ricangelo’s BodyBlog

It’s been two weeks since I injured my finger and I feel very sluggish and out of shape. I’ve been doing cardio and abs exercises but not as often and hard as I wanted to. There’s a lingering pang on my right hand and it’s very irritating. I’ve been drinking a lot again, so what’s new?, and been eating a lot and unhealthy choices. My doctor advised me to take the cast out in 8-10 days and have x-rays again to check if the union was complete and an operation is not needed. I sure do hope and pray that it is not needed as that will definitely pushed my comeback date to my gym further more probably next year! My goodness! Just want to get back as soon as possible.

See yall in 10 days! Pray for me.

Tough luck! just when I’m so raring to go with  my workouts, I injured my right ring finger just this afternoon during a basketball game. Good thing we won the game in overtime against a very strong team. Well it is painful but not to the point that I should see a doctor. i might need to have them x-rayed tomorrow just to check if it’s just a sprain (I sure do hope so). Nonetheless, it will cost me a week or two from my workouts so I’m planning to increase my cardio and eat more. LOL yummy looking forward to eating more!

Ouch i can hardly click the mouse.

Update: X-ray results are in and I am so depressed! There is complete oblique fracture of the midshaft of the 4th metacarpal in relative good alignment, it said. Not only would I be resting from basketball for 2 months, but also from my workouts! I can’t live like this! LOL. Well, I guess I’ll be having my cardio often just to put off the weight and fat from coming back.

Exactly a month later, I’ve been a failure when it comes to my drinking habit! I’d say I had about 8 days of the 31 days having a drink. But what I noticed, is the volume, I seem to drink a little less these days which is somewhat positive so I’m thinking I’ll work my way from that. The drinking sessions were unavoidable or so I reason out LOL. I have to attend a wedding, graduation and a barrio fiesta so not drinking in those events might be an insult, at least in this part of my world. My workouts have been very good though. Day after workouts would be very sore days, I find it very good that my muscles are indeed stimulated. I’m still at 150 lbs but the guy in the mirror has less fat now and looks good in body-hug shirts HAHAHA funny how I find it sexy now when I consider it very gay last year.

Today will be my first crack at deadlifts, so help me God! Praying I wont break any bone but I’ll be very cautious of course. Lift more! AND DRINK LESS! ROFL!

It’s been 10 days since I posted my ‘intensify’ blog. How am I doing? I feel great, the alcohol seems to not miss me at all. It’s ignoring my call LOL! Good for me! I hope my fraternity brothers and acquaintances will not give me a call for a drink in 2 weeks. I’m missing you guys! I’ve lost 5 lbs and my arms, chest and stomach are firmer. My diet looks solid, for me at least. I’m really trying hard to spread my calorie intake in 5-6 small meals and I get ‘praises’ and weird looks from not-so-conscious individuals. If I had not been transformed I would seriously give the same weird look to someone eating 5 to 6 meals! Meals are tuna and tomatoes in wheat bread (fave), chicken breast cooked in different styles, poached, roasted, steamed, stir fry with veggies, all  are palatable! I also eat a lot of veggies and oil roasted peanuts. Drinking whey protein double chocolate flavor, damn so good! Haven’t had rice in a week or two and I’m not craving for it. Though I wish could eat the spicy pasta from a resto nearby tomorrow or maybe next week. I’ve been jogging,walking,stairs for about 5 times a week now while lifting heavier. Heavier in my own standard and looking at the stats in this site, mine ain’t heavy at all! LOL

I’m trying to gain some mass while losing body fat. They say it’s almost impossible because it’s either you cut or you bulk. Well, I’m experimenting on my body, doing a lot of tweaking from what Ive read in the forum as well as articles. Personally, I am not a fan of big muscles and such, not for me. I just want to look good and feel good. FIT and FIRM.

So far so good. Gonna run for a basketball game. Ciao!

I just got back from my one week once-a-year vacation in my hometown. It was my Mom’s birthday so the relatives were there and I was so damn happy with all the positive comments thrown at me for my weight loss! Imagine for the past five years, all I hear was how big I become, how out of shape I am! But this year was different! All praises! I deserve it! I treated myself to a cheat week! Roasted pig, gallons of beer, lots of rice, fried chicken, pork in soy sauce, and no veggies whatsoever LOL. The number says i gained 3 lbs in a week! whaaa!
I’m back to work now and feel so sluggish and out of shape, I hate the feeling! Starting tomorrow, I will do my new, intensified workout. I’m going back on my healthy diet and will move mountains to try not to have a drink in a month. I’m very excited, I have 25 days before another progress picture. Good Luck!

I’ve been thinking about this post for quite a long time now and I feel it would help me a lot with my problem if I see this blog quite often enough. As a Filipino living in the Philippines, it’s very hard to do away with starchy white rice. For us, it’s a way of life. It’s like the meal, however the food tastes, is not fulfilling without it. But for the last couple of months I’ve learn to cut down on rice and it resulted to a considerable weight loss. I don’t crave for it as much as I did. I find other substitute for my tongue, usually, green leafy vegetables and green tomatoes do the job. I don’t usually go to parties (handaan as we call it here) because surely with the adobos, lechon (roasted pig), i will be tempted to pig out on rice. On rice, I think I won the battle. But another thing just wont go away.

An ice cold beer…

Seven months into my transformation, I’ve lose a total of 42 lbs! But in that same time frame, I’ve been drinking beer a lot, twice a week with my fraternity brothers. A single drinking session usually amounts to five 500ml Extra Strong Beer, San Miguel’s Red Horse. That equates to 5 Liters of beer every week! Imagine my fat loss would be if I hadn’t been drinking a lot! I don’t like Light beers, they’re tasteless and the crazy kick of the beer just isn’t there. To worsen the situation, the day after is usually sleep, eat a lot and skip the gym! How can I change this?
Starting today I’ll start to maybe lessen it once a week, or maybe once in 10 days. I hope I will have the resolve as I had when I said goodbye to cigarettes 7 months ago
.

God Bless us all!

Edit: OK here it is after thinking so much about this for the last couple of days, I will definitely start next week (because I’ll be making my once-a-year trip home this Friday for my Mom’s birthday, that will definitely be a super cheat day!) not to drink any alcohol for a month. Then reassess my goals. I can do this!!!

A year ago, I eat what I felt I want to eat, drink a lot of beers four nights a week, and smoke till my throat bleed. During my rest days, I buried myself under heaps of pillows in front of my large-screen TV. DVD series are the usual target. The only time I get to stand was when I have to visit the comfort room or feel hungry, and hungry always I was! Roasted pig, fried chicken with skin on, roasted chicken liver, fried pork and everything that are so high in cholesterol plus sacks of rice are the usual meals awaiting me as I have my break. Immediately after eating as much as a thousand and more calories in one seating I go back to my room either to finish the movie or doze off. Exercise was pretty much taken out of my vocabulary. I was extremely obese, slouchy, slothful and many other adjective you can think of to describe a young fat person.  I don’t usually talk about this, but yes even my sex life was all gone. I’ve lost my energy and any exertion of force has become a great burden. All my clothes were sized extra large and still my bulges are evident.

Looking back, I cannot imagine I even felt satisfied at that time. I was happy because I eat what I like and drink all I want. But all ‘good’ things have to end. November of 2006, I felt pain in my left arm leading to my left chest. A simple shrugged was needed and it went away. As the days went by, the pang I felt was becoming more intense and recurring more often. Once I played basketball, going up and down the court twice made my chest wanting to burst. The pain was unbearable and I have to sit and request for substitution. I decided to see a doctor but I was sure I would be told to stop or avoid fatty foods and alcohol. But the yuletide season was fast approaching and I can’t afford to skip all the sumptuous food and alcoholic beverages that goes with it. So I decided to live my life until December 2006 and see a cardiologist after the year.

January 2007, my cardiologist was very sure the results of my Thallium stress test would come out negative as I was too young. Thallium stress test is a type of nuclear scanning test or myocardial perfusion imaging test. It shows how well blood flows to the heart muscle. It’s usually done along with an exercise stress test on a treadmill or bicycle. My results? It showed my blood in my heart  was considerably depleted when at stress meaning there is a possibility that one of my major arteries was clogged with plaque. I am dangerously close to a myocardial infarction.  I was shocked. I cannot believe at age 28 I already have a coronary artery disease, although further tests were needed to verify such.  Still it was an eye opener of great magnitude. Then and there I made a decision that will forever change the course of my life.

Forward eight months later: I am down 42 lbs from my January 2007 weight of 200 lbs. I play basketball thrice a week, jog four times a week, lift weights and had a change of dietary lifestyle. Everything is just great and I am in the best shape of my life! I dumped smoking, I eat pork maybe once or twice in two weeks and I’m trying to kick the bad habit of booze. I am fervently praying that the angiogram at the end of the year will show that I have won the battle.