Meet Sarah Jane: Fit Betty and The Fit Cookie

Name: Sarah Jane Parker
State: Wyoming

When and why did you start working out?: 
I have been working out off and on since I was a teenager, but I didn’t really get serious about it until I was in college and I wanted to start getting serious about my fitness and health. I joined a gym, started doing group fitness classes and got hooked!

What is your workout of choice?: 
Metabolic conditioning and metabolic resistance training. It’s such a good mix of weight lifting, cardio, bodyweight strength training, and plyometrics, it’s challenging and never gets boring. I have started to love running lately, but I will always love weight lifting.

What is your favorite race, race distance, and WOD: 

My favorite race was the Survivor Mud Run my husband and a friend ran together last year. It’s fun! We try to do races together and we are getting our 2 kids involved these days. So far, I have only run 5K’s. I was training for a half-marathon but got tendinitis so it’s going to be 5K’s for me for a while, haha! I don’t really do CrossFit, but I love lifting weights. I have done some WOD’s on my own, and so far my favorite has been a WOD mash-up I created from 2 separate CF WODS (I posted it here: http://fitbetty.com/mod-wod-workout/)

What is your most favorite piece of workout gear?: 
My heart rate monitor! I am a big numbers person, so I like seeing where my numbers are at when I work out. My next favorite workout item would be my Altra zero drop shoes – I love them!



Do you follow any diet or take any specific supplements that complement your workouts?: 
I try not to follow any specific diet, but I guess it would be gluten-free clean eating with less grains. I have a lot of food allergies and sensitivities and IBS, so my diet fits around what I can tolerate. Since my diet is limited, I make sure I am take a multivitamin, calcium and magnesium, and probiotics. I get down every winter when there is less sunshine so B vitamins and vitamin D are really important for me.

What is your favorite cheat food? 
Anything dessert, especially cookies and chocolate (if they are allergy friendly!)

What advice would you give someone just starting out? 
Take things one at a time. It can be overwhelming thinking about all the things that need changed, so pick one thing each week to work on and focus on just that (like eating more veggies). If you feel you have made progress, move on to another aspect of your health the next week (like drinking more water). It establishes good habits at a reasonable pace so you don’t lose your sanity.

What is your best workout memory?
My favorite workout memory is of my husband and I running races together, especially the Survivor Mud Run. We had a blast and it’s special since we get to participate together. Any time I am enjoying fitness with my family is a good memory.

What is your biggest “FIT BUCKET LIST” item? 
It’s hard to pinpoint just one! I would love to try stand-up paddle boarding, but sky diving and scuba diving are also on my list!

Tell us something that not many people know about you? 

I was in a beauty pageant several years ago. People laughed at me for doing it (I’m a tomboy!), but it was something I wanted to try. Afterward I decided the pageant thing wasn’t for me, but I enjoy showing photos to my kids and it was overall a good experience. Looking back, I am so glad I stepped out of my comfort zone to try something new.

You can find Sarah Jane here:

Blog: I have 2! The Fit Cookie (http://thefitcookie.com) and Fit Betty (http://fitbetty.com)

Twitter: @fit_betty and @thefitcookie

Facebook: http://facebook.com/thefitcookie & http://facebook.com/fitbetty1

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/thefitcookie

Instagram: http://instagram.com/thefitcookie

What is on your Fit-Bucket List for 2014?