May Member Spotlight: Sara Smith

When BZ member Sara Smith moved to the Reading area just under 12 years ago, she, in her own words, was “extremely morbidly obese.”

Since then, though, the 34-year-old rock star (literally – she’s the lead vocalist of a local band called Resin Soul) committed to entirely revamping her wellness routine and lifestyle. Since moving to the area and joining Body Zone, she’s lost more than 250 pounds. And that’s not a typo.

The secret to her success – outside of the tremendous discipline and routine she’s built over the years with dieting and nutrition – is an unfailing attitude. A lifelong hormonal condition is finally under control and she hasn’t looked back.

“My advice is and has always been to keep fighting the fight,” she told us. “Don’t give up. When things get stagnant, change something, anything. Life is always in flux so we must be too.”

Her journey to losing 250 pounds wasn’t always smooth. She’s had to battle through a few serious illnesses and injuries, and getting back to her workout schedule was always the toughest. But she managed to persevere and maintain a mix of different workouts. She says, “I started my fitness journey at 400 lbs. At that point, I really couldn’t do any of the classes but I walked the track and loved Aqua Zumba. Eventually I had lost enough weight to be able to keep up with some older adult classes and began to jog. Then I fell in love with Zumba.”

After sending her two young children off to school, Sara tries to exercise up to five times a week, alternating her two or three workouts a week at Body Zone with some in-home or outdoor workouts. To her, mixing up the workout routine makes life easier and rids boredom. She “absolutely loves” BODYSTEP and Step Fusion with Patty on Monday and Wednesday mornings, but she is also a big fan of Zumba and Pound classes, all which involve dynamic strength and interval training to burn fat and build muscle.

As she’s recovering from a recent injury, she’s limited most of her workouts at BZ to the track, but she’s looking to jump back in to the routine – just as she has time and time again in the last 12 years – and get to the core of her workout goals.

“I want to feel strong,” she said. “I want to be able to do anything I want to do physically, and I want to not hate what I see when I look in the mirror.”

Judging by her accomplishments in the last handful of years, she can do that and more.