Work In Progress

It took one photo for Sarah Savio to overcome years of denial and build up the courage to change her lifestyle. Now a seasoned competitor who continues to smash goals, Sarah’s mission is to share her story and motivate women to ensure that no individual goes through the unknown of starting the way she did.

At 17 years of age at my year 10 formal, I wore a beautiful, royal blue Bariano dress. I felt so good in it until I received my professional photos back. I’d had my photos taken with my beautiful, petite friend, who is a size 8, and it hit me that my legs were double the size of hers! It then dawned on me that my dress from that night was a size 16 (and tight), and I weighed in at 105kg. I was in complete denial about the size I had become.

My journey didn’t start then, but the penny had dropped. I was completely lost on where and how to start this long battle ahead, and it took me until my gap year at school to realise it was time to start.

I began with the change of diet. I taught myself to select better food choices and then started to exercise regularly. Before I knew it, I was on my way and had dropped 15kg. I found myself having a more positive outlook on life, and things started to look brighter. I set myself a goal to lose 33 per cent of my original body weight — a dream where I’d be standing on the scales one day at 66.9kg (to be precise!).

Some weeks later, I was down to 84kg, but still with more than 30 per cent body fat. My body started to plateau, and I didn’t know where to go or what to do or what could be stalling my weight loss. I realised I needed professional help.