Here’s a quick Q&A with Antonie Holtzhausen, our men’s transformation 4th place winner in our latest 8-week Ultimate You Challenge.
- Give us a short history of your journey to health and fitness before the challenge.
I’m currently 35 years old & I always been active with sports from Athletics, Rugby, boxing to Cricket. I always went to the gym just for the sake of it & never really knew what I was doing in the gym.
I never really knew or followed a healthy lifestyle & just ate about anything. Being fit & quite skinny, I never really struggled with my weight. I always tried to gain weight.
In 2013 my lifestyle completely changed when my wife started with bodybuilding fitness shows. From that point of time I learned what a healthy lifestyle is all about. From that point of time we started our journey in the fitness industry. Myself & my wife completely changed our lifestyle & never looked back. Both of us started competing in Bodybuilding in 2013, she as a Body Fitness Athlete & myself as a Athletic Physique Athlete (Not Bodybuilder). We both won a couple of Bodybuilding show’s in our respective line-ups.
- What prompted you to join the ULTIMATE YOU Transformation Challenge?
After competing in the Arnold Classic Africa event in May 2015, I just went through a phase of not caring about the healthy lifestyle anymore, dieting 20 weeks at a time got to me badly. From May to October 2016 I gained about 16kg from just eating crap, but I’m a fitness freak & still continued with weigh training every day. It is so easy to relapse into the old way of doing things if there is no goal or motivation.
At that point I struggled to tie my shoes & said enough is enough. Being a gym freak, I know most of the gym freaks in our local gym & was aware of a friend of mine that done a Transformation Challenge, Glen Badenhorst. I told him I need some sort of a challenge/goal to work towards. He introduced me to the Ultimate You Transformation Challenge. At that point I decided to join the challenge to get myself back into shape.
- Give us a quick overview of the nutrition and eating plan that you followed during the challenge.
A bodybuilding nutrition & eating plan is real hard-core dieting & it is not maintainable for a very long period. I decided with all my knowledge gained over the years that I’m going to follow a maintainable well balanced low carb cycling diet, that worked 100% for me. I had cheat meals twice a week, it is really important to allow & reward yourself with those cheat meals. Mentally & physically after eating a cheat meal you just feel refuelled.
My basic diet consisted of 6 meals per day:
Meal 1 – Oats with honey or Weet-Bix with Sweetener & 4 eggs
Meal 2 – Lean Steak with rice & mix vegs,
Meal 3 – Chicken Fillet with Sweet Potato’s,
Meal 4 – Lean Mince with rice,
Meal 5 – Tuna with mix vegs
Meal 6 – Lean Steak with Cashews Nuts / peanut butter
(note – this was just the basic diet I stick to. I changed it up every now & then).
- Give us a quick overview of the training and exercise plan that you followed during the challenge.
My training program consisted with weight training & cardio. I trained 6 days per week & rested on a Sundays.
Basic Training program: Monday – Legs, Calves with 30min Cardio
Tuesday – Chest, Triceps, Abs with 30min Cardio
Wednesday – Back, Biceps, Calves with 30min Cardio
Thursday – Shoulders, Traps Abs with 30min Cardio
Friday – Biceps & Triceps, Calves with 30min Cardio
Saturday – 60min Cardio & Abs
- Did you use any supplements or do anything else worth mentioning to help you get results?
The only supplements I used: CLA Caps
Omega Oils
Fat burner
BCAA
Whey Protein every now & then.
- If you could give 3 pieces of advice to future challengers, what would they be?
1- Set your goals & plan out your nutrition & training plan. Like I said I need to work towards a goal otherwise there is nothing for me to work for.
2 – Mind set. If you’re mentally prepared nothing will stop you.
3 – Believe in yourself & in your goal & nothing will stop you.
- What did you find most valuable about your experience?
The most valuable part for me, is the healthy lifestyle you promote. When you look good & feel healthy, it changes you personally, it makes you a better you on so many levels. Doesn’t matter if you overweight & just want to make a change, this challenge is worthwhile for anybody & I will recommend it to most.
