Biochem sucks

Well, it (biochemistry) doesn't suck. Its very important and I'm glad that there are smart people out there who are highly interested in it and do lots of research and blah blah blah. I guess studying for it for a test sucks. 4 hour study group, followed by individual studying, followed by another 4 hour study session, followed by more individual studying, followed by a day of individual studying, followed by individual study followed by another 4 hour study session followed by more individual studying...all for one test. F. M. L. And this shit is still confusing. Saturday's study session wasn't so much a waste of time, but more that the guy giving the study session was going into too much detail into stuff we should already know, and there were people who were thrilled he was doing that...which scares me. I don't know. I guess if you don't have the basics that we've been talking about for the last two weeks then chances are you're gonna have a rough time on the test. But I guess that isn't my problem. I guess the crux of my complaint is that I don't particularly like studying this much. Plain and simple. And it doesn't help that the instructor is too smart to be teaching this class. He has a doctorate in clinical pathology or something uber smart like that and he's teaching basic biochemistry. Blech. He likes to read slides and gloss over things that are probably pretty important, but what he assumes we all know. But everyone teaches their own way and I guess I just need to learn his style and convert it where I can into my learning style.

I have taken to watching Youtube videos on my subjects, which thankfully there is no shortage of videos. Dr. Najeeb is my favorite. And right now I have Professor Dasgupta going in the background as I type this. I dunno what it is, but the Indian professors are wildly more entertaining and explain things the best, so far that I've found, anyways. Once you get past the accent, which is thicker in some people that others, its usually a great additional learning tool. I tend to learn best when I hear and see things explained in multiple ways. Actually, I take that back. I like when that happens, but to be honest, I really don't know how I learn best. All I know is that I can't read the book and learn it. I must be taught, in some capacity. And right now, all my instructor does is read the slides (for biochem, anyway). Ah well. I will figure it out.

On to my next topic of complaint. The 100 Day Pushup and 2xSquat Challenge. I hate you, Toben. Just saying. So a friend of mine named Toben had just completed a 100 Day Burpee Challenge, which I refused to participate in. Well, he decided on pushups and 2x squats. I thought, 'What the hell.' So I started and its always easy in the beginning because its so few of each. Well, now I am a third of the way into it and I really dislike it. And the thought that it only gets worse does not make me happy. And god forbid you miss a day. Then you have to make it up. Gah. I missed like two days in a row this week because I kept putting it off during the day, and now I'm making it up. So yesterday I did 31 and 32. Today is 33 and 34. So 33 pushups and 66 squats, and 34 pushups and 68 squats. Blech. And I don't get to count that into my workout either. I can use it as a warm-up, but if I happen to do those movements during my workout, it doesn't count for the Challenge. Suck. But my workouts have been going really well. We did some snatch work the other day (haha...I know). The snatch is an Olympic weightlifting movement that is used in Crossfit. So we did a lot of practice on it on Friday, where I maxed out at 115. 115 is not a lot when you get down to it, but for not doing it in awhile, and doing so many reps of it, I was ok with that. We did every variation you could think of and my hips and shoulders were fried. But it felt ok. Then on Saturday we did a Hopper mix, which sucked. A hopper, or chipper, is where they basically draw workouts or movements out of a hat and make a horrid workout out of it. So we did 2 minutes of work followed by 2 minutes of rest. It looked like this:

2 min work

-200m run

-max reps med ball throws (20lb)

(2 min rest)

2 min work

-200m run

-max reps KB SDHP 70#

(2 min rest)

2 min work

-2oom run

-max reps burpees

(2 min rest)

2 min work

-200m run

-max reps KB swings 70#

Then we followed up with heavy back squats, which really sucked because our legs were jelly after the workout. But we did 3-3-3 and my group did 205, 225, 235. Again, not the heaviest any of us has done, but not bad considering our jelly legs. And yesterday (Sunday) they had open gym, which was pretty cool. Everyone was doing their own thing and I decided to do Monday's workout, which was Hang Squat Snatch for 2-2-2-2-2, then 3x10 strict pullups alternated with 3x10 Ring Dips. I went 85-95-105-115-125 for my snatch, which was pretty good. It actually felt good, too. The movement sometimes feels a little goofy, but it felt solid yesterday, so I was happy. Pullups and Ring dips suck. Plain and simple. But overall it was a good thing and the people there are pretty damn cool.

Also, my gym, and most gyms, are doing a Paleo challenge. Bascially, you eat Paleo for a month and see how you feel after a month. They also did a baseline workout [6oom run, 40 CF situps, 30 air squats, 20 game style pushups, 1- burpees for time (5:05)] which they will re-test after the month is up. So that should be interesting. I have been doing pretty good. I don't eat 100% paleo, but I do it pretty much the whole time. I do have a lot of fruits, which probably isn't great, and some whole fruit juice, but I mostly eat meat, veggies and nuts. I haven't noticed a huge change yet, but its only been a little while. And since I don't know all the rules and ins/outs of eating paleo, I'm probably eating things I shouldn't be and may therefore not be getting the whole benefit. But overall I think it will be beneficial. Though I think I ate way too much bacon this morning, I do love that I get to eat a lot of meat. I stick to chicken mostly, with some pork, and usually one beef dish a week, usually done in the crock pot. I love my crockpot. My mom got it for me for christmas and I have made some pretty tasty stuff so far. Green chile pulled pork, spicy chipotle braised beef, and spicy asian beef and veggies. Sooooo tasty. And then I also tend to make my chicken and green chile and pork and green chile every week because its so easy and I can just eat it for leftovers later in the week. I will also make my cauliflower rice, asparagus and grilled veggies for sides. And I usually do a stir fry each week. Again, I think I'm doing pretty good with the diet, so we shall see how it all turns out. I know I gained about 10 pounds over the christmas break, and since I worked so hard to get the weight off before that, I want to make sure I get it off quickly.

I need to get going to my study session. Hopefully I am about as ready as I can be for this test and that I will do well. I got a 100 on my microbiology test, but that infinitely easier than biochem. So we shall see.

Peace, peeps.