8 tips to achieving to a better body with UP

LEADING global personal trainers Ultimate Performance – think UP – have an all-round approach when it comes to starting off and continuing on a transformation journey. As well as taking regular exercise, following a bespoke training programme and making improvements to your diet, the members of the UP Fitness team suggest looking at taking steps to change certain aspects of your lifestyle.

What are the most important lifestyle changes you can make that will help you achieve the body transformation you are striving for? What are the healthy habits you need to learn or the small tweaks you need to make to your routine that will help you get the results you want with your body?

Here eight successful Ultimate Performance clients share their tips on the best simple lifestyle changes they made during their transformation that had the biggest positive effect on their results…

The members of the UP Fitness team suggest looking at taking steps to change certain aspects of your lifestyle

“You don’t have to train three hours a day to get amazing results” – Samantha, 11-week transformation, age 20s

“The most important lifestyle change I made was to stop training for endless hours, seven days a week. Training at UP only three days per week meant I had so much more time to focus on myself and my mind and build a brand-new, healthier lifestyle and attitude towards training. Time to spend doing things I enjoyed and spending time with people I care about instead of revolving everything around working out meant that my entire life became happier and a lot less stressful. A more positive mindset led to me viewing my body in a much healthier light and I started to love myself more.”

“Moving more every day burns more calories” – Rob, 40-week transformation, age 40s

“The most important lifestyle change was making sure that I embraced the whole process – it was a lifestyle overhaul. The key area of change for me was ensuring I moved more during the day. A typical day prior to starting my transformation would have involved moving for between 4,000 and 6,000 steps.

But since starting my training programme, it is now between 12,000 and 17,000 steps a day. This increased activity throughout the day increases the calories you burn off.”

“Understanding healthy eating and portion control helps weight loss” – Mike, 33-week transformation, age 40s

“My biggest mistake with regards to my diet before joining UP was portion control and very bad food choices. My diet was very poor – I survived mostly on convenience foods and takeaways, and I’d overindulge almost all the time. Along with little exercise, it seems to have compounded my weight gain over the last 15 years. The one most important lifestyle change I’ve made is healthy eating, closely followed by increased physical activity and exercise. Following a structured nutrition and exercise plan has helped me achieve my transformation by providing appropriate energy levels through good food choices. You are accountable when you join UP. You can’t cheat the system with daily progress and monitoring updates. Stick to the programme and results will be experienced.”

“Combining weight training with the right foods will maximise weight loss” – Jurgen, 12-week transformation, age 50s

“The most important lifestyle change I made was to watch what eat and avoid bad meal choices as far as possible. Eating well and monitoring my portion sizes coupled with a weight-training regime and getting my 10,000 steps minimum a day resulted in me burning more calories than I was consuming. The resultant weight loss was spectacular.”

“Weighing food is a game-changer” – David, eight-week transformation, age 50s

“The biggest lifestyle changes for me were setting a rule of not drinking and measuring the weight of all the food I was eating. Scales weigh everything, even when the eye doesn’t want to see right.”

“Cut high-calorie alcoholic drinks out of your diet” – Andrew, 15-week transformation, age 30s

“I was a real beer drinker and would often reach for a beer at home after a stressful day. Cutting beer out and, when unavoidable at work events or social occasions, switching to a glass of wine was a big change for me. Trying to get to bed earlier and get at least seven hours sleep was unusual for me but I think it really helped.”

“When you stop making excuses, you start getting results” – Katie, 11-week transformation, age 30s

“It’s difficult to isolate one lifestyle change as the most important. Instead, I’d say that it was a mindset change to fully commit to the process and to take responsibility for the decisions I was making on a day-to-day basis in relation to my diet and exercise. That meant making fewer excuses and taking a more conscious approach to following the programme set for me, whether that was ensuring I made the time to meal prep after a long day, not drinking alcohol when out with friends, resisting temptation or fitting in workouts between my training. I think this consistency helped to achieve the results, and as a previously ‘non-sporty person’, it’s genuinely led to a newfound enjoyment of exercise/training. I’ve found myself prioritising it because I want to and not just because I should.”

“Choose food that is going to benefit your body and health the most” – Sanne, 16-week transformation, age 20s

“Choosing the right food for my body and health is the biggest change for me. I have gained a lot of knowledge about this at UP so now I’ll always make the right decision. For example, when I go out with friends, I know what to choose in a restaurant so it won’t affect my results. I also prepare my food for the week. I make soup and ensure that I have a fridge full of healthy foods which helps me not to cheat. Of course, I have cravings sometimes, but I’ll just have a piece of dark chocolate and that is really satisfying.”

Inspired? See how UP can tailor a transformation for you here. 

Join UP Fitness here.