I met Sarah when I was in Boston and we got to do a several Pilates videos together. It was really cool meeting someone else who loves health and fitness as much as I do AND also dedicates her time to making videos about it. I mean, how many people actually ENJOY recording themselves workout? Collaborating was a no brainer…and super fun.
I’ll never forget the first time I met Sarah at a coffee shop on Newbury and she brought her own Stevia to sweeten. Marks of a TRUE healthy living blogger.
Anyway, onto the interview with a YouTube Fitness Guru extraordinaire!
Name: Sarah Dussault
Occupation: Author of SarahFit.com, Senior Producer of Diet.com Video, Dirty Water TV correspondant, and YouTube fitness guru :)
1. Describe yourself in 3 words: Competitive, independent and perfectionist
2. Tell us a little about yourself (you can be shameless on your achievements here!):
I’ve been viewed on YouTube over 80 million times. I have two viral videos that I produced under the Diet.com DietHealth channel, The Photoshop Effect (11+million) and The 4-year Old Cheeseburger (4.5 million). I wanted to be a broadcast journalist but in the process of “building my reel” at diet.com, I also developed a following and became an expert in YouTube. Since my start in September of 2006, I’ve created over 500 videos. I’ve worked with many celebrity trainers and some celebrities themselves like Bethenny Frankel. I’m now building my own site, SarahFit.com, and working as a community leader for Laughing Cow Cheese. I am also currently training for the Men’s Health Urbanathlon and am writing online for Men’s and Women’s Health atCrushingTheCourse.com.
3. At what point did blogging and vlogging become a career instead of a hobby?
I first took the job with Diet.com in September of 2006 having never blogged before or ever read blogs. I started my own blog at the time about celebrity health and fitness. After I produced the Photoshop Effect, I hated anything about celebrities and fitness! I stopped blogging. Then Diet.com decided to reduce it’s costs and I went part time. I decided it was time to build my own audience. That was November of 2009 and I have been blogging since! I have been a successful full-time blogger for officially a year now. I did get certified to be a personal trainer so that I would have some expertise but I no longer train clients since I have am so busy with blog stuff!
4. Why are you addicted to health & fitness?
I’ve been obsessed with health and fitness since 6th grade health class! My mom is a weight watchers lifer and passed on the neurotic point counting to me. I was an athlete all throughout high school. I was captain of my soccer and track teams :) I am one of those people that is naturally athletic but I never wanted to pursuit a sport in college. As a result, I went from being active 7 days a week to binge drinking in college. I gained that freshmen 15 but lost it quickly during the summer going into my sophomore year. I battled the college pounds with unhealthy behaviors but once I graduated and landed the diet.com position, I became addicted. I love to eat and drink. If I didn’t workout, I would weight 30 lbs heavier! Working out also helps reduce stress and makes me feel good about myself. It’s my therapy.
5. Were you always fit? Or was there a moment when you had to stop and evaluate your lifestyle?
I’ve always been fit except for that infamous freshmen year! Each school year, I’d gain back the 10 lbs I’d lose each summer. I still struggle with it, but I’ve never allowed myself to gain over 10 lbs before losing it again.
6. Sample workout week: M, W, F I strength train, T & Th I do interval cardio and Saturday I go for a long run!
7. Sample daily diet: Protein Pancake with fruit, greek yogurt with slivered almonds for a snack, salad with grilled chicken for lunch, celery with peanut butter or trail mix for a snack, dinner is usually a lean protein grilled with sweet potatoes and lots of veggies, usually a salad or grilled zucchini. Frozen fruit for dessert if I want it.
8. Fave clean food recipe: Protein Pancake
9. Fave “bad” food: Margarita’s and cupcakes :)
10. Fave color: PINK
11. Fave body feature:
This is hard because it depends on the season, usually my stomach though, sometimes my arms if Ive been on vacation a lot like lately.
12. Healthy living idol:
I love Carrie Underwood because she always looks healthy and fabulous. She had a normal college student body when she went on American Idol and transformed into a beautiful woman a year later. She writes down everything she eats, and I have a hard time doing that for just one day. I also appreciate Jessica Biel for being a sexy leading lady who is not afraid to have muscles. I think I have a similar body build as her, minus a few inches, but she is strong and I love that.
Source
13. What’s the coolest thing(s) that has happened to you as well known internet fitness celeb?
Hmmm. The coolest happened in the beginning of my career when I flew out to the Sundance Film Festival to follow Bethenny Frankel around. I literally stayed on her couch the first night. We went to fun parties and got cool swag. She wasn’t an A-list celeb then, but she knew what she wanted. We worked together for over a year which was fun. The videos are still up on YouTube! I even filmed in her apartment with just me and her a few times. I lost touch with her right after she was cast on Housewives. We got along well, but she is exactly the same in person as you see on TV. Other than that, I’ve been lucky to work with many celebrity trainers like Valerie Waters. I also think the highlight of my year was appearing in Women’s Health and Men’s Health Magazines - two months in a row :)
14. Biggest diet/exercise myth you want to bust:
If you want to lose weight and change your body composition, YOU NEED TO LIFT WEIGHTS. Stop being a cardio bunny!! Also, the fat burning zone is so false. Go hard or go home :)
