Tammy is glowing with confidence thanks to her 40lb transformation

Tammy’s smile says it all.

The 29-year-old paralegal is brimming with pride and confidence at the inspiring 40lb transformation she completed at Ultimate Performance.

Gone are the feelings of unhappiness and nagging insecurities about her weight that had plagued her for nearly 20 years.

She no longer worries about what to wear or hides away behind baggy clothes.

Tammy is walking tall and beaming with natural confidence again.

This feeling has given her the impetus to finally take up the dance classes she’d always shied away from.

It’s all thanks to the holistic program she’s undergone at U.P. with the guidance of professionals that helped bring her diet, training, lifestyle and sleep all into balance.

She says it’s changed her life and raised her expectations of what she’s truly capable of.

“I lost 40lb in a year! The sense of achievement at the end was indescribable. It was definitely one of the proudest moments of my life.

“I think that through my journey, one of the most important things I’ve learnt is that I now know how hard I can actually physically and mentally push myself and this gives me a lot of confidence not only in fitness but in many other areas of my life.”

She was at an all-time low when she started personal training at U.P. – physically, she was at her heaviest, and she was in a state of despair mentally, and manifested her insecurities in moodiness and social isolation.

“Before joining U.P., I was really overweight. I felt ugly.

“My whole life was about me trying to hide the fat by wearing baggy clothes. I was so insecure about myself that there are days where I would change into a thousand different outfits and still wouldn't leave the flat.

“Not many people know this, but I would be in tears because I thought I was too ugly for the world.”

Tammy was weighed down by the weight of cultural expectations and it was a burden that was dragging her down.

"In Asian culture, being skinny is the norm, so being a fat Asian woman just made things worse because you are compared to girls who are much skinnier.

“Being overweight also stopped me from doing things I wanted to do. Like I wanted to dance, but I felt I was too fat for that, and I thought I wasn't fit enough to go for a dance class. It made me feel I couldn't make new friends because of the way I looked.”

DON'T LET YOUR SELF-IMAGE DRAG YOUR CONFIDENCE DOWN.

Looking back, Tammy now knows that it was poor eating habits and an uncontrolled diet that was holding her back.

Over the years, this was compounded by ineffective exercise routines and a job that kept her tied to her desk.

“I was a serial snacker. I could eat my weight in food if I didn't mentally stop myself.

“Lifestyle-wise, I did try and stay active with regular spin classes, but I was never as active as when I started my transformation with U.P. I was also unfortunate in that when I was doing various sports, I didn't have the best guidance and ended up with many injuries.”

The real eye-opener came when she logged a food diary for the first time. What she previously believed was healthy, really wasn’t helping her cause at all.

"When I was first asked to start tracking my food, I was shocked at the number of calories in all the food I thought would have been considered healthy and low calorie.

“Since starting my journey with U.P., I've changed the way I see food, the way I eat, and I now know how to control my food intake better.

“I now make an effort to walk to places as much as I can without taking public transportation.

“‘Sitting is the new smoking’. You just gotta get off that ass and move as frequently as possible. That once-or-twice-a-week exercise class won't cut it.”

The transformation has been life-changing to say the least. Weight loss and the more obvious physical improvements are just a small part of the change; the psychological and social impact has been even more profound.

“Now I fit into clothes a lot better, and this brings me newfound confidence to actually do all the things I wouldn't have done as a fat, insecure girl.

“Being happier also means less moody episodes at home and around close friends. Everyone around me benefits.”

Along the way, Tammy has taken to heart some invaluable life lessons on how to live a life that's healthy, happy and purposeful with regards to exercise and food.

“I think that through my journey, one of the most important things I've learnt is that I now know how hard I can actually physically and mentally push myself and this gives me a lot of confidence not only in fitness but in many other areas of my life.

“I lost 40lb in a year! The sense of achievement at the end was indescribable. It was definitely one of the proudest moments of my life.”

Achieve your fitness goals can be truly life-changing.