Sarah Nicole gets recognized almost every single time she leaves her house.
The 32-year-old mother of three is a local Instagram star, with 62,000 followers; nearly 7,000 of those followers live in Guelph.
Sarah’s Instagram is full of inspiring and funny mini-essays, written by her. Most of her photos feature Sarah now, a 5’8 ethereal beauty with long hair coloured with a purple and grey hue. She often includes photos of her three young children, ages 7, 9 and 11, and shares openly the difficulty of shared custody and the passion she has for motherhood.
But the most intriguing part of Sarah’s story is the inner and outer transformation she experienced in the Fall of 2013.
At the time, Sarah was an overweight mother of three young children. She was constantly tired, overwhelmed, and felt unhealthy. She made the decision, after seeing a photo of herself at a baby shower, to start living a new and healthy life.
“I didn't know quite what to do, but I knew I needed to start. So I began tracking my intake on an app (MyFitnessPal), and running several times a week. I began losing one to three pounds each week, and lost about 80 pounds within the first year, most of which came off in the first six months. Over the following two years, I lost an additional 20 pounds just with maintaining my lifestyle in a healthy way. To this day, I have maintained a 100-pound weight loss,” Sarah shared.
Many of Sarah’s followers want to know exactly how she lost the 100 pounds, but the answer isn’t that complicated. She simply started exercising and tracking her food intake, swapping out unhealthy meals for more wholesome foods.
She said that initially she began running, and eventually discovered a free online workout series that she was able to use at home called Bikini Body Mommy. Sarah is an advocate for losing weight without having to spend a lot of money or enrol in expensive programs.
In addition to regular exercise, she also had to transform the way that she ate.
“I mostly was paying attention to calories at first. I kept trying and failing to fit old foods into a new diet, and realized that I had to learn how to cook foods that I would love, but I'd be able to fill a whole plate of and not be hungry. I did not like being hungry, and still don't! Making swaps like spaghetti to spaghetti squash, and reading more labels about what I was eating was a game changer,” Sarah said.
Since last year Sarah also eliminated gluten and dairy from her diet at the advice of her doctor, and has experienced an even greater level of health and healing to her body.
As for her Instagram fame, Sarah said that she just started sharing her story openly and honestly, without any intention of earning fame or a following.
“I was a normal Instagram user, sharing pictures of my kids, activities and selfies. Then a few people began commenting that I had lost weight. I had privately lost 40 pounds at that point, and finally posted a before and after. The response was not only encouraging to me, but I could tell was encouraging to others. Especially being someone who didn't do a special diet or program, just for free in my own home,” she said of her Instagram stardom.
As time has gone on, others have shared her story too. First, Sarah developed a friendship with Bikini Body Mommy, a well known online fitness expert whose videos helped Sarah lose the weight. Then media outlets began sharing her 100-pound weight loss story, from PopSugar, the DailyMail, Allure, and even a recent feature in Oxygen Magazine as the cover girl.
Despite the fame that reaches far beyond the small city of Guelph, Sarah says that Guelph is a city that she feels is her true home, and loves the community she has built.
“Since my social media has grown, my connections within the city have as well. I've loved getting more involved in community events, and even getting to know restaurants, and activities to do here that maintain my healthy lifestyle. I love that Guelph is a great place to actually successfully live a healthy lifestyle with the options we have here. We are so blessed with this city, truly,” she said.
With a following as large as half the population of Guelph, there is bound to be some negativity both online and privately.
Sarah shared that she is typically very positive and upbeat, but the negativity was difficult at first, and it still can be.
“The judgments that people can make were very hard. I felt myself on the defence privately a lot. I realize though, that with the 1 per cent of bad, there's 99 per cent good, and the community on my social media at least, is one that is very engaging and positive, and I'm truly thankful for it,” she shared.
In the end, Sarah hopes that others don’t see her as simply an inspiring story. She hopes that others will see that self-discovery and self-improvement is about much more than a number on the scale.
“It’s not actually about the weight or a number, and it's not about being motivated every single day. Truth is, for me this is a choice. A daily commitment to love myself enough to feed my body what it needs, and exercise it to be strong. I didn't realize what I was capable of until I tried. I removed the roadblocks of my own negative thinking and turned my life around,” said a triumphant Sarah.
Perhaps one of the biggest compliments came from her own daughter, who brought the Oxygen issue Sarah was in to school to show her classmates.
“While I try and stay humble about it all, that was a cool moment for me as I realized that I was a mom they were proud of, and wanted to share that with their friends. It's simply amazing,” shared Sarah.
To find Sarah on Instagram, click here (@thebirdspapaya)
