Singapore #Fitspo of the Week: Sara May Garcia Perez

Life goes beyond the digits on the scale and your body is capable of so much more. Yahoo’s #Fitspo of the Week series is dedicated to inspirational men and women in Singapore leading healthy and active lifestyles. Have someone to recommend? Hit Cheryl up on Instagram or Facebook.

Name: Sara May Garcia Perez (@saramayfit)

Age: 41

Height: 1.59m

Weight: 55kg

Occupation: Personal Trainer

Status: Complicated

Diet: I don’t follow any specific diet. When I’m preparing for bikini competitions, I would do a calorie deficit. When I’m off-season, I just keep my calories at maintenance level.

Training: During competition season, in a week I do: five times of weights, two times of cardio, CrossFit once, and stretching and mobility daily. For the off-season, in a week I do: three times of weights, four times of cardio, three times of CrossFit, and stretching and mobility daily.

You used to swim freestyle and butterfly long distance events for your home city of Medellin, Colombia.

Yes, my mother brought me to the pool at the age of five because I was hyperactive, and she also wanted to keep me away from bad company in my neighbourhood.

I eventually stopped swimming at 14 because I wanted to look like my schoolmates and catch attention of the boys. My schoolmates looked gorgeous all the time, whereas my hair and skin were always dry from the chlorine in the pool. In addition, my curly hair made me look like a mess, whereas my schoolmates had nice, shiny long hair.

You grew up in a rough neighbourhood, and many of your friends were falling into the wrong company. How did you stay out of it?

My passion for fitness kept me away from the partying and bad company. I just wanted to go to bed early and have a good workout the next day. I’m still the same now.

How did your fitness journey start?

After I left swimming, I joined a dance school. I love to dance and that kick-started my passion for teaching group fitness classes. I discovered that I really love to teach – I derive a lot of joy from the music and movement, at the same time I also get to share this joy with a bunch of people.

When I was studying in university, I had to support myself, so I taught cycling, aerobics, dance and Pilates. I had a car so I could carry some small equipment to train my personal-training clients and get back to school in time for class.

All my schoolmates wanted expensive clothes, jewellery, holidays, nice cars and lots of partying – I just focused on getting my degree and aimed to get out of Colombia on my own.

I switched my degree from business management to sports science – much to the disapproval from my parents – and I also did a Masters in fitness management.

How did the opportunity to move to Singapore come about?

I moved to Bogota (capital of Colombia) and was there for six years. During the time I was there, I worked for Les Mills Latin America. Some of my colleagues started to apply for jobs in Asia but I was afraid to because I didn’t speak English.

I sent in my resume anyway and I got the job in Singapore, starting with teaching some of the Les Mills classes like dance, Pilates and spinning.

It was super hard to change my life, and it was tough learning English while I was teaching. My English is still not good but every day I try to learn something new.

You are now a personal trainer at UFit. What are some of the challenges you face as a personal trainer?

I’m lucky that I don’t feel I have any challenges; I really enjoy what I do and I think people can see that. At the beginning it was hard to gain credibility, but once people started to see my work, everything has been easy and smooth.

You also compete in physique and bikini competitions. What prompted you to take part in them?

Two years ago when I was 39, I wanted to do something special before I hit my 40s, so I signed up for a bikini competition just for personal experience. I ended up continuing and I just had my third competition in November 2018. I love how I keep learning about this sport – the diet, training, posing – and I also trained my first bikini competitor.

When did you feel the least confident about yourself?

When I was 14, because I felt ugly compared with my classmates. I stopped swimming so I could take better care of my skin and hair. It all sounds narcissistic but once I did that I started feeling more happy and confident, and that helped me to keep going in my fitness journey.

Did you get any comments about your body?

An ex-boyfriend said I look too muscular – probably why he is an ex! Nowadays I just receive compliments about my physique and people tell me that I look strong yet feminine.

My physique is the result of many years of training. I did so many sports throughout my life and, at 41 years old, I am happy that I am able to be fit, strong and fast. I can also wear a shiny bikini and high heels in front of many people without shame because I’m proud of my body. My body is not perfect but it is a perfect body for me.