Good work. My weight loss has completely stalled even though I go to the gym 5 times a week for 90
minutes each time. 45 minutes cardio and 45 lifting. I know it is likely my diet but I am not discouraged.
I am not putting on weight and I feel great which is the best part for me. Good job Ralphus.

_________________
Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Finished up p90x deal. Now just doing some weight work 3 days a week and playing basketball 2-3 times a week for cardio.

Down 35lbs and almost 13% from starting weight and in 1st place of the biggest loser contest. We have one more weigh in on April 26th.

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

indeed.

That's some good work, Lou.

notice i also avoided the obvious joke there ralphus......it took a lot of restraint, believe me

I understand and appreciate your effort.

May God bless and increase your tribe.

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Way to go RFDC

I'm down 33 for the year. My knee has put me on the sidelines for a few days. I turned 30 and started falling apart...

_________________

Had final weigh in for Biggest Loser Contest. I got first place with a total loss of 43lbs and 15.69%. A lady who was in 3rd place last weigh in almost snuck up and got me. She lost 8.5lbs this cycle and ended up with 15.4%

I get a $100 gift card and a 40% of the pot which started at $260 dollars but has been added to when people did not lose weight.

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Nice work Ralph. That is kicking some major ass. What did you learn during the process? Are you
going to eat differently or work out more going forward? Congratulations are in order though. Did
you need to buy any new clothes?

_________________
Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Thanks. The competition was what really drove me. I needed that motivation. A few of us are going to keep going with it and throw in a few bucks and the one who loses the most weight at the end of the end of May will get the pot. I am going to have a couple good meals over the weekend and hit it again on Monday. I do need to purchase new pants that will probably be what my money goes towards. I have quite a few smaller shirts, but I have went down 4 pant sizes. I have been wearing the same pair of pants pretty much every day lol

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Mid December I said fuck it to the cholesterol meds I was on. I have pretty much entirely given up meat and dairy. I don't really miss it. It was like a light clicked and I realized I just don't eat that stuff anymore. Doubt I'll ever go back. Lost 15 lbs just from that. But cutting back on the booze and getting more excercise has been decidedly more difficult. I need to get up about 4:45 if I'm going to get in 45 minutes of excercise before work. I would like to lose 10 more lbs of fat ideally. Then gain some muscle.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Nice work both of you! I lost 30 lbs. in 2011 thanks to dieting and signing up for half marathons. Well, cold weather came in late 2012 (stopped running), started dating a girl, and got fat & happy. I gained that previously shed 30 plus 7 more. Finally went back to the gym this week. Started running again, too. Guess my goal is to lose that 37 over the next few months. That damn craft beer that came into my life really didn't help.

_________________
-- source

Those are awesome results Ralph, congrats . Enjoy the new wardrobe.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

Been holding steady on the weight loss so far. But need to get my diet back in line to lose some more weight.

I have been continuing to work out. Been doing 2-3 miles of cardio a day and hitting the weights 2 to 3 mornings.

Is there any type of guidelines and that for how much a guy in his late 30s should be able to bench press? We have been working through a power matrix one of the guys found and this morning I was able to do 215 as a 1 rep max.

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

You should be able to lift a hundred pounds right up over your head.

_________________

I know Ralph likes a good cheek too.

_________________
Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

I've always thought that you should be able to bench your body weight at least ten times. That's my made up theory.

_________________
-- source

215 is pretty damn good......and I am assuming you used a regular oylmpic bar bench and not a machine. I have always viewed getting 2 45lb plates on each side of the bar as what separates the men from the boys. I could probably do 205-210 today but I have been doing more dumbbell bench and higher reps/lower weight. It would take a good month of power work to get the 225. Its a pretty awesome accomplishment though when you get it.

_________________
That's my purse! I don't know you!

yeah regular olympic bar with 45lb plates and other plates as needed.

Our matrix this morning I think was this:

8 reps of 165lbs

5 reps of 175lbs

3 reps of 185lbs

1 rep of 195lbs (3 times)

5 reps of 165lbs

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

185 always felt like an accomplishment to me, especially when that was my body weight. Something about racking the 45 and the 25 when I was building up. I plateaued at 225 in sets of 5.

If you can get your body weight 10 times I always felt you were in good shape.

My long term goal is to be able to bench, squat, and deadlift 225 10 times in a session. I can do them individually, but not after one another, and its not really close.

Dont really feel like working out today. Who's with me?

_________________
Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

Same here, but I'll end up hitting up the Deer Park nature trail. Who's coming with me?

_________________
-- source

Finally getting my ass in gear. Ran a mile to the gym, lifted, ran a mile home and then played tennis for
over an hour. Generous amounts of Icy Hot was applied to the knees before the NBA action started.

_________________
Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

I think if you're a regular guy, benching your weight is more than respectable. If you're an old guy, it's even better.

As a kid I was always a weakling. I wrestled in high school and I was technically really good, but there were guys who would just overwhelm me with strength. The coach was always telling me to get in the weight room. But I was a lazy ass.

I'm not really big, maybe about 5'9". But once I was buying a suit and the ignorant tailor said, "My God, man! You have the shortest arms I've ever seen for a man of your size." I guess they are short, but it's not like I appear freakish or anything. I don't think. Anyway, it wasn't until years later when some friends and I started lifting that I realized my body type was made for power-lifting and body-building. I hate lifting weights but my body was made for it. I love distance running and I have a terrible body for that. Another tough luck story.

So the three of us start lifting and I'm easily the weakest guy. Within a month I was out-lifting both of them. We did a ridiculous workout. One day was back, shoulders, and biceps and the other was chest and tris, alternating on a six-day schedule. The workouts took about three hours. I got big fast. I think I weighed a little over 200 and I could bench 315. I could do 245 twelve times. I have a picture of me from then somewhere and I look absolutely silly. None of my clothes fit. I couldn't reach around to scratch my back. But it was nice that nobody ever wanted to fuck with me. I went into a place on Madison and Cicero to get a pig ear sandwich and the brothers in there asked me if I was a pro wrestler.

Anyway, I would bet a lot I'd have trouble benching 100 lbs. one time right now. That's okay, I'm an old dude. Also, I'm not sure lifting really heavy weights is a very healthy way to build strength. You're probably better off with yoga.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

If done correctly, it certainly is.

Yoga is solid, as well.

I guess I would ask what you mean by correctly. I don't think there's much reason or benefit for a 200 lb. guy to work to the point where he can bench press 400 lbs. I'd say the same thing about running the marathon distance. There is little benefit to running 26 miles in one shot other than one's own sense of accomplishment.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I see where you're coming from, much of powerlifting is personal accomplishment, just like marathon runners and other "Above and Beyond" athletic endeavors.

And by correctly I mean with a plan, with proper form, proper cadence, warm-ups and knowing your limits etc.

Ran Busse Woods for the first time last night in nearly twenty months. Damn sore today, but proud that I could actually run the entire 7.7-mile trail again. My minutes/mile was terrible, but at least I have a baseline on which to improve.

_________________
-- source

FWIW the dude who invented the p90x workouts has said if he could do only 1 workout the rest of his life it would be yoga. So there's that.

_________________
Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

I finally started my commitment to excellence last Monday. I'm eating meat, fish, eggs, fruits, veggies & nuts, & avoiding grains (bread, pasta, noodles), dairy, potatoes, sugar, extra salt & processed foods. Essentially its a low carb & low gluten diet called the paleolithic diet, AKA the caveman diet, Stone Age diet, or hunter-gatherer diet, it is based around wild plants & animals prior to the development of agriculture & grain based diets. It is a great way to eat but I really miss dairy products.

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan