Cape Town - You might be wondering why Cape Town's bubbly media personality, Jamie-Lee Domburg had gone AWOL on social media for almost all of December. Well, she's back and just in time to spill the tea on her latest “break from the madness”.
The 31-year-old HeartFM Drive Time Show radio presenter says she needed to take a break to fulfil a mission she'd set for herself – to be more spiritual.
So Domburg disconnected herself from the bustle of Cape Town, and went on a solo trip to Morocco where she ventured into different parts for an “eat, pray, love” experience.
Armed with a few pretty outfits and loads of emotions and thoughts to filter on her trip, she went off on a two-week break.
A beaming Jamie-Lee recalled: “A month ago, I went to Morocco, it was all scary yet liberating, I always had a bucket list where I wanted to do at least one country every year.
“I'm still on such a high, it was my ‘eat, pray love' journey, I learnt of the Morrocan culture and simply had this amazing time with myself.”
She added that the break from social media allowed her to spend quality time with family and friends.
“I usually do an end-of-year social media break, it's that end-ofyear fatigue, and we forget to take a moment in our real life to detach and disconnect from the online world, and I felt heavy.
“With everything happening around the world and consuming that on a daily basis, also, social media has become part of my job; and I needed to just fully disconnect and spend time with family and be grateful for the people around me in real life and not just on social media.
“It's important for us to do that because again, you can get instantly consumed by all the social media activity, I have that love-hate relationship with social media because of this online community I have created with the people who follow me for whatever reason.”
A mom to an active little boy who starts Grade R this year, Domburg lives with her single mom and her little one.
An active woman, Domburg realises the importance of balance in life: “I don't always have that balance thing in check, I'm a workaholic, I'm either 0 or 100, there is no in between, sometimes I need to have a check-in with myself to remind myself to spend time with family and friends and not just work.
“I said this before, ‘you cannot give to others when you are not full or whole', for me its the aspect of keeping fit, working out, running, hiking, time in the ocean, that keeps me whole, so if I'm doing good I can be good for my mom and my son.
“Before you are a mom, daughter or friend, make sure you fill your own cup first.”
Having been a plus-size model for over two years, she still amazes fans and followers with her physical transformation.
Domburg encouraged them to stick to their favourite treats but balance it out with a good work- out session.
“I'm obsessed with those crunchy granny smith apples dipped in peanut butter and honey, my mom made it for me, and now I'm hooked, it's perfect for that midday snack, usually when my colleagues on air take breaks they are eating masala steak Gatsbies, but I'm there in the corner with my apple, I love food but give me anything sweet, I have a sweet tooth.
She added that a solid community of “fit-fam supporters” kept her going.
“Having a fit community and people that keep you accountable really helps me stay on track. It's so funny because its been three years since I started my transformation but people still message me daily to ask me how I lost the weight, what I eat, etc.
“This holiday I was off track, I had the gammon, the tongue, the trifle, whatever I wanted to eat because I knew I was going to reset. I give myself grace because I'm not on a diet, its a lifestyle change, there are days I go off track but I reset again.
“The most underrated form of training is walking. Sometimes people feel overwhelmed when they go online and see people training with weights and running marathons, etc, but sometimes you just need to walk, move your body and find what works for you and genuinely enjoy it. I enjoy high-intensity training, and I recently started running.
“Don't cut out food you enjoy, eat the koeksister you want but just work in extra time at the gym. If you can find something you can be consistent in, it will change your life,” she said.