Sportsvibe's Maximuscle Challenge: Week 3

The weekend has been and gone and for the first time since starting this challenge I decided to treat myself to a few alcoholic beverages. I started the night with good intentions and told myself that I would limit myself to a few G&T's. Not the manliest drink in the world, but it is low in calories.

Unfortunately starting the night at a establishment that promotes the drinking of flavoured shots meant my good intentions soon disappeared and I soon found myself happily making the most of the deals on offer.

Thankfully I managed to show some self control and avoided the temptations of the numerous chicken and kebab shops on the long walk home. I even managed to get myself down the gym the next day and, despite some rather excessive sweating, still managed to get through my usual routine.

Aside from my one night of indulgence I have managed to stick to the diet plan that was first proposed. The idea is relatively straightforward, simply stick to low fat foods, make sure you have plenty of protein in your diet and try and make sure you eat around 2000 calories a day.

This creates a deficit of around 500 calories and with five gym sessions a week you continue to burn calories even when you are simply sitting at your desk.

Perhaps the most important part of the diet is making sure that you have a healthy breakfast. As mentioned in my first blog you are 450% more likely to be obese if you skip that all important first meal of the day. Thankfully Maximuscle sent me some Promax oats to test out and with a picture of England rugby ace Ugo Monye on the cover I figured they must be good for me.

Firstly Monye has the sort of physique that most top class athletes can only dream of (see image on the right - maybe if Sportsvibe stick to the diet then we could do our own calendar) and if the breakfast oats are good enough for an England regular then they are certainly good enough for a failed sportsman turned journalist.

Full of whey protein and low in both fats and carbs, oats offer a slow release of energy and certainly stave off any cravings for mid morning snacks.

With just one more week of the 30-challenge to go I can look forward to a training session with Rajko Radovic on Wednesday afternoon. The star of BBC show Last Man Standing will put me through my paces and quite frankly I am worried. This is one of the fittest men on the planet and I struggle to play 30 minutes of five-a-side football.

Thankfully I have now managed to lose a full seven kilos (just over one stone) so I am certainly in much better shape to keep up with Rajko as he puts me through my paces.

Next week I will have a video of my training session, plus I will reveal how much I have lost in 30 days.

If you want to get in shape and win a share of £25,000 enter the Maximuscle Fitness Heroes Challenge at www.maximuscle.com/fitnessheroeschallenge