Nutritional Diary 2012.08.27

It has been a full eight months since I pledged to become much healthier this year.

So far, a lot of things have stood in my way… that includes the officially launching of my very own series from Oh No! Manga and making a life-size version of Rei’s sword for my cosplayer.

With all that going on, you can probably guess why I haven’t been updating my nutritional diary. I mean, for goodness sake, I didn’t do my walks for a whole month! And with habagat, I wasn’t exactly keen to go outside either.

I dreaded having to step on the scale. I would be happy if I was able to maintain that five pound weight loss.

I couldn’t believe what I saw… I had lost 10 pounds since the beginning of the year. Ten Pounds!!! I still can’t believe it! I thought my pants were much looser than before but I didn’t think it would be 10 pounds less of me!

I think I may have overcome my proverbial wall. Now that I’m back to my old schedule of walking 3 times a week, maybe I’ll be able to lose even more and get to 20 pounds by the end of the year.

But I wonder if that’s possible with me working on a new webmanga? Guess I’ll just have to keep working hard on choosing my food and drinks as well as maintaining my exercise routine!

Nutritional Diary 2012.06.21

My poor, un-updated blog… I’m so sorry I’ve been ignoring you, but most of my updates had a lot to do with my artworks, so I’ve been busy in kurohiko.com lately.

Not only is Mist starting again, but I’m planning a lot of independent comics for the upcoming Winter Komikon as well. It will be a miracle if I could finish just one book actually. Plus, my publications with Oh No! Manga have been cooking up something very interesting for July’s Event. I’m not completely sure with the details yet, but feel free to check out my site or Facebook Page for updates.

Now with all that going on, you’d think I’ll be too busy working to keep up with my exercise and diet. Well, you’re right. I have not been walking as many times as I’d like, since I’m now down to once a week instead of my usual 2-3. I’m also staying up late because I need to get these pages done, so that means coffee and a lot of junk food. In other words, someone’s been a very bad girl.

It was depressing to think about, so I didn’t really go near the scale for quite some time. But I had to get myself motivated again so I weighed myself a few minutes ago…

I couldn’t believe it.

Although I let myself do whatever I wanted for the past month, I still maintained a 5 pound weight-loss compared to the beginning of the year. That’s 3 pounds less than my last update.

I couldn’t believe it!!!

Ah, that motivates me so much now! And I weighed myself at night, instead of the usual morning (because you weigh less the minute you wake up).

But I wonder, is this because I’ve been stressing out so much lately? I know stress is supposed to make you lose weight, but it was always the exact opposite for me before. Maybe it’s because I’ve been eating a lot less junk food and replacing them with fruit.

I need to stop putting my pants in the dryer though… they shrink every time, and it makes me feel like I’m not losing anything at all!

Oh well, back to working… or maybe it’s time for some sleep now. They’re saying there’s another typhoon coming up, but now that my UPS is fixed, I’m not too worried about the PC dying on me while I work~

Nutritional Diary 2012.01.10

As far as the new year goes, I’m no different from everyone else in the world. Our number one resolution?

“This year, for sure! I will lose those pounds!”

And every year, it’s the same story… “I gained weight!”

So how is this year going to be any different?

Well, there’s this blog sitting around doing nothing. It’s hardly ever updated anymore, since I don’t write as much as I used to. Not to mention that I’ve been concentrating on kurohiko.com most of the time. So in order for me to write more and keep up on my diet, I’m planning to update this blog 2-4 times a month regarding my exercise, diet, and binges!

This is probably going to be super tough and embarrassing. I’m already regretting writing about it, but I need to keep my mind focused on losing weight. Hey, if the world’s ending this year, might as well look good for it! And cosplay before everything blows to smithereens.

So how was my first week++ of January?

Looking pretty good! I’ve been keeping my rice portions down, although I did finish a full cup that one lunch with my mom. Chicken cordon bleu, why are you so tasty? Ah, and there was that one McDonald’s day where I had a Coke Float… I can’t help it! Coke is my comfort food! But I gotta do better next week and skip the soda!

I’ve been cooking vegetables for dinner meals though. Not every night, but it’s more veggies than this family’s ever seen or eaten in a long time! Mom’s so proud.

As for exercise? 2 days of 5k walks while wearing a raincoat (a friend of mine swears that it’s super effective) and a night of swimming 10 laps at Ace Water Spa. Not bad! I want to at least maintain a 2 day per week of walking. Maybe get a jump rope too since it gets boring after a while, even with new songs in my mp3! When it’s taking too long, I sprint the last few hundred steps.

So! What’s your new year’s resolution and how are you doing so far?

To Be Happy

6 of 10 - Akira Tomosuke by ~kurohiko on deviantART

When you owe a person something, I think it's best to pay that person no matter how long a time has passed.

This is a long overdue sketch for Akira, but somehow, his character turned out to look a lot like Kira Yamato from Gundam SEED. I didn’t realize it until I already posted the artwork.

I just hope this was worth the wait. *_* Forgiveness please, Akira…

On another note, I feel very happy today after talking to my mom. Now I feel like I can achieve whatever my heart desires. And that makes my spirit soar.

Art Journal; Year 2003-2009

Kurohiko's Art Journal by ~kurohiko on deviantART

Do you think I improved?

I honestly don’t see a lot of changes, haha! That is very bad. No progress means I’m not developing my skills at all. Oh la la~ I should explore more this year!

Hopefully 2010 will be a lot better~

Shift to Hyper-Focus Mode

Ahaha, I forgot to post an update. xD

You may have noticed that I’ve got a new page up at 黑火子 ~Kurohiko, which is pacing a lot faster than A.illusions ever did. That’s kind of good and also kind of bad because it means I’m enjoying drawing Mote-Mote more than A.illusions.

I guess copying characters and backgrounds are a lot easier than starting from scratch.

It does make me want to go back updating A.illusions again though. Or something original. I’ve always wanted to continue Karma, but I’ve never had the time or inspiration for it. Of course, there’s also Vanguards of Heaven (Guardians of Celestia) which was my college thesis gone strangely wrong and off track, but I’m thinking I should finish what I started first before creating something entirely new again.

Anyway, I almost didn’t make the deadline for this because I had been ill for something close to a week. I wasn’t sure if I could post this or not, but my officemate decided to help me out and gave me an article about hyper-focus mode. I have to admit, it really works, and you should really give it a read.

Here are the keypoints of the article:

How to Stay Creative When Facing Deadlines: “The ultimate inspiration is the deadline.”

1. Recognize early on that you are getting stressed and handle it before it gets out of control.
2. Communicate with a friend that is also trying to be creative under pressure.
3. Stay in an inspired state of mind.
4. Shift into hyper-focus mode.

For this weekend? I’ll try to shift to hyper-focus mode again to finish penciling all the pages of Mote-Mote. Afterwards, I can ink them and tone them as the days come forth.

Wish me luck guys~ ♥

..I Phail as a Web Mangaka, I Kid You Not!

So the updates have gone back to PHAIL lately, but I'm telling you, this time, it's not my fault! There was just a lot of stuff that needed to be done in the house before the parents came home a few days ago, so the busy schedule was busy.

I'm planning to set up the gallery section for A.illusions soon. I'd also like to set up the Chinese version of Karma for online reading, but I'll have to ask Renka for that. :)

Similarly, work has been crazier than usual... Why do the right people tend to hide at the times you need them the most? :( But at least we got some progress done. I'm just sad they won't hold off 24/7 operations for the holidays. Oh well...

I made a Kuroshitsuji Fanart over at Colors! (also available in dA) I won't be posting it here since I'm lazy and I'm not too happy with how it turned out, you can view it for yourself by clicking on the links above. :D

I need more time for sketching practice.

I also edited page 71's script thanks to some awesome comments from the A.I. community. The forums are back online by the way, so feel free to visit whenever you can!

And now for some manga quotes that I find to be incredibly insightful:

"You know what? I was really uncertain. I honestly didn't know if it was smart to turn the thing I love into a 'job'. If I made it my work, then I'd have to do it even when I was tired... when I didn't feel like it... Would I still love it then? Would I be able to keep that love alive? I wondered it... I dunno... Maybe I should save what I love best. Keep it like a hobby..." - Keiichi Morisato

"It'll be fine! Maybe loving something isn't always fun... but if it's something you feel for deeply, you'll never hate it. Not ever." - Belldandy

Goodnight all~ ^^

Karma

I had to rush this cover in 2 days time... Hopefully, if this gets approved... well, let's just say, some exposure for me, hopefully?

I need to make a gallery for Karma. Then again, I have only 2 art pieces at most..?

Now that I finished this, I can focus on A.illusions again. I got the next page going, but I need a nice BG reference first... Hm... where to go, where to go?

So sleepy... going to bed now. Night all...

A Horror Story (Based on True Events)

I was working on the new Karma Cover when I heard this on 94.7 yesterday from DJ Niaolie and DJ Nina (based on memory and translated to English):

A motorcycle driver was passing over a bridge when the rain started to pour. He thought to himself that he had to find shelter because it was dangerous to ride the motorcycle in stormy weather.

He then sees a car approaching and decided to hitch a ride. He gets in the car and realizes there was no driver, and yet the car was moving! He looks around and sees 4 hands in the back. Hands! He got so scared that he prayed several times, but his fear got to the best of him and he got out of the car and headed for the next town.

In a small store, he tells the tale of what happened to him to the store owners and people in the small shop.

The next thing he knew, the car he saw on the bridge appeared before him..!

..with two angry men saying, "Who the hell was that guy, getting in our car when we're already having a hard time pushing? It was raining and all he could think of was getting in the car instead of helping us push?!"

..I lol'd. *^o^*

In other news, I'll finish that cover tonight for Renka... I missed using watercolors so much... I should buy more illustration boards soon.

And in case you're wondering, yeah, those are ads on my blog. I need extra income for very good reasons... But I'm just testing for now. I'll probably remove them if they don't generate much revenue though, because I hate ads in the first place... Haha~ xD