Who says women cannot have it all? In today’s ever-evolving era, women are well poised to balance their multi faceted lives - be it motherhood, their thriving professional careers and personal hobbies. Sara Ouellette personifies all of the above, successfully wearing many hats of entrepreneur, mother, partner and competitive athlete. Belying her 115lb frame is a fierce woman who embodies the essence and qualities of today’s renaissance ‘fairer gender’. Originally from Ontario, Canada, Ouellette has always been interested in health and fitness. And it seems that her precocious curiosity into the field from very young has predisposed her to the life that she leads now. Always the athletic enthusiast, Ouellette is an accomplished figure skater who started off her competitive career within cold ice rinks in Canada. “In my teens, I became one of Canada’s few quadruple gold level figure skaters, and continued to represent The University of Guelph’s varsity figure skating team,” she said.
Fully adopting Trinidad as her home, in 2011 Ouellette sought to carve out her own niche in the field of middle distance running, after joining the One A Week running group. Coached by Dexter Scott, Ouellette has made quite a mark as a runner since her venturing into competitive running in 2012. She said “I started to love running more and more as I kept striving and improving my times. At the end of 2011, I became pregnant with my daughter Skyla. I continued running (moderately) throughout my pregnancy. My last race was just two weeks before my baby girl was born.” Sara even credits “mommyhood” as helping her to improve as an athlete. To date in 2013, Ouellette has competed in numerous races and has copped the top spots in the International Women’s Day 5k and the Diego Martin 10k, “10.46 miles” races, clocking 20:48 and 45:41 respectively. She has even made some landmark personal bests in the half marathon category in January of this year, finishing in 1:42:07 – just five months after giving birth. All her efforts have paid off well as Ouellette is considered an elite runner classed top 5 in middle distance running in Trinidad and Tobago.
As a health and fitness enthusiast, it is no surprise that her professional career is a perfect marriage to her competitive career. Along with her fiancé/business partner Stephen the petite entrepreneur is the creative visionary and proprietor of Beyond Vitality, a business that is premised upon educating and servicing clients about holistic health and wellness. As a Registered Nutritional Consulting Practitioner (RNCP) and a Certified Nutritional Practitioner (CNP), Ouellette has been running her business for the past three years. She said “Holistic health is everything that encompasses health; it’s not just nutrition. It’s spirituality, stress management, the environment, body care. We start with nutrition and then we look at everything else” Operating out of her home office in Knights Bridge, Cascade, Ouellette sees many clients who have needs ranging from weight loss, disease management, pregnancy or an overall lifestyle change. Clients normally meet with Ouellette and discuss their goals and objectives. She will then consult with them, creating individualised nutritional programs to help them achieve their goals.
According to Ouellette, she offers email support, online (Skype) support and of course follow-up consultations to monitor her client’s progress. The holistic health enthusiast believes in going back to basics, using as many organically grown products as possible. In her younger years she admits to being gullible to “health washing” propagated by the media. “I was really affected by media in terms of health washing, when they said sugar free this or fat free that which I discovered was just about making money. My major breakthrough was going back to basics using whole grains, nuts, seeds, fruits, sprouts and sea products”. She also incorporates virgin olive oil and coconut oil in generous amounts in her diet. Having been diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), Ouellette swears by her alternative health journey as tremendously improving her condition “ I felt great, my body felt more energized, my face cleared up, I was a better athlete by having faster recovery times, my hair loss improved and my menstrual cycle became regular,” she said enthusiastically.
For those who are afraid of the cost involved with “going green”, Ouelette advises that one should take the time to make homemade meals and snacks and curb on eating out regularly.
She also suggests going as close to nature as possible which means going outside of the grocery store and utilising green markets for fresh produce, relinquishing the attraction to pre-packaged, tinned foods. This does not mean that one cannot have a little fun or a “cheat day”. “I believe in the 80-20 rule, and that 20 per cent is for you to indulge in a little treat, guilt-free. I do enjoy a slice of carrot cake and cheese cake”. Ouellette has grand plans to expand her consultancy services in time to come. She would like to create an educational institute where clients are welcomed for workshops and seminars. She even foresees the creation of an all-inclusive holistic health retreat centre for her clients. Sara Ouellette is well on her way to becoming one of the Caribbean’s more established holistic health practitioners, inspiring women all over to still put their health and overall wellbeing as a priority in their lives. “I’m seeing more women getting into the field but I think I’m the first in terms of education in holistic health. I want to inspire women to take care of themselves while mothering and doing it all.”
