Cal Moores, a 27-year-old graphic designer from the UK, shares his 12-week transformation story.
I’ve always been into fitness and going to the gym, but I lacked the commitment and discipline to follow a diet and workout plan. This, along with my lack of gym knowledge, led me to doing the usual crash diets and sporadic workouts that obviously never led to any real results.
I realised I wanted to make a change after the summer of 2021, as I’d been heavily involved in going out and socialising whilst watching England play in the Euros. It was the biggest I’d ever been, and it came from a lack of exercising and overindulging with junk food and alcohol. The weight gain seemed to happen without me even realizing. I knew I was letting my body get out of shape and it was knocking my confidence.
I’m very active, I play football around five times a week, so you’d just assume I’d be in great shape and would be fit. That wasn’t the case for a long time as my diet was poor, and I was drinking a lot on the weekends, which really reflected on my body. I would feel so embarrassed getting changed after games; I think I’ve always subconsciously thought my teammates and people in the changing rooms would be expecting me to be in great shape when getting changed, when in reality I’d be hiding all this extra weight and not wanting anyone to know.
When I started at Ultimate Performance, my diet changed massively. I’d gone from grabbing fast food after football to chicken and vegetables. I also began drinking protein shakes for breakfast, whereas it used to be whatever I could grab on the way into work in the mornings. I began really focusing on what I was putting into my body, and stuck to the program given to me by my trainer Nathan. Funnily enough, I was so much happier to be in a strict diet and routine, and it became normal to me.
A typical day for me during my transformation would be a protein shake for breakfast, which included blueberries, spinach and peanut butter. Then I would have chicken or steak, with broccoli, green beans and sweetcorn for dinner and tea, followed by another protein shake in the evening.
During my transformation I was working out three times a week doing a range of weight and core training, while also doing football training as my cardio. At the beginning of my training my mobility was really poor, I was struggling to do certain leg exercises due to my mobility, but Nathan gave me some tips and exercises to do that helped me, which in turn led me to being better on certain machines. At first I dreaded doing the Pendulum, but then I found it extremely beneficial and noticed it helped me massively in my football.
I started out at 80kg (176 pounds), and managed to get down to around 67kg (147 pounds). I weighed myself every morning, and it was such a rewarding feeling knowing I was surpassing the goals that Nathan and I had set. My teammates had also started to notice a change in the changing rooms, which was great for me after being so shy about it after all these years.
This experienced changed my life. I’m much more confident now in the gym as I have been taught the correct form so I am able to enjoy it. I’m still sticking to the diet, and I focus heavily on getting enough sleep to help me recover with training.
Other positive side effects were my focus in work and my enthusiasm to work. I began becoming so much committed, I really noticed a positive output in my workflow and my enthusiasm to work. I think dieting well obviously helped, as I was feeling good and just mentally in a good place, leading to creating better work.
I’m definitely not finished. My next goal now is to maintain a routine in the gym and make it a part of my life forever. I would honestly recommend getting a trainer to help you get started. I am so glad I met Nathan as I knew he would be right to help me achieve my goals. Prior to meeting him, I was in the gym working out incorrectly and just following fad diets and workout plans. Trainers can help you find a routine and tweak it to your needs, while giving you invaluable knowledge and tips that will last you forever.
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