Joker's Journal of Change

I'm an insulation contractor...my company insulates residential homes, we have 2 trucks and each crew drives around to homes and does their work. I've basically got it down where I answer the phones, quote prices and can pretty much "close" the deal without having to go to each home and individually "pitch" or "sell" the job. We simply charge by a price per square foot and by knowing a homes square footage we can generally quote prices right over the phone. If they insist or need an estimate first, I generally have my crews swing by and half the time the customer decides to just go ahead and do the job on the spot. It's like carpet-cleaning, excpet we're blowing stuff into the attic instead of vacuuming it out. :D

I just tell my wife I'm going to the gym and to take the calls. She answers the phone and covers for me while I'm swimming, spinning or biking. She's basically a stay-at-home mom....but she's so involved in the school it's like a job. The only thing I ask is that she covers the phones when I'm unavailable. The best thing is Call Forwarding....I just send the calls to my phone and I can answer business calls while I'm mountain biking. I just tell them I'm on an estimate and use the voice-recorder on the phone to record their name & phone number...then I call them back later. LOL; I've taken calls, answered questions and booked jobs while sitting on the back of my boat in the middle of the lake! Part of it is that I'm very fortunate to have a business I can run like this...but part (I'd like to think most) of it is that I've designed and created the business to where I can do this.

Also, I've worked with building the company with A/C companies that will sell the job and sub-contract it to me....so they write-up the job, charge their customer what they want and then merely call the job into my office and we book the job. Hardly any work, I just send the crew out & bill the A/C company.

Sorry you asked, eh? :D
 
Sounds Great BSL! I wish I had that kind of flexability in my schedule. I manage a number of non profit programs dealing with youth workforce development with inner city youth. Doesnt pay nearly as well nor the schedule flexability you have.
 
Hit the gym tonight for my FBW. I was running late for an engagement so I had to skip the HIIT tonight. I will make sure to hit it tomorrow. More detail on tonight's workout tomorrow as well.
 
So I got my FBW in last night and made a small change in terms of the exercises used. I replaced the arnold presses with dips since I am already doing standing barbell shoulder presses for shoulders and wanted to add another bodyweight exercise that also happens to hit chest, shoulders, and triceps. I ended up skipping cardio last night since I was running late for a poker night and I was the designated driver.

Today hit the gym and got a nice 30 minute HIIT session in on the bike. I think the most challenging thing about this whole process is not seeing bigger losses quickly. I recognize that its a long process but I wish I could speed it up.
 
I think the most challenging thing about this whole process is not seeing bigger losses quickly. I recognize that its a long process but I wish I could speed it up.

Dude.......

You've heard me cover this before, but let me run it by you again, cause you need to hear & feel it.

In the beginning I wanted to do my own "Biggest Loser" thing and really blow my nutritionist away with a monumental big drop in the first couple months. I mountain biked for hours with sweat dripping from my helmet like a waterfall. I weight-trained with HEAVY weights, I ate lean, played racquetball and hit it hard!

After a month I went in for my check-up...I felt lighter, I looked leaner and I felt awesome! My nutritionist even plays a game where he tries to guess how much I lost. I was expecting 12 pounds (remember, this was neary one full month of dieting & massive cardio/exercise).....

I GAINED 1.5 POUNDS!!!!!!

I almost cried. Seriousy, I was crushed, depressed and I'm pretty sure my dick was about to fall off too. Yeah, it was bad.

Then Alan got out the body-fat% calipers....digital ones that he uses to take multiple pinches and he does it three times to get a safe average. Dude...

I LOST 2.8% BODY-FAT

Alan says it's very rare for a client to ever do this. By his calculations I had dropped a crap-load of actual FAT, but my apparent gain of weight on the scale was obviously the offset gain in muscle.

Honestly, I've had several meetings where my body-fat% would drop, but my weight would remain the same or even go up. Alan would sit there and say how awesome it was...but not me; I was fixated on that darn scale. I mean, what do people ask you when they learn you're dieting...."So....how much have you lost????"....ya know what I mean?

And then there's the other problem...I've managed to lose 45 pounds of fat, change my whole waredrobe twice and yet I still look in the mirror and wonder when I'm going to see a difference!

So there ya go dude....you may not see a difference and you may not have a weight-scale drop either. It's tough, depressing and hard....but this is your reality:

YOU WILL GAIN MUSCLE, LOSE FAT, LOOK BUCKET-LOADS THINNER, LEANER AND TRIMMER.....BUT YOU WON'T SEE, FEEL OR SENSE IT!!!!

You will swear that you work your ass off and do all the right things and yet nothing seems to happen. I don't believe in The Devil....but if he exists, THIS is his worst trick on fat people!

Ya want more? How's this feel: as you lose weight your body won't be plumped & bulging with fat...it'll be shrinking and getting smaller.....you skin will feel looser, your chin may look bigger, YOU'LL FEEL FATTER THEN EVER!

So what does this mean? If you feel like nothing is happening and you actually feel fatter.....YOU'RE SUCCEEDING!!!!

I've now been at this for a year...and only now am I finally seeing & feeling the difference. My ultimate point is this: there is only ONE indicator you can safely allow yourself to assign any relevant importance...and that would be the body-fat% measure. Forget the scale, forget what you see & feel....you're flying blind into the weight-loss abyss. Trust yourself, be patient and stay the course. One day you'll see a hint of results in the mirror and it'll hit ya like a ton of bricks, but until that day I don't want you EVER to worry about results!

Are we green? :D
 
Thanks man, its good to hear it from others and I know it to be the case...just want to be at the point where my long term goals are going to take me.
 
Hit the gym today for my FBW and didnt lift as heavy as I normally do. Not sure why, but I just felt off this afternoon lifting wise. Might just be an off day I am assuming. On the other hand...did about 10 minutes on the treadmill before deciding to take advantage of the sunshine and daylight savings and headed over to the outdoor track. I did an additional mile outdoors on the track alternating jogging with walking. I could only do about 1 quarter mile before I needed to take a break and walk while recovering. Im going to continue doing some running at the weather gets nicer and try to build up my endurance.

On the diet end, its tougher for me to maintain my diet on the weekends then on weekdays. Not so much in terms of eating junk food, more so in terms of getting enough meals and getting enough protein. I do better during the week when my meals are better planned since Im on a schedule. Something else to work on along with drinking more water daily. Thats one I really need to do more of.
 
I think we all do better during the week. So long as you can maintain some semblance of a diet, you'll be fine! :)

As of today it looks as though I'm basically off the crutch! The knee is still sore and I don't have full mobility/motion, but it doesn't really hurt to put pressure on it and so long as I don't twist it seems to be okay. Tomorrow I'll do some 2 miles in the pool and/or maybe get in some upper-body in the gym. At the rate I'm going, I wouldn't be surprised if I couldn't do a spin-class in a week or so. As for racquetball, that's not going to happen for quite some time...and honestly, it doesn't bother me much.

I'm rather optimistic that the mensicus tear they're seeing on the MRI is from my horrible/nasty accident some 23 years ago. I'm rather hoping I just hyper-extended & twisted my knee and perhaps tore a bit of the ACL....if I'm lucky this may all heal on it's own. At worst, it'll be some surgery to clean-up the meniscus and that'll perhaps help my knee feel better and last longer! Either way, I'm definitely going to wear a knee-brace if/when I re-enter the racquetball court.

As for my workouts, I'm really feeling like I have plenty of muscle and now my job is to lose more fat so I can let it be seen....time to lean-out. I'll continue with weights and what-not, but I'm at the point where diet is going to be the key.

Hey, we should post some pics. And please let me know if you don't mind me sorta side-kicking your journal....it doesn't seem like other forum members really care and we could sorta keep accountability for eachother....but if you'd prefer I start my own journal, I'd be happy to....entirely your call.
 
I dont mind at all. Im not so sure that I am ready for progress pics tho. :yelrotflmao: I need to lose a bit more before I am exposing my gut to the world wide web. Keep up the good work and make sure your not over extending yourself when it comes to the knee and your workouts. Better to play it safe then to aggravate the injury. At least until your doctor clears you to go.
 
I hear ya on the knee....I'm pretty sure today's therapy calls for almost immediate activity, whereas years ago they'd have you off your feet for weeks, funny how that is. Same thing with heart-attacks, they used to prescribe lots of rest, now they get 'em on the treadmill and make 'em work to built laterals in the heart-muscles!

I don't feel comfortabler jumping the gun and getting off crutches just yet, so I'll take it easy and consult with a therapist friend tmrw.

As for pics...I hear ya; I wouldn't want to post anything short of a perfect body! I've trimmed down quite a bit, but my right chest has a bit of sag and it's just too weird to post a pic on the open internet. Actually, I'm pretty sure it's just you and me in here and once the page rolls, nobody will ever see it again (for the most part). LOL, maybe I'll post a pic of me in one of my tri-suits....or not!

Went out to dinner tonight, Mexcian food...had the chips, ate the entire Machaca Burrito.....I was honestly hungry for it. Funny how that works: exercise and I'm not too hungry, don't exercise and I'm famished.....again, the work of the devil. Again, weekend...ughhh. Tmrw I'm on it hard!
 
Btw...as I wrote that last post I'm finishing-off the last few bites of my daughters left-over 31-Flavors cup of ice-cream. Not good :(
 
A few bites of ice cream never killed anyone. Now if you finished off a gallon of ice cream...

I am pretty sore today, I think its a combination of the FBW session, the running yesterday, and my body adjusting to the daylight savings time change. HIIT session planned for tonight.
 
Fortune Favors the Bold!


JokersWILD SMILED because he makes his fitness goal his love CHILD and this keeps him RILED while keeping his muscles COMPILED!

Muh, Buh, ha, ha, he, he, he, :):rolleyes: :eek:
=========================================================

YOU are not simply a passive player in the game of life or the process of diet and fitness, but YOU have the ability to serve an active role in the outcome of your goal; apply your soul and make it whole.

Things will not always just come about on their own.

Exert yourself and you’ll get a lot of what you desire.

You have the passion, desire, and self discipline, and will go far within your personal goals, young man!


Wish you the best!



Chillen
 
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Fortune Favors the Bold!


JokersWILD SMILED because he makes his fitness goal is love CHILD and this keeps him RILED while keeping his muscles COMPILED!

Muh, Buh, ha, ha, he, he, he, :):rolleyes: :eek:
=========================================================

YOU are not simply a passive player in the game of life or the process of diet and fitness, but YOU have the ability to serve an active role in the outcome of your goal; apply your soul and make it whole.

Things will not always just come about on their own.

Exert yourself and you’ll get a lot of what you desire.

You have the passion, desire, and self discipline, and will go far within your personal goals, young man!


Wish you the best!



Chillen

Thanks Chillen! Your inspiring words are always welcome.
 
Thanks Chillen! Your inspiring words are always welcome.

OH HELL NO!!!! Hey Chillen, get the hell out of our journal and go preach that psycho babble rhymes to some pre-schoolers!:mad::mad:





I'm totally kidding Thanks for stopping by, please come again! :D :D :D It's nice to see you tend your flock. Be sure to check-out my new signature!

Swam 2 miles tonight, shared the lane with an uber-hottie...she had the voice of Betty-Boop but an ass that just wouldn't quit!!!!

Kept the calories low today, probably around 1,800....should result in some lean-ness.
 
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I have been averaging between 1800-2100 calories a day.
My BMR is: 1931 cals
My maintenance level is supposed to be: 3,089 which seems really high.
I have doublechecked the math tho a number of times and its correct.

I have stalled however in terms of weight loss and been stuck at the same weight for over a week now. Not sure whether to play around with the calories or increase the cardio.
 
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