Chunky Brit unrecognisable after ripped transformation – and says abs make you happy

An air conditioning engineer who used to struggle to walk up office stairs can now barely keep his top off after becoming shredded.

Kevin Murphy was over 15st and was slugging beers every day when he was on furlough during lockdown.

The father, from Swindon, said his mental health deteriorated because of poor diet and cabin fever and he lacked motivation to change.

READ MORE: Chunky Brit turns hunky in 12-month transformation – and is unrecognisable now

But he is now ripped after he contacted bodybuilder Guy Harding for help – and he said his transformation from having a potbelly to a six pack was easy.

Speaking with the Daily Star, the 43-year-old laughed: “There are a lot of people in the fitness industry, and I don’t want this to come out the wrong way, who say abs can’t make you happy and it’s not sustainable.

“But I honestly felt great. I was renovating a large van and I was going outside and my neighbour was like ‘are you going to put any clothes on?’ and I was like ‘nope’.

“The mates I play football with loved it too and I got a bit of banter and grief because I just didn’t want to wear a top anymore.”

Kevin added: “I thought it was too late to get into shape but it was actually really easy.

“We all like to do it, you go out to the kitchen and make a cup of coffee and have a pack of biscuits with it and eat cereal at night and chocolate, but it just depends how much you want it.”

Guy Harding is a former banker who became a world champion bodybuilder and online coach.

And Kevin contacted him in May 2020 in a bid to turn his life around.

He remembered: “I was eating just stodge and I would overeat. If I had pasta I would eat loads or if I was having pizza and chips I would have more of it.

“I’ve never been a really bad eater but I just ate a lot and I would have three of four beers every day.

“I’d never be overly greedy and get two or three burgers but my diet just wasn’t good or clean.

“But what Guy taught me about dieting was key. I thought you had to drop carbs and everything else but you don’t.

“Now I just go to the gym a couple of times a week and just don’t be a pig.”

The hunky dad began working out in his garage daily while improving his diet and he noticed a difference after just two weeks.

He was doing 150 push-ups every morning and every night to develop a bigger chest.

“That seems like a tough thing to do,” he acknowledged. “At the start you might only do three sets of ten but the next day it’s three sets of 15 and it doesn’t take long to work up to 150.

“That really helped, just doing push-ups and chin-ups and using your own body weight makes you feel stronger.

“That worked well, so having no gym and just doing that will make a difference.”

Kevin has now completed his level three personal training course and has helped others to get into tip top condition.

He is striving to break into the fitness industry and he said the benefits to his own mental health since his transformation have been huge.

“Through eating a lot of bad food your mental health gets worse I think,” he said. “I am a lot more confident now.

“If you feel that you look good you do feel good. I used to be sluggish and I could be in offices struggling to walk up the stairs and dragging my feet but now I am lighter and can skip up them.

“It’s not necessarily being in shape, it’s more when you feel physically fit you just feel better.

“I look at before and after photos now and I’m just proud I did it.”

And he now hopes his impressive makeover inspires other people to improve their body and mind.

Kevin concluded: “If you want to stick to a plan then you need a goal. Otherwise it’s too easy to slip off.

“I trained every day. If you get to the point where you can’t be bothered today then the next you will come and you will think ‘oh I didn’t train yesterday so I can eat some rubbish today’ and you will just fall off.

“Find the goal you want and stick to it, that’s my advice.”

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