86 Jan/Feb 2018 oxygenmag.com.au
S
ara-Jane McShane is
acknowledged across various fields
of expertise, including magazine
writing, journalism, modelling,
and personal training, continuing to heavily
devote herself to the industry of health and
fitness. By focusing her time, energy, and
attention on becoming the best version of
herself, the 35-year-old from Bangor in
the US state of Maine hopes to encourage
women with her story.
Looking back to when she was 16, Sara-
Jane admits she had little knowledge of
health and nutrition before she started
training. She confesses that eating cake for
breakfast was a normal routine.
“Although I was into sports like basketball,
softball, and dance, I had no idea on how
to train for strength and eat for health,” she
says.
Recalling her first training session brings
a mixture of emotions for the personal
trainer, who says she felt “terribly weak”, but
also excited for her journey. The memory
of another session, which she describes as
a pivotal moment in her life, still makes her
cringe.
“I had entered Personal Training school
and was being tested on my one-mile run at a
local track in Florida,” she says.
“It took me 21 minutes to complete the
mile and I had zero lung power. I felt so
weak.
“I told myself, ‘that’s the last time I’m
going to feel this way’. That same month I
spotted my first Oxygen magazine and never
looked back.”
She has since experienced an abundance
of changes and now refers to hercomparisons in training from then to now
as “night and day” — two entirely different
practices.
“I’m a totally different person internally
and externally,” she says. “I feel stronger
from the inside out!”
To develop a healthy attitude toward food
and exercise, Sara-Jane had to endure both
physical and mental battles, which she says
have made her the person she is today.
“I believe I have overcome the mindset of
quick fix and fad dieting,” she says. “That
mindset was hard to break, since growing up,
that’s all I saw.
“I’m so proud to have overcome that and
now have a healthy relationship with my
body.”
It was through hard work and deter-
mination that Sara-Jane learnt that she did
not need to hate her body simply because
she wasn’t as thin as the supermodels in
magazines.
“The media has a way of brainwashing
young girls,” she says. “I wish I had known
that my body was just fine the way it was and,
if anything, to focus on health instead of the
fad diets.”
She uses her progress as her motivation
in both her training and career, with each
rewarding aspect pushing her closer toward
her goals. “The most rewarding aspect of
training is seeing what was a super struggle
for me to do at one point and then to be able
to gain success and strength in that area,” she
says.
Sara-Jane also draws motivation from
nutrition and its vitality in the journey to
a healthy lifestyle. Devoting areas of her
life to the industry has given her severalThe power in the petite
WordsFrances Caratozzolo/Photos byDanny D’melloWhen it comes to transformations in terms of
pure strength of the mind and body, Sara-Jane
McShane takes the cake. Where once cake was
literally on the menu for breakfast, now the
personal trainer, model, and writer is dishing up
sizable amounts of knowledge and inspiration
across many health and fitness roles in the
industry — not to mention while becoming strong
enough to carry double her weight!
opportunities to change her life in a positive
way.
“My motivation comes from wanting to
be a healthy and strong version of me,” she
says. “I have learnt that I’m so blessed and
privileged to train.” To Sara-Jane, training is
a choice.
“I don’t have to train,” she says, “I get to
train. Some people can’t, and that motivates
me to always be thankful and reach higher.”
Acknowledged for her positivity and
inspirational advice, Sara-Jane has been
pushed into the public sphere for all the
right reasons. Her passion has assisted in
branching into different fields allowing her
to accumulate many qualifications.
“I set out to become a personal trainer,
nutritionist, and writer to help others learn
as I did about the life of fitness,” she says.
Looking back, she admits it wasn’t easy to
become active and believes this will help her
to relate to women and their struggles.
“The number one thing I’ve learnt is that
health comes first,” she says.
“For me, working out isn’t about the scale;
it’s about getting my body stronger. When
you put health and strength goals on the
front burner, fit follows.
“Training makes me feel alive. It
gives me happiness and the feeling of
accomplishment. If I’m down, training picks
me up because of all the feel-good hormones
it releases.”
Ultimately, training has played a
significant role in her personal growth and
development.
“Training is a very powerful anti-anxiety
and anti-depressant,” she says.
If it fails you at any time, as it is bound toBY ERIN RIETDYK