The Hollyoaks actor is writing a brilliant new blog about fitness and nutrition
FORGET that she's a TV star for a moment. Let's focus instead on the fact that Sarah Jayne Dunn is a 36-year-old new mum with a demanding work schedule and a wedding to prepare for.
Although she's got a more glamorous life than most of us, she's dealing with the same challenges we all face. Fitting in a workout while also being there for her family and job. Finding the motivation to eat healthily when you don't sit down to dinner until 8pm at night.
It's why her new blog following her twelve-week body transformation with Ultimate Performance's Online Personal Trainingprogramme is full of the kind of insights and truths we can relate to.
It's her best tips on training, nutrition and lifestyle through the ups and downs of her transformation journey, and we were hooked from week one.
Sarah's Blog intro - I want to get fit, healthy and looking good for my wedding
I’m getting married in twelve weeks! There’s no bigger motivation than wanting to look and feel great on your wedding day. There will be nothing better than walking down the aisle full of energy, skin glowing and feeling amazing.
This why I am embarking on a twelve-week transformation with Ultimate Performance – to get back in optimum shape.
I did something like this a few years ago; I trained really hard, ate really well and I felt the best I’d ever felt. I know how good you can feel being really healthy and physically strong and I really want to get that back.
My skin was better, my sleep improved and my energy levels were sky high. I felt amazing for feeling strong – and this is something I wanted to get back to.
One thing after another has got in the way of getting my fitness back.
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Sarah's Blog: Week 1 - My body is changing already after one week
When your training and diet are on point, it’s amazing how quickly things can change. I’m literally one week into my body transformation with Ultimate Performance and already I can feel the difference.
I think the reason is because you’re doing everything at once – making the changes to your diet, your training and your lifestyle that you need.
Doing this programme with UP, makes you go, ‘Right, I’m going to get right back on it. I’m going to be being amazing with food, perfect with training and stick to everything’.
And when you see results, that really motivates you to carry on. It just gets you excited – this is week one of twelve and if I’m feeling the benefits already and seeing the difference, I can’t wait for week twelve!
My body transformation motivations…
I posted a comment on Instagram about my pre-wedding transformation with UP and a lot of people commented saying I didn’t ‘need’ it.
As lovely as that is, I wanted to explain why I’m embarking on this journey.
I feel more energetic when I train regularly and eat good, nutritious food.
My energy levels soar and I sleep deeply and for longer. My skin improves. I drink more water which I struggle with when I’m not exercising regularly.
I feel physically and mentally stronger, I get such a buzz from feeling my body strength improving.
I like seeing my body physically change and feeling more confident in my clothes. I want to be strong, healthy and a good example to my little boy.
I love the feeling I get post workout, like I could do anything and how proud I am with myself for smashing a good workout.
These are just a few of the reasons, not to mention all the health benefits, why I’m training with UP; I might not ‘need’ to train hard but I absolutely ‘WANT’ to!
What happened at my first ‘weigh in’…
Before my first training session, I had the dreaded ‘weigh-in’ during my consultation with my trainer Mark.
I had my body fat and all my measurements done. It was pretty extensive – they measured everything.
My body fat is around 23.6%, which isn’t as bad as I first thought.
Being post-natal, the last time I did a body fat reading I was about 26%, so just from my own training and being mindful of what I was eating, I managed to lose some fat.
My goal is to get down to 20% by the end of this month. Now I’ve got that goal in mind, I know where we’re headed and I want to get there...Read on
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Sarah's Blog: Week 2 – I Survived My Hen Party and lost 6lbs
One slip-up doesn’t have to spell disaster.
Feeling like you have to be 100% perfect with absolutely everything can leave you feeling like everything is ruined if you have one little blip. But that’s not the case – if you fall off the wagon, it’s how you respond to it that counts.
I found this after I went out with the girls on my hen party in Leeds last weekend.
I had been on-point with my diet and training all week – but with the hen party, I knew Saturday was going to be a write-off. I had an amazing time, but it wasn’t worth it. It was the worst hangover I’ve had in my life.
I have been so good since the start of January and this was the first major time I’d fallen off the wagon with drinking and eating properly. It had a knock-on effect on my training. On Sunday I thought I’ll have a day where I’ll try and be good, but I fully intended on being back on it on Monday.
I was going to train myself on Monday and get back into it, but I was still so ill. It meant I didn’t get back to training in the gym until Thursday and I was worried that I had undone all my progress from Week 1. I still lost weight.
We did my measurements on Thursday because it had been two weeks exactly since I started my transformation. But despite not being 100%, I’ve still managed to make really good progress.
I have dropped 6lbs, which I wasn’t expecting at all. I’ve also lost 1.6% body fat too. I was made up! My trainer Mark was like, ‘This has dropped really quickly!’
I’m really pleased. I feel like I’ve got away with having my hen do, which is behind me now and I am right back on it again. Just cutting out sugar, cleaning up my diet and being a bit more organized with my food has made a really big difference to the areas I want to work on like my hips and tummy.
Find out more about UP Fitness
