The tough transformation of Khalil Ramos
Erik Matti’s Honor Thy Father, a local indie film topbilled by John Lloyd Cruz, garnered good reviews in the Toronto Film Festival. The suspense thriller film also stars Khalil Ramos, a Star Magic actor and singer who won third place in Pilipinas Got Talent in 2011. We chanced upon this regular gym goer and asked him a few questions.
THE PHILIPPINE STAR: Who do you play in Honor Thy Father and what makes it special?
KHALIL RAMOS: My role in the movie is very different from my other roles in the past. I play the youngest brother of John Lloyd. I’m the youngest of four children, all of whom are criminals. Despite me looking innocent, my character is very tough. All his sentences include bad words in the native Kankana-ey language. He holds a gun and has that never-back-down attitude. It was the most challenging role that I have ever done and I’m really excited for people to see the movie.
Describe yourself prior to your active lifestyle.
Well, people really know me, especially my parents, as someone who can gain weight so fast. I can gain probably five pounds in a week! You can see my weight gain immediately on my face and my arms. So, my metabolism wasn’t really that good. So my old self, 25 pounds ago, was chubby. I was a couch potato. I loved playing video games, staying at home, and simply relaxing. My lifestyle, I really didn’t care about what I was eating. I really didn’t care about my body.
So how did you start working out regularly?
November last year, I just finished doing the movie Kid Kulafu and I was really still chubby then. The story of the whole movie helped me motivate myself. It’s one part of it. Basically, I found motivation from all sorts of things. First, I would talk to my parents and get tips on motivation. Then I would look at my old photos when I was a chubby 185-pounder. Now, I’m 145. It reached a point where I would get a photo of my heaviest self and tape it to my mirror. And I say to myself, I can’t look like this anymore. I got motivation from my friends, from my family. I bought everything I needed. I bought a bag. I bought gloves. I bought gym clothes. I planned everything. Then one day, I stood up and decided I will do it. I need to change my lifestyle. I need to change what I eat.
What are the misconceptions about fitness that you had to change views about?
Well, first, I guess it doesn’t matter what your age is. A lot of people make it an excuse not to work out because they think they are too old for change. Others are young and they want to enjoy life first. It’s hard when you get too much intake of what’s bad in your body. You have to prioritize your health, you have to take care of yourself. And, of course, if you want to look good, you should take care of your body. It doesn’t happen overnight. Diet pills are not real or whatever you’re drinking. You can only rely on yourself. You need to get up. You need to work out. You need to change your diet. For me, diet is number one. So I changed my diet. Real healthy eating — no more junk, no more fast food. You just really need to have the will power. Well, in my opinion, when it comes to fitness, you’re never too young. You’re never too old for anything. It’s your life. It’s never too late. It’s never too early, as well.
How are you a positive influence to the public?
Well, first of all, I believe my day is not complete without going to the gym. I think it is the one that gives me confidence now as a person. When I don’t work out, I feel I have lost energy. I feel different. It’s my lifestyle now. That’s where I get my confidence, and I wanna apply that confidence whenever I go up the stage, whenever I go behind the camera, whenever I meet people. I know that I can look good. I can speak very properly without being conscious, without worrying about anything because I’m confident. I’m happy to achieve my goals. I think the confidence that I get before I sit on the bench press, before I do squats, it applies also to my whole life. If I wanna get that pumped, I have to do five sets, 10 reps each na squats. Same things apply when I go to the shoot or when I go taping for a TV show, I need to be my very best always in life.
How do you want to be remembered by people 20 years from now?
Well, of course, as an actor. I want to be known, if not one of the greats, someone good and consistent. My career goal is to be an actor-director-producer-scriptwriter. In the future, I want to act, produce movies and TV shows. Of course, I want to also maintain my active lifestyle. Right when you wake up, go do what you have to do. Be productive. Go focus. Go to the gym. Go focus on which body part you want to work on. Within 10 years, I hope to inspire also the aspiring actors of that generation, just like I’m inspired by all the other actors now.
How was your diet?
It wasn’t the most extreme diet, but it was still hard. Before, I would do crash diets. All diet without workout, which is really bad for your health. If anyone there wants to try crash diets, believe me, I did it many times na — the GM diet one week fruits and vegetables, water diet, I tried them all. I would just gain all the pounds back. I really didn’t want to go to the gym before. I was lazy. So I turned to crash dieting. Then I decided I needed to change. I fixed my diet. First, I slowly, gradually cut off my carbs — from eating two cups of rice to one cup of brown rice. Eventually, when I started being consistent in working out, I did a high-protein diet so grilled chicken, chicken breast, a lot of eggs also. The protein shakes also, I took those. For carbs, I chose this bread for 55 grams with 30 grams of protein and 20 grams of carbs. I gave up sweets. I love ice cream, but I just have a pinch of it on cheat days.
Who’s your fitspiration?
As in a body peg? Maybe Ryan Reynolds or Chris Hemsworth. Lean and ripped, well proportioned. What inspired me also were my friends when they started going to the gym. I saw their transformation. If they can do it, so can I, right? We are of the same age. I have no excuse. What excuse can I give?
Any favorite workout?
My favorite workout is probably the least favorite workout of others. I love leg day. Leg day is my favorite. I love doing squats, dead lifts also. If others excel in bench press, I am great in squats. My program is a balance for different body parts, pull and push. So pull, back and biceps, pull then push, chest, then triceps. So shoulders are a separate day. I like working out my shoulders. Every other day, I would go boot camp. I don’t really like the treadmill. I don’t like running so boot camp is my cardio.
Do you have a message for the youth aspiring to transform themselves physically and mentally?
Find your motivation. One key is to watch motivational videos. That’s what I did before. I would see all these people with only one arm or without legs, who still work out. I even saw one with only one arm who could do an overhead barbell. That challenged me, because though I have two arms, I couldn’t do it before. So, just find your motivation. If you can’t find it within yourself, ask help. And of course, ask guidance from the Lord. That’s what I did. I asked guidance from God to show me the way to be motivated. No one else will do it but you. You can’t just sit down and wait for magic to happen. It’s not like that. You just have to believe in yourself and be determined. Be open-minded also. Don’t be close-minded about everything.
Last words?
Six months ago, I weighed 165 pounds. My body fat was over the top, and I didn’t really feel confident about myself. So I stood up, and I went to the gym. I went to the gym to change my lifestyle and be happy. For me, fitness and looking good is happiness. I guess that applies to all because who wouldn’t want to look good? I am now 145 pounds. I lost around 20 pounds in just six months. Well, now I’m getting into power lifting and Jiu-jitsu as well. Just to mix things up and not get bored with routines, I always try to learn something new. When I have fun doing it, I end up doing it regularly.
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Post me a note at mylene@goldsgym.com.ph or mylenedayrit@gmail.com.
