Ultrarunner and endurance athlete Jax Mariash Mustafa knew something had to change after she retired from professional athletics due to injury. Jax was the first woman in the world to complete the 4 Deserts Grand Slam Plus, a series of ultramarathons, in one calendar year. 

“I was born with deformed feet,” she said. “You can take it until you can’t anymore from a pain perspective. Unfortunately, my feet had decided it was time to address the issue.” 

At the time, Jax was chasing the goal of being the first person in the world to win a self-supported stage race on every continent. Unfortunately, though, the goal eluded her, both due to recovery and then COVID. 

“I had bilateral complex foot surgery in June of 2019. And that was the first time in my life I had to cross out exercise and lie around.” 

Following this, Jax began working again, which came with lifestyle changes, including not prioritizing healthy food options, not exercising, and increased alcohol consumption. 

“In 15 months, I gained 24 pounds,” she said. “When I was competing a lot, I could eat whatever I wanted. It didn’t matter. I was just burning it off. But when I stopped competing, I was like, 'Gosh, this is really unhealthy,' and my measurements were totally different. My body fat got up to 33 percent, my waist measurement was 33 inches, which was up from 27, and I was becoming a little bit scared about my health and wellness.” 

Having been a professional athlete most of her adult life, the lifestyle of a “normal” person is not something Jax was used to. 

Prioritizing Wellness in Everyday Life 

Wanting to take control of her health, Jax made a decision to prioritize her health and wellness everyday. This was made easier with ZOZOFIT, which she uses weekly to track her measurements. 

“ZOZOFIT is one of my favorite parts [of my wellness routine] because I don’t have to measure anymore and it’s accurate. It became my thing.” 

Along with weekly measurements, Jax developed a personalized fitness plan tailored to her fitness level and her goals. While she still did regular cardio, she also incorporated weightlifting into her routine, and dedicated herself to eating 125 grams of protein and drinking a gallon of water per day. 

“I wanted to prove to myself, too, how can I just be a healthy woman versus a professional athlete,” she said. 

With her new plan, Jax developed consistency in her workouts, which allowed her to get back to the kind of life that she wanted. 

ZOZOFIT became a necessary tool as she reframed her lifestyle, especially in contrast to the traditional scale, which is often not as accurate and does not take into account the impact of muscle loss and gain. 

Connecting with the Body Using ZOZOFIT

One of the reasons users love ZOZOFIT is because it can strengthen each user’s individual relationship with their body. Having an intimate understanding of your measurements and what your body looks like, makes it easier to set and achieve goals, as well as measure progress over time. 

After Jax started her new fitness routine, she began to see the changes in her body. Results weren’t immediate, though, and it’s important to keep that in mind when starting a new fitness routine. Jax’s new routine included lifting weights, which she had never consistently done before. 

“I got really frustrated the first three or four weeks because nothing was happening, and then all the sudden it was bam! Everything just drastically started changing and the weight started dropping, but the muscle was going up. I just started seeing these crazy numbers and all I did was be consistent and show up everyday.” 

ZOZOFIT helped Jax stay in a routine because she built scans into her routine to be sure she was tracking her progress. 

“I literally can see the grid image of my body changing, because I think when you’re in your body every day and you’re looking at yourself in a mirror, you don’t really know any of this.”

Using measurements from ZOZOFIT also helps keep her in check with understanding the body’s natural rhythms, like menstruation for women. 

“If I would measure myself and numbers were really high one week, I would think something’s wrong and make some drastic changes because I’m so freaked out. But for some reason the suit actually made me just realize that either I must be bloated or it’s probably my period and ZOZOFIT gave me that confidence because I trusted the process so it’s become a great tool that I really rely on.”