The challenge has been issued and accepted. Andre 66, dakz and I will each be performing our own program and the first person to reach 15% bodyfat wins. We can each post our starting stats and a picture along with a short bio and what we plan on doing to get to 15%

The rules will be:

1) Post a starting picture
2) Post a weekly summary of how the workout and progress is going
3) Post a picture every 2 weeks to gauge progress

The winner gets the award of being on the way to seeing his abs!

Starting stats:

Age: 25
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 212
Bodyfat %: est. 26-28%

I got "The New High Intensity Training" for Christmas and will be doing the workouts in there along with the diet. It should be pretty interesting because the author says that no cardio is needed. I will be interested to see what the results are for me, but it all boils down to the intensity during the weight lifting sessions. I will really focus on giving everything I have and leave it all out there. I believe that is truly what it takes for the program to work and I will do my best. After 8 weeks I will evaluate my progress on the system.

Here we go,
age-38
height 5'10"
bodyfat-26%
weight-198
My program will consist of weights, Jeet kune do and skipping for a cardio workout. I will also be doing exercises to work my core muscles.
Good Luck Jimichanga :tu:
Andre

Good luck to you as well!! Hopefully we will both reach our goal around the same time and then we could have another challenge to 10%!!
:gl:

Well it's the end of week one and i have lost 3lbs.My week consisted of 2 martial arts classes, 1.5hrs of shoveling snow and 3 jump rope sessions.
Working out was light this week because i have been fighting a horrible head cold and my sinuses are completely blocked. Appetite was down as well, been eating a lot of soup for warmth and ease of preparation.
Now that i am feeling better i will add in the weight training for two days a week.
I will post pictures next week.
How are things going for you Jimi and Dakz?
Andre

Week 1 has gone pretty well for me, currently I am down about 5 pounds. I have been following phase 1 of The New High Intensity Training and I have really enjoyed it. This first week has really been learning to push myself so that I reach momentary failure on each set. It has been a challenge to reach that point, but I am training myself to keep pushing to at least try another rep so that I actually reach that point. I also am really enjoying the no cardio part, especially because it has been so cold lately.

The diet portion is easy to follow, the book outlines exactly what to eat, including types of food. I did have to break away for 2 nights though, one was to partake in some chili, which wasn't much of a cheat. The other was because some friends invited a bunch of people over and prepared dinner for all of us as a Christmas gift. It was a lot of fun!

So to recap, week 1 has gone very well. Week 2 will be a challenge for the diet portion, my wife and I are some of the adults at our church who are taking the youth on a ski trip. I will definitely do my best at eating well, but I forsee a cheat meal or 2. Then after that it is smooth sailing until the super bowl!

Good luck to you guys in week 2!

This week has been pretty good. I stuck to my lifting and to my diet (except Sat. night - I drank 3 beers :o ).
I am on a new 3 day split and was sore the whole week. I am very satisfied with the new lifting plan: intense and painful!!!!
I only did 1 day of cardio though which consisted on a 30 min run at the beach. I am down 1 kg.
I am very motivated as I am starting to see some gains by now. I have lost 3 kg (6lbs) since Christmas and I am starting to realize that I WILL achieve my goals.

Hi guys,
i'm a little late reporting my week two results but i've been busy and havn't had the time.
I didn't get to work out as much as i would have liked, two cardio sessions and one martial arts class but my diet seems to be working for me because i lost two pounds this week. :tu:
I have pictures posted from last month that you can take a look at just do a search on my threads, i don't have very much of a visual change yet so they are pretty close to what i am now.
Andre

Here is my week 2 post: Well, the week went ok, I did cheat quite a bit on the diet because I was in Colorado for a ski trip. That being said, I still lost a pound so I am pretty happy about that. I am not back to healthly eating and lifting and am feeling great. I still have to get the pictures posted (actually, I have to have them taken which I will do tonight, it isn't an actual starting point, but I haven't changed a whole lot yet). Good luck to you all on week 3!

Three weeks gone already, time flies when you're exercising. This week was good for me on the exercise front, three days of circuit training, two days of gym cardio, one session of martial arts and finished it off with one session of skipping rope. I had one day off where i did nothing at all except hang out at home and stare at the computer screen.
On the weight front i did not lose any weight, but i did not gain anything either so it's a wash in this department.
Food intake was poor with plenty of wrong choices but i am going to make a concentrated effort to improve this week and see better results next time.
Andre

My week was pretty good as well.
On the diet front, I am making the right choices even though I cheated a few times, but I am making better bad choices. I still need to cut out the occasional glass of wine in the evenings, I know this is doing me no good. I am not counting calories at all.

I missed out a few cardio sessions but was very consistent with my lifting. I am getting stronger and am lifting around 30% heavier than a few weeks ago.
I have pain in my knee when doing my runs at the beach so I will cut it out for the next few weeks. This is due to my background as a skateboarder / snowboarder. My joints are destructed from 10+ years of jumping and landing on hard surfaces.
Today is cardio day so I will go to the gym and hit the bike. I do not enjoy doing cardio in the gym at all, that is why I keep on missing cardio workouts.

On another note, my weight has been steady these weeks, I recorded some weight loss but put it back again - but my I look leaner and my pants fit better. Any clue why this is happening? It is discouraging to see the same number on the scale everyday eventhough I feel stronger and leaner....

On another note, my weight has been steady these weeks, I recorded some weight loss but put it back again - but my I look leaner and my pants fit better. Any clue why this is happening? It is discouraging to see the same number on the scale everyday eventhough I feel stronger and leaner....

It sounds like you are losing fat but keeping the weight on with new muscle although it might be a little early for new muscle to develop. It's a good idea not to get to caught up with scale weight, your bodyfat % is a better indicator of your success with fat loss. Good work on the weight lifting!
Andre

how are you doing mates? haven´t heard from each other for a long time.

i must admit i fell off the wagon this last couple of weeks. :mad:
i have been promoted and have been travelling like mad around Europe, almost weekly! I also bought a new car :D and the temperature has been freezing over here. All in all, I did 3 or 4 cardio sessions in 2 weeks which pretty much sucks.
I am going on a 3 day business trip tomorrow as well, just to come back for the weekend and go away for 2 days next Tuesday. This is ridiculous!

I just wish I could be consistent while travelling... I read lots of stuff on how to handle such situations but it is easier said than done!
Oh well, I just hope I do reach my goal before my vacations in May!