Yes, he followed it to a "T" but one thing you will learn is that Labrada 's plan has two "versions"....The mainstream plan that you see on the website and challenge page is less aggressive - you still eat breads, have cheat meals, less calorie count focused, etc. Still a good plan and how I originally found out about Labrada...

Then there is the "aggressive" plan that he lays out in a book called "Get Lean" - it tends to be targeted towards bodybuilders and getting ready for shows...it is more aggressive in terms of eliminating fruit, dairy, breads, lunch meats, etc and also has a tighter calorie count. The first time I read it, I was surprised at how detailed it was (I just re-read it) - pretty prescriptive. This more aggressive plan is what Mike followed to win.

I personally fall in the middle of how I'm approaching things...When I did the challenge in 2011, i stil ate whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta, lots of lunch meat, etc. and lost 25 lbs. Did I look as ripped as the winners? NO but I also didn't do much strength training. This time I am eating "cleaner" and trying to eat less processed food and minimize bread. My wife and I were trying to do this anyways beyond the challenge as we eat way too much processed stuff.

I also have a practical challenge of travelling every week so it's difficult to get real prescriptive on where I eat.

Long answer but hope that helps....an encouraging point was that he was only spending 30-45/min doing strength training - I envisioned having the winners basically living in the gym...

I'm sure there are other things that I will remember and post here later