How working mum Yassi got in the best shape of her life post-pregnancy at 41

After having two children in two years, Yassi didn’t feel like herself anymore.

She had gained 17kg (37lbs) in weight, her clothes didn’t fit, and she barely had the time or energy to focus on her own wellbeing as a busy working mother.

Tired, frustrated and discontent, 41-year-old Yassi shared her struggles with a friend who recommended Ultimate Performance.

One look at the incredible results hundreds of women had achieved with U.P. and Yassi knew she was in the right place.

Having an expert manage every aspect of her training and diet lifted a weight off her shoulders. Now she’s in great shape after losing 14kg, and she has even sold her car now she walks everywhere.

“I didn’t recognise myself in those photos at all! I was really proud of what I’d done.   

“That’s the beauty with exercise. It makes you feel like you could do anything. You’re in control. And the power of taking control over your body to make it go in the direction and shape you want is extremely powerful. It makes you feel like you can do anything else.   

“Now I’m in my 40s, I look at my body and I think I’m probably in the best shape in my life. That’s quite satisfying.”  

Since becoming a mother, Yassi found her weight and fitness levels were constantly up and down.

Getting to a place where she was comfortable felt like a losing battle.

“It was my second birth in less than two years, and I have put on a nice 25kg (55lbs). I managed to lose 16kg (35lbs), and then I got pregnant again after a year.   

“I had to make some drastic changes, but I was sitting there over 17kg (37lbs) overweight, not recognising myself, not having the body I wanted to, wearing clothes that I didn’t like, and feeling like I wasn’t myself.   

“I talked to my friend about going back to the gym and getting a personal trainer, and she mentioned U.P. And the next morning, I was in touch and came into check.”

While Yassi’s training experience at U.P. has been nothing less than life-changing, it wasn’t the first time she had stepped into the gym and hired a personal trainer.

Before joining U.P, she had constantly tried to lose weight on her own. While she found some success, she realised she couldn’t achieve further results.

With a return-to-work date looming post-pregnancy and faced with the choice of buying a whole new wardrobe or fitting into her old clothes, she needed something radically different.

“All I knew about U.P. before going for the first time was on the website and given the transformations, which were radical. I used to train at the gym, do weightlifting, and I had personal trainers in the past, but I was not sure what to expect.  

“I knew I was going back to the office towards the end of 2019, and I promised myself that I would not buy new work clothes to fit in. So, I had to go back to my old clothes – that was the trigger.”  

When she started her transformation at U.P., her trainer put together a personalised training and nutrition program built around her goals.

But what Yassi really loved was the data tracking which meant her plan could be tweaked and adapted based on her progress.

It was gratifying to see the great strides she was making each and every week.

“What I liked about the program is that I could track what I was doing and see the results straight away.   

“There was a discipline around it, which makes it easy to follow because you know what you have to do to get results.   

“But at the same time, my trainer was checking out how I was doing, which made it much more human.   

“If kids or work or anything else came in the way of the plan, we could adapt the plan. I started seeing a drop quite quickly, so it was very encouraging to reduce the calorie intake and do the exercise.”  

What was so effective and different to anything she had done before was that it brought together her diet, her training and lifestyle elements that are integral to achieving exceptional results.

Everything clicked, and there was no stopping her.

“I have lost weight before, but I had to make the effort; I was on my own, and there wasn’t a link between all of those parts.   

“Connecting all the dots was very important. Another element that made the difference was the step count changed the fact that no matter what happened during a day, I could hit the steps. And it changed my way of living. I sold my car because I walk everywhere, so I don’t need a car.  

“My view on nutrition changed quite dramatically with the program because U.P. showed me that I was eating too much; I wasn’t eating badly, but I was eating too much of the good things, and that all added up.”  

Even when lockdown came into force, she was able to continue virtually. Having at-home sessions online with her trainer was a lifeline that gave her a positive focus and structure while working from home and being a mum.

“The training in lockdown was amazing and crucial. When you contacted me, I wasn’t sure how it would have worked, and I was surprised how well it worked and helped me with mental health quite a lot because I remained active.”  

Yassi found that work and family commitments were growing during lockdown. But with the help of her trainer, she was seamlessly able to switch to a more maintenance-focused goal.

Over a number of months, she found she could easily stabilise her weight and maintain her diet and new lifestyle with ease.

“When we spoke and adjusted to maintenance, I felt good about it because it was what was needed.   

“I was very pleased to feel that I wasn’t making a huge effort to maintain. That made me conclude that I had changed so much of certain things that I used to do in my life, like portion control and going out on walks daily, exercising, which meant it didn’t feel like an effort anymore.   

“It felt like my new way of eating and living. That was a very satisfying observation because I have done diets before, and usually, when you go back, the weight doesn’t stay off because you haven’t changed something fundamental in your life.”  

Everyone around her has been blown away by what she has achieved – even in the face of lockdown challenges, working from home and family commitments.

“All of my friends and family – especially as I hadn’t seen people for some time – were pretty impressed.   

“The comment I had from people I met – it wasn’t losing weight, it’s how the shape of my body had changed. And that’s down to the exercise that I have done.”  

IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHERE TO START TO GET FIT, PUT YOUR HEALTH IN OUR HANDS LIKE YASSI AND SEE WHAT YOU CAN ACHIEVE. ENQUIRE ON THE FORM BELOW…

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