Month: February 2023
Quitting fasting and switching to a plant based diet.
I’ve decided to quit fasting. There is nothing wrong with the practice, if it is working for you then by all means continue. I know from experience that what may work for one individual doesn’t necessarily work for another.
After a long discussion with my health care professionals, we decided fasting isn’t having the effects we hoped for, and my heart health is slowly but surely deteriorating.
It’s funny, I would have thought that not eating every day would be an issue for me, but it wasn’t. I found it actually removed stress from my life and made it easier to enjoy the foods I love. Fasting has offered some benefits to my health, just not the ones that I need.
I need to look at my over all health, and after much discussion I have decided to go with a mostly plant based diet. This is a major challenge and change for me, as I typically don’t like what people consider healthy vegetables.
There aren’t a lot of vegetables I even enjoy. I can count on one hand the vegetables I enjoy. Maybe this will help me to broaden my perspective.
It doesn’t matter. I’m going to do what I need to for me. I have to do something for my health. If that means sacrificing my favorite source of protein and fat, cutting meat from my diet except for one day a week, then so be it. If it means attempting to find a dark leafy vegetable I enjoy, I’m less enthusiastic about that, but I will do what I need to.
I will start to introduce you all to the vegetables I do eat, and why I eat them, over time. Know that I am not giving up on animal products. I will still use butter and milk as healthy fats in my diet. And as I stated before, I will reward myself once a week with the meat I enjoy most.
I know I need to get on top of my health issues. I know I need to keep working to lose weight. I know I have tons of people who love me in my life, and I need to do what I can to keep myself here on this plane of existence for as long as possible.
At the same time, I want to start posting videos every day to my YouTube channel. Short little bits about my struggles and successes. A vlog if you will. I’m want to offer motivation for others in my predicament. I want to help others succeed in their weight loss journey. I know life is better when you attempt to lift others up, rather than ignore their issues and let them suffer. If I can help, I want to help, and I want to see others succeed.
The Apps I Use To Edit My Audiobook
I finally finished chapter 1 of Urban Punk. Took much longer than I expected, but that’s because I was choosing images to include in the video. They were tough to come by. Pexels.com and Pixabay.com were instrumental for helping me get proper imagery. They’re not just great for book covers, but awesome for quality stock shots all for free ninety nine.
My Nikon Z 30 is an amazing little camera. It works perfectly for the image I want to create for my videos. It also has a microphone jack for plugging in my Rode Wireless Go 2, giving me high quality sound without having to worry about cords being in the way. I can also plug the transmitter into my PC, and use microphone as a dedicated input for sound. Even if you choose not to record your audiobook as a video like I did, I still highly recommend the Rode Wireless Go 2 microphones for recording yourself.
Again, I am using a video editing app to edit my audio/video. VLLO is simple, easy, and intuitive to use for simple clipping and cutting of videos. Spend a little money on the app and you get access to a ton of features to help perfect your video. If you are focusing on audio, you can use a program like Lexis Audio Editor or Wavepad Audio Editor that are designed specifically for audio.
Video To Mp3 Converter is another simple, easy to use application that is free. It does exactly what the name suggests and rips the audio from your videos, leaving you with a high quality sound file to upload and edit.
The last application I use is a free web app from Adobe. Adobe Podcast makes it simple to get great quality sound from my original audio. It took tinny, hollow sounding audio and made it sound rich and full, all with a couple clicks of a button. And that’s how I edited the video above, and the programs I’ll use to help me convert it to an audiobook.
Creating your own audio book (Cover Reveal for Urban Punk audio book)
I’ve been working on Urban Punk recently, to publish it and release the audio book at the same time.
I’ll admit, audio is still the most difficult part. Even if you believe you have a good audio setup, it’s probably not good enough. At least I know in my case, using the budget setup that I have, I’m not going to get perfect audio.
I don’t have a professional microphone, at least not for anything like recording a book. I have microphones that I use with my videos, but are they going to be good enough quality for an audiobook?
There’s only one way to find out, and so I’m going to start recording Urban Punk chapter 1.
I’m going to make it into a video, and I believe I’m going to try and share the whole process with you.
The process will be posted here, as pictures, because I’ll admit I’m too lazy to edit a video like that. I enjoy my cameras, I do not enjoy editing videos.
I really hope I’m able to help someone else in the same spot as I am. Or someone who’s just starting, and trying to figure it all out.
The equipment I’ll be using is a Rode Wireless Go 2, And that will be plugged into my Nikon z30. I need to get some better soundproofing, in order to make my tone sound richer and fuller, but for a basic setup this will work.
My soundproofing is not expensive. It’s simply a box with egg foam on the inside. A thicker denser one that absorbs the sound. That makes it easier to tear it up and put it down, since it’s not something I plan on leaving up all the time.
I will attempt to share how I do all my editing, even the video editing, on my phone. And hopefully, I’ll end up with a halfway decent audiobook at the end of it.
I hope you guys had a good day today, and I hope your evening is even better. Y’all have a good one!
Sumo Sized Ginger 