give you when you’ve heard me speak and
that’s that you’re going to die not
right away of course but you are going
to die before that point in time though
I’m here to ask you to live as full a
life as possible and I’m here to talk to
you today about how I’m trying to do
just that
now I get that I don’t look like
weight-loss inspiration standing on
stage right here at the moment but back
in 2012 I weighed over 43 and a half
stone I was told that was going to die
by the time I was 35 I am 35 I began
documenting my journey for survival if
you like which sounds quite dramatic but
it was actually pretty accurate in a bid
to help me work through some of the
issues and challenges that I was facing
a therapy of sorts if you like I also
figured that if I kept my fingers busy
typing they’d be less likely to find
their way into a packet of crisps what I
hadn’t planned on was the journey that
it would take me on the past few years
have been fraught with ups and downs and
I’ve put myself in some incredibly
challenging situations it’s being one of
the hot chili I started a brutally
honest yet online so to be brutally
honest online social media account and
what I wanted to do was hopefully share
my story in the hopes that maybe a
couple of people or a handful of people
or in my situation would be able to
relate to that story I was struggling
along for a couple of years I had been
told that I’d got type 2 diabetes I’d
been told that I got cancerous cells I
was in quite a bad place so I fought as
hard as I could and I managed to shift
21 stone
I managed to gain 13 of that back rather
epically in the space of a year however
so it’s not all being plain sailing
I did manage to ditch my type 2 diabetes
and I did manage to ditch the cancerous
cells along the way as well but all of
that stuff is minor in comparison to
what I actually learned about myself and
other people that face the same
challenges that I do I struggled I I
would eat my breakfast and I would be
planning lunch as I was eating breakfast
and I’d also be planning what I was
going to have between breakfast and
lunch and this cycle went on but I’d
planned my weight-loss journey down to
the nth degree and I was treating myself
like a project at work yet something
wasn’t clicking for me in fact these
little cards that I’ve got here was
something that I wrote way back when I
was first trying to shift my weight and
I’ll read them out to you when I’ve lost
weight I’ll enjoy cooking nice healthy
meals for my family and friends as I’ll
be more confident and will feel more
sociable happier when I lose my weight
I’ll be able to enjoy trying out
different activities that will make me
feel happy healthy and alive my life
will be full of fun things to do when
I’ve lost my weight I was putting my
life on hold when I’ve lost weight I’ll
go rock climbing when I’ve lost weight
I’m going to go swimming when I’ve lost
weight I’m going to buy a bike and when
I’ve lost weight I’ll wear a vest top
because I won’t have my bingo wings
anymore it was a struggle as I said you
know there were ups and downs along the
way but one of the things that I started
to realize was that I needed to try and
live life now instead of putting it on
hold and I remember the lightboard
moment it’s going to sound really simple
but I actually took my niece and nephew
to the park oh yeah
fabulous little monsters I took my niece
and nephew to the park and I had the
most amount of fern in that space of
time I’d had in in a long long time and
I got home and I realized something he
didn’t actually think about food so what
had consumed my every waking moment when
I was out there having fern I didn’t
think about it
so I made it my mission right there and
then to have a bit of fun to stop
putting life on hold so I joined the gym
I find it fern don’t shoot me I quite
like the gym met some amazing trainers
that have helped me out along the way
I started going out more to comedy gigs
to the theatre actually snuck onstage at
the RSC once it was fantastic I’m sure
I’m going to be on stage somewhere along
the lines and you know and I drink
cocktails yes there’s a few there and
yes I’ll be having some later on I went
rock climbing so I didn’t wait I went
rock climbing
I’ve been canoeing canoe safari for a
whole day my delightful liver heart was
taking the photos from behind me and
Mitch later on in the day I realized
that he actually wasn’t doing any
canoeing at all he was leaving the hard
work to me I went walking in the
highlands and I got lost in the
highlands and we sat on the rocket Aires
I have to realizing I’ve gone three
miles in the wrong direction and had to
walk three miles back again and I went
clay pigeon shooting and I’m actually a
pretty good shot so so I did all of that
canister I also bought a bike and I
pedaled my way around the Warwickshire
countryside despite it looking like my
backside is trying to eat the bike and I
ended up in a ditch and again why
delightfully other half rather than
helping me out of that ditch decided it
was a great photo moment so and I did a
mud run now I’d like to talk you through
the process of this mud run mid-walk
should I say I didn’t run I would only
run if there was an ice cream van in
front of me
I I entered this madryn mint cements
before and I didn’t that typical Sarah
thing of saying its final if lost layers
await by the time the murdering arrived
so ok I can go out there and do it but I
didn’t so I had to do it anyway and I
was in the first wave of people that
were running that day and I was right at
the front the warmup killed me so I
stood there at the front with quite a
lot of trepidation and anticipation and
I set off everybody in the first wave
overtook me rather quickly people in the
second wave caught me up rather quickly
just worried from being quite honest
with you and my friends were in the
second wave they caught up with me and
they slowed down to walk with me and I
said carry on carry on I don’t we’ll
told you what you carry on and they’ve
finished and they came back to get me so
he could do the last couple of obstacles
together which was marvelous of them so
I just I’d crawled in the net so she can
see from the delightful pictures there
I’d clambered over things through tires
second from last obstacle I had to climb
into a pit of mud crawl under a net job
done got out the other side walked to
the last obstacle which was this cargo
net I stood at the bottom thinking oh it
looks like Everest to me and I very
slowly indeed tried to climb the cargo
net now for those of you who’ve done mud
runs I’m sure you’re kind of health and
safety people out there as well well
know that they let a few people attempt
the obstacle at any given point in time
so they were holding everybody back and
I had my cousin on one side of me and my
friend on the other side of me and they
were actually helping me get my feet
into the right places because my poor
little feet had swollen up and my
fingers had swollen up like sausages
what I failed to tell you it was the
hottest day of the summer nightmare
and I made it about a third of the way
up the cargo net and I stood there I
didn’t stand I was clinging on for dear
life actually just don’t know how I can
do this genuinely did not think I would
be able to do it my cousin said to me
Sara do you want to get down I said no
give me a moment give me a moment so I
clung on a bit longer I just I can’t I
haven’t got any strength left my legs
are about to give up my little fat
sausage fingers just couldn’t hold on
for very much longer I was covered in
mud and I just wanted to go home
so I made a little movement as if I was
going to get down and the people who
were backed up it looked like there
about as many of them behind me as there
are here in this audience and the crowd
started to cheer me on her I can’t
and I don’t quite know how I did it but
I somehow managed to get to the top of
that cargo net what I didn’t tell you is
that the other side of the cargo net was
a slide into a pit of mud and as I’d
approach the car gonna I could see all
of these lovely gazelle-like creatures
running along clambering up the net
sitting on the top of it spinning around
holding hands and we down the other side
I did not do that I got to the top I
just clambered over the top I slid down
on my stomach got myself up at the
bottom my cousin came down behind me hit
the back of me and I went back down into
the mud but I did it we crossed the
finish line together and it was at that
point I realized I’d forgotten my change
of clothes and had to drive home in my
knickers I mean right off wasn’t the
best of days but actually it’s probably
one of my fondest memories of the things
I’ve done you know it was a challenge
and I did it now all of that stuff that
I’ve shown you the rock climbing the
canoeing or swimming I didn’t tell you
about swimming I guess swimming and I
don’t hide in a towel I sashay around
the edge of the pool like Beyonce would
and say there’s the swimming this is
cycling mr. canoeing this is a
rock-climbing there’s all of this sort
of stuff I’ve done that pretty much
around the 30 stone mark while in excess
of 20 stone probably closer to 30 stone
I just want people to realize that you
don’t have to put life on hold
I think I’d been waiting for this
Cinderella story I’ve been waiting for
I’m not so bad about Cinderella story
anymore if I’m being quite honest with
you because I’m out there creating my
own story life isn’t about perfection
life is about progress life is about
having fun life is about going out there
and doing it now
you can my plea to you today is to go
out there and inspire as many people as
you can with your imperfections thank
you [Applause]