Book Review: Diet Cults, by Matt Fitzgerald...

I have just finished reading this awesome book. As someone whom is very interested in the world of fitness, health and diet I found Diet Cults a great read. It was interesting to see the science and other aspects to some of the cult diets out there today.

Here is just some of the titles in the contents page of the chapter that were to follow: Forbidden Fruit, 100 Foods To Eat Before You Die, Homo Coquus, The Caveman of Orange County, The Suck-It-Up Diet, It's A Bird! It's Plane! It's Superfood!, Consider The Potato, and many more. There is a total of 15 chapters to read and get your thoughts around.

Matt takes you for a ride back to the start of when only God inhibited the earth, and through to six millions years ago, when an ape species similar to the modern Chimp underwent an evolutionary split. This book is great in the sense of all the scientific information based on our past ways of eating food that is now questionable or completely not allowed by diet cults. Matt presents reason for the way some diet cults have worked, with regards to human having the need to belong in a group. For example Weight Watchers, the Paleo Diet, etc.

For me as a reader and have been against cult diets for a long time as I have seen for myself that they don't work. I have seen this in my own family with my mother doing Jenny Craig not just once but at least three times and still not learning from it. For her it seemed that because she was going on a holiday and needed to loose some weight before going to look better, she managed to drop some weight before going, but by the time she got back she had regained all the weight back and some more. I have also seen this in other people that I know. So for me Cult Diets don't work. I have become very much about commonsense eating or as Matt puts it Agnostic Healthy Eating, but before I get to that part let me share some of Matt's words with you regarding Chapter 8 Eat Bad, Look Good: This is the chapter where the argument, that does exercise really help with weight loss? Some believe exercise to be pretty useless with regards to weight loss, as it can make the person whom is exercising to eat more after. Matt stated..."Other research cited in Cloud's article suggested that working out might also thwart weight loss--and even promote weight gain--by making people less active than they would otherwise be during the rest of the day. Talk about a double-whammy of unintended consequences! If those forty minutes you spend on the treadmill at 24-Hour Fitness aren't already fully negated by the Starbucks Frappuccino you drink as a reward on the way home, then they will be when you decide you're too exhausted to walk the dog that evening. (pg 130)

This is something I have noticed even in Perth. One particular fitness center has a McDonalds across the car park, so how many people go and do their workout and then get a feed of breakfast, snack, or dinner on the way home? Seriously is this a ploy by the fitness centers or what for their locations?

So how does exercise and weight loss go? exercise will help you to loose weight, but it goes hand in hand with what you eat. You can't expect to loose weight by going to he gym and then chowing down on fried chicken from KFC or alike. I believe this is where the balance of a good healthy diet and that doesn't mean you don't have to stop eating fried chicken altogether, and daily exercise will work with each other with in the body to help you drop the kilograms (pounds). It is also the mental aspect that will get those kilograms off you as well. Do you want to diet, or live to be healthy? Matt says, "But in fact we are not what we eat. We are what our bodies do with what we eat." (pg 144)

While reading chapter nine; Coffee, Chocolate, and Wine on page 151 where Matt and his wife were at a chocolate tasting, in the shop there was an anonymous quotation on the shops website..."Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive, well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming, 'Woohoo! What a ride.'" I love the idea behind this quote, though I don't particularly want to go to my grave thoroughly warn out, just used enough to keep me going until my last breath and that I can say that I have enjoyed my life in all aspects and not been so regimented on what I ate, and that I allowed myself to enjoy food, as I had gone through life for the 25 or so years disliking food.

In the last chapter about Agnostic Healthy Eating, Matt lists the following terms: Essential Foods (Vegetables and Fruits), Recommended Foods (Nuts, Seeds and Healthy Oils, High Quality Meats and Seafood, Whole Grains and Dairy), Acceptable Foods (Refined Grains, Low-quality Meats and Seafood, Sweets and Fried Foods), Forbidden Foods (Oh wait a minute: There are no forbidden foods in agnostic healthy eating.) So really looking at all of this isn't it all COMMONSENSE to eating these kinds of foods, what it really means in you can eat as many fruits and vegetables you like, eat medium amounts of lean cuts of meat and good quality seafood, is a great source of protein, slow down brain aging, eating whole wheat, brown rice, etc is a good source of carbohydrates as we need these to help store energy in our muscles for exercise. For those whom are gluten free (sufferers of Coeliacs {Celiacs} Disease or intolerant) and not by choice still need to have the best quality gluten free bread and pastas. I will leave the rest of this chapter for you to read and see that you can have the foods you enjoy as its all about your mind, body and spirit. If you take away your favourite foods you start to feel like your world is falling down, so why should we forbid these delights, when with some restraint have them occasionally, to enjoy and not to binge on?

In order to loose weight or even to gain weight (in my case) don't forbid yourself from enjoying foods, learn to moderate the amount of those foods each day. This is where people let themselves down, and I did it for a long time to, just a little differently. Instead of eating fried food for breakfast, lunch and dinner have a piece of fried chicken with a plate of salad and a potato, that way you get the enjoyment of eating fried chicken (if you love it) and you still have the balance of other healthy foods as well, but also make sure you are not sedentary, and that you are exercising. It doesn't have to be going to the gym, it could be taking the dog for a walk.

Finally I would like to say a big thank you to Matt Fitzgerald for writing an amazing, interesting and thought provoking book. I hope many others get a chance to read Diet Cults.

Have a great week everyone..

Hayley xx

Kuala Lumpur Holiday...

Kuala Lumpur City Skyline (image from Google Images) 

Last Saturday night/Sunday morning my husband and I left for Kuala Lumpur, this was my first trip to Malaysia, hubby has been a few times before for work. I was excited to go and to see a new place. I had heard the shopping was great and the sight seeing was wonderful as well. We were going over for my brother-in-law's wedding which was a traditional Hindu wedding, with a couple of days to relax and take it all in.

Our plane left Perth International Airport at 2:30am I don't actually remember take-off as I was already asleep. You see I did a 5km open water swim Saturday morning and a shift at work to come home around 8:45pm to finish packing and make our way to the airport. So I managed a restless 4 hours sleep on the plane (5.5hr total flight).

On landing in Kuala Lumpur (KL) we headed to my brother-in-law's hotel where we managed to help surprise him, the bestman from his Perth wedding was going to be at his KL wedding as well, it was a lovely surprise for him, everyone knew about the surprise except for him, a great start to a great week. We headed into the shopping centre at MidCity Mega Mall, on going down the escalator the first thing I see is a shop full of lollies (sweets), then near by was another shop with cakes, another was a bakery, then more and more of them all. My jaw was on the floor to just how much starch/sugar driven food was around me. Plus all the fast food outlets, like Burger King, MacDonald's and more. As we walked around I was noticing the incidence of over weight people, I thought that KL would be a place with little amounts of obesity and large amounts of good healthy foods, well I was wrong.

We all went to Little India to get our outfits for the wedding, I was to be wearing a Sari and needed to pick out the fabric for my blouse that goes under the Sari. My Sari was a beautiful peacock green/blue with gold trimmings, just stunning. The boys looked very much the part in their outfits which are so amazing, colourful and elaborate. Hubby and I got back to the hotel for a little rest before heading out again for a family dinner. The food that was prepared for us all was truly amazing and so flavorsome. I came to find very quickly the fruit in KL was so good, I love watermelon, but the ones in KL were so crisp and sweet and juicy, I actually sat with a plate of sliced watermelon in front of me and just kept eating.  Well by the time we finished dinner we were so very tired, we headed back to our hotel

Monday was a sleep in, breakfast (fresh fruit, eggs, beans, and juice), after breakfast we headed outfor a little shopping, go look at the Twin Towers, have my jaw drop at the shops that are in the Twin Towers all 6 floors of shops and cafe's. The shops is what got me, Louis Vuitton, Dolce Cabana Gabbana, Prada, oh and the price of their products. I know they are expensive and as some who doesn't buy that kind of name brand, it was though interesting to see. We headed down stairs to one of the hotels restaurants, which is where we also have breakfast each morning. The meal was absolutely beautiful, a great finish to another great day. The Twin Towers as you can see in the photo to the right, looks amazing at night, this was a photo take from the floor of our hotel room.



Tuesday the, eve of the wedding. Hubby and I got a little more shopping done in the morning, I also got to have a swim session before we headed off my sister-in-laws parent's place which is in Klang about an hours drive from the city. We arrived at the house for a Blessing Ceremony for the Bride and Groom. The Ceremony was for the family to bless the couple with  May this couple be blessed with: an abundance of resources and comforts, and be helpful to one another in all ways. May this couple be strong and complement one another.  May this couple be blessed with prosperity and riches on all levels.  May this couple be eternally happy. May this couple be blessed with a happy family life.  May this couple live in perfect harmony... true to their personal values and their joint promises. May this couple always be the best of friends. The Groom is blessed first and then the Bride, the blessings are carried out by the female members of the family(s), which was a delight for me to be able to participate in this Blessing Ceremony.

                   The Bride                                                                                        The Groom

The Wedding day. It was beautiful, again hubby and I didn't have to rush around too much in the morning, so we managed to get a sleep in, some great breakfast, loving the fresh made omelettes and fresh fruit. We headed out for a little more shopping...yes shopping in KL is truly amazing. a few more items purchased. A lovely lunch from down in the eating hall of the hotel, then back to the room for a little rest and freshen up to head out to the meeting point and make our ways to our destinations to get dressed into our outfits. As I was going with the bride, I was blessed to be able to see just how close the ladies of the brides family are, so different to my own family. I placed my gold blouse on, then one of my sister-in-laws aunties put my Sari on me. A Sari is a piece of beautifully coloured fabric which is approximately 6 meters in length, and the colours of everyone's Sari's was amazing. The mother of the bride was in pink, an aunt was in orange, there was purple, and green, and just so many colours. Its not just the Sari and clothes that everyone wears that is so amazing, but the jewelry that the ladies wear as well, it is just such a grand occasion, and the jewelry matches with the colours of the Sari's. For example my Sari was blue/green so my bracelets were a mix of gold and blues. My necklace that I borrowed for the evening was so very grand, I have never worn anything like it before.

 Myself in the role of the Grooms Mother              My Husband in the role of the Grooms Father

We are told that in a Hindu wedding the father doesn't give away his daughter to the groom as such, instead he gives his daughter to the grooms family, and we reciprocate with giving the groom to the brides family. Then we are all interlinked as one large family, which is such a beautiful tradition.

The Wedding Ceremony went for approximately two hours, and even though it was long (in normal Hindu weddings they go a lot longer) and with the heat and humidity it was such an amazing experience to be apart of the wedding ceremony and to receive on behalf of my husband's late mother and father a wonderful sister-in-law (daughter-in-law) and such a wonderful, caring and amazing family. After the Ceremony the family and friends were able to come up on to the stage and congratulate the married couple and give them gifts.

Hubby and I headed out to have a cold drink and something to eat and to socialise with the rest of the bride and grooms family and friends. Once the newly weds had their photos done and had something to eat, we all headed off to one of the cousins house for the milk and banana ceremony. This is where on a couch a lovely Sari is laid out over the back of the chair (lounge) and the married couple sit together and the bride feeds the groom warm milk that has sliced banana in it. She carefully places three teaspoons full of milk a banana into the mouth of the groom, and then the groom feeds the bride three teaspoons of the milk and banana mix. A little more mingling with family and friends and photos being taken, it was the end of the night for us and we headed back to the hotel again. Such an amazing experience to be apart of and will never forget.

Thursday was a day to rest a little and shop some more as we were leaving to head back to Perth on Friday, and a trip into China Town in the evening. We had breakfast and again loved the fresh food that we had. We headed out to the shops at KL Sentral, to pick up some gifts for our kids and some more items for ourselves as they are cheaper in KL than back here at home. As I am someone who has such a love for sport and fitness, I was looking in every possible sports shop I could find. We headed back to the hotel for lunch and a rest before getting ready to head out to China Town.

Ok for me I didn't particularly like China Town, as you get harassed by stall holders to go to their stalls and buy. This is one thing I don't particularly like when I am out shopping. We got our daughter her new purse and had a look around. We then headed out to see some of the architecture of the city, which is amazing.

Merdeka Square,  KL

(Google Images)

As there was a storm brewing near by we decided to head back to the hotel and have some dinner before heading back to our hotel room to pack and sleep. 

Friday our last day in KL, I was filled with mixed emotions of not wanting to leave such a lovely place, but was missing home, my kids, golden retriever and friends. We decided after we had breakfast that we would head out to the Botanical Gardens to have a look as we didn't want to roam to far from the hotel as we still needed to get ready to check out and head for the airport. We caught the train to KL Sentral and walked to the Perdana Botanical Gardens, which was such a lovely tranquil setting so close to the hustle and bustle of the city streets. The flowers that we saw were beautiful and the waterfalls were stunning. 

Hubby and I enjoying our last day in KL

So its now Saturday night here in Perth as I type, it was an awesome week in KL and look forward to going back for a holiday some time next year and taking our kids with us so they can enjoy the surrounding, shopping and food of Kuala Lumpur. I now go back to work tomorrow and back to swimming training, which I have missed, even work, just a little.

Have an awesome week coming...

Hayley...

p.s. sorry this is such a long post :)

Laws of Attraction

No matter what we believe is a higher power, I believe our thoughts are what attracts things and situations into our lives. I was given the book "The Secret" to read. I kind of remembered when the book came out a number of years ago, but it didn't interest me back then. I was more focused on the control in my life on many different levels.

This time when I was given the book, I started to read, and with in the first couple of pages I knew I needed to get my own copy to keep, and gave the borrowed copies back. I have looked back over the last couple of years as I feel things started to change for me and just how much has changed and how it has.

I knew I needed help to gain weight, I saw the need to make some changes for my health. I was searching for a dietitian and found one that was a specialist in eating disorders, but I didn't even know that before I saw her. I was shown by the universe just what it was that triggered my bad eating habits and gave power to the eating disorder. I have seen so many different things happen in my life over the last while that the universe has put on my path. It doesn't matter if my thoughts have been conscious or unconscious things have been put there to make my life better.

I now make sure I have time to be grateful for things and people in my life, and have time to think of things that are important and that I need. I notice I don't like being around negatives or negative people. I have always been someone who takes on others feelings especially negative ones. I have learnt to put myself into an invisible bubble to protect myself from the negatives as much as possible.

I have also learnt that things happen for a reason. The Universe has ways of showing us certain things that we need to see and do. At the time we might not understand why we are shown these things or have things put in our lives, but later when we look back we can stand there and say..."now I understand".

I have started using my thoughts more productively and seeing the benefits from it, though the feeling of needing to be in control has been the most difficult to let go of. We just need to focus on what we need, want or wish for and the Universe will provide when the time is right. For me as I have always been focused on having control over so many aspects of my life, its like my lesson is to learn to let things happen and that they happen for a reason. Books are given to us for reasons, people come into our lives for many different reasons, we go through illnesses for reasons, we might not like those reasons at the time, but we learn from the hard things in our lives and the easy things as well, just sometimes we need the bigger kick up the butt for it.

Have a great week, and be aware of your thoughts and what happens around you.

Hayley xx

An Inner Explosion....

As I sit here thinking of how I feel, its almost like I have this bomb inside me that wants to explode, but its not a negative feeling, its such a positive feeling that I want to run around like a child, a feeling of being filled with such energy. Why do I feel like this?? I had a great swim this morning and felt strong and confident. Yes its easier to have a great swim in a pool than it is to swim in the ocean. The conditions can be so very different. In the pool yes it can be cold (outside pool, not heated) the outside air temperature can be cooler as the breeze is blowing. Where when you get into the ocean you have the tide, the current of the water, and the wind which all have an affect on your swim.

This feeling of energy is so good, its been a long while since I have felt it. Though this time I am in a healthier state to understand what it means. Where last time I was still in the state of an eating disorder and thought that it was a need to use the energy by exercising, instead of an energy of happiness. I am so very grateful for seeing that I needed to deal with my weight when I did. It was that moment when you understand the importance of not having to have control over everything, and that also included the way someone treated you, or your need to control your hurt feelings and keep them bottled up inside and not deal with the issue or the feelings.

 Its interesting as I have been one to feel the need to have control over things in my life when I was in the midst of my eating disorder and now I enjoy swimming in the ocean where I have absolutely no control of my surroundings. Yes I have control of myself and the availability to remove myself from the ocean if I feel the need to. For instance last weekend when swimming and initially being startled by a dolphin swimming past me in murky water. Then being stung multiple times on my body and knowing I am allergic to their stings and not being sure of how I would react this time, I decided it would be best to get out of the water and cut the swim short. I was disappointed that I didn't continue, but would have run the risk of even more stings as I kept swimming.

We all have things in our lives that we feel the need to control, but we need to understand why we have the need to control them and what consequences it has for our mind, body and spirit. I had to let go of certain negatives in my life that was making me sick, and fueling my eating disorder as I was needing to have control over of my feelings, as I felt I had no sense of who I was. Its a hard thing to describe. Having a mental illness has stigmas attached to them especially if you mention that you hear voices in your head. Learning to be yourself and understand yourself can be difficult, but also very rewarding as at times you actually learn so much from yourself. As soon as I stopped trying to control so much I learnt what I really love, and how to nourish my body instead of wearing it into the ground.

So tonight I can see that I have this inner fire of energy from having such a great swim this morning and accomplishing my goal and exceeding what I thought I could do. I can see I have made progress in my road to recovery from my eating disorder, progress in my swimming and seeing such positives in my life.

It can take just one decision to make a change in your life, whether its something small or something large...

Have a positive week...

Hayley xx

Ready....

 On Saturday 21st March I take on my first five kilometer open water swim (competition) I am not out to come first or even be in the top 10, my goal is to finish the distance in one hour fifty minutes to two hours.

Today I headed to Doddi's Beach, Halls Head, Mandurah to have a look at the conditions and the area where the swim will be held. Here are the photo's I took while I was there. It was a beautiful warm morning to be down there. The trip to Doddi's Beach from my place is 50 minutes one way, but totally worth it this morning.

 The beach for me is a place where I can feel completely relaxed and feel the deep inner peace. I have always had a connection to the ocean and its surroundings. I spent many a holiday with my grandparents at the beach in Perth over the road from their house, days that I miss now and remember with such fondness.

Standing with my feet in sand with the water running up and over them and then back out to sea, is just so therapeutic and relaxing.


We are so lucky here in Perth to have so much coast line that is amazing to swim in, play in and so much more.  The change in colours from blue/green where there is sand underneath, to dark blue as it gets deeper and coral reefs.


Swimming at Doddi's Beach will be interesting as it will be the first time I would swim there. I can't wait to see what sort of marine life will be swimming underneath us.

After an interesting incident yesterday while swimming at Cottesloe Beach with my training partner, we were 400m into our 5km swim when in murky water I noticed a grey shadow pass by me quickly. I suddenly stopped, swore and cracked up laughing so much. I can say it was a dolphin thank goodness. After managing to calm ones heart rate down enough to continue swimming we only made another 400m and being stung by so many jellyfish. As I am allergic to them I decided to pull the swim short as my stings were so sore. We walked back via the beach and believe me the marks were so sore and the feeling that parts of your body was burning until we made it back to the showers.

With our swim on the 21st I am hoping for no stingers and clear waters. Though I am expecting some stingers, I will have put on a lot more sun cream and some zinc cream in the areas I got stung this past weekend, as they seem to be vulnerable to being stung again.

Have an awesome week...

Hayley xx

Struggle Town...

This week hasn't been the easiest for me, I had a weigh-in and the number on the scales freaked me out. The freak out didn't come straight away, initially I felt happy about the gain. For the first time without being pregnant I reached 55 kilograms. I felt good about myself and the fact that I was still on target for my end goal. I liked the look of my body, and yes I was still dealing with the fact I have a stomach, not a concave stomach. I didn't see myself as fat initially either.

A few days after my weigh-in I started to over analyse the weight I had gained. Since June last year I have gained 10 kilograms, for someone recovering from an eating disorder to gain 10 kilograms in nine months is extremely good. I began to have my freak out a couple of days after the weight in. I felt like I had gained the last kilo way to quickly and needed to drop it off and reassess the timing of my weight gain. At this point I did feel fat, I logically understand that I am not fat, but the voice of an eating disorder can come to the surface very suddenly, and its up to me (the healthy one) to shut this voice down very quickly or I run the risk of a relapse.

So Tuesday I headed for the gym for a workout, Wednesday I swam, and Thursday was another gym session. Now the workouts weren't overly heavy, but what I know to do, is change my eating habits. I know what foods to put in to reduce my weight very rapidly and how to burn the calories quickly. Fridays are my normal weigh-in day and when I got onto the scales I was back to 53.8 kilograms and my response was, "that's better". So here is the internal fight that I deal with. I managed to drop 1.2 kilograms very quickly by eating more sugar, and rubbish, and keeping my body moving as much as possible whether that be at the gym, in the pool or at work. I felt more comfortable with my weight back below 54 kilograms, so now I can regain the weight, but a little slower so I don't feel so overwhelmed by it.

As much as what happened this week isn't good, I learnt a valuable lesson, that I am still recovering from my eating disorder and there will be times where I get overwhelmed, but to make sure I don't continue the down ward spiral of dropping weight and bad eating habits and to deal with the issues quickly and get back on the wagon so to speak. I also know that this freak out won't be the first or last that I have.

This photo to the left is what I need to focus on while I am gaining the weight, as this is the reason I need to get to 60 kilograms, the Start of the  Rottnest Channel Swim.

The photo below is the finish line of the Rottnest Channel Swim, this is why it is such a necessity to get to 60 kilograms to reduce the risk of hypothermia while swimming and also helps with building strength to make the distance.



Have a great weekend...

Hayley xx

I Dare You To Dream....

Today I Dare You To Dream...Look to the stars and the sky and take a deep breath and really dare yourself to dream the biggest dreams you can. Don't think about the logistics of money, time or anything else, I just want you to dream...

What comes to mind, is its spending years travelling around the world and do things you have never done? Is it trekking to the Summits of the highest mountains? Is it visiting a particular place? Is it making something out of wood or metal? Is it learning to paint? No matter what it is write it down. Now take to the computer and research your dream to what it would take to do. Now still don't think about the logistics or the dream (money or time).  Would you need to take lessons? Do some form of physical training? Would you take a loved one with you, would you go on your own, or in a group?

Now continue with dream and plan it like you were going to do it. Don't put a time frame on it now, but just think about how you feel about doing this dream and making it come true and feel the feelings of that moment it comes to fruition. Are you scared? Are you excited? Are you deliriously happy? How is everyone else feeling that is with you? Are they proud of you? Are you proud of yourself for making such an achievement?  

I did this today, I sat and thought about the things that I would love to do and didn't think of what it would cost, or the time it would need to make this happen. I dreamed that I could travel the world and swim in different long distance events. I looked at swims in Hawaii, New Zealand, Italy, Japan, USA, and Spain. It would take me about seven to fourteen years and a bit lotto win if I wanted to do this in one sweep of time off of work. The thought of travelling and being able to do the one thing I love so deeply would be totally amazing, thrilling and even scary. I would love to share this with my husband, even though swimming ins't the most spectator friendly sport. To have some of my closest friends be apart of this adventure as my support crew would be amazing as well.

 Could I still make this dream come true? Yes I can! By taking time off each year from work and spending some time in each location at the time of the swim and making sure arrangements are all in place before leaving home so by the time we touch down at the location I am ready to take on the long distance and the conditions that I face, plus the experience of swimming in so many different locations and seeing so much marine wildlife would be incredible.


So what is it going to take to make this dream come to fruition? I would be continuing my swimming fitness and general fitness at the gym. I would have to look at the cost of locations and the cost of organising support crews in the particular country. I would have to make such detailed plans for each event, as they can be dangerous with weather and water conditions, but also the risks of hypothermia  are big in these events, as the water temperature can drop suddenly and the water can become rough as well. There is also the risks of dealing with marine life. You never switch off to the possibility of sharks, but you look at it in this way, you are in their territory, you know the risks, and you learn as much as you can about the area you are swimming in to reduce the risks as best you can.

Where would I start? I will be spending the next eight months preparing for my first 10km swim, then my first 20km swim. Keep building the body and mind to deal with these distances, and then in about 2 years push myself that much further with a 40km swim in the waters of my home city. This is all part of the training necessary to reach some of the big distances that are swum through out the world.

With marathon swimming there is a large part of mental strength that is necessary to build, as it is in running and lots of other endurance sports. I am a true believer in, if the mind believes it can conquer and make the distance the body will follow.

I learnt this lesson May 2014 when I completed my first Half Ironman with two injuries, and one of them is still trying to heal. So the mind can push the body to its end and beyond.

There are going to be days that aren't going to be as good and exciting as others, there are going to be days where I am going to be tired, grumpy and want to stop, but as long as I keep in mind the end result of finishing that is what will get me through I believe.

So why do I want to push my body to these limits, why do I want to risk so much? I honestly don't know, I just have this deep seated drive to push myself to extreme levels. The body is such an amazing thing and I am so interested to what the human body can be put through and accomplish. I guess after my heart attack I learnt to live for the moment.

So Dare Yourself To Dream...and you might surprise yourself to what you can do in your life that might excite, scare or exhilarate you ten fold.

Have an amazing week...

Hayley xx