Official bios are great, but I thought it would be fun to get you guys to send in any questions which have been burning away in your minds.
They could range from anything to sensible to something totally random.
The response was huge so I enlisted some help and chose those we thought would give you a bit more insight beyond the bio…
QUESTION 1: Tell everyone what’s keeping you busy at the moment…
SARAH: Well – I’m training hard and putting together a new online training system so you can train with me. I’m also renovating a house with my partner – which keeps us both very busy and generally covered in brick dust!
QUESTION 2: How did you get into health and fitness?
SARAH: I was overweight, fed up with looking and feeling terrible, wanted to change how I looked so entered an online 84-day transformation contest and got bitten by the H&F bug!
QUESTION 3: What three words would you use to describe yourself?
SARAH: Fun, friendly, determined
QUESTION 4: Do you untie your trainers/sneakers before you take them off?!
SARAH: LOL – Not if I can possibly avoid it!
QUESTION 5: Do you have a middle name? And if you do, will you tell us what it is?
SARAH: Yes, I do – my Nan chose it. I’m not going to tell you what it is though – it’s not weird, but in these days of cyber crime it’s not a good idea to make that sort of thing public.
QUESTION 6: What’s been your most embarrassing moment?
SARAH: Thankfully there haven’t been that many (at least not that I remember!) but one of the funniest is when I jumped out on a complete stranger, waving my arms around, yelling, “RAAAAAAARRRRRR!!!!!!”
The person I intended to scare witless had seen me hide, knew what I was planning, and stopped to let an unsuspecting stranger walk into my path and face the full force of my ‘scare’ tactics (think Sully in Monsters Inc!). I’ll never forget the look of ABSOLUTE shock and horror on that poor man’s face for as long as I’ll live.
PROPERLY embarrassing!
QUESTION 7: If you could invite five famous people to dinner (from the past and present) who would they be and why?
SARAH: Oooh that’s a good one. The first two: Alexander Graham Bell and the Wright Brothers. Without their pioneering work I wouldn’t be able to travel around the world and FaceTime with friends and family when I’m away in other countries- I’d like to say thank you and show them how their inventions have changed the world and been developed over the years.
Queen Elizabeth II – I think she’s a remarkable woman with poise, dignity and an incredible work ethic.
Emmeline Pankhurst – she lead the Suffragette movement in the early 1900s and was responsible for British women being given the right to vote in 1929. She got up to some pretty outrageous things even by today’s standards! She was arrested 12 times and was a true rebel of her time; if they had gyms in those days I think she’d definitely head straight for the ‘free-weights-tough-guy’ section!
My Gramps – okay, so he’s not famous but he’s one of my greatest heroes. Dinner parties were ALWAYS fun when he was around. In fact, ANY time was fun when was around. He lost his battle with bowel cancer on Remembrance Day 1990 and I still miss him.
QUESTION 8: What is your favourite body part to exercise?
SARAH: Oh that’s a tough one! I love training everything, but if I REALLY have to pick just one then it would be…do I really have to just name one?!
Okay…SHOULDERS! I know, I know it should be abs, but I don’t really train them that much in isolation. Shoulders are much more fun and there are few things that look more sexy than a fabulous pair of shoulders in a little vest top or sleeveless shirt!
QUESTION 9: Do you enjoy cardio? If yes, which type do you enjoy the most? If no, how do you make sure you get it done?
SARAH: Sometimes I love it, other times I really have to force myself to do it. The type I enjoy the most? Well that depends what mood I’m in!
I used to have a dog and loved walking miles and miles with my dog, Morpheus (he was a Weimeraner, in case you wanted to know) – I’m looking forward to having a dog again one day, they make you get out rain or shine, whether you feel like it or not!
I’m also a huge fan of hard-core spinning classes, but I get a lot of satisfaction from nailing a tough short and sweet HIIT session too.
The thing I’ve found with cardio is this: the thought of it is always far worse than actually doing it. So just GET UP and start! The sooner you get going, the sooner it’ll be done, it won’t have been as ‘bad’ as you thought it was going to be and you’ll feel GREAT because you did it even when you didn’t particularly want to.
QUESTION 10: What is your favourite meal from your clean menu?
SARAH: King prawns, salmon or steak (medium rare) with sweet potato, broccoli and cauliflower
QUESTION 11: If you’re going to have a treat/cheat/reward/call it what you will meal, what is it likely to be?
SARAH: Another tricky one which, again, depends on what sort of mood I’m in. I don’t really have a sweet tooth, so you won’t find me scoffing cake. If I had to pin down one meal in particular it would be a Chicken Dhansk with mushroom rice from our local curry house in the next village along.
QUESTION 12: If there is such a thing as a typical day for you – what does it look like?
SARAH: A typical day…well the timescales depend on which day of the week it is and but they generally go something like this:
6am – get up, drink some coffee and TRAIN – if I stop to think about this, especially if it’s cold and wet outside and it’s a running day, then I’ll end up having a discussion with myself about ‘maybe doing it later’!
7am – shower, check emails etc, make oat and egg white pancakes; eat them and have a cup of coffee
8am – work, life, work!
6pm – catch-up calls/research/study
7.30pm – cook dinner, eat dinner, watch something on Netflix/Amazon Prime/BBC iPlayer (at the moment we’re catching up on Line of Duty – no spoilers please!!!)
9.00pm – go to bed! When training is particularly hectic, this can be 8.30pm. The exception to that is if I’ve got lots of things I want/need to do: it’s not unheard of for me to pull an all-nighter if I’ve got a deadline to meet…just don’t tell the sleep police, because that’s really not getting in seven to eight hours of ZZZZs.
Add in all the other usual things like grocery shopping bla bla bla and that pretty much sums up a typical day.
QUESTION 13: Which fitness industry myth annoys you the most?
SARAH: Women who lift heavy weights will end up with HUGE muscles and look like men! My heaviest leg press is 170kg, calf-raises at 200kg (SO chuffed with that) and guess what? I do NOT have massive quads and calves that look as though they belong to Ronnie Coleman or Jay Cutler!
QUESTION 14: What is the most challenging thing for you when it comes to staying in shape?
SARAH: When I’m away from my usual routine those ‘little voices’ can get quite loud. During the Christmas holidays, for example, I could easily switch into ‘holiday’ mode. Or when I go to my mum’s – she makes THE most amazing fish cakes, homemade curry and flapjack. If there’s any of that on the menu I’m in trouble!
QUESTION 15: What food can you absolutely NOT do without?
SARAH: I don’t really think like that. But if there’s one food I have to be careful with, it’s peanut butter – I could happily eat my way through half a jar at a time!
If coffee counted as food, then the answer would definitely be coffee; there are days when I drink far too much of it.
QUESTION 16: What physical feature are you most proud of?
SARAH: Again, I know I’m probably supposed to say my abs – but I’m rather ‘in love’ with my calves at the moment!
QUESTION 17: What are your top 5 (or 3) tips for someone who’s just decided to turn their fitness and eating habits around and wants to get into shape?
SARAH: 1) Be absolutely clear about what you want to achieve
2) Find pictures of someone who already has the body you want – use those pictures to inspire you and keep you focused
3) Find someone who knows what you need to do to get that body, ASK THEM FOR HELP and be prepared to pay for their training/coaching – their knowledge, expertise and time is valuable
4) Wave goodbye to your old habits and completely immerse yourself in your new lifestyle – it’s exciting, embrace it, enjoy the ride and never get off!
5) Do EXACTLY what your trainer tells you to!! DON’T try and second guess them and DON’T make your own modifications to the eating and training programmes they give you. You turned to them for a reason: your way wasn’t working and because they know more than YOU do. Just follow their instructions to the letter and you’ll get GREAT results.
QUESTION 18: What do you notice about people first?
SARAH: Their smile – you can’t beat a huge, beaming smile 🙂
QUESTION 19: If you were born the opposite sex, do you know what your parents would have called you?
SARAH: I do – I’d have been called Tim!
QUESTION 20: Will you share one thing most people don’t know about you?
SARAH: I have a rare blood group!
Thanks to everyone who sent in questions – I hope you got to know the ‘me’ behind the words and pictures a little better. It was fun!
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