In partnership with adidas
When adidas locked onto the idea of ‘Sport has the power to change lives’, they recruited five of our most-loved WH fit family to headline the campaign: PopUpGym’s Letshego Zulu; Mapule Ndhlovu, Cara-Lisa Sham, Carmen Crous and Tracey-Lee Lusty. Whether sport changed their destiny or their health, eased their demons or vanquished their grief, their collective stories are so incredibly inspiring, we decided no amount of sharing them would be enough…
A common cold was the start of Tracey-Lee Lusty’s fitness journey. When the cold refused to let up, Tracey made an appointment to see a doctor. The doctor informed her that her excessive weight gain was the cause of all her problems. He told her that if she didn’t make a drastic change her weight gain would lead to catastrophic health concerns. Tracey was already pre-diabetic at the time, and would soon become diabetic if a change wasn’t made. “I guess you can say that this was the Oprah “Ah ha” moment for me,” she says.
It was the push she needed to commit to living a healthier life. She enlisted the help of a personal trainer and began training five days per week. “Those first two weeks were excruciating,” Tracey says. “My body was not used to lifting weights and doing lunges and squats.” She could barely walk for the first two weeks, and recalls crying because of the stiffness in her legs.
READ MORE: “Taking Up Yoga Helped Me Overcome My Eating Disorder”
Her spirits began lifting when she started noticing a change in her body. “I started seeing results and all the hard work and pain become so worth it,” she explains. Tracey lost 6.5kgs in the first month and instantly became hooked on her new lifestyle.
Tracey quickly learnt the importance of being your own self-motivator. After long, hard days at work, there are times when exercising is the last thing she wanted to do. “Getting to the gym at sometimes seven in the evening can be hugely taxing,” she says. But she refused to let her career interfere with her fitness journey. On days when she didn’t feel as motivated to exercise she scrolled through her feed to remind herself how far she had come. “I always say you have to be your own self-motivator, because no one else is going to do the reps for you or put the food in your mouth.” Pushing through those hard times has made her stronger than ever.
The biggest perk of losing weight has been how it has impacted her daily life. As a litigation attorney, Tracey spends a lot of time running to and from court. Before her fitness journey these trips would cause her to sweat profusely. She dreaded having to walk with a client to court, because she couldn’t hold a conversation with them, as she would always be out of breath. The continuous walking also placed a huge amount of strain on her feet. She found herself having to soak them almost daily. A year into her fitness journey, these issues are no longer a problem for her. “One morning I woke up and realised my feet no longer hurt, I could walk up three flights of steps and hold a conversation without breaking a sweat,” she says.
Tracey created an Instagram account to document her journey and hold herself accountable. She wanted her page to offer an authentic account of what goes into losing weight and the struggle of average women. “I also wanted to make my journey public because I believe it is a journey that so many women battle alone. There is nothing glamorous about losing weight,” she explains.
READ MORE: “I’ve Lived My Whole Life With Cystic Fibrosis – This Is How Sport Helped”
Though her fitness journey has been overwhelming and exhausting at times, Tracey is immensely proud of all that she has achieved. “This journey is the gift that keeps on giving. It has been a wonderful ride, and I am looking forward to what’s to come in 2018,” she says.
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