The John P. Health Challenge Starts May 1, 2011! Prizes and Glory Await You!!!

Well, it’s that time again! The John P. Health Challenge is BACK! The health challenge was invented by my friend Jack Finlayson, CEO of Layered Tech, but I kind of took it an adapted it.

The first thing I can tell you is that this program works! You can see my documented results from the first time I did this publicly, and hundreds of people have done the challenge with me in the last couple of years and seen fantastic results. So if you’ve been looking for an excuse to get in better shape – wait no more! Especially since this costs absolutely nothing!

Here’s How it Works

• First of all, participants are all on the honor system. You can choose to participate or not, but if you are disqualified then you have to admit it and you aren’t eligible for the prizes that come at the end.
• There are some exercise requirements.
• There are some dietary requirements.
• It lasts for 8 weeks (ends June 30, 2011).

At the end of the challenge, whoever has shown the most notable improvement wins! So, starting Sunday, May 1, 2011, we’re going to be kicking off the health challenge, complete with glory and prizes! You’ve got the rest of this month to prepare, but then the progress begins in May! (Just in time to get your beach body ready. :-)

Personally, I am starting at 176 pounds and 32″ waist. My main goal is to get down to around 160 pounds a 30″ waist. Even though I’m 6′ tall, this is my most ideal weight where I feel best. I also want to make sure that I get my 6 pack abs back.

Here are the Rules

1. Almost completely eliminate sugar from the diet. No more candy, Coke, or other sugary drinks. In fact, nothing but water! One Coke and one candy bar per week are allowed.
2. Decrease food portions by 40-50% for all meals. Instead of eating whatever looks good, stop eating after you feel full. (Overall, I want to consume half the calories I used to.)
3. Snack all you want, but only fruit or nuts are allowed!
4. Exercise every single day. This doesn’t mean long exercise daily. It means frequent bursts of exercise. Pushups and situps as many times a day as you can squeeze them in. Whatever you are capable of, just lots of it!

Now, some of you are going to have to follow a couple extra rules if you decide to go along with me here.

• If you are a big beer drinker, you are going to have to treat it the way I treat Coke. Cut it out! Only one or two per week!
• If you are a smoker, I would prefer to see you quit altogether, but at a minimum you must cut down by 50% during the Health Challenge.

Special Guest Trainer!

You might ask, what’s prompting the health challenge right now? Well, my friends over at the US Army Golden Knights have taken me on multiple tandem parachute jumps. But now they want to train me to skydive by myself.

There is just one catch! Lt. Col. Joe Martin says I have to be Army Strong before I can jump on my own, so he’s going to personally oversee my training! (This scares me greatly…) So, every day he’s going to be Tweeting exercise commands to me, and I have to tweet him back as soon as I’ve done what he says.

I’m pretty sure he’s going to take special delight in “overseeing” my training. (Hopefully it won’t be as bad as USMC boot camp.) If you follow Col Martin and myself you’ll be able to observe, and prod me along if I don’t get it done quick enough. Or, if you think your up to it, maybe you can try and follow along as well!

I’m not really sure what he has in store, but hopefully I’ll be able to keep up…

My Progress

As I’m going through the health challenge I’m going to report back right here on my progress pretty regularly. Keep an eye on this area for updates later.

How to Join the Health Challenge

Hey, you really should join us on the Challenge! Here’s what to do:

• Leave a comment below and let me know if you’re in!
• Drop your Twitter ID in the comment and I’ll follow you back (maybe you can follow each other too), as long as you promise to stick with it and give us all updates as well! Motivation is key people! – UPDATE: Cali Lewis had a great idea and created a Health Challenge Twitter list! Ping her on Twitter to get added if you are joining in.
• You can give updates here in the comments on this blog, or via Twitter, or on your OWN blog, but your progression must be documented in order to be eligible for any sort of prize at the end.
• Use the #HealthChallenge hashtag whenever you tweet about it so we can track it!!!

Prizes!

Not that getting in better shape isn’t enough of a reason to do the Health Challenge… but since we’re going to be having some fun getting in shape we might as well have some prizes to go along with it! We’ll be giving out AT LEAST the following at the end of the Challenge:

• Most Engaged: An awesome bluetooth speaker system to pair with your phone for traveling with your music and podcasts!
• Biggest Loser: An awesome new digital camera to the person who loses the most weight. But you have to document it!
• Best Cheerleader: A Wicked Laser (the World’s Most Powerful! NOT A TOY!!!)
• ZOMMs!: Three ZOMMs to the runner up cheerleaders, so make sure you encourage everyone!
• And we’ll come up with more…

The Livid Lobster staff will choose the winners, but you guys are clearly in control of who gets the prizes!

Tagged as: Diet, Exercise, Health Challenge, Health-&-Fitness