Former model’s transformation after ‘muscle’ ban

When Sarah Wright was 17 she thought she had found her dream profession – until an agency told her what she would have to do to book jobs.

When Sarah Wright dropped out of high school at 17 to become a model she thought her dreams where coming true.

But instead Sarah said she found herself forced to follow a strict diet and even avoid squatting exercises to keep within an ideal body type.

The 20-year-old is sharing her story in a push for more diversity in the modelling industry – as well as how she found confidence through a phone fitness app.

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Sarah Wright became a model at age 17.

‘YOU CAN’T GAIN MUSCLE’

It wasn’t hard for Sarah to find work as a model in her late teens, doing everything from the catwalk to bikini and beauty campaigns.

But the teen from Newcastle in NSW said she found the work difficult as it meant long hours away from home.

“I got to do a fair bit of stuff which was great, but it’s also kind of hard because you have to do a lot of travelling for it, you don’t get paid very much to do it,” she told news.com.au.

“So it’s a very hard industry, really hard industry.”

She also put pressure on herself to stay skinny, especially after she was first accepted by her agency.

During her modelling days she was strict with what she ate and wasn’t allowed to do squats.

“They took some digitals (photos) of me, they said ‘all right there are few things you need to work on’,” Sarah said.

“You need to get your hair cut, we need to make sure you’re immaculate every single time you go see a client, which is fair enough I do understand.

“And then she was like, ‘No squatting, you can’t gain muscle you need to make sure you’re lean and slim’. And I was just like, ‘Oh, OK’.”

Sarah made sure she never picked up a weight at the gym and was also “super strict” about what she ate, resulting in her being the “smallest I’ve ever been”.

“I guess I got a little bit obsessed with what I was eating and stuff like that,” she said.

“I was never in a really bad mindset or anything, there were no eating disorders, but I was just very strict on myself, for a young person to be worrying about that.”

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After stepping back from modelling last year Sarah decided to focus on her fitness.

‘I JUST THREW MYSELF INTO IT’

Last year Sarah made the tough decision to stop modelling, realising the industry wasn’t the right thing for her.

“I have stepped back from it. It just doesn’t really fit in with my lifestyle at the moment,” she said.

“In the future I think that I want to come back to it more but I just think at this time in my life I’m very happy just doing what I want to do.”

Shortly after leaving modelling she began a job in Sydney and the long daily commute from Newcastle made it hard for her to focus on being healthy.

Sarah became determined to make changes to her life and downloaded the Tammy Fit App.

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Sarah wanted to focus on her health and fitness after leaving modelling.

Now she’s happier than ever about her body.

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She started Tammy Hembrow’s gym booty program, joking that the first session saw her “so sore for three days”.

But two months in she was seeing serious results and “just threw myself into” working out five days a week and following meal plans on the app.

Five months on and Sarah says she couldn’t be happier with how she looks – and couldn’t feel more different from her modelling days.

“I have a completely different outlook on my body. When I was modelling I never thought I was good enough, I was just like, ‘OK I need a bit more fat to come off here and here’,” she said.

“I would just pick myself to pieces in my mirror. That was literally the smallest I had been in my life and when I look at it now I have a lot more muscle on me and I look nothing like I used to back when I was modelling.

“To think that I’m a bit – I wouldn’t say bigger – but I guess more built, and to look in the mirror and really like how I look and appreciate it more I feel like that says a lot.”