It’s always the little things that can make a big difference to your life – particularly when it comes to getting a better body.
There’s no magic to the incredible body transformations we have helped thousands of clients achieve at Ultimate Performance – just simple changes anyone can make.
Some of our successful clients have shared the biggest lessons they learned at UP to achieve their extraordinary transformations and will keep them in great shape for years to come…
1. ‘Weightlifting is incredible for fat loss and a better body’ – Jenny
I knew weightlifting was good for fat loss but I hadn’t really seen the evidence before on myself.
To only do weight training and for the target to be fat loss was a little bit weird at first. The numbers then started coming down and I was like ‘wow! This is working!’
The results I’ve experienced from just 12 weeks of lifting weights are just ridiculous. They don’t compare to any other training I’ve done before.
I would recommend women in particular to consider weightlifting.
I see so many women going to the gym and doing spinning or going on the treadmill for an hour, and actually, the science behind it shows weightlifting is actually way more beneficial.
It takes a lot less time to do it too – so go and pick up some weights.
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2.’Control calories and work hard, and anyone can lose weight’ – Ed
I have learnt that I can lose weight and that I was not always destined to be 18 or 19 stone forever.
I have learnt that body composition is a fundamentally simple equation of calories in against calories out, and it is just a question of hard work to make it happen.
Learning the discipline of calorie tracking and macro counting has helped me excel in other areas of my life; eating healthily and with a good quantity of lean protein and green vegetables has sharpened me up mentally and improved my mood across the board.
I am a generally happier person as a result of eating better and the corresponding boost in energy I get throughout my daily life.
3. ‘Switching to a protein and fat-based breakfast is a game-changer for all-day energy’ – Paddy
It’s important to get your head around not having sugary stuff for breakfast in the morning.
By sugary stuff, I don’t mean just having a bowl of Frosties. I also mean any carbohydrate-based breakfast.
What I found was that if I had salmon and green vegetables for breakfast I wouldn’t instantly feel what your body thinks of as ‘awake’.
But what you realise is that when you think you’re waking up eating muesli or granola, that’s actually your blood sugar spiking up.
Normally if I’d had this for breakfast at 6 am, by the time I’d cycled to work and it’s 9-30 or 10 am, there would be no way I could get to lunch without having some form of snack.
Whereas with the salmon and green vegetables for breakfast, you didn’t feel yourself waking up as quickly because your blood sugar levels weren’t rising as quickly, but you were satiated and you could get through to midday no problem.
So six hours without food for someone who is quite labrador-like with food was actually normally quite challenging.
But eating this way, it was amazing the difference it made. Your energy levels were more stable right through until lunch.
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4. ‘Weight training makes women toned and athletic – not “bulky”‘ – Gemma
Weight training does not make women look bulky. It’s hard enough for a guy to get bulky naturally weight training.
They’ve got a lot more testosterone than us!
Weight training for getting in shape for anyone is incredible. It’s shaped my body in more ways than you can imagine.
Your posture is better, your curves are still there, you’re lean, you look powerful. You look strong. But at the same time you look feminine still.
5. ‘I now see that food is fuel to perform at my best inside and outside the gym’ – Dee
I’d never seen food as fuel before. I’d seen it as this inconvenience that I had to do in between trying to do everything else.
Working through the sessions every week, looking at the nutrition plan, and understanding that every choice I make is for my benefit, has utterly changed the priorities of what I do.
It’s a game-changer. It puts you in charge of it. It allows you to make very clear and specific decisions to ensure that you can do and achieve what you want.
It means that at 3 pm in the afternoon, like most office workers, you don’t have a nap. Because you get to 3 pm and you normally feel like you’ve burned your day then you feel like you need that energy and off you pop to have half a litre of coffee. It doesn’t help.
I now don’t consider myself on a diet. I’ve not been told to cut things out.
Now my week includes lots of steak, chicken, burgers if I want to – and a lot of smoked salmon. My breakfasts are smoked salmon and spinach. It’s decadent, but it makes me really happy.
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6. ‘Increasing your daily activity is the key to fat loss’ – Ryan
Having a daily step count target is important.
It made me realise that even though I thought I was being active by going to the gym or doing a bit of cardio, most of my day was actually sedentary.
When you are mindful of the steps and distance you travel during a day, you realise just how much more activity and calorie burn you can fit into your life.
I started to go for evening walks whilst listening to podcasts just to get my step count up, but then found that this was actually a great stress reliever, and gave me more time to reflect and quiet my mind, so it had an unexpected mental benefit, too.
7. ‘If you want to succeed in your transformation, sacrifices must be made’ – Marc
I learnt that in order to transform your body, you have to make sacrifices, and you have to really want to achieve the goals set.
You can’t transform your body by being half-hearted, or by simply turning up to the gym three times a week.
You have to eat clean, look after your body on rest days, and work extremely hard during every single session.
What I also learnt is that if you do that, you will love the experience, and love the results even more.
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8. ‘Age is just a number’ – Louise
I am now 45. I’ve always been a person who has wanted to be fit and healthy. That’s always been part of me.
I did feel at some point before I instigated this programme whether I was too old to do something like this.
Was it just for somebody that was in their 20s and 30s?
Then I thought no! I’m still going to pursue this and see where it takes me.
I want to be able to get the message out there that whether you’re a man or a woman, no matter what age you are, whether you’re in your 40s, your 50s, or even your 60s, you can still change your body. Nothing stops.
I think people need to get away from this attitude of ‘I’m past it’ or ‘I’m too old’ because that’s not the mentality you need to get fit.
Anyone can get fit. Everyone’s got muscles. Anyone can find those muscles.
I found mine! I’m still finding them!
I really hope that people in my age group – especially the ladies – can learn not to be so closed to the opinion that it’s not going to work for them.
It certainly can! Hopefully, I’m living proof of that!
9. ‘Getting more protein in your diet works wonders for your body’ – Jean
Something that needed to be brought into my diet was balance, which I’d never had before.
It has significantly changed how I feel every day. I was very high-carb before, and then I’d have these crashes, and I’d feel really irritable late in the morning, and now I don’t have that anymore, so it’s just taken that out of the equation, which is nice.
But adding in more protein from sources like eggs, and introducing healthy fats has been a revelation.
It was a big change, but it’s made a huge difference and changed me entirely.
It’s made me feel much more satisfied and I feel more energetic throughout the day now.
It’s surprising how one of the differences is me having eggs and vegetables in the morning.
How much difference that makes to you throughout the day, it’s been amazing.
10. ‘Make yourself accountable to your goals and you can achieve anything’ – Marie-Claire
I made myself accountable. I used an app on my phone to track my weight daily; I tracked my steps, my cycle, everything was tracked. My phone screensaver was changed to a picture of Britney Spears showing her stomach.
Her transformation was impressive, and this kept me motivated. I also stuck a note on the fridge ‘You are either feeding disease or fighting it’ – this made me think twice about opening that fridge door.
Change is up to you. If you want to do it, you can do it. Also, my excuses do not wash. I can no longer ‘forget’ to eat, drink or exercise. You are not ‘too busy’, and you can always make time.
