Father-of-three Daniel lost 25kg (55lbs) to transform his dad bod at 45.

“I’ve lost a total of about 25kg in body weight. I’m standing a lot straighter, have far more muscle and look a lot better.”

With three kids and a high-stress job, 45-year-old lawyer Daniel had always had a hectic life on both fronts – professional and personal.

An uber-sedentary lifestyle, low fitness levels and overindulgence in food and wine were taking a heavy toll on him.

Daniel had been on medication for years to manage his high blood pressure.

The last straw came after two years of working from home and living off takeaway food. Facing facts, he knew he needed a complete lifestyle reboot – and Ultimate Performance gave him the tools and expertise to accomplish it quicker than ever.

Daniel worked methodically with his trainer to rebuild his body over an eight-month period. Now he’s lost 25kg, reduced his high blood pressure and cholesterol for peace of mind about his health, and inspired his wife and children to be fitter.

Find out all about his transformation here.

What was your motivation for joining U.P.?

Once Covid hit, we ended up all being at home; it became a very sedentary lifestyle.

I worked from home pretty much for two years straight, and it was morning to evening just being at my desk at home ordering food delivery just because it broke the monotony of the day.

Particularly during the lockdown, my wife and I regularly got through a bottle a night, and it was just a way to destress from the events of the day.

I just felt it had to change.

What changed when you came to U.P.?

I became a lot more conscious of what I was putting into my body.

I think once there was an awareness of input and output in terms of physical activity and how those two came together, it gave me a bit of a mindset shift.

I realised that this was good for me and that these changes were really, really beneficial.

Being active has become a daily part of life, and I make an effort to be active no matter how busy I might be during the day.

On the diet front, I think I am a lot more aware of how the macronutrients interact and understand how they affect my body.

Having that knowledge has become habit-forming in terms of helping me to make better choices in terms of what I eat.

Compared to last year, where are you now with your health and fitness?

I’ve lost a total of about 25kg in body weight. My waist has gone down. And I think overall things like posture, I’m standing up a lot straighter, looking a lot better.

So, the physical changes have been fantastic.

When I first came in and started off doing the dumbbell presses, I think I was starting off at about 11kg or 12kg.

Now I can comfortably press 30kg on each side and, with a bit of effort, up to 35kg!

I couldn’t do any pull-ups before I came to U.P. I did when I was a lot younger, but not in recent years. But just this weekend, I was able to do 15 pull-ups.

So that’s been a significant change in how much stronger I’ve become.

My health markers improvements have been quite drastic as well.

So I’ve had hypertension for many, many years, and that’s something that’s been under medication and being monitored for many years.

But actually, quite quickly, quite soon after I started my program at U.P., my blood pressure numbers just suddenly drastically decreased. And to the extent that I’ve started talking to my specialist, and we’ve already halved my dosage of hypertension medicines.

I also know that my overall cholesterol numbers have decreased significantly.

Did you find the trainer-led process helpful during your time here?

It was fantastic, particularly in the beginning when I was struggling with doing a lot of the exercises and feeling really, really worn out after my session.

It was very encouraging to have someone checking in on me all the time, both in terms of how I felt physically, but also how I was doing mentally as well.

Over time his role changed slightly; he’s still providing me with support, but I didn’t need as much handholding as I did in the beginning.

And then, as we both came through this journey, it started being much more of a collaborative process to reach a particular goal that we both had in mind.

He set me up with the skills and the knowledge to be able to go to the next level so that even when I don’t have him around to support me in the gym, I’m confident enough to do my own workout.

He’s helped me prepare for life after the transformation; to take things forward in the long term.

How has this transformation been for your personal life?

My wife has found it pretty inspiring.

In fact, quite soon after I started at U.P., she said, “I think I’d like to try this as well.” So we’ve been going along this journey together as well. She’s been really, really supportive, and it’s been great doing it together.

My kids think it’s hilarious. They think I’m going through a midlife crisis, but I think they’ll be happy to have a dad who can physically keep up with them in the activities.

My son’s a competitive swimmer. He’s 11 years old, but he was also carrying a bit of extra weight earlier in the year, and we’ve been trying to get him to lose that weight so that he can be a better swimmer and be a bit faster.

I think going through this process has been inspiring for him as well.

Overall, as a family, we are a bit more conscious about the activity that we do.

Whenever possible, we try walking to things rather than driving, taking the bus, or taking the MRT.

The children know and acknowledge that my wife and I are both quite keen on having them be active.

And so, they see the example we’ve set, which has also helped them normalise it in their minds.

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