Weeks 6/7

After I work out each week I always make sure to drink a protein shake after wards to help build the muscle, which sounds fairly typical right?  Well, I've always known my diet has been less than admirable, I pretty much eat whatever I have time to eat and what we can afford...which, due to my celiac deceased ass, is not much.  However, I should have watched more carefully as I've taken in far less fiber and much more protein which is not a good equation. So, I missed 3 workouts last week and have been trying to make up for them, though difficult at best.  I tried a new gluten-free high-fiber cereal and that seems to put my stomach at rest. So, back to the workouts and balance my diet.

I took some updated pictures, but I can't see any differences. I know I'm stronger and I can do more and more with the Ab workouts each time ( up to 400+ crunches/ situps each workout..approx 15 min), but I look the same...really irritating. Ah well, if it takes more than 90's days, so-be-it. I'm not stopping until the belly is gone.

As for school...well, it may be typical of me, but last week was rough, particularly in 1 class which then of course effected my attention in other classes.  In my Background Design & Layout class we have moved on to Color and Stylized layouts.  Yes, it sounds more fun, but he didn't get a chance to show us how he does it last week, so we were pretty much left on our own and with some website examples.  I haven't been this stressed out in a very long time, especially since we're supposed to put out 24 sketches for each concept before doing the final concept. Sorry, not going to happen, if it takes me 20 min for each "sketch" ( he asks for more detail than other teachers) then I don't have the time for 24...its insane. So, My work looked like crap and I just didn't ( really, still don't) grasp the concept of what color looks good with another color.  Luckily, though, this week he was able to show us, and I think I was able to get some confidence back and put out some fairly decent work:

Week 6 Homework: 50's Cafe corner.

Week 7's Homework - 60's Home Interior

I basically had to step out of my comfort zone and teach myself how to use the "pen tool" in Photoshop which I never really used before.  Might not be that great to the teacher, but far better than I expected of myself after what I did last week. 

As for my other classes, so far so good.  Finals will be here soon and I have a lot of work in front of me. 

Keeping you updated-

Week 4/5

It's been a rough couple of weeks.

FYI: When I split the title into 4/5, it would be Week 4 in P90x and week 5 in school.

As expected school takes up the majority of my time. Even though I have lots of time in the morning to theoretically complete the P90x in full, it's never quite that simple. I wake up with Janice around 0700, but due to traffic concerns, I really need to leave around 0800 for school. I will get there early enough to work on homework, but I'd rather get there several hours early, then stressed out in crappy traffic ( which happens often anyway ). So, basically..when a P90x video can take up to 2 hours to complete...I just don't have the time.

So, I've decided to focus on the most important aspects of the P90x program. I try to never miss a Ab workout ( which is about 30 min in length anyway ) as well as Shoulders & Arms. For the Cardio portions I do the Kinect Sports running games 3 or more times which is more than enough to wear me out, so I think I'm covered there. Still, not seeing the effects as greatly as I hoped. Will keep going though, I'm far too invested in this now to turn back.

As for school, what can I say? I'm not as behind as I thought I would be at this point, so that's a plus, but I still feel inadequate compared to where many of the other students are. I want to be the best, but damn, there are some really talented people at this school. If it were just 1 or 2 people to beat...I might have a chance, but a dozen or more...it's a bit overwhelming. Luckily I have a good friend/classmate, Dave, that is always willing to give me some pointers when I get stuck somewhere and that has helped tremendously.

The most frustrating part about school, though, is the complete bullshit that oozes out of the walls of what truly is a corporation more than it is a private institute for learning. Everything, of course, revolves around the all-mighty dollar and though it is something to expect in this life, I can't help but expect more from a school that is there, supposedly, to benefit the students. Yet, here I am, half-way through my degree and I have already had to quite a good job because the classes were not as flexible as I was told they would be. The further I get in my classes, in fact, the less flexible everything becomes. I just got screwed out of a 5 class schedule next semester because 3 of the classes I wanted to take were not available for the time I needed or just not being taught during the summer. Bullshit. If this happens next semester, I might be able to swap things around again to make it work, but if it happens again after that, I'll be looking at extending my stay at this place. If that's the case, Financial Aid will have run out and I'm not sure what the hell I will be able to do.

It's not fair to Janice, but I suppose it is what it is. I can only hope she will hang in there with me and trust I will do my best to get my degree and pull some of the pressure off her back.

I shall be posting the pictures now...sure has taken me a while. But hopefully as new pictures come, you will see progress.

Hopefully.


Here is a 3D hand I did for a class. Top and Bottom View.

Some Background & Layout Pics. Need to fix them up a bit, but not horrible.

Fast Forward to Week 2

I find myself at the end of week 2 of P90x and the end of week 3 for the Spring Session at Ai.  I guess you could say I am relatively satisfied with both, but in complete understanding that I still need to improve.

P90x has been tough, but not because of the workouts themselves.  It seems each workout video requires at least 1 hour and when the program requires 2 workouts every other day, I just don't have 2 hours in the morning to devote to it like I would like.  I still try, I don't give up, but sometimes that means substituting some basic pull-ups, push-ups and crunches for the more hardcore P90x workouts.  I hate doing it this way, but when you live 50 miles from school, you have to leave at a very specific time to not hit LA traffic, which still isn't 100% a sure thing.

Regardless, I'm still progressing. I did the Ab Ripper yesterday,and while some of the exercises are extremely difficult, I really didn't feel anything. So am I doing it wrong, or is my body already used to those exercises? I have no idea, but I'll keep at it.  I will post my "Pre-P90x" photo here soon, and hopefully every couple of weeks I will be able to see some improvement.

As for school, same old-same old.  I love every one of my classes, but when every teacher claims that his or her class is THE most important class and you must devote the majority of your time to that class and that class alone, it just gets frustrating.  I really do average anywhere from 8 - 12 hours of homework per class, per week and there are just so many hours in the day. Speaking of which, I'd better get back to my school work now and stop talking to myself here.  I will also soon post project progress here for each of my classes and we will see what happens.

Until next time...