6 days ago
Inverness weightlifter: 'How I lost 3 stone and found my power again after a break-up'
Inverness weightlifter Sara Boussaikouk is excited.
I speak to her as she trains in the gym at Inverness Leisure, dragging massive weights around and obligingly posing for photos in between lifts.
Today is a 'light day', I'm reliably informed. It doesn't look anything of the sort to me, but I'll take her word for it.
Sara, 35, has recently been selected to compete at the prestigious Women's Weightlifting Grand Prix in Austria.
She trains four times a week for at least two hours at a time. She can lift the equivalent of a washing machine.
But just a few years ago, she was over three stone heavier and desperately unhappy after coming out of a bad relationship.
Sara says the change has been 'like night and day'.
And now, she is laser-focussed on getting to Austria and competing with the best in the world.
By day, Sara sits at her desk in her Inverness home and looks after the social media feeds and website of East Lothian Council.
But after work – and sometimes before work, or in between, or on days off – she spends most of her time at the gym.
She has only been weightlifting for about four years – it's perhaps not an obvious choice of hobby for a 30-something woman.
So how did she end up among the weights?
Sara said: 'I'd had a really bad few years with an unhappy relationship.
'I needed to do something – literally anything to get out of the house.'
In 2021, just as gyms were reopening after Covid, Inverness Leisure announced an Olympic weightlifting class and Sara felt it was for her.
She said: 'I came to the first class and I loved it – I was just obsessed with it.'
Soon, Sara was starting to take the challenge more seriously.
In the past, she had gone to the gym, taken part in roller derbies – even having a go at gymnastics and ice skating growing up.
But she says she was never really good at anything – until weightlifting came along, that is.
She said: 'I've always had an issue with my hip and I'm extremely clumsy – so it's a miracle that I'm doing this.
'This has been the first thing that I've been able to do and I've been good at.'
Alongside the two-hour sessions four times a week, Sara also tries to follow a high-protein diet.
She can burn 3,000 to 3,500 calories in a single training session and needs 200g of protein a day. An average steak has 25g of protein.
Sara said: 'It's just chicken and protein shakes constantly.
'Weightlifting is like a second full time job at the moment – it's ridiculous.'
Sara took a break from weightlifting a couple of years ago and her weight increased to over 17 stone.
When she came back, she knew she had to do something about it.
A 2,000 calorie a day 'diet' helped her lose almost exactly three stone, bringing her in just over 14 stone.
She is aiming to lose another 9lb – to drop a category in weightlifting competitions.
Sara said: 'I'm 100% happier now. It gives me an outlet and a voice that I didn't have before.
'It gives me a way to have some power again and build some confidence and meet new people. All my closest friends come here now.
'It's completely night and day – I don't know what I would have if I hadn't found it.'
Sara also gets fulfilment from coaching younger hopefuls at Highland Weightlifting Club. These days, many of her pupils are girls.
She says she inspired by three women in her life – her mum Fiona Boussaikouk, her sister Leila Daubney and her four-year-old niece Melody.
Sara is now aiming to get to the Women's Grand Prix in Wels in Austria in August.
She applied for a place and qualified and was chosen to represent Scotland in the Masters class. That's for lifters who have turned 35 – which Sara only did a month or so ago.
She can now lift 57kg in the snatch – that's the weight of a very large Giant Pacific Octopus, or 10 domestic cats, if that helps visualise it.
And in the clean and jerk, she lifts 76kg – basically a washing machine.
She said: 'I want to lift as heavy as possible for as long as I can.'
She is raising funds to help pay for the costs of the trip.
If everything goes to plan, she'll be attending the event with 15 other lifters from across Scotland. The only other Highlands and Islands competitor she knows of is from Skye.
Despite already having 15 competitions under her weightlifting belt, and already having a place at the Scottish Classic later in the year, Sara isn't full of confidence for Austria.
She said: 'I'm bricking it – I'm absolutely terrified.'
