How TV star Alison took control of menopausal weight gain at 58 to feel confident on camera
“I think what really motivated me to come and train with U.P. was that I knew I’d reached a point in my life where it was a now or never moment.
“People have actually said to me, Alison, you are completely different. You look different, you walk different, you are a different person.”
Here, Alison talks about how understanding the science behind nutrition will stay with her forever, and how her trainer has helped her manage her weight and improve symptoms of menopause.
“I would say that just visually, I’ve probably given myself a career extension of five to 10 years, which as I say, TV is not kind to more mature women. ”
What was your motivation to join U.P.?
What really motivated me to come and train with U.P. was that I knew I’d reached a point in my life where it was a ‘now or never’ moment. I just thought, if not now, when? I felt that because of my age, I’m 58 – I really had to get a grip of something that I had struggled with all my life.
I always felt I was a fat girl deep down and I just thought, okay, it’s time to do something about it. The good thing for me was that I believed it wasn’t too late. I think my saving grace was that I didn’t just think it was all over. I said I was going to have one last shot at this.
I’m also in a very visual industry and feeling fat, which I have done most of my life, has been a real challenge. In broadcasting, particularly visual broadcasting, television puts about 10 pounds on you.
So, if you’re feeling fat before you go on camera, you’re going to feel pretty lousy when you’re on camera. It was just something I battled with all the time so I learned to dress really cleverly and hide it.
How did you feel about yourself before joining U.P.?
There are certain social situations that you won’t put yourself into, certain conversations that you don’t enjoy having, it just creeps into every area of your life. Being overweight is like this little cloud over your head that you don’t feel your physical best and you haven’t fulfilled your potential.
As someone who’s always trying to be fundamentally quite optimistic and wanting to be the best I can be, I always felt like I was falling short. So, when I joined U.P. my main goal was weight loss because it felt like before I got over that hump, there was nothing else I could really focus on. Some of my other goals were to just understand more about nutrition and food, and really just control what I was eating.
Ultimate Performance has radically redefined the art and science of one-to-one training to create an experience that will transform your body, your health and your life. We are not just personal trainers. We are more than just a gym. We have invested in building an ecosystem of world-class trainers, cutting-edge data and systems of accountability that give you a cast-iron blueprint for success that will work if you commit to the process.
Whether you work together with us one-to-one in the gym, virtually, or online, our ethos is the same – excellence in everything we do, honesty and integrity as your trusted partner, and an approach tailored to your unique goals that delivers you maximum results in minimum time.
Our Model
Our model is often imitated, but our culture of excellence can never be replicated. This is why we are world leaders in our field when it comes to delivering exceptional body transformation results.
We are reassuringly expensive because we are the best in the world at what we do. We have constructed a whole ecosystem of world-class trainers, facilities, knowledge and systems all designed to give you quantifiable results, no matter what your starting point, age or experience.
Our Culture
We have fostered a results-driven culture at Ultimate Performance which is built on layers of accountability running through the business at every level, from the junior trainer up to the global CEO.
Tracking objective data and myriad progress metrics cements this accountability and removes any guesswork when it comes to helping clients achieve measurable outcomes.
It is our robust systems, data-driven approach and reservoir of global expertise that means we can constantly refine our methodologies and improve the results and experience we deliver for every single client.
Our Team
We have created an environment that breeds success and gives our personal trainers the tools, the support, the systems and accountability to excel.
Our trainers are able to focus solely on mastering their craft and mentoring their clients – and they are incentivised on the only metric that matters – delivering world-class results and measurable return on investment for clients.
I’ve recently completed my program at UP and the entire experience has been excellent. My personal trainer, Ruan, was fantastic throughout my entire ‘transformation journey’. His expertise, dedication and passion were invaluable in helping me reach my goals…
Nimrita Bedi
15/03/2022
UP is the ultimate place to lose weight and get fit. The focus on diet and mindful eating is relentless and life changing. Goran has been an amazing trainer and has worked with me to lose inches and gain self esteem…
Masih Imtiaz
19/03/2022
I needed to lose weight and started working out with a trainer in Fitness first. I trained for 2 years every day but at the end i got zero result. After that I joined Ultimate Performance and started training with my trainer Goran. In 2 months he changed my life. I strongly believe that the only right way to lose weight and get fit is the UP formula. Their method and dedication is exceptional…
Snigdha Saumya
03/06/2022
I have been with Ultimate Performance since February this year and I can honestly say it’s been life changing. I had hearsay ideas about what ‘good’ nutrition constitutes and tried a range of fad diets unsuccessfully before coming to them. From the outset, I could see my trainer, Shon’s commitment to educating me about nutrition, pushing me to give my best during training and constantly checking with me on my progress at home…
Nancy Kapoor
18/01/2022
I started training with Giorgio a month ago and I have found working with Giorgio to be a great experience. Giorgio and I talk about my goals constantly and he always pushes me to do my best, even if that means slapping me on my wrist when I need it! Giorgio is also very good at communicating and ensuring I am on top of my nutrition…
Natasha Chadha
04/05/2022
I can’t recommend this place and the 12 week transformation program they offer enough. I have personally felt like this is the best time and money I have invested in my own health and well being. At 37 and two kids later, I can confidently say that I have never felt stronger and healthier.
FAQs
What lifestyle changes do I need to make to lose fat?
It’s an inevitable fact of life that if you want a different outcome when it comes to successful fat loss, you need to change what you put into the equation. This means that, for nearly all our clients, some degree of lifestyle change is a necessary element of achieving a transformation. After all, the habits that you have developed thus far have brought you to your current situation.
However, that’s not to say that you need to completely uproot your life either. And beyond simply being impractical, this would not be reasonable or conducive to long-term adherence. The changes that are going to get you in great shape – and keep you there – are going to be ones that work best with your unique circumstances.
That’s why we focus on habit changes rather than prescriptive, rigid plans that only work on paper. While there may be some golden rules that we encourage our clients to follow, we won’t try and force you to follow something you just don’t want to do. From the very outset, we work with you to create your nutrition plan; no egg whites and white fish being forced on you here.
Your trainer will likely also ask you to hit a daily step goal. This is because it’s very hard to achieve a consistent calorie deficit necessary for fat loss through diet alone. Remember – it is your energy balance that makes the difference to whether you gain, maintain or lose weight – how active you are consistently throughout your daily life plays a part in this.
However, your U.P. trainer won’t just set an arbitrary goal and leave you to it; they will work with you to fit the program into your lifestyle and help you form lifelong healthy habits.
After all, the plan that best fits your life is the plan that you can stick to for life.
Why do you prioritise weight training over cardio on a fat program?
We don’t necessarily prioritise weight training over cardio, but they do play different roles within a transformation.
In order to improve body composition, we nearly always need some level of fat loss and to do that we need to create a calorie deficit. It is very hard to do this through diet alone without being very restrictive, which can only be effective for so long. It’s also very hard to do this through exercise alone and one high-calorie meal can easily offset several hours’ work. That’s why we use a combination of reduced calorie intake and increased general activity levels to increase our deficit.
It’s important to remember that cardio is simply one option in the fat loss toolbox. There’s nothing magic about cardio; it simply increases the number of calories you burn in general (as well as making you better at that form of exercise).
However, it can also place competing demands on the body when it comes to adaptation and recovery from resistance training, which is why we tend to recommend low-impact forms of activity, such as walking, for the most part, and minimal or even no cardio in many cases.
Once we have created the demand for our body to tap into its stored energy, we need to make sure this comes from tissue we don’t want to keep (body fat) rather than tissue we do (muscle). Rather than simply to burn huge numbers of calories, resistance training functions to retain and build lean tissue during times of caloric restriction. This has numerous important implications for physical appearance as well as wellbeing:
Improved aesthetic – think looking good naked as well as in clothes.
Improved nutrient partitioning – you make the most out of the foods you eat and reduce the risk of conditions such as type II diabetes.
Improved strength and reduced risk of age-related sarcopenia and osteoporosis. Reduced risk of all-cause mortality.
And the most important one… being able to eat more!
In summary, we create a calorie deficit through increased activity and nutrition changes. The level of this deficit determines whether we lose weight and how fast. We can then encourage the body to tap into body fat by resistance training, eating adequate protein and optimising recovery.
Everything I've tried to lose fat has failed - how do I know this program will work for me?
Most people fail in their fat loss attempts because they don’t have the right combination of effective goal setting, accountability and flexibility.
These three factors are the cornerstones of what makes the Ultimate Performance model so effective in delivering results for thousands of clients down the years.
We never impose goals on our clients; we listen to your goals and learn about your lifestyle. Then we work with you to develop a personalised plan that you can feel confident will help you to achieve the results you want.
We keep you accountable to your commitments and help you build strategies into your life that make them easier, not harder to stick to.
We help you plan for times when you need to be flexible, such as meals out, travel, and socialising.
And we work tirelessly with you around the clock, both inside and outside the gym, to not only help you achieve results, but learn the tools and skills to maintain them for life.
Our approach to fat loss is proven with countless clients worldwide of all ages and abilities. So, if you commit to the process and adhere to your program consistently, you will see the results you want.
