Mother-of-three Tracy Pendergast has competed in three triathlons in recent months and she is weighing up whether to run the 21-kilometre or 42-kilometre leg of a marathon later this year.
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Pendergast is certainly going the distance when it comes to running, cycling and swimming; but it's the distance she's travelled from where she started off a decade ago which is most impressive.
Look at Pendergast now and you would never imagine that she was once a 95-kilogram inactive woman who didn't eat salads and whose vegetable intake was only mashed potato and carrots.
Today the 34-year-old Mount Warrigal mum has her own personal training business and she is helping other women regain their lives and health through physical activity.
When Pendergast's clients talk to her about the barriers they face in losing weight or becoming more active, she can draw on her own experience to help them.
Like many women, Pendergast found herself overweight after the births of her children.
A split seam in her clothing was the impetus to make some changes.
"I fell in love with my husband Rod; we had kids; and I got comfortable with my life and I put on weight," she says.
"I ended up being a size 16 and I had these favourite pair of pants that I used to wear all the time until they split at the seam.
"I couldn't fix them and I thought: 'I'm not buying a size 18'."
Refusing to buy larger sized clothing, Pendergast knew she had to lose weight.
Yet, at that stage, she wasn't exactly sure what worked and what didn't.
Pendergast began eating three meals a day and cut out chocolates, lollies, biscuits and chips.
She played netball four times a week, took two karate lessons a week, and walked when she could.
She lost 25 kilograms in eight months.
"I thought: 'This is great, how can I keep the weight off, get a job, and stay this way'," she says.
In 2002, Pendergast started a certificate III in fitness at TAFE with the view to working in the fitness industry.
"I was learning all this new information about nutrition and with that knowledge I found I was willing to try new things," she says. "I tried a whole range of new vegetables and I got to like them. My plate is really colourful now, as opposed to potatoes and carrots before."
Improving her diet was one part of her new health regime - the other part, equally as challenging, was becoming fit and strong.
"I was never athletic as a child and I always shied away from swimming or athletics carnivals," she recalls.
She had a fear of water and struggled to complete half a lap.
Pendergast built up her confidence and strength by initially swimming with flippers and progressing from there.
"It took time, practice, persistence and determination but now I am very proud to say I can swim, not just one lap of the pool, but 20-plus laps," she says.
Pendergast had her third child in 2003, and then in the following 12 months she completed a certificate IV in fitness which qualified her to be a personal trainer.
She worked for 12 months with Stretch-n-Grow, an exercise program for children, and six years as a personal trainer at Fernwood.
Three years ago, Pendergast opened her own business Fit Shape Personal Training.
She runs group boxing classes at her home studio as well as seeing clients on a one-to-one basis.
She also teaches a pilates class and a spin class at the Genesis Fitness Club, Albion Park, and numerous classes at the Illawarra Women's Health Centre at Warilla.
One of these classes at the women's health centre is a 12-week fitness and health program for plus-size 18 women.
She has talked to the group about the different types of barriers - physical, emotional and environmental - that people face in their quest to get healthier and how these obstacles can be overcome.
In her own case, it was finding the time to exercise when her children Kayla, 14, Meleah, 12 and Kyle, 9, were babies.
"I couldn't go whenever I wanted to because my husband was working a nine-to-five job and we only had one car," she says.
"So I would walk the babies in the pram when the weather was nice and I went to sporting and fitness venues where childcare was provided.
"I also played night games of netball so that my husband was home to mind the kids."
As well as running the business, Pendergast is doing a diploma of fitness through Loftus TAFE with the aim of going to university next year and studying exercise science and psychology. She attends TAFE one day a week, with the remainder of study completed online.
"I haven't been in a classroom for 10 years and it's very difficult to sit for eight hours," she says.
"It's the longest I ever sit. So between work, study, three kids and classes, where do I find the time to exercise?
"I make training a priority. It's part of my life and something I just do every day."
Pendergast has gone from someone who didn't exercise to a health professional who helps others become fit and healthy and, in her spare time, she is a triathlon competitor.
She trains every day between 9 and 11am, stepping up this year to the sprint triathlon which is a 750-metre swim, 20-kilometre bike ride and 5-kilometre run.
The triathlon training has made her even leaner and stronger.
"I enjoy all aspects of training and look forward to doing something every day," she says.
Pendergast's advice is the best thing people can do for themselves is to stop making excuses and start making their health a priority right now.
