A Snapshot In The Life Of…

 

Sarah Devlin is a freelance personal trainer and pilates instructor, Xtend barre and powerplate teacher. Born and raised in Canada, Sarah moved to Perth with her Aussie husband in 2010.

She uses her background in dance, pilates, nutrition, the Alexander technique, along with her training in conventional personal training methods to create a personally tailored and dynamic program for her clients.  She believes that excellent health, wellness, and longevity are by products of a holistic and well balanced life.

Sarah is passionate about pre and postnatal fitness especially after the birth of her baby. She is currently running a pram fit class for mums and bubs on Thursdays at 830am in Scarborough.

Check out her website and blog here.

 Tell us three things about yourself

• I am a trained Singer, Dancer and Actress. I studied Musical Theatre in London and was working professionally for a short time before I changed career paths.
• My brother is building a microbrewery in Vancouver from scratch!! I am so proud of him I just had to mention this. Check out the progress at 33 acres and if you’re ever in town look it up. http://www.33acresbrewing.com/
• My husband and I have been married for almost 3 years and we have a beautiful baby girl called Finella who is 11 months old. She is our world at the moment and we often sit together at night and recall all of the funny things that she has done in the day. I cannot believe how intense motherhood is.

What’s been the biggest health challenge you’ve overcome and what did you learn from this experience?

I have been so lucky with my health thus far but I did once get a nasty parasite in Thailand. I will spare the icky details, but I did learn that it is way too common and many people live with them for years and don’t even realize. They might just feel de-energized or bloated and just not right!!

What’s your top tip for getting your day off to a great start?

Exercise outdoors. You get a double energy boost if it’s a sunny day. Like most personal trainers I am addicted to endorphins so no matter how rubbish I feel when I wake up (especially if the bub has had a dodgy night) it is the best cure.

Your brekky usually consist of…

This varies a lot but most days;

• Either eggs with spinach/kale, tomatoes, and mushrooms or
• Porridge with almond milk, nuts or nut butter and honey or maple syrup or
• Green smoothie which consists of a big handful of kale/spinach, fresh berries or other seasonal fruit, water or almond milk, and Complete powder (optional). I have been giving this to my baby too and am so excited when she drinks it all up and has a little green mustache.
• I also love good quality, fresh coffee with cream (North American thing).

I will also mention that I have been doing a bit of research and experimentation with not eating until 10 or 11am at the earliest. I used to be a massive brekky person and thought it was important to get the metabolism going by eating straight away no matter what. However, after having Fin, my appetite in the morning seriously dropped off (even if I had a morning workout) and that’s when I started to see articles about new research coming out saying a longer fasting period everyday might be better for us for long term weight loss and health. It’ll be interesting to see if there is any long term scientific validity to this.

Which foods do you eat to nourish your body and give you vitality?

Vegetables – as many as possible and as raw as possible is the number one thing for sure!! Fruit in moderation, good quality protein (grass fed and organic if possible), nuts, seeds, avocados, and some grains in moderation. I try to steer clear from processed foods but really believe that if you eat very well most of the time, you can still have small indulgences and be social too. My vice addictions at the moment are dark chocolate with coconut and craft beer (but not together).

I take Juice Plus wholefood supplements daily to fill in any nutritional gap I have.

Why is fitness an important part of your life?

•  I love the daily energy it gives me
• I love to feel strong and the way my body looks when I’m “fit”
• I love all of the proven benefits being “fit” gives my body, mind and soul
• I love to pass on this knowledge and experience to those around me and I’m able to get paid doing it so “fitness” is massive in my world

What is your current exercise routine?

So, this has changed so much in the last year.

I run a couple times a week. Not because it is my favorite type of exercise but because it’s quick and easy when you’re time poor. My runs are short and sweet these days.

I love Xtend barre classes and powerplate and on a good week I can get to one of them at Perth Pilates Studio. I also love pilates and yoga (although I struggle to get to a yoga class I love here in Perth because of the times I have free).

Recently I have also been doing a quick run to the park with my daughter in her pram and then will try to get through as many strength exercises as I can while she watches birds or young children play at least once a week. We do a lot of walking on and by the beach to get us out of the house daily.

Describe what motivated you to choose your current business or career path?

I have always loved fitness, health, and nutrition so it made sense to me to take this career path. As an actress, I struggled with having my fate in someone else’s hands. It’s a tough career at the best of times, and I found out I just didn’t love it enough to live the lifestyle required.

It is the best feeling ever to help someone change their attitude towards health and fitness for life. I love being my own boss and the freedom I have to work around being a new mama.

What business or career challenge have you overcome and what one piece of advice would you like to pass on to others?

I moved to Perth 3 years ago (for my husbands job) after having a successful business set up in London. It’s daunting moving to a new city because you don’t know what business will be like and how to make yourself stand out from the bunch.

I used places like Lululemon Athelica (who I am an alumni ambassador for) to network as much as possible in the fitness industry and really see what’s happening in Perth and where I could fit in. I also got one of my girlfriends who is a PR guru in London, to write me up some emails to send to editors of magazines and was featured in Scoop magazine from that one email!!

Your favourite book or movie of all time is…

Oooh this is tricky! My favourite book when I was a girl was “Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott. My Mom has 3 amazing sisters and I have always wanted a few myself (in addition to not instead of my brother though!).

One of the favourite book series is the “Asian series” by James Clavell. I first read “Tai-Pan” when we were living in Hong Kong and loved it. Some of them are better than others like most series, but generally excellent reading.

And finally, the best book I’ve read in the last few months is the “Cellist of Sarajevo” by Stephen Gallaway, a very beautiful novel.

Yes. Here is the link from a brilliant raw food blog that I found;

http://www.therawtarian.com/raw-chocolate-shortbread-bars

I attended a raw food event the other month so I tried my hand at a raw dessert to bring.  I don’t have a dehydrator and wanted something very easy and simple.

I was so impressed with the results as so many raw desserts are super heavy and dense whereas this tastes divine and creamy.