My name is Tara, but my friends call me Pig (in a loving way, I swear!). I moved to London, England in March 2012 to pursue a career in personal training, after leaving my job as a financial journalist in Sydney, Australia behind. I currently work as a personal trainer and operations manager of a boutique personal training studio in Kensington.
Ultimately, my hope is to combine my love of fitness and writing and work for a fitness magazine (or start my own!) or open my own training facility. For now, this blog is where I share my thoughts on my daily training and new-to-me ideas.
I’ve always lived a very active life, but never saw any significant changes in my body until I began weight lifting. I grew up as a dancer and also taught for three years as I studied at university. Like many ballerinas, I suffered disordered eating habits when I was younger so I tried my hardest to promote positive body image among my students.
When I was 18 I began running, and was soon averaging 10 kilometres every single day. In total, I was exercising for three or four hours a day and eating a generally healthy diet. Yet my body never looked the way I wanted it to.
I met my husband, Rob, in 2008. As a regular weight lifter himself, he tried to get me to go to the gym with him and lift weights. But I equated gyms with those torture devices called treadmills, and never gave them a chance. About a year into our relationship, I slowly started doing more resistance-focused exercise. I was still obsessed with cardio, but I owned a few sets of dumbbells and resistance bands I used three times a week.
Eventually, my curiosity about weight lifting expanded beyond that which I could explore in my own apartment and I decided to join a gym. From the get go, I hired a trainer to create specific programs to meet my goals. One month into my training I saw my coach compete and that’s when I knew: I was going to enter a figure competition.
My original plan was to compete in May 2012 but our international move pushed back my competition date. I had been planning to compete in June 2013, but being diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) in October 2012 put a stop to that.
I am now lifting weights with the sole goal of getting stronger. I have been writing my own training and nutrition programs since January 2012 and also offer my services online, where I currently train approximately 70 people with various abilities and goals.
I lift weights four days a week and now only do cardio occasionally. I love the confidence lifting weights has given me, and I love knowing I can out-lift a lot of men! It also helps that my body looks significantly better despite the fact that I’m eating a lot more than ever before, and exercising a lot less than I once was.
I love teaching women about the benefits of weight training (and the perils of excessive cardio, which I have now almost completely given up!). Even more so, I love proving to women that you can eat seven decent-sized meals a day and still lose fat!
I am currently following the Paleo diet to attempt to manage the symptoms of PCOS. I do not recommend this style of eating for everyone, but it is recommended for hormone regulation.
The majority of people have such big misconceptions about diet and exercise, and the aim of my blog is to address some of these issues. I hope my journey is not only personal, but informative. I have a tough love approach and I’m not afraid to be brutally honest. If you have any specific questions or issues you would like me to cover please let me know. Thanks for stopping by.
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Great to see the website growing. I look forward to reading about your journey and you take on the diet and fitness…… Keep the blog coming!!!!
Try not to turn into one of those gross muscle women :S
Thanks Meg. There’s a fine line between being nicely defined and strong, and overly masculine!
Congrats on training for you upcoming competition. I live abroad but am also from Australia and have a good girlfriend who is also training for competition this month. I am so amazed at her discipline.
So glad that I came across your blog
I’ve dabbed with the idea of figure so I’m super excited to read more about this one! You rock girl
Wow… so stoked I found your blog. Seems you’re heading (or have started heading) in a very similar path in which I wish to pursue also!! Good luck with your journey, I look forward to reading updates
Welcome to London! I’m a Sydney girl too who moved in Feb 2012 with my husband. Good luck with your dream career as a personal trainer. Keep up the good posts with the handy tips
Hi Tara.
Please can you come up to nottingham and train me
If I make the trip one day, I will let you know
Yeyyyyyyyyyy!!
Yeyyyyyyyyyy!!
Can i have permission to use one of your Pictures as part of my ICT Unit 1 Dida course and only intend to use it for educational purposes only. http://www.sweatlikeapig.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/fruit.jpg Here is the URL of the picture. it shows friut and veg to promote healthy eating.
Please reply ASAP. Thank you
It’s not my original photograph so I can’t grant permission, sorry. I included the source in my original post.
I just found your website today! (I googled “Dana Lynn Bailey diet” and your website was on the first results page – Gender Double Standards.) I’m checking it out and now and it is sooo refreshing (and encouraging) to hear about getting results after dropping the cardio. I’m looking forward to checking out some more posts. Good luck with all of your goals!
Thanks, Amy! I would love to know all about DLB’s diet too
I hope you enjoy my blog!