Busy teacher Harry’s 8-week result was an education in diet and training

Juggling life as a teacher and father of two left Harry feeling exhausted, burnt out, and stuck in “survival mode.”

His days were consumed by work, caring for two young children, and snacking on birthday cakes in the staffroom.

The gym was squeezed in whenever he could muster the energy, and 36-year-old Harry felt ‘average’ when it came to his fitness. Deep down he knew he was only scratching the surface of his potential. But he didn’t just want to ‘get by’ – he wanted to thrive.

Friends raved about Ultimate Performance and so Harry signed up, determined to see what he was truly capable of.

With expert coaching, precise nutrition, and relentless support, he’s lost 10kg (22lbs) in just 8 weeks and transformed both his body and mindset.

Here, Harry shares how his life has changed forever…

What made you realise you needed to change?

“I was very much in the kind of routine of being a a 9-to-5 teacher and a father to two small children.

Mentally, I was a little bit in ‘survival mode’ where I was putting others first, and not necessarily myself and my own health and fitness.

I was looking after others, putting a lot of energy into my job and making sure my family are all well and healthy. But also just trying to squeeze in any bit of exercise I could when I could.  But that was difficult because it’s tiring what I do from day to day.

I was lacking motivation, and I just found a way to get by and squeeze in fitness here and there and attend football training for a club that I played for.”

What were the main struggles you faced before starting U.P.? 

“Eating. I have a really good appetite where I like every kind of food. Because I do love food so much and I feel like I’ve got an active metabolism, I would find myself snacking. At work, that would be difficult as well in those breaks in the mid-morning or late afternoon when you might snack – like a member of staff is having a birthday, so there’s birthday cake out. I would not be able to resist. I would take nibbles and grab bits here and there. So I’d eat healthy meals, but I would snack a lot – and unnecessarily.”

What motivated you to join U.P.? 

“What made me start my journey with U.P. was a desire to kind of discover my actual potential beneath what I was getting by with, which was my average health.

Good fitness. I play sports, but it was all average, and I wanted to try and push myself to excel and discover all the potential that’s underneath in terms of my strength, my physique.

So I chose U.P. because there are people who will push me and people who provide a really good system where they are checking, motivating, and they are known for getting great results.”

How did nutrition play a role in your transformation? 

“From the moment I joined U.P., it gave me a much greater awareness. Thinking about what it is that I’m putting in my body, what I should be having less of and what I should be having more of.

I had a great conversation with my trainer at the start, where expectations were made clear, and it was kind of laid out for me what I should be having and what I shouldn’t be having.

So from the moment I joined U.P., I became much more mindful of not having excess of certain things. And actually, there’s some things I need to have more of. So getting the diet right, first of all, was really, really essential – and difficult a little bit at the start because I’ve been so carefree up to that point. And as well as having the personal trainer, having the UP Transform app was a massive, massive plus because it’s pretty much mathematical and I can see exactly what I’m having, and I can see exactly the effect that that’s having on my body. Seeing the lines of progress that come from changing my diet – that was huge for me.”

How did the training itself differ from what you were used to? 

“I have massively gained from having a strict regime and having the same trainer who will push me and spot the areas that need to be tweaked and improved. And another fundamental thing from the start was sorting out my posture and my form and my technique with how I actually work out – because before coming to U.P., I’d just been doing it my own way. I’d seen apps, I’d seen videos on YouTube – but nothing that was actually detailed, nothing that was rigorous and consistent. But coming to U.P. gave me very clear expectations. And with the diets and being taught the technique, I could see instant results happening within the first week.”

What challenges did you face during the process?

“It was difficult in terms of the diets, the adjusting, and the energy levels. When I first started, it was about reducing body fat, which meant a bit of a deficit in my diet – which kind of in some days when I was not able to eat as much as I wanted, it felt like I was depleted a bit of energy.”

“But then the flip side of that was whenever I do exercise or whenever I do some kind of sport or come here to U.P., I would feel much more in better shape – much more focussed with my body – and the feeling of progress was very satisfying and worthwhile.”

How has the transformation impacted your confidence and mindset? 

“It gave me confidence of what I could achieve, what I could do. I’ve always seen it as something that other people can do in terms of building up muscle, looking good in the gym. I’ve always thought that’s something that other people pick up naturally – but it could never be me. But it’s worked wonders for my confidence, seeing results coming in and actually my body transforming and all the things that I wanted coming through. So it’s boosted my confidence like that.”

What physical results did you start noticing? 

“What started as physical numbers – having seeing all those results – actually turned from being numbers and macros in an app, or looking at labels on food, to actual physical, visible results on my body – which is so good to see. And a real boost in confidence.

Those results for me personally started to happen quite soon. Within the first week, I was starting to see muscles that I didn’t even know were there. I’ve seen them on other people’s bodies, but not on mine before. So that was like a major boost – that it is actually working. That kind of incentivised me to keep going, to keep pushing and just keep raising my game and keep doing more – and following the regime.”

What are the biggest lessons you’ve taken from the experience? 

“I’ve learned through the journey would be that I can do it – that I can commit. I can find this kind of determination within myself to commit to a goal and see it through. But at the same time – and I’ve mentioned it a few times – building my awareness and education in terms of diet, food, macros, how to train properly. It has been eye opening for me, and it’s been a complete kind of revolution in terms of how I used to do it and achieve average results. Now doing it properly and achieving actual impressive proper results makes me realise the great value in what I’ve been doing so far.”

What would you say to someone thinking about starting a transformation like yours?

“If I were to meet someone in my position or someone similar, I would absolutely tell them to go for it. I really benefited from the first two.  I had nothing to lose by coming into U.P. – nothing to lose by speaking to a personal trainer. And I’ve since had everything to gain – and that’s what I would say. I’ve gained so much from it.

I have not taken it half-heartedly.  I would recommend everyone to do it properly. It is so productive when done properly – when you follow the advice, when you follow the training, when you take on board all the learning. Grabbing it with both hands is the best thing you can do – rather than doing it at 50–60%. Investing in this and putting your all into it will definitely, definitely achieve results. It’s almost mathematical –  if you do A and B, you will get exactly what you want. It’s as simple as that.  It worked for me – it would work for anyone else.”

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