This is a guest blog from Pras Gengatharan, who trained with us under Scarlet Hollands and Lee Bennett.

If you want an insight into what it’s like training with us from the client’s perspective, read on…

When friends and colleagues comment on my weight loss journey, the questions I am most often asked are “How many days a week do you train?” and “Do you do a lot of cardio?”. The topic of diet usually does not come up and I find myself advocating the benefits of clean eating.

Like most blokes in the city, I was fairly sporty in my teens and early twenties, started working after university and indulging in food and drink became a by-product of being able to afford eating out and takeaways. Fast forward 10+ years and I was now married with two children and sporting a formidable Dad bod. Issues with my back were becoming more and more difficult to contend with. Something had to change.

My attitude to food changed when I joined Evolve and I saw the effects of following a meal plan that was simple and rewarding. I initially did a six week transformation with Scarlet, which was pretty amazing as I quickly lost a lot of excess weight. I took a few months to work on it myself and then signed up to 20 sessions with Lee, which lasted just under three months. While I carry on with weight training twice a week and try to fit in 1-2 cardio sessions, 80% of my success came from following a very robust and effective diet. When I say diet, what I really mean is that my mentality towards food has improved and enabled me to find a sustainable way of eating without putting on the pounds.

As a city worker, culinary temptations are all too frequent. You only need to stroll down Fleet Street and you are surrounded by food places offering Pad Thai or a Katsu Curry etc. You are inundated with dishes that have a celebratory purpose in their countries of origin. These dishes were not meant to be eaten multiple times a week. We have access to these high calorie meals at all times! It’s pretty insane if you think about it.

Following a high fat/low carb diet I was able to simplify the food I was putting into my body. A grilled chicken breast, turkey meatballs or stir fried king prawns with some roasted broccoli or raw spinach dressed in a bit of olive oil and balsamic, these things were becoming my staple foods. Dinners became simple but rather satisfying indeed. A piece of steak or an oven roasted salmon with some green veggies would be on the menu most nights. It felt like I was eating real food and I knew every ingredient that went into making it. On top of this, I drank a lot of water and limited my caffeine intake to two coffees a day. Snacks were no more, but each meal usually was followed up with a handful of almonds or half an avocado, which kept me full until my next meal. Eating this way made me appreciate my weekly cheat meals and as time went on I became better at listening to my body and what it craved.

Evolve has been an educational journey into nutrition and weightlifting. After correcting imbalances and form issues, I started seeing improvements in my physical strength, too. Training with Lee was eye-opening as he put the benefits of a good diet into context with the required mentality and intensity needed for weightlifting.

If I had any advice to give to others who are going down this route to become a healthier, stronger and more confident person, I would say the following:

Immerse yourself in your journey

Listen to your trainer

Stick to your meal plan

Trust the process

This month only, we are offering 10% off our Six Week Body Transformation program, provided you sign up before December. So if you want to be in the shape of your life by Christmas, click the button below and get in touch!