Whether at the gym, hanging out with her boys or searching for housing in Squamish, Serena “Sonny” Sabourin, 40, goes with the flow.
The Chief caught up to the busy athlete, ambassador at Squamish’s Anytime Fitness and businesswoman for a chat about bodybuilding, staying healthy and a changing Squamish.
What follows is an edited version of that conversation.
Q: A lot of people call you Sonny, how did that come about?
A: When I first moved to Whistler when I was really young, I started working at a coffee shop and they didn’t have my name tag ready. They said, “pick one from the drawer,” so I picked one that said “Sonny,” and it stuck.
Q: Where were you born and how did you end up in Squamish?
A: I was born in Ottawa and I ended up in Squamish because it was far away from Ottawa. Honestly, my family and I are estranged and it wasn’t really working out. I was quite an adventurous spirit and so I decided to move to Whistler in 1998.
Q: What did you do in Whistler when you got there?
A: I partied my ass off! I had a lot of fun, is what I did. I was raised as a Christian with an extremely restrictive upbringing. So, I got to Whistler and experienced the world and had a lot of fun. I worked a lot too and snowboarded every day — the Whistler lifestyle.
Q: Turning to bodybuilding, when did you begin?
A: I started two years ago. I am a yoga teacher as well and have been practicing yoga since I left home. That was one of the reasons I left home. My parents didn’t condone it.
Through the wear and tear on my body, I was really losing my drive for the physical process of yoga. I wasn’t practicing much and I stopped teaching. The meditation side is still there, but I can’t be on my hands any more. So, I was focusing on my jewelry business and wanted to get some more physical activity. I was given a pass to the gym and I started working with my trainer and she got me hooked on bodybuilding. I loved it. It felt really good in my body. I feel like every body has things it is meant to do, and mine was definitely strength training. I just loved it.
Q: For people who may not know much about it, can you tell us about it about bodybuilding and what it involves?
A: It is definitely a lifestyle. You are basically manipulating your diet and your exercises in a way to build certain muscle groups so you can grow your body into the shapes you want.
Q: And you compete?
A: Yes, that is a bit different in that you do all your work during the year and then your contest prep is shredding off the excess body fat and trying to keep as much lean muscle as you can. The week before — peak week — is really about manipulation. At about two weeks out, you should be the stage size you want to be and then peak week you carb load or adjust your cardio or whatever you need to do to fine tune so that on show day you look your best.
I eat fish and asparagus. A few days before I carb load, such as with rice cakes, sweet potatoes, and rice, that kind of thing.
I have competed already and I am doing one show on June 30 in Kelowna, and another in Vancouver on July 5.
I compete in the “bikini division,” in the masters category, which is 35 years and older, as well as in the open-aged category.
Q: And you get a spray tan before, why?
A: We do that for the lights on stage. The judges need to be able to see your muscle definition and if you come in white under those lights, you are not going to be able to see it.
Q: How did you feel the first time you competed?
A: I had the time of my life. It was the most fun thing I ever did. You work your butt off and you’ve said no to countless amounts of chocolate and then show day comes and you put on a beautiful sparkly bikini and get all dolled up with hair and makeup. Essentially, it is a celebration of the journey. It is lot of fun.
Q: I am in my later 40s and our bodies definitely change after 40, have you found it harder?
A: It is something people bring up that bothers me the most. I don’t feel old and I have seen so many people in such great physical shape older than I am. So I don’t see age as a limitation, whatsoever.
But I have noticed changes and I think that from the time you are born on you are developing in different ways and your body changes. You just need to adapt to that. For myself, hormones are causing changes and there are certain things you can do to help with that. Physical activity and diet is huge. You really need to have a huge focus on diet as you age.
Q: Do you feel objectified competing? If not, why not?
A: I could care less what anybody else thinks. This is my life and I am going to do what I want with it.
Everyone is always going to have an opinion. They can objectify me if they want to, I don’t really care.
Q: Have you always been so sure of yourself?
A: Maybe not in my teen years, but I think life experience has brought me to this point, for sure.
Q: You have children, correct? How have you brought fitness into their lives?
A: I have two! Jacob will be 17 soon and Max is 13. I am myself with my kids. I have always been really excited about the things that I do because that is how I want them to be. I want to be authentic and live my life to the fullest, and I hope they do the same.
I teach them as much as I can. My oldest son is an aspiring professional skateboarder so he is starting to pick up on things and is working out and watching his diet. My younger son doesn’t care. I could feed him chocolate bars every day and he would be happy. That may change.
Q: You have been in the corridor since 1998 and in Squamish since 2003, what do you make of the recent changes?
A: I think you can find pros and cons in anything. I really liked it when I moved to Squamish, but I really like it now, too. It is a different demographic now and that brings in different activities and more businesses.
Housing is a big issue. I have moved countless times. Right now, I am in between Squamish places because I can’t find one I can afford, so that is a little bit of a struggle.
I have been looking outside of Squamish, which really sucks, but also that is just going with the flow.
