Fat Ralphy's Health and Fitness Motivation Thread

[fat ralphy]

Been lifting pretty consistently Mon - Fri. nothing crazy usually like 20-30 mins. I will do like 4 sets of 10 and 4 exercises.

 

BJJ twice a week when I dont have extra work shifts etc

 

Fasting steadily and seeing some small improvements overall.

[CALIgula]

Pretty soon you'll have to change your user name to Slim Ralphy. 

 

Will the real Slim Ralphy please stand up? 

 

Seriously though, keep up the good work..i need to get back into the gym

[fat ralphy]

@CALIgula going for Fit Ralphy !!! ughhhhhh! thats a dope one - maybe even ask Raven to change it for real. 

[CALIgula]

Changing the a to an i should be easy enough. 

 

Plus it will make me not think about the kid from A Christmas Story when i see your name. 

[KILZ FILLZ]

New incline bench PR of 155x8

 

i am too shy to ask for a spotter to see what a one rep PR would be

 

i need to get over that. 

[fat ralphy]

@KILZ FILLZ yeah dude just ask, gym bro would love to spot you dude

 

Going to try for 30 mins of cardio every day this month.

 

I have been lifting consistently too. 

 

Get it lads.

[fat ralphy]

dude sciatica is fucked @nicklesndimes I hurt mine bad like 5 years ago and it still gives me

problems at times.

 

I have been sticking with 30 min of cardio exercise a day and lifting regularly- cut out any unnecessary sugar. Its only been a week and I already feel better and see some improvements.

[morton]

So, I went for my first check up in a decade or so and the second check up of my adult life the other day.

 

My cholesterol is a little high, after asking  me if my diet was okay and if I exercise, which I said it was and I do the doc immediately started talking about medication. I called bullshit on that and so she said well we can check back in in three months and you can try to improve by diet.

 

I think she is a checklist pill pusher but maybe I am over reacting, anyone else deal with this issue?

[morton]

Always feel like a tool responding in a forum before when I was the last one to say shit but there is little action and I thought I would update a little. 

 

I have been learning a little about ultra processed foods and eliminating them from my diet more and more.

 

In two weeks I have lost four pounds, more or less and hope to loose another two or so before my shits get measured again.

 

I have been talking to a fair amount of men my age and they all have high cholesterol. One interesting bit was a coworker from spain who says his doctor here tells him to take pills and his doctor in spain says it is not needed.

 

For thinking about food I enjoyed this podcast, especially episode after episode four.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0017tcz/episodes/player?page=2

 

Beach body by the summer bitches.

[Dark_Knight]

My fitness has just been in constant motion right now. Lifting 6 days a week. Reps over weight. 
 

weathers breaking in the Midwest so I’ll start cycling and running here soon. A few races coming up. Basic 5ks in April/May. 10k at end of May. Half marathon in late September. 
 

Diet has been consistent. High protein. Try to eat meat at least once a day. Sometimes I end up doing shakes to supplement.

 

Currently taking: 

 

Magnesium threonate 

iron

vitamin c 

vitamin b1

cod liver oil

vitamin d3

coq10

biotin

ginko biloba

on a two week of 

ashwaganda 

5-htp 

 

both at night.

 

sitting at 191 end of the day weight. Haven’t measured but would guess I’m about 10% body fat right now. Going to try to stay lean for running and cycling. Hoping to keep the muscle in the process. 

[metronome]

14 hours ago, morton said:

Always feel like a tool responding in a forum before when I was the last one to say shit but there is little action and I thought I would update a little. 

 

I have been learning a little about ultra processed foods and eliminating them from my diet more and more.

 

In two weeks I have lost four pounds, more or less and hope to loose another two or so before my shits get measured again.

 

I have been talking to a fair amount of men my age and they all have high cholesterol. One interesting bit was a coworker from spain who says his doctor here tells him to take pills and his doctor in spain says it is not needed.

 

For thinking about food I enjoyed this podcast, especially episode after episode four.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0017tcz/episodes/player?page=2

 

Beach body by the summer bitches.

 

I try to eat a lot of whole foods like fruits and veggies as my snack food.  Every little bit helps.

[fat ralphy]

30 mins of cardio daily - typing this in the weight room and I am lifting 3-5 times a week. 

 

27 day streak with the daily cardio and feeling like I am getting back into a good level of fitness. 

 

Turning 42 in a couple weeks and I am probably in better shape then I was at 32. 

[fat ralphy]

Felt crappy at work - worked a half day and came home to crash.

 

Still banged out my 30 mins of cardio like a boss. 

 

No excuses.

[fat ralphy]

@nicklesndimesdude sciatica shit is the worst - I hurt mine like 5 years ago and it still acts up. 

[morton]

Foam roller helped me resolve similar issues, but not definitively, it could have been time doing most of the work. That shit lingered for sure.

 

Knock on wood that I have seen the last of it, been a good while since.

 

I have not been able to get any traction on diversifying my routine, but have been keeping up with the swim group and making progress on diet.

 

Incremental, progressive and sustained is the key for me.

[fat ralphy]

Day 36 streak for 30 min cardio daily - posting this from the weight room. Let’s fucking go!

[fat ralphy]

Going strong - 41 days straight 30 mins or more of cardio.

 

Tonight was jiu jitsu - lifted weights in the afternoon. 

 

I am down two holes on the belt. 

 

Get after it lads!

Edited April 12, 2023 by fat ralphy

[Dark_Knight]

me after I repped deadlifts to failure today 

[fat ralphy]

cardio streak continues - tweaked my back a little, not allowing any excuses.

 

[fat ralphy]

53 day streak 30 mins daily - lifting about 3-4 times weekly and BJJ twice weekly.

 

I tripped out the other day when I stepped on the scale, despite being down two holes on the belt I weigh the same as when I started. Toning up and losing fat - I guess I need to focus on how I feel and look versus a number on the scale. 

[morton]

Last week I weighed in at 178 and then 173.5 a few days later.

 

For me that is a pretty big swing, a range of 3 pounds is pretty typical.

 

I have had similar things happen with my weight, most noticeably a few years back when I started bicycle commuting for a while. I went from no miles on the bike to 24 Monday to Friday, my appetite went through the roof and I consumed accordingly; weight stayed the same and then started to drop after four months or so.

 

The number on the scale still matters, and you cant outrun a bad diet. It is not the only thing that matters but is an easily measured number that does have significance in health outcomes.

 

I have more or less accepted that diversifying my workouts is not going to happen right now. In the pool we have been increasing distance lately to get ready for open water season which starts next month I will be swimming in a 3K and 5K this summer.

 

 

 

[KILZ FILLZ]

new PRs on all my push day lifts and shoulder day lifts this week 

[fat ralphy]

I ended my cardio streak at 60 days after getting sidelined bad with allergies- missed a couple days work. I was pretty down but I literally felt like shit and threw in the towel. 

 

Still doing BJJ and lifting like 3-4 times a week. I will keep the cardio up but I am not going to

make it a daily requirement.

[KILZ FILLZ]

[morton]

I have continued abstinence from UPF, "ultra processed foods", which is basically any product that comes wrapped in plastic and has ingredients that you would not find in a kitchen.

 

Doing so has been at the instigation of my wife who has made it really easy for me by making condiments from scratch and doing all sorts of sourcing, cooking and baking using UPF free foods. Her efforts have made it a really easy change and tasty also.

 

I have greatly reduced the number of restaurant meal that I eat although when I do go out I do not worry too much about the UPF component. It would be impractical to be too concerned but I do try to pick options that may have less UPF.

 

Doing so has caused my cholesterol to go to optimal levels and I am now in the "normal" BMI index, which is a funny index, how the hell are women and men judged by the same ratio. 

 

Still swimming, doing a open water one mile race on Sunday, I will probably land in the middle of the pack, or trailing a little. I do not expect that I will ever be as fast as the folks I swim with but it is really one of the most positive things I got going none the less.

 

* I wonder if Bruce Lee wrote that workout himself or if a coach did it. It would be cool if you could show at the gym and they just gave you a ticket for what to do. Having workouts written and directed by a coach really helps me push a little. I would be a lazy ass on my own.

[fat ralphy]

@morton props dude.I know that food choices are a huge part of my needed weight loss strategy. And although I dont often eat ultra processed- I need to work on portion control and focus more on proteins/plant based versus carb

 

I am going to make a renewed effort at weight loss when I get home from vacation this weekend.

 

Basically lifting has helped me shape up but I still weigh the same. I want to get slimmer for jiu jitsu and better movement on the mat. 

 

I will check in here as I progress…

[ndv]

That feeling you get in your inner elbow joints when extending them after a bicep workout. 

 

Yeah, that feeling...

[morton]

On 6/16/2023 at 3:24 PM, fat ralphy said:

@morton I dont often eat ultra processed

 

If you start looking at the ingredients in your food for anything that you would not have in your kitchen on its own you may be surprised to find how much UPF there is, it is not just budget choices but up and down the market.

 

I suspect that when it all comes out in the wash we will find that the food companies behave in manners similar to the tobacco and pharmaceutical companies, developing and marketing addictive and harmful products for people.

 

As expected I did not rank very well in the race on Sunday, actually has me a little bummed but I will get over it.

 

 

[ndv]

7 hours ago, morton said:

I suspect that when it all comes out in the wash we will find that the food companies behave in manners similar to the tobacco and pharmaceutical companies, developing and marketing addictive and harmful products for people.

 

This has crossed my mind in other ways for quite some time.  Makes sense as business perspectives.  Genetically modified ingredients and such, who's to say one could modify things to cause higher cholesterol, blood pressure and such.  Imagine population control in or other forms of control in minority areas.   But let's weaponnize some of these things and market edible products in other countries that may just cause a slight malnurishment that may prohibit physical endurance for any given reason.  Say an uprising or civil war.  Or atleast some form of experimental research.  Talking about this reminds me of Vitapro.  

 

Anyhow, I am sure there is some positive effects to genetically engineered ingredientses for purposes of warding off diseases, infections and such.  But kinda tough to trust when we have people in places like bill gates, ya know?

 

I would even take it further to intertain the thought of genetically engineered ingredients for psychological reasons as well both positive and negative implications.  

[fat ralphy]

While I agree that GMO’s are shit - I couldn’t help myself….