Pushing limits and shedding pounds: How Dumi found a sport she loves

"Then, I entered my first Ironman 70.3 event in Durban on 18 June 2017 and, having entered, there was no turning back!" she explains. I enjoyed the training and became far more confident when swimming in the ocean. The fears I had were no more and I completed the Ironman 70.3 in a time of 7 hours, 58 minutes and 38 seconds." After this event, Dumi also took up strength training to supplement her cardio-based triathlon training.

"My training is no longer about weight loss. I found something I love doing; activities that make me happy. Training for races and collecting medals are much more exciting goals. A major part of Dumi's transformation is nutrition. "I eat healthily because I need to fuel my body with good, nutritious food to perform well while training and in a race. I used to eat three meals a day but I found that at times I would get so hungry I would buy junk food to fill me up until I got home for supper. Now I eat five smaller meals, so there's no need to find unhealthy fillers. I prepare my meals on a daily basis based on my training demand for the next day. On weekends I am not too strict. I love donuts so I reserve those for weekends. I also cut out juice and fizzy drinks. I drink a lot of water now. I train too hard to be on a bad diet, as poor food affects my energy levels," she says.

To others who dream of accomplishing a weight loss or a sporting goal, Dumi says: "Have a plan and stick to it. Remove "I can't" and "I don't have time" from your vocabulary. I also find having a buddy or training with a group/team makes you disciplined even on days when you don't feel like training. You become accountable to your training partner this way. You motivate each other and it becomes more fun. Do something that you love and enjoy and I promise you, you will meet your goals. You will see results. Focus on a healthy lifestyle every day. And never underestimate the power of sleep or resting for a healthy mind, body and for peak performance in your training.

"Making healthy choices should not be boring and frustrating. If it's fun you are more likely to continue with it for a very long time. Discovery Vitality has made this healthy lifestyle more fun. I have Vitality Active Rewards and this pushes me to train in order to meet my weekly targets. My team members and I check up on each other achieving our targets, so it goes back to the idea of accountability - you're in it for the team. Diamond status rewards help a lot in that you get cash back and discounts on many of the items that you need to achieve your goals, such as training gear, fitness devices, healthy food, travel discounts, gym memberships and so on. Added to this, the annual health screening tests make you aware of your health status and if you're not within healthy ranges for things like cholesterol, blood glucose and blood pressure, you get a wake-up call to change your unhealthy habits."