Neil was by no means new to the fitness lifestyle when he joined Ultimate Performance (U.P.).  

In fact, he had spent five years going it alone in the pursuit of increased size and strength before deciding to start his transformation challenge.  

However, a complete lack of dietary awareness meant that he was sabotaging all his hard work in the gym. 

“Before joining U.P., I definitely managed to increase my size, but I’d say that it was mostly in the form of body fat, especially around my waist.” 

“I thought fat gain was an inevitable side effect of trying to build muscle, but I got a real shock when I saw my ‘before’ pictures.”  

Frustrated with his lack of results and confused by all the conflicting information in magazines and online, Neil joined U.P. and with the help of his trainer managed to lose 19kg (42lbs) and more than half his body fat in just 14 weeks.  

“Coming to U.P. and letting them advise and make decisions on what approach to take was essential for someone like me. 

“Without this structure, I’d have been completely lost and probably still in the same shape that I was three months ago.” 

Client profile

Age: 30s

Transformation timeframe: 14 weeks

Body weight before: 90kg (198lbs)

Body weight after: 71kg (156lbs)

Body fat before: 20%

Body fat after: 8%

Neil’s transformation habits

Meal planning

Pre-transformation

• No awareness of calories or macronutrients when deciding what to eat.
• Standard weekend breakfast: 3 x bacon and egg McMuffins and a hash brown.
• ‘TV eater’ – mindlessly snacked on ice cream and chocolate bars.

During transformation

• Spaced meals evenly throughout the day to help combat evening cravings.
• Got into a meal planning routine and had go-to meals – salmon, broccoli and sweet potato was a favourite.
• Limited dining out, but favoured steak restaurants when he did. Ordered extra vegetables and a mint tea for dessert.
• Used digital food scales and tracked diet using the U.P. app.

Protein

Pre-transformation

• Roughly 300g of protein per day.
• Used to think that the more protein you ate, the more muscle you built.

During transformation

• Consumed 200g of protein per day.

Fruit and vegetables

Pre-transformation

• Always made an effort with vegetables, but hardly ever ate fruit.

During transformation

• Fruit and vegetables were a key part of every meal. He even started looking forwards to steamed broccoli!

Water

Pre-transformation

• Drank less than 1 litre per day.

During transformation

• Drank 4 litres per day.

Caffeine

Pre-transformation

• Drank several espressos per day while at work.

During transformation

• Consumed no caffeine during transformation.
• Post transformation, he drank 1-2 black coffees per day.

Alcohol

Pre-transformation

• Quit smoking and cut down on drinking before starting transformation.

During transformation

• Drank no alcohol during his transformation.

Training

Pre-transformation

• Resistance trained for five years but had no specific goal and lacked direction.
• Never paid attention to step count, so no idea about his pre-transformation average.

During transformation

• 3 resistance training and 2 HIIT cardio workouts per week.
• Averaged at least 10,000 steps per day.