Trust the Process. Everything Else Lies to You

Gen-X reporting for duty, with the required movie quote for the right moment.

There are two quotes from the movie “WarGames” that I’ve always loved. One, I live by. It’s when the computer finally “learns,” and says “the only winning move, is not to play.” When you’re ADHD, more often than not, that rule controls your life. One drink is never just one drink, one slice of pizza is never just one slice of pizza, and one hand of blackjack is never just one hand of blackjack. More often than not, the only winning move is indeed, not to play.

The other line I’ve used too many times to count, usually when something goes wrong that’s out of my control. It’s always fun to see who understands it, because it means they’re another Gen-Xer, and they know exactly where I’m coming from.

Here’s that line, spoken by General Beringer (played by Barry Corbin):

I said that line to my gym’s general manager today. He looked at me blankly. That told me all I needed to know about him.

See, today was Styku day (the digtal, laser weigh in/body scan thing that I hate so much) and I hated it possibly even more today, because according to this very flawed machine, I’m an absolute stick figure.

My weight has plateaued at 223. Now I know this doesn’t mean I’m staying the same weight, or even getting fatter, because my jeans keep getting looser. It means that I’m gaining muscle at almost the same rate I’m losing fat, so the number on the scale doesn’t change. I weigh myself at home, so I know this. So I was actually excited to see the Styku results today, a week later than last time.

And hey, I belive in miracles just like all of us, but even I’m smart enough to know when something is off:

Come on. There’s no universe where I’m 7.5% body fat, not even in space. So I took the obviously flawed chart to the gym manager, and after getting no response to my awesome 1983 movie quote, I suggested in no uncertain terms that they calibrate their damn machine.

So here I sit back at my desk today, kinda bummed out. I knew the scale number wouldn’t move, but I was at least hoping to see a drop in body fat. (a REAL drop in body fat, not this fantasy one above.)

So that’s my Monday. As expected, I guess. Mondays are rarely awesome. We just gotta keep trusting the process. I’m definitely under 30%, probably closer to 25%… But I was really hoping for some proof of that today. Perhaps I’ll go and research if there’s some kind of clinic in NYC to which I can go and get measured accurately sometime this week.

Speaking of sometime this week, a lot of you have asked what I’m eating during this ridiculous cut for the competition in 82 days… I’m finally going to tell you. I’ll be doing a live video on Wednesday, March 18th, at 3pm Eastern time. I’ll be sending the link to my paid subscribers tomorrow - We can talk about food, and everything else, as well - I can even tell you how stupid I look as I practice “posing” for this contest. Yes, there are actual poses I have to learn. Every day I wonder how I got myself into this.

Want to join us? It’s $6 a month to gawk at me as I work towards this competition. 6x per week gym, meal prep all week, 5x per week cardio…

It’s obviously working though - I went in to buy a new pair of jeans on Friday - I’ve dropped three sizes since August. THREE! There’s your proof right there - not some incorrectly calibrated laser scale.

Thanks for reading, my friends. You’re keeping me honest.

Much love,

-Peter

PS: My Saturday nights have definitely changed lately, as well…