trained with either of them.
I used to train at Golds Venice when I lived in LA and that was a really great place to get started in the bodybuilding world. It’s full of inspiring and helpful people from coaches to pros and I even got spotted there by Iron Man Magazine who ran a feature on me.
I now train alone at my local gym for convenience and because I prefer to train on my own, to put my headphones in and tune the world out. My work keeps me pretty social this is the one time I have to myself to get my thoughts in order and breathe.
I’m pretty much a stepper/Cybex Arc and free weights girl. I don’t need much for an effective workout. If I feel like a change I’ll head to Trufusion for a good sweat session.
Post training for me always involves stretching to maintain the flexibility I worked so hard to get as a ballerina and food…always food!
I’m a total foodie, so as soon as I’m done I head home for egg whites, oats, nut butter, a small amount of fruit and giant cup of black coffee or two.
The supplements I’ve found work for me are:
- Glutamine (any brand)
- Opti-Women Multivitamin by Optimum Nutrition
- Viviscal Pro for my hair
- Optimum Nutrition Platinum Hydrowhey or Dymatize ISO100 Protein Powder which are easy digesting and lactose free.
- BeautyFit BeautyBum (on my stomach under a sweat wrap for fasted cardio).
- Quest Bars: white chocolate raspberry, S’mores and their HERO bars are my favorites.
- Dandelion Root pills, which are great for flushing out the kidneys as well as pre-photoshoots or competitions as they’re a diuretic.
My favorite exercises as I find I feel them the most the next day are:
For my Booty:
- Weighted Step Backs
- Assisted pull up machine single leg push downs (pushing through the heel and not using my bodyweight)
- Cable Squats
- Squat with Overhead Press
For My Shoulders:
- Cable reverse flies
- Reverse grip front raise
- Seated Dumbbell shoulder press
For My Abs:
- Hanging leg raises
- Kneeling Cable crunch
- Double V sit
I don’t keep a training log but if I’m getting serious about training eg. for a comp or pageant, I’ll utilize a heart rate monitor like Jabra Elite Sport or iTouch Wearables smartwatch and if I’m traveling it’s fun to count my steps, especially exploring European cities!
👊 How do you keep going and push harder?
It’s not a case of having time to workout, it’s making time for it.
I don’t give myself the option not to go. I get dressed and go without thinking about it. It’s not something that needs overthinking, just do it! It’s been a part of my everyday life for as long as I can remember, so it doesn’t matter whether I want to go or not, it’s non negotiable. Plus, I like food and wine!
If you’re struggling when you get there, forget the whole routine and concentrate on completing one rep at a time and before you know it, it’ll be done. It’s not a case of having time to workout, it’s making time for it.
I was going at 3:30 a.m. at the Mrs. United States pageant as my makeup call time was 5 a.m., so I had the choice to lie in or go and workout. It’s all down to choice and having a why that’s bigger than your why not.
🏆 How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
I’m currently working on getting Dawes Custom Cosmetics ready to wear collection into retail stores to compliment the custom lipstick experience.
The blog and podcast has really taken off and now covers fashion, beauty and travel and not just fitness. Then there’s the new segment I’m hosting on Spill The Tea Live as well as working with my husband on our other company called, Sorority Specialties. If you want something done, ask a busy person!
🤕 How do you recover, rest and handle injuries?
I’ve never been one to feed into that whole “feel the burn” or “your body’s stronger than you think”, as when you push too hard and don’t listen to your body, that’s often when you get injured.
Then all of the regular things you always hear to avoid injuries: Don’t over-train, use proper technique, work within your full range of motion, work the body evenly not just mirror muscles, make sure you’re doing core workouts and engaging those muscles when lifting, dynamic not static warm ups and cool down and stretch.
I like TAG Glutamine and epsom salt baths for days where my DOMS are bad or after a heavy session or if I’m coming back after a break. Tip: TAG as it can also be used as a sweetener in tea or coffee.
I used to use a foam roller on my legs but I’ve got really into the pressure point massage sticks, which hurt like crazy and tend to leave bruises (I may be a bit heavy handed). I’ll do that a couple of times a week while I’m stretching in front of the TV before bed. I also get deep tissue massages at least once a month.
I travel four to five months of the year so have got traveling down; the eating out, packing and working out. There’s way too much to cover in just a paragraph but I have lots of articles about it on glamourandgains.com and if anyone has any questions, feel free to reach out to me on instagram @evedawes.
🍎 How is your diet and what supplements do you use?
When I compete, I am 100% faithful to whatever nutrition plan I’m on.
I basically follow an 80:20 rule of healthy and unhealthy, which makes it a lifestyle and my weight stable unless I’m on vacation then all bets are off. I can’t get away with not eating 100% clean by sitting on my butt! I don’t track calories or follow a diet per say but I do still do the following:
My breakfast is the same as when I was competing and I still measure it, as is my lunch 80% of the time and protein snacks (e.g. mid afternoon and pre bed protein shake made with water only).
I cook about 10lbs of chicken and 5lbs of fish at a time and freeze them into 3oz portions, then just defrost them and add vegetables and carbs as I go.
Since I’m not competing, dinner is still based around my 3oz of protein and vegetables but I don’t weigh my vegetables or carbs and add sauces. I also eat out a lot and cheat with chocolate, cookies, carrot cake, nachos, wine and champagne.
When I compete, I am 100% faithful to whatever nutrition plan I’m on. No alcohol and everything is weighted exactly but I do still get one cheat meal (not day) a week!
It’s normally five to 12 weeks for fitness competitions, two weeks for pageants and three days for photoshoots. If I’m hungry I try and drink more water or sleep!
👍 What has inspired and motivated you?
My background as a dancer means I can’t listen to music that doesn’t match my speed as it feels awkward, so my Pandora stations are all really upbeat. The faster the song, the faster I’ll do my cardio.
I’ve had two gems given to me by ballet teachers that are great ways to give yourself a kick up the butt and refocus: “Energy breeds energy, apathy breeds apathy” and “If you’re not busy growing, you’re busy dying.”
✏️ Advice for other people who want to improve themselves?
If you’re looking for a starting point, visit a few gyms and ask for a tour and day or week pass and see which one you like best. Not sure how to use something? Don’t be embarrassed, ask a team member.
If you’re like me and find classes the most intimidating, get a friend to go with you. If you’re looking to compete, search Instagram for physiques you like and see what organization and division they’re competing in or even message them and ask who they’re training with.
Many competitors are training with big teams and you can sign up to train with them too; they’ll take care of everything for you: diet, workouts, weekly progress check-ins, etc.
🤝 Are you taking on clients right now?
I’m not currently taking on personal training clients, I occasionally take on posing clients (for fitness competitions, pageants and photoshoots) both via facetime and in person but my main projects now are the cosmetics, blogging, podcasting, and hosting.
📝 Where can we learn more about you?
glamourandgains.com
dawescustomcosmetics.com
Instagram: @evedawes
Facebook: @evedawes
Twitter: @evedawes
YouTube: Eve Dawes
Instagram is the best place to contact me.
