Tiffiny Hall can only exercise for 10 minutes after shock diagnosis
After being diagnosed with a chronic illness, Former Biggest Loser coach Tiff Hall has opened up about how it has affected her figure.
Fitness star Tiffiny Hall has taken a big step back from training and hosting workouts online – not because she wants to, but because she has to.
The former Biggest Loser coach and mother-of-one has been battling with chronic fatigue syndrome/ME and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) – a blood pressure condition which in her case is genetic.
This has seen her go from training most days of the week to just 10 minutes of physical activity per day.
It’s a huge blow, especially for someone who’s life revolves around living and breathing fitness.
Tiff opened up to news.com.au, revealing the dramatic change to her life sparked depression, describing her mental health battles as “rock bottom”.
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“Mental health is just so important and I make sure I speak to my psychologist every Thursday as I’ve had to work hard on my mental health in dealing with this illness,” she told news.com.au.
“My body has changed, I don’t have muscle tone and I have have gone up a size and that’s never been the case for me. Not even after having Arnold (who is now three).
“I put on 30kg during my pregnancy but lost it – so this is just so different for me. I puff just going up the stairs now.”
The 36-year-old, who is the founder of health and wellbeing program TXO LIFE (formerly TIFFXO), said her health struggles came on fast after a busy period at work last year.
“It happened so suddenly off the back of a few big shoots and I just couldn’t walk or get out of bed,” Tiff said.
Doctors ran what felt like never-ending tests before eventually diagnosing chronic fatigue and POTS.
“That searching for a diagnosis triggered depression and it was the biggest mental health challenge I have ever been through,” she said.
“It was scary and it was rock bottom for me.”
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Following her diagnosis, Tiff had to pull back from her daily exercises which consist of weights training, strength, conditioning and cardio.
She said as a “trainer who can’t train” and seeing herself lose muscle that has taken years to build has been extremely tough.
Tiff, who is married to comedian Ed Kavalee, said she now focuses on doing low intensity strength training from her program.
If she pushes too hard she can spark PEM (protein-energy malnutrition) which is common in connection with chronic disease.
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“It’s when you exert too much and people with chronic fatigue have a certain amount of energy they can exert before they get physically ill,” she said.
“So, if I do a HITT session, I get PEM, but low-impact strength training I can do – it’s progressive strength training though so for example I will start with 3kg one day for 10 minutes (or two five-minute slots), then build up to 4kg the following session.”
She said for someone who is usually so active, she has struggled to come to terms with it, but can’t risk pushing herself any further.
“I have to give as a mother, a wife, a boss and I have staff to look after in a pandemic. So I can’t expend all my energy on exercise.”
Tiff now also relies on personal trainers from her program to assist with running her online TXO LIFE workouts.
Tiff, who also just recently launched her FLEX activewear range, said while she is “nowhere near recovered” she has found ways to manage her illness with the help of High Performance Mindfulness (HPM).
“It has become a game-changer in calming my system,” Tiff said about the method which is founded by Emma Murray, one of her TXO LIFE coaches.
“She’s coached every successful Olympian to the AFL teams and CEOs, but I work one-on-one with her and the mindful approach helps me manage things like nausea and brain fog.
“It’s something you practice in peak performance – so how do you be mindful while in the moment.”
Tiff said in a time of sudden snap lockdowns we need to look after our mental health more than ever.
She hopes by opening up about her personal health battle, it gives others the motivation to seek help if they need it.
Tiff is also providing three months access to her TXO LIFE program for anyone going through a time, or for people who just simply need some consistency in what has no doubt been a challenging time for all Aussies.
“I got in this game, not to make lots of money and buy fancy things, but to help people and that’s been since day one,” she said.
To get three-months free access to TXO LIFE visit mytxo.com register your details, click the three-month member option plan and enter code – LOCKDOWNLOVE