THE celebrities may have attracted the attention, but for three middle-aged sports nuts, a Sport Relief fitness challenge was all that mattered.

Daily Echo editor-in-chief Neal Butterworth joined forces with Peter Elviss, chief executive of the West Hants Club and former Cherries star and local businessman Les Parodi to support the charity effort in March… by embarking on their own head-to-head.

All three were weighed, measured and tested ahead of the campaign and weeks later, the results have been collated, checked and double-checked.

The three followed nutritional advice from West Hants fitness manager Mark Daley and with the support of personal trainers at the club followed their own self-motivated path to fitness.

Neal said: “The advice was really useful and to be honest, it was the change in lifestyle and eating habits that made the most difference, along with the regular exercise.

“There were plenty of emails pinging around winding each other up and it became very secretive and competitive towards the end.”

Peter added: “Get three competitive blokes together and issue a challenge like this and you know they’re going to put everything into it. The great thing is that this wasn’t just a short-term challenge as it’s changed the way we all think about our fitness.”

Les said: “It’s something that we want to carry on doing, even though I will miss Peter’s emails telling us both how well he was doing!”

To prove their point, the trip plan to be measured again just before Christmas.

l West Hants Club raised for Sport relief £750, with 90 children aged six and over taking part in walking the Sport Relief mile around the club’s indoor tennis courts.

The all-important results * Neal Butterworth Before: Weight: 15 stones 12lbs (222lbs) Fat%: 27.4 Fat weight: 60lbs After: Weight: 15 stones 6lbs (216lbs) Fat%: 20.6 Fat weight: 44lbs Weight lost: 6lbs Fat weight lost: 16lbs Lean mass (Muscle/water) gained: 10lbs Mark Daley said: “Neal’s was an inspirational effort. He lost less overall weight than Peter or Les, but through manipulating the type of food he ate, ie lots of oily fish and lean protein along with low glycemic carbohydrate and adding a consistent exercise regime, managed to lose more fat weight while gaining back a substantial amount of muscle that he had previously had during his football career.”

* Peter Elviss Before: Weight: 16 stones 1lbs (225lbs) Fat%: 26.9 Fat weight: 64.lbs After: Weight: 15 stones 4lbs (214lbs) Fat%: 24.2 Fat weight: 52lbs Weight lost: 11lbs Fat weight lost: 12lbs Lean mass gained: 1lb Mark added: “Peter also did very well and managed to maintain all his lean mass via exercise during his calorie restriction. The lesson learned here is don’t let the scales be your sole source of measurement when trying to lose fat. If you haven’t got access to a gym with a bodystat or similar device, it’s far healthier to use a tape measure around the waist and hips along with a critical eye and mirror. And always add some form of resistance training to maintain muscle mass while losing fat.”

* Les Parodi Before: Weight: 15 stones 8lbs (218lbs) Fat%: 27.8 Fat weight: 61.lbs After: Weight: 14 stones 3lbs (199lbs) Fat%: 28.2 Fat weight: 56.lbs Weight lost: 19lbs Fat weight lost: 5lbs Lean mass lost. 14lbs Mark said: “Les proved that over just six weeks, a substantial amount of weight can be lost if calories are reduced substantially along with cardio exercise.”