Red-Neck Light Box

 

It has sucked so bad not having internet for almost an entire month. We've had some HORRIBLE technical issues with AT&T. Before I get into a huge rant, all I will allow myself to type is that AT&T has VERY piss poor communication in their company and with their customers. I called every day for 3 weeks trying to explain the issue with our internet. Miss communication was just horrible amongst their technical support.

ANYWAYS. On to my red-neck light box. I just made this last night so I can take higher quality photos of my charms. The tutorial I used can be found here. It is an amazing and dirty cheap method. I spend $0 since I had all of the supplies on hand (I am an artistic hoarder) I went a bit crazy with the blue painter's tape. The light is a heat lamp I refused to throw out when my turtle escaped ;_; I am so glad I kept it!

I took these two photos using the light box.  I am absolutely in love with it and suggest anyone who needs to take photos of objects make one of these! It took me maybe an hour to make and was well worth it. I usually make a huge mess when building stuff, but this was pretty clean.

4 lbs Loooost

Huzzah. Lost 4 lbs since I last started eating healthy; it's awesome because I haven't really changed my eating habits much. I even eat double cheeseburgers from Mc. Donalds. I enjoyed a HUGE triple cheeseburger just last night, so I was a bit weary about getting on the scale this morning. However, to my surprise I was 4lbs lighter than when I started this! So far the "Fat Head" logic of dieting has proven valid so far.

I lowered my carb intake to below 70grams a day. I am a strong candidate for type 2 diabetes, but according to my blood sugar levels I am not there YET. I am doing my best to nip this potential crisis in the bud for my health's sake. 

I'll post before and after shots at the end of this month. WISH ME LUCK! 

Day 2

Okay, so this is technically day 2 of my new "diet." I finally got some lancets to test my blood sugar; let it be known that Hospital lancets hurt like a bitch compared to the ones where you can adjust deepness the needle goes in. Pretty sure the hospital ones are set to 5 which is the highest level, but these were free so I can't bitch.

My blood sugar after eating a typical lunch of tuna and eggs was 82 which is great; it's on the "lower" side of normal which is what I am striving for. I can't wait to test my fasting blood sugar tomorrow morning. I'm going to update this post for my own sake to keep track of my sugar levels. So just ignore those.

3-3-11 @ 4:50pm: 82
3-3-11 @ 7:15pm: 116 (After eating broccoli and cheese with a small side of chicken Alfredo)
3-4-11 @ 6:40am: 95 is my fasting blood sugar, odd that it's higher than yesterday after a meal.
3-4-11@ 10:30am: 102 after eating bacon and fried eggs. Yummy.
3-4-11@ 8:00pm: 111 after a grilled chicken salad, ranch dressing and popcorn chicken.
3-6-11@ 12:00am: 166 after eating a triple cheeseburger from Burger King. (Mmmm)
3-6-11 @ 1:17am: 114 2 hours after dinner. 

Trying Something New

So, I was shifting through my Netflix when a new arrival caught my eye; a documentary titled "Fathead" was suggested to me. The ironic/sad/pathetic part about it was all the meat in the guys mouth looked delicious, so it caught my attention.

You can read more into this documentary here, but I'll give you the gist of it to save time and space. Basically, a man who is considered "obese" by American standard disproves/pokes fun at the Documentary "Super-size Me" as well as the government's weight standard. He goes on a 28 day diet of nothing but Mc. Donalds; he eats the burgers, chicken tenders, eggs and sausage. He takes the buns off the sausage mc. muffins and only eats the burger buns for dinner. The man lost around 12 lbs and lowered his BMI by about 3 points I think. He also improved his already healthy cholesterol.

So, basically he was doing a sort of an Atkins diet. However, he used solid facts and proven tests to support that eating animal fats and naturally occurring oils are so much more healthy than unnatural "fat free/lowfat" fats and oils.

I myself am attempting his diet regimen, but I'm not eating only Mc. Donalds. I eat eggs and bacon for breakfast. (My mother loves bacon but has deemed it the "Devil" in my household because of her new diet) So, I am going to prove to her that she can eat her bacon and still lose weight. Unlike the Atkins diet, I am going to eat fruits and vegetables, but keep my carb intake below 90. I will be monitoring my blood sugar levels with each meal. I'm going to make an effort to "speed-walk" at least 3 times a week since the weather here is freezing!!!! But I'll be obtaining a treadmill soon, so I will increase it to 5 times a week once I get that.

So yeah. I took my weight  and measurements. I'll be posting a monthly update with my stats and comparison photos. Wish me luck!

Animu Hair Prototype

Yes. This is what I do in my spare time; I try to make my hair look like various Anime characters. My new obsession is Risty from Queen's Blade. I want to cosplay her sometime in the future when I get a body like hers. I styled my hair with no products (Since I do not have any hairspray/gel or anything.) So I will be re-attempting this once I get some and then buy some hair extensions.  I enhanced the red of my hair with photoshop since my red got washed out terribly for some stupid reason. Also, I had plastic surgery so my face looks more like an animu character.

Here is a reference picture of Risty. I want this figure so bad.

Absent No More

Ug... Been busy working on items for my Artist Alley table for Jafax here in Michigan. I suggest anyone who makes it out to come see me! I've been inking artwork and sculpting charms the past week. I've been trying to avoid browsing the internet and becoming distracted. So here is a sneak peak at something new I am trying. These are Snail Desserts from the new Alice in Wonderland computer game. Enjoy!

Dead Island

I'm not usually one for doing reviews for games or movies, but something about Dead Island is different. It EXCITES me. I haven't been this excited for a game since Parasite Eve 2, and that was when I was thirteen.

Where to start? Well, the official announcement video made me cry; however, I sort of blame half of  it on "Aunt Flow" if-ya-know-what-I-mean. Anyways, when I first watched this, the scene being in reverse made me think they put their daughter out for the zombies because she was bit. THAT made me cry. So, I re-watched it to see that that was not the case, but I still was super sad.

The game creators claim this game is going to be different; this game is going to actually scare us. At least that is what they're saying; I can only hope they will keep to their word.

The trailer alone makes me want to start running, eat healthier, increase my core strength and learn how to shoot a fucking gun. I'll be packing my army bag full of non-perishables in case I need to haul ass out of here. So yeah, that's my little mindless dribble about Dead Island. I hope you guys enjoy.

Also, anyone who's into Zombie games/movies/books, I suggest you read beyond exile day by day Armageddon. This story ALSO got me so paranoid I slept with my doors locked and my knife under my pillow.