WORLD MASTERS GAMES

“I hit the road, or if the weather prevented me I went to the gym or swam my way to 58kg. Self belief is very important to me. Get yourself in the right frame of mind, get people that are going to help you.

“I know I’m not going to put the weight on again, ever, because I’m such a positive person now.”

The triathlon will see her attempt a 750m swim, 20km bike ride and 5km run.

She said crossing the finish line, rather than winning, would be success for her.

“Never in my

HTo watch the video go to nzherald.co.nz wildest imagination would I think I’d be doing anything like this, like competing in the World Masters Games. “I am just excited to be here in Auckland and soak up the atmosphere.

“I’ve come from leading a sedentary life, living dangerously near the point of no return to a lean, mean fitness machine. [It’s] an achievement I’m very proud of and a life I will continue to live,” she said. “I’m at one of my happiest times in my life, I love getting out of bed, I love eating healthy foods, I love exercising.”

She learned self-hypnosis after attending an event with hypnotist Mark Stephens, who said “what is weighing a person down mentally and emotionally” is the “real problem” when dealing with weight loss.

Joanne Gibson says selfhypnosis allowed her to deal with 60 years of limiting beliefs and emotional baggage. When her husband died in 2013 she weighed 117kg (left), her ‘lowest point’.