Who is Dons Health, Fitness & Wellbeing?

Another year older,  I realise I have come so far with my health, fitness and wellbeing beliefs. I am like a sponge, I love learning new things, reading articles and keeping my Facebook and Instagram published is something I am passionate about, doesn't matter how many people read it, I am drawn to writing posts and publishing.

I was driven to start my FB and Insta pages,  to spread the healthy message out there instead of the unhealthy diet & exercise messages that you see on social media, I am passionate about the body and the mind being healthy.  Check me out  Facebook and Instagram.

Even though I am not a trainer anymore - I still have so many training routines in my head, not to mention choreography to dance classes I have done (albeit badly)! The not giving a shit what people think is the main thing I would say to everyone - be you, be loud, be proud, dance like people ARE watching if that is your thing, never apologize for being you.  My purpose is to be a voice - to be heard, to share the love, messages and be a a positive person online and in  person!  I dont know everything, nor claim to, I just love health, fitness and wellbeing. Giving back to the community is something I just love being able to do, I feel like I have had such a great life and I am driven to help those who need. We are all living on this earth together, lets be kind, compassionate and help others.

I still have the same drive and passion for health, fitness and overall wellbeing.  Being healthy and focusing on overall body and mind health as opposed to trying to drop weight, get lean and train all the time.  I am struggling with body image and coming to terms with myself now that I am older, have injuries that limit my training in the gym as well as being diagnosed with having endometriosis. I started going through peri menopause about three years ago - I decided that enough was enough and I started eating better and looking after my metabolism - which you will see me go on about on my  pages.  Metabolism is the key to living a full happy and healthy life - no diets, no fads, no starving yourself. It truly is one of the reasons why I didn't study to be a dietitian, because I didn't believe in the healthy food pyramid that all GP's use (don't get me started on BMR).  

So who am I? I was born in the Pilbara (think red dog) love the outdoors – how could you not growing up in the bush! I love all things nature, the beach, walking! I have always been a curious (nosey) person. I love talking to people, animals talk to me, I love travelling and meeting new people and I love all things health, fitness and wellbeing. I am passionate about all things health, fitness and wellbeing – physical and mental health! Its just in my DNA.

I grew up playing many sports - netball, basketball, golf, swimming, softball. I loved swimming, especially squad training for swimming and many years of netball and basketball has helped my knees degenerate – and a few other niggles. I have just turned 48 and I just started writing about who is The Don’s Health & Fitness page, a page I started so long ago when I was a PT and it has involved as I have involved in my cocoon.

Where did it all start, the fitness thing? Aside from always moving/running/playing as a kid, I always had a feeling there was more to life than Western Australia, so I packed up my life, sold everything, had one backpack and moved overseas in 2000, I started in Belfast, where my dad is from and met my extended Irish family. From day one I understood myself so much more, meeting all my cousins, some I had never met and some I haven’t seen since I was a kid when they came out to Australia.  I started to understand the Irish connection  – felt an amazing connection to Belfast and Ireland, nothing like being met at the airport by 15 family members you have hardly met/seen for years.

I moved to London and continued gallivanting around England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Europe, USA, Egypt – so many amazing places, I lived away for five years, met some amazing people, worked in some amazing jobs in Ireland and England, it was truly an amazing experience, there is so much life outside Australia, so much history, culture, fashion, cultural men and architecture! Living it up!

Lifestyle changes, I no longer was the six pack fit girl (because I thought that was sooo important, not), I started filling out my travel jeans (again not a bad thing, just society conditioning us about weight gain),  living in London I experienced actual weight gain for the first time in my life, I was always a tall skinny lanky girl who was physically active with sport and competing, training weights, London was a much slower paced environment, more drinking, not much money, so cheap eats (hello Tesco tuna & sweetcorn sandwiches) ….. I worked hard, travelled hard, partied hard.  I used to work part time in a gym just to get free membership, only thing the gym had a bar (seriously - nothing beats a cold brew after a bicep curl or two) I then was lucky to work in Nutrition and studied with other dietitians at Middlesex hospital in Central London as a Dietitian Assistant, it was something that came naturally to me, working with people, the main purpose was to make sure they were able to get the calories and hydration they needed, depending on their ailment – I worked in pediatrics, ortho, Max Fax was the most eye opening (no pun intended) some TB cases and trachea wards – It was refreshing working with people that talked positively about calories all day long – the priority was to feed our patients, we fed so many through nasal and gastro tubes – it was amazing.

I then started feeling very sad, all the time, like permanent PMS. I felt like something was missing & drank lots, smoked lots (some weed, mostly menthol ciggies) (hello share house London) – because I was working the in the hospital and I had it available to me, I started counselling because I assumed I was not dealing with the patients I was working with in the hospital, many passed away, leukemia kids were the hardest, the diagnosis I was homesick – I had Seasonal (SAD) depression disorder - seasonal depression from living in grey, dark and raining London. It was truly an eye opener, I had always been a happy person and this sad, foggy feeling was taking over my life, I only had mild depression and I remember thinking god how do you cope daily with depression if it was severe, this was something that I learned from definitely, how I thought I was ok when I wasn’t. I was so happy with friends, travel and living in London.

I missed the sunshine, my body and vitamin D were buddies. I kept myself busy in London for another couple years, trying to keep fit in by  running home from work was definitely a challenge. So, I started studying a Certificate III in Fitness to distract me from drinking pints and I decided to move back to Australia just after I graduated, this time settling in Sydney as a friend I knew from London had moved home to get married. I worked full time in a corporate job and studied my Fitness Certificate IV PT part time whilst working & running boot camps.

After I finished my PT cert, I continued to run bootcamps but added some shifts as PT at Fernwood Rosebery to my schedule. I ran boot camps three mornings a week (Pinkie Bootcamp), worked a corporate job and did PT three or four nights a week at Fernwood in Rosebery! Loved it, it was a great introduction to training with women, proper weight training. I also trained myself at Fitness First and met some amazing people who are still now my friends (fitness friends are for life)!

I completed many triathlons, charity runs and the Oxfam 100km challenge, I loved all things outdoors and fitness! The injuries started to get more frequent, taking longer to heal – tore my hip flexor training for the Oxfam 100km was the toughest – I had NO idea that little muscle had such an important job until it didn't work anymore. I had to pull out of doing the race a week or so before, heartbreaking, so much time put in training every weekend, night training with headlamps.... but I was the best support crew ever and was at every stop for my crew to feed them, re tape their feet,/knees and be motivator/feeder/coach for 32hrs. We raised over $10k for Oxfam, so that was a highlight. Another highlight was when my friend Dave Mack said to me “you should come to training bootcamp with me and my friend Louise”, I didn’t realise he meant Louise Sauvage!!  I did her bootcamps, so amazing! Loved them!  We even did a Pink Triathlon together, another highlight! She is just an amazing person, I don’t think she knows how much I loved her session and being able to do the triathlon with her, always a special place in my memory.

Trekking was another passion – from Thailand, New Zealand and many places in Australia – I loved putting on my camel pack, Solomon’s and wet weather gear and just walking for many kms - limited treks due to bad knees and hips slowed me down, but I still enjoyed the thrill and the challenge. I do need two knee replacements due to worn patella's! My knees hurt everyday and my range of motion has decreased. I cannot squat with more than bodyweight or do lunges.

When I couldn't keep up with my clients (running) I stopped doing bootcamps and kept doing PT for a few years. I felt a bit beaten by the fitness industry and didn't agree with so many training fads and diets - but that is what most clients wanted - quick fixes. I decided to just focus on my training and enjoyed my gains, I travelled more and mostly during this time I was single. I had met different guys through friends, the gym and just didn't have that urge to settle. Too independent to be honest with you. So many were intimidated by me, tall, confident women who spoke her mind and lifted more than most of them, they couldn’t handle that I was a PT and always tried to compete with me, it was exhausting. Anyone I met from the gym were just ego, no real nice guys – the ones who were nice weren’t clicking with me being me – Sydney was a tough place for a single girl in her mid-thirties. I had a lot of fun but kept concentrating on my fitness goals. Dating, dating was hard in Sydney, everyone was always trying to set me up with someone... 

I have so many great friends, I loved my work, my training, travelling whenever I wanted, it truly was an amazing time in Sydney – I decided to give online dating a go, you know all new and shiny – RSVP – it was hard, some of the dates I went on were hilarious – I had a guy talk to me about his mountain bike for 45mins. 45mins. I think he assumed me doing triathlons meant I liked lycra, that was my least favourite leg of the tri! Ha-ha - I met an Italian guy who was 19 years older than me, let’s say we became friends – my name is Italian, but not me. Ahh the guy who spent the dinner telling me about his wife, that was a highlight, I did order extra expensive cocktails to get me through that one. I met a lovely detective who had a cute beagle (not a euphemism), but was very jealous and had trust issues due to his previous wife cheating on him with a colleague. So, I decided to cancel my RSVP account,  I was going to be a spinster! I enjoyed dancing with my friends at all the gay clubs in Sydney and then training at the gym.  I was going to stay single forever. Life was much easier.

I didn’t cancel my account it seemed, and I got an email a few weeks later from my now husband.  I finally met someone who I connected with instantly, lots of fun, laughter and no bullshit, no rules about dating, he didn't care about the gym and dating me and my gym bag (that went everywhere with me), 11 years later we are still together and have a five-year-old daughter. Man, what a ride. But so worth it. I met the love of my life when I was 37.  I was like “where have you been”?!  Seemed he wasn’t ready until then either.

*trigger warning - miscarriage/loss**

Turning 40 in 2014 was a good year - I got married and then we tried to start a family straight away. Coming off the pill was the start to some health issues that started to arise. The pill had kept at bay some issues but also had helped me have a high egg reserve (86% at 40, not bad at all). We fell pregnant every time we tried (competitive much) but had trouble staying pregnant and had three losses, which was the hardest year of my life.

Weight gain from being pregnant 9 months out of 12 and having no child was tough, two hospital surgeries, depression kicked in. I knew the signs, I knew that feeling of dread, cotton wool making your head fuzzy, wanting to just not engage with anyone. I put on weight and struggled with life daily. I couldn't even try to be happy or anything, I was grieving my unborn babies, my pain and the fact that my body had failed me, I have never felt so failed by my body. I found blogging helped and have a few posts on this blog account, really helped get my thoughts and memories down on paper so to speak, which I am grateful as I read them often now and am so glad I kept our angels stories alive in our hearts.  We took a few months off trying and went to Bali early 2016 for a friends wedding - and were were pregnant but didn't know - we had Maddison December 2016. The best experience ever seeing that squished little alien coming out of you. Took me a few days to comprehend. What I did know was I had never felt love so strongly before that day, the instant love was amazing, after everything we had been through I was so glad to experience this.

I was ok after having Maddison - I got up to 116kgs with her full term (I was 89kgs when I fell pregnant, up from 78kgs when married). I was healthy and baby was healthy. After Maddie was born I got down to 82kgs quite easily without going mad - just eating healthy for breastfeeding's and walking.  Our GP was great, she did however put me on the contraceptive injection which would be the start of all the complications, weight gain, anxiety and mood swings to come after coming off the depo injection.  20kgs weight gain in about 4 months. Heavy periods, painful periods, migraines so bad I couldn't move.  Really struggled. It was a tough time and I felt isolated with having a small child also and doctors really couldn't offer me anything except going on medication - that snapped something in me and I started properly eating metabolically - proper foods, exercising less and doing everything different to how I used to (overtraining, low calories) - it reduced all my symptoms and really noticed a difference.  I have reduced cms and some kilos - and still have a long way to go. But mentally, mentally I am in a good place - this is the key. I recognize the black dog, and he comes to visit less these days as I balance getting out in nature, walking, swimming and eating proper foods and not restricting myself, I don't binge eat anymore and have a healthy relationship with food.   It really is truly liberating.

So I post about how I am going, my walking, the metabolic eating and endometriosis - I love sharing Fitness Friday posts and how I am enjoying yoga more to stop the mind, stretch and strengthen the body. I am looking forwards and not back to the person I used to be, we have grown and our training now has changed and grown to suit.  I still love doing community challenges and it drives me, keeps me accountable and helps so many others. If I can just make one person think that they CAN achieve their goals, that is enough for me to hit send and publish.  I am ensuring my daughter grows up with different conditioning about the body - to be strong, healthy and happy.