Andie Chen sets himself challenge to train from 'uncle to hunkle' in 300 days

There is a Chinese saying that men blossom like flowers when they are 40 and that is what local actor Andie Chen targets to be.

In a YouTube video published yesterday (Sept 10), the 39-year-old shared the challenge that he has set for himself before reaching that milestone next June.

"I am turning 40 years old and becoming a middle-aged uncle. Although I have been frail since I was young, I've always had a dream of having the physique of a Greek god. So I'm challenging myself to change from an uncle to a hunkle in 300 days," he said.

In an earlier video, he shared that he wishes to take a series of photos and video to record his physique next May. For the next eight months, he plans to use the first four months to gain muscle mass and the later four months to decrease body fat.

At the time of filming his latest video, Andie was counting down 282 days to his transformation.

Starting the day with breakfast with his children, Aden, 10, and Avery, eight, whom he shares with his actress wife Kate Pang, they shared a meal of apples and scrambled eggs.

He said: "My wife is not at home, she is working overseas. The greatest problem when she is not around is that nobody is around to cook meals and I will be doing all the household chores, including taking care of the children."

Later, Andie also shared his workout routine at the gym, including doing pull-ups and weight-lifting as well as using the pec deck machine and the cable machine for chest muscles exercises.

"This is my eighth consecutive day going to the gym. Actually, many parts of my body are aching. I also have quite a lot of work today, so I'll try to reduce my time and complete the more important workouts," he said, adding that he took about 40 minutes to finish his exercises that day.

Changing his physique is not the only transformation Andie has, as he shared in another video that he has successfully reduced his smoking habit over the years.

He revealed: "I smoked before my daughter was born, that was eight years ago. The number of cigarettes I had per day was about half a pack, which was about 10 sticks."

Andie shared that he wanted to quit smoking for his family's health and also because he did not want to be "controlled" by it. He acknowledged that it was easier said than done.

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"There are ups-and-downs in life, a lot of unhappiness and worries… Things that happen at home and at work will make people feel unsatisfied and stressed and would want to find a way of escaping, which is usually through smoking," Andie said.

He shared that while it is not easy to quit smoking, it is possible to change their habits if they put their mind to it.

"I wouldn't say that I didn't smoke for the past eight years, I can only say that I reduced the frequency by quite a lot. I don't bring cigarettes around with me every day. I only smoke when something happens in daily life that makes me feel stressed and breathless," he said, adding that the number of times he smoked this year was less than once a month.

"Don't give yourself too much stress, you can change as long as you believe in it. We are all human beings, we all have moments where we can't handle it."

Andie added that when a person tries to change those unhappy situations in their lives, their smoking habits also become part of the changes.

"Step by step, you can claim your life and health back… When you are making a better life for yourself, as long as you are constantly improving, you can give yourself a pat on the back… When you don't need to bring cigarettes around with you and think about it, you would have succeeded. This road could be long, but it's okay," he said.

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yeo.shuhui@asiaone.com

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