By L. K. Regan
Published Dec 19, 2008

Many of you saw the amazing results achieved by our fall RealJock/Nu4You Weight Loss Challenge participants—our 26 guys lost a total of over 300 pounds in nine weeks! Now, we're doing it again, in time for the new year and your resolutions. If you're looking to lose 20 pounds or more over the next three months with the help of an expert team of nutritionists and the support of the RealJock community, we invite you to join our 2009 Weight Loss Challenge.

The Weight Loss Challenge is a joint effort between RealJock and Nutrition for You, the interactive online weight-management web site founded by nutrition expert Manuel Villacorta. For the 2009 Weight Loss Challenge, we've also teamed up with Billy Polson and Mike Clausen, co-founders of Diakadi Body, premier San Francisco training gym, and creators of the RealJock 12-Week Workout Programs. That means that our participants will get the individual nutrition counseling that is the key to Nutrition for You's success—as well as the cutting-edge functional training workouts that have made Diakadi voted the best personal training gym by San Francisco CitySearch year in and year out. As an added bonus, the Diakadi workouts will be published on RealJock.com, so that anyone not in the challenge can do the workouts on their own.

The 2009 Weight Loss Challenge will begin on January 12 and will run for 12 weeks, with all new contestants. For the next couple of weeks, we'll be collecting entries (see below for details), and will select a group of great guys to be contestants. As the Challenge goes on, we'll introduce the contestants on the site, giving the RealJock community the chance to get to know them a bit better, and show them some love. The public nature of the challenge is a huge motivator, while the expert advice of nutritionists and trainers helps keep the contestants on track. There are prizes to be won (again, more on that below)—but our veterans of the last challenge talked most about a life-changing experience. As our winner, Matt45710, told us, "I would say that this has really been life changing for me. Between the support I've gotten through the Real Jock forums and the friends I've made, the workouts (thanks Billy!), and then finally the nutrition piece, I've been able to really get myself to a place not only physically, but mentally that I haven't been in for a long time."

This is a your chance to find out first-hand how it feels to totally change your life, and to get the help you need to lose weight the right way. And, the whole time, the RealJock community and your fellow Challenge participants will be there to offer support (and, often, humor). All that remains is to take the first step, and enter!

You have until January 5 to enter the RealJock/Nu4You Weight-Loss Challenge. RealJock and Nu4You will choose up to five challenge participants from all entries. Chosen participants will receive a free 12-week membership to the Nu4You service. They will follow the weight-loss program for the length of the challenge, including regular check-ins with Nu4You staff.

Challenge Prizes
All chosen participants will get a 10-week guided nutrition membership at the Nutrition for You web site, including regular one-on-one nutrition counseling with Nu4You's nutrition experts. All participants who complete the 12-week program will also receive an additional three free months of the Nu4You service. That's nearly six months of personalized nutrition and weight-loss help from some of the leading nutritionists in San Francisco. Nu4You staff will also choose a winner and runner-up for the challenge. Both will receive a heart rate monitor; the challenge winner will also get a personal body fat analyzer. Winners will be chosen by Nu4You staff, who will take into account the following factors:

Percent Body Weight Loss
1. Record Keeping
2. Eating Breakfast
3. Exercise
4. Monitoring Weight
5. Low-fat Diet
6. Sportsmanship

Challenge entrants must agree to participate for the entire length of the program and to do regular check-ins with Nu4You staff. Contestants must agree that this is an online contest and their online behavior will be part of a subjective decision to choose contest winners. Contestants that attempt to cheat the system or falsify information will be disqualified.

Challenge Requirements
To be a contestant in the RealJock Nu4You Weight-Loss challenge, you need to be at least 20 pounds overweight and committed to making changes in your life. Below is the full list of requirements:

1. You must have a RealJock member profile and picture, including a head shot publicly visible to other logged-in RealJock members.
2. You must be at least 20 pounds overweight.
3. You must be committed to making a real change in your life and agree to use the Nu4You program for the length of the challenge.
4. You must agree to be interviewed once per month by Nu4You staff to obtain progress updates, and provide progress photos once per month.
5. You must submit all of the contestant information below.
6. You must agree to obey all of the rules of the challenge.

Enter the RealJock Nu4You Weight-Loss Challenge To enter the RealJock Nu4You Weight-Loss Challenge, email the following information and photo of yourself to info@realjock.com with "Weight Loss Challenge" in the subject line. Please be as thorough as possible:

Name (this will be kept confidential)
1. RealJock Member Name
2. Age
3. Current Weight
4. Height
5. Waist Circumference (To measure your waist with a tape measure, hold one end of the tape measure at your belly button and wrap it around your waste until both ends meet at your belly button.)
6. A list of any medical conditions.
7. A short biography including your occupation and where you live.
8. A paragraph saying why you would like to participate. Please include why you want to lose weight and things such as past diet experiences, how committed you are to change, how you feel about your current weight, and how your life might change if you could get in shape.
9. Attach a photograph of yourself wearing shorts without a shirt (or in a close-fitting t-shirt or tank top) and holding up a white piece of paper upon which you have clearly written "Weight-Loss Challenge". If you don't understand how to do this, visit RealJock's profile verification instructions for a similar example. Please note we will keep this photo private unless you wish otherwise.

At the end of the challenge entry period, we will contact you to let you know if you are chosen, and will announce the chosen contestants on the RealJock site. Please understand we cannot choose all entrants.