2014 Recap

On the 5th of March 2013 I recieved the gift of a life, a double lung transplant. I had been waiting my whole life (well as long as transplants have been around, anyway) for the surgery that could change my life. The operation and recovery was extremely difficult both mentally and physically but somehow I found the strength to get through it all and 3 months later I was at home with my new lungs. It took me about a month to regain enough strength to start going out and even then it was only short trips to the shops. By August I had started to go out more and more and by the end of the year I was driving by myself and building my confidence in "The real world"

My first time out with friends

Doctors Orders - How to gain weight.

Last year I was asked by Lisa Raleigh to do an interview about my weight. She wanted to know what kind of struggles I faced and what food I typically ate on any given day. She then gave me some fitness and nutrition advice.

When this clip was done 1 -

• Still had my feeding tube.
• Was a lot more under weight than I currently am now. (I hate looking at pics/vids of me so skinny!) 
• Was still eating a high carb diet which wasn't getting me anywhere. 
• And I still had my little pink car ;) 

Behind the scenes

I've done a few articles now for various media but this was the first tv production I have been in. VERY different! I'm not a photo person at all so even at photo shoots I struggle. With this, I had a camera on me constantly and I think I was shaking the entire time. Luckily they do about 3 takes and then edit a lot so you don't see all my mistakes. I was told to nod a lot and as you can clearly see, I did a good job of that! 

There were a few uncontrollable aspects when we were filming, which were quite funny. There was a fly that kept hovering around us and for a nutrition programme that isn't really ideal. There were also hadedas screeching in the background so we kept having to stop and wait for them to fly by! 

The crew was great, Lisa was absolutely lovely and then there was the camera guy, the sound guy and then the production manager. We shot the first part in my flat and then went to the Raphael Hotel gym in Sandton. Very fancy hotel but a surprisingly small gym facility! 

It was the first time I had been in a gym in YEARS let alone pick up a weight or do any form of exercise. As I said earlier they do about 3 takes for each section so you can imagine after 3 takes of dead lifts etc how 'dead' I was. I know the weights were relatively small (We actually couldn't find any smaller weights) but for someone who was bedridden for years, it was quite a strain! By the end of the shoot I was fully exhausted and went back home to finish eating the packet of Doritos I was made to eat. Oh yes, eating with a camera watching you is very hard! I've never been so self conscious of myself chewing!

Hopefully some of Lisa's tips helped those of you struggling to put on weight. I'm sure this is pretty much only my fellow CF'ers but for the rest of you, appreciate the fact that your weight, even though it may not be perfect, isn't a health struggle every day!

Day 1

I did put a shirt on before hitting the gym.

My first day at gym was meant to be on Monday but I managed to find an excuse not to go! Yesterday I had cocktails with a friend so I couldn't possibly make time for gym! Today however, I was all out of excuses so off I went!

The hardest part of any routine is getting started. Once you get up and start the rest is all a lot easier and gradually just becomes second nature. This is what I'm hoping for, anyway!

My biggest problem at gym is that I'm impatient!  I want to be able to run 5kms on the treadmill and do one armed push ups NOW. Having gone through all that I have, my pain tolerance is probably a little higher than most which means that when I start to get sore, I keep going.

This may sound like an advantage but it's really not! Today I did just short of an hour at the gym and I know that tomorrow I am going to regret it!










One of my favorite things about working out is getting to listen to awesome music. I have a million gym playlists and they really do get me excited to exercise!

The only disadvantage of listening to music that you're really into is that there is a chance that you start to move 'with the music'. When a "gangster" song comes up on my playlist, it is EXTREMELY difficult not to walk with a little swag!!

This was my playlist today - 

My top tune for today's workout was this - 

#OperationGetFit

So as you know, I recently reached my (minimum) Goal Weight of 50kgs, making #OperationGetFat a fat success! Now it's onto the next goal - #OperationGetFit. I'm hoping this challenge won't take me as long or be as difficult but for someone who has never done sports it certainly isn't going to be easy!

I started gym a while ago but then when I got my job, my gyming fell away as I didn't want to do too much all at once. Getting FAT was the priority which means that I have to cook and eat a lot. With a full time job, preparing 6 meals a day and getting to the gym just seemed a little overwhelming! Then I went on holiday so of course you can't possibly work out when your on holiday right? Now I am back to unemployment (temporarily) so there is absolutely no excuse not to hit the gym! 

My goal is to take part in the Transplant Games which will be in Argentina next year but first I need to qualify in the National Games in October! Basically I need to go from needing help opening a jam jar to being able to lift a tractor tire with one arm, in 4 months. Doable??

I am in talks with Virgin Active to see if they can help me out with a personal trainer. Once I know what they are willing to help with then I will be looking for sponsors to help me pay for my trainer - If anyone has any ideas.... please shout!

There a number of sports that recipients can participate in so hopefully I will qualify in at least one or two. At this stage I think the 'walking' event may be strong suit!

Of course I will be blogging about my fitness journey and perhaps my posts will encourage you to get up and GET FIT too!! I may even throw in a before and after pic, so stayed tuned!!

New Life

I absolutely LOVE my new lungs!