trip induced breathing problems

Dallas’ first overseas trip – and first time on a plane – was with her friend Claudette and her French parents, traveling home for a holiday, and it was marred from day one by breathing problems, something she had never experienced before.

"I didn't like being on a plane - it was the worst part of the trip," shudders Dallas. "I felt like I was suffocating, but I didn't dare say anything or use the oxygen mask because I didn't want to appear an idiot."

"I'd never had this sort of trouble before - no hay fever, no asthma, no breathing difficulties," says Dallas, "and I tried my best to ignore the symptoms because I didn't want to spoil the trip."

"Just about the best part of the trip – something that I really enjoyed – was participating in a flower festival because we don't have things like that back home," says Dallas. "But just as well we don’t have crazy flower throwing back home because I'd be ill all the time!"

"That night, after spending all day throwing flowers around, I had real trouble breathing and Claudette's parents said it must be the flowers – and got me some hay fever medication at the markets – but my chest still felt tight like a drum."

"Now that I’m home, my asthma is controllable and I’m trying to accept what my doctor told me – that it’s more psychological than physical," says Dallas, "but I won't be flying or going anywhere near flowers again."

Read more about Dallas:

Paris, full of foreigners!

a sensible taurus girl

my french friend

fat families

Zephira is married with two children and faced with the annual vacation dilemma - where to go this year? - she suggested a skiing trip as a healthy option for her fat family and the kids were enthused but her husband wasn't!

"I expected Joe to turn up his nose at my suggestion," explains Zephira. "He's the type of guy who likes to laze around when he's not working and since our marriage I've slipped into his lifestyle - giving up all the adventurous type of experiences I once enjoyed and as a consequence I'm almost as fat as he is (and so are the kids)."

"Joe's objections were voted out at the family discussion - and faced with the prospect of going away on his own or coming with us he relented but on condition that he was not going to get on a pair of skis."

"Actually he rather liked the idea of going somewhere cold in the middle of summer," laughs Zephira, "and he packed some books and his laptop and looked forward to hanging around the ski lodge while we were out making fools of ourselves on skis."

"It had been close to twenty years since I had last been on a pair of skis," explains Zephira, "and in that time I'd put on a quite a bit of weight so I was more than a little concerned about my ability to cut the snow like I used to."

"Make a fool of myself or not I was determined to give it a go."

"The kids and I hired our ski gear and the first dumb thing I did when we got to the ski lodge was to dress the kids and myself with the ski pants on backwards."

"When we joined the group for our first ski lesson everyone laughed at us," sighs Zephira, "and I got the feeling that Joe had jinxed us with his 'making fools of ourselves' prediction."

"The kids went off with a children's instructor and I joined the novice adults who were being instructed by a lovely Austrian guy."

"He asked whether anyone had skied before and like an idiot I said 'yes' and for this bit of honesty he chose me to be the first one to go down a slope."

"Let me tell you that getting back on a pair of skis is nothing like getting back on a bicycle," laughs Zephira. "Those skis felt like lead weights on my feet and I had no idea how I ever whizzed around on them in my youth."

"I pleaded with Franz, the ski instructor, to let me go to the back of the line because I'd forgotten how to ski - but he insisted I went ahead - and to make me feel better he would go before me backwards to catch me if I fell."

"Well," laughs Zephira, "I took off and you guessed it - I fell right on top of Franz and nearly crushed the poor guy. It's a good thing that Joe wasn't looking because he would never have let me live this down."

"After an hour of instruction I was none the more comfortable on a pair of skis and my legs and back were aching."

"I told Franz I'd try again tomorrow and went back to the lodge to join Joe."

"When the kids came back they were so filled with enthusiasm and joy that I felt like a fat lump for giving in so easily."

"The next day I got up early and did a lot of practice on my own and by the time Franz turned up I showed him what I could do and he was very impressed - in fact he gave me a wink!"

"That wink really boosted by spirits," laughs Zephira. "It reminded me of all the fun I used to have on the snowfields with the guys."

"I forgot about my aching legs and back and stayed out on the snowfields for most of the day after that - if I wasn't going to have a mad passionate affair with Franz then I was definitely going to lose a lot of weight on this trip!"

Zephira's story first appeared as zephira: the skiing trip and is reprinted with permission.