Weight Loss

What Not to Do When Losing Weight

Today, we will look at advice from WebMD about losing weight the right way. There are so many people who find themselves unable to lose weight because they chose a diet that was never designed to actually work for them. In an article written by Kathleen Zelman titled, “7 Things Never to Do to Lose Weight” she lists things to avoid actually reduce people’s chances of losing weight. A few of them are the following:

Starvation, Fasting, or very low carb diets
Supplements that make grand promises
Cleanses or Detox plans

When dieting, she encourages people to, “choose a diet that works best for your lifestyle. The best diet is the one you can stick with long-term. Use common sense, listen to your body, be mindful of what you eat, and pass on expensive, risky, and worthless weight loss schemes or products that are unproven.”

I encourage you to read through this article and keep these 7 tips in mind as you move forward toward your weight loss goals and desires. It is important to take care of your body as you lose weight and this article is a great way to do just that! I am excited to hear about your progress in the coming weeks and months!

Female Hormones and Weight Loss: The Top Four

Our bodies, both male and female, produce of many different types of hormones, which serve an array of functions. Yet, when it comes right down to it, Estrogen, Progesterone, Testosterone and HCG are the main ones we must address when it comes to female pubescent growth, menstrual cycles, pregnancy, menopause and aging.

Estrogen is made in the adrenal glands, fatty tissue and the ovaries. Its primary functions are to promote breast growth in puberty, assist with the growth of the uterus lining in the beginning of the menstrual cycle and maintain bone strength by working with calcium, vitamin D and other minerals to prevent bone loss. Small amounts of estrogen are present within a man's body, also. (livestrong.com)

Progesterone is also produced in the ovaries and adrenal tissue. While estrogen is busy at work at the beginning of the menstrual cycle, progesterone performs in the second half of the cycle. After ovulation, progesterone prepares the lining of the uterus for the egg to be implanted. Production begins to wane in a woman's 40s, and after menopause. Low progesterone levels can cause symptoms such as irritability, mood swings, weight gain, depression, pain and osteoporosis. If progesterone is low, estrogen becomes the primary sex hormone, leading to what is termed "estrogen dominance."(livestrong.com)

Testosterone is considered a male hormone, but just as a small amount of estrogen is produced in men, a small amount of testosterone is produced in women. Testosterone is made by other hormones, DHEA (Dehydroepiandrosterone) and DHEA-S (a type of DHEA), which are steroid hormones produced in the adrenal glands. Testosterone performs the same function in women as it does men, just to a lesser degree. It strengthens a woman's energy level, libido, bones, muscles and sexual responsiveness to stimulation. (livestrong.com)

HCG (human chorionic gonadotrophin) is produced in the cells that make up the placenta during pregnancy. It is this hormone that is detected in both blood and urine pregnancy tests. Upon conception, levels of hCG double every three days, but then level off after 12 weeks of pregnancy. The role of hCG in pregnancy is to maintain the production of progesterone, which warms the body and maintains the lining of the uterus in pregnancy. (livestrong.com)

So, as long as these hormones are being produced at appropriate levels and in perfect balance, all is well in terms of our growth, health, weight, menstrual cycles, pregnancies and the normal aging process. However, in today’s stressful society, combined with poor eating habits, lack of exercise and sleep, pollution, chemicals and constant stimulation from the environment (IE: cell phones, computers, television, noise, artificial light), our hormones are rebelling. Specifically, we are designed to eat foods in their natural state, to be active—not sedentary, to have time to rest and enjoy life.

Rather, we are living in an unnatural state, constantly being challenged by daily stressors. This causes a domino effect in our bodies to react in a ‘fight or flight’ mode, producing elevated levels of cortisol, which wreak havoc on our [female] hormone levels, metabolism, weight and sense of physical, mental and emotional well-being. To add insult to injury, we are consuming processed foods and meats infused with antibiotics and hormones—not meant for our systems to assimilate. It is no wonder we are living in an age of epidemic obesity, diabetes, depression, anxiety, severe PMS, heavy periods, infertility, heart disease, excessive bone loss and osteoporosis, as well as addictive disorders—as a means to cope.

This is why it is so very important for you as a woman and human being, to begin to become aware of what you put in your body, how much exercise and enjoyable activity you are getting and how much rest, for both body and mind, you are allowing yourself to have. Though it is challenging to make lifestyle changes, you must do so in order to feel good again.Your hormones can be your best friend or your worst enemy. Continuing to become overwhelmed and exhausted, is a primary reason for your health problems and why you have hormone imbalances.We were meant to have balance in our lives, but because we don’t, we are effected down to the cellular level. It is easier than you might think, to begin eating healthier foods, drink plenty of water, get your body moving, learn to decompress and to sleep well. You deserve to feel energetic, happy and at peace.

Surfing The Internet To Lose Calories?

Exercises You Can Do At Your Desk — Get Fit And Sexy While Surfing The Internet

After our previous article on how to turn television time into a more stimulating exercise (either physically or mentally), I was inspired to write about how to make computer time more healthy and how to lose calories while sitting. Most people complain that they spent a lot of time chained to their desks and want to know how they can add some fitness to their workdays.

First of all, are you following the rules of healthy computer usage? For every hour you sit down in front of your computer or at your desk, you should spend five minutes stretching your legs, preferably walking outside while thinking calm, gentle thoughts. These exercises you can do at your desk may not seem like much, but that can already add up to 30 minutes of exercise a day or more, while making you more productive at work, since stretching and centering exercises reduce the number of careless mistakes made at work.

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Can Watching Television Help You Lose Weight?

Lose Weight While Watching TV — Yes You Can Turn TV Time Into Workout Time!

Sometimes my son gets furious with my husband and me when we strictly limit his daily TV time because it means he must find other ways of amusing himself, which can range from anything to reading to playing outside. But we are strict about this rule because it keeps him more active and it strengthens his brain!

However, even with our nationwide obesity epidemic, there seems to be no escape from television. How do you reason with a child who desperately wants to watch Hannah Montana or Spongebob? How do you reason with adults, who after a day of work, want to sit down to a brainless activity like television to relax? Unless they want to exercise while watching TV? According to csun.edu, the average American spends a whopping four hours per day in front of the TV. Television appears to be, for most, a necessary evil, but it is eroding away our ability for healthy weight loss both physically and mentally.

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Control Your Calories With Hari Hachi Bu

Master Yourself, And You Master The World

Through mass media and self-help diatribes, we’ve been bombarded with such tired adages as “Give it 100%!” or “Go all the way!” Lately I’ve been hearing such ridiculous statements such as “Give it 110%!” or even larger figures. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think we can give a hundred percent to everything in our lives without becoming overwhelmed. We often divide ourselves up between a variety of roles, and mindless pep talk like that doesn’t really grasp the reality of the human condition. Sometimes you need to give it less than a hundred percent, and today I’d like to encourage you to do just that when you are eating: eat only until you are eighty percent full, a technique known by Japanese as hari hachi bu [1].

Turning Off The Parent Voice

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Does Spicy Food Burn Fat?

My husband turned me on to spicy foods after we got married, and now I love turning on the heat!

But I Don’t Like Spicy Food!

If you don’t like spicy food, it may be just because you haven’t tried the right kind. Perhaps the spicy food you tried was far too spicy, or you tried to wash it down with water, which swirls the spiciness around your mouth and makes spicy food even hotter. If you would like to neutralize the spiciness, Isuggest that you eat your spicy dish with a glass of non-fat milk to lessen the sensation. If you still can’t take the heat, you can skip this article. But I warn you - you’re missing out on something delicious, not to mention something very potent for weight loss!

Hand Me The Chili Flakes Now

As you may have already guessed cayenne pepper will increase your core metabolism through the naturally occurring substance known as capsaicin. In an article by the New York Daily News, men who drank coffee and ate red pepper snacks for one day burned about 955 calories more than those who didn’t. The men in the study were given free reign to pick what food they wanted to eat, so this information may help food ‘grazers’ who absent-mindedly pick at foods.. That means you should go for the hot stuff first, or opt to add chili flakes to your food. A lot of dishes can be spiced up, especially dishes which are already tomato based.

How Many Pecks of Pickled Peppers (Did Peter Piper Pick)?

But the question is: how much spicy red pepper should you eat? In order to replicate the study and hopefully achieve similar results, you need to consume a lot of red pepper, namely about 19 grams of red peppers and 200 mg of caffeine [1]. That means a cup of coffee at every meal, something I don’t advocate, as the recommended daily limit is 300 mg of caffeine (two cups of coffee per day). What I can recommend is that you exchange the caffeine for the much safer option of green tea, which also has fat-burning benefits.

In another study published by a Japanese scientist in the eminent British Journal of Nutrition [2], the subjects were fed four different kinds of soup. One of these soups had a strong dose of red pepper and the others had weaker amounts of red pepper or placebos. It was discovered that those who ingested the soup with the strong dose of red pepper significantly lowered their fat intake – not to mention decreased their appetite!

How Do I Start?

You might want to start the hot food nights at your house by hosting Spanish-style tapas nights, where you can serve a variety of small Spanish appetizers that taste great with a lot of heat. Or try cooking an Asian fusion meal for dinner, which often requires spicy ingredients. Take it slow, and try to build up your tolerance over time. Is your mouth watering yet?
Hot Feedback Wanted

So did we light your fire? Let us know by leaving a comment!

Sources:
[1] http://www.suite101.com/content/thermogenesis-and-calorie-burners-a183084

Should You Drink Green Tea and Expect to Lose Weight?

The Japanese, particularly the ones who live on the island of Okinawa, are amongst the longest-living people in the world. One factor may be because of all the green tea they drink. Today I’m going to discuss green tea…that hot, steamy drink that is commonly served as ‘house tea’ with your sushi and now shows up in markets and bodegas in glass bottles and cans. A lot of people are aware that drinking green tea can help you lose weight, but I’d like to dish out the details so you know exactly how to utilize this weight loss tool for your body.

Green Tea’s Combo Attack on Fat

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How To “Sneak In” That Exercise

Jogging is a good form of exercise, but there are others too!

Exercise is essential to weight loss, health, happiness, strong bones, heart health and preventing disease, so it's time to find one that you enjoy. Don't wait any longer - get started TODAY!

Excuses

It's time to find the time to exercise. It may already feel like your day is too full with so many different things, but your body can't afford to skip exercise. I suggest making a list of all of the things that fill your day, and then numbering them from highest to lowest by priority. Surely something can be cut or at least reduced so you can try and squeeze in some activity. Exercise doesn't have to mean breaking a 60 minute sweat at the gym each day. Start out with just 20 minutes a day 3 times per week, and increase from there. It can be during your lunch hour at work or early in the morning before anyone else in your household wakes up. Anything you start with is better than the absence of it, so just get your body moving!

Exercise Choices

Start by identifying what you like to do because exercise should be something you look forward to - it can be 20-30 minutes of your own time to think, listen to music, organize your thoughts. Do you like to walk, swim, dance, jog, do yoga, bike, watch videos, roller blade, ice skate, or play any sports? It can also be incorporated into things you probably already do, such as clean the house, walk up stairs, lift groceries, or walk around the mall. These are all different ways you can integrate exercise into your daily routine. Just be sure that you put good energy into these chores and do them long enough to get a cardiovascular workout, which is a minimum of 20 minutes.

Hope you liked today's article! Tell me how you've started to get your body moving and your heart pumping!

How To Maintain Your Sanity With Cold Salads

It's hard for anyone to keep sane when juggling work and home life. Somehow the line between those two worlds tends to blur and you're left with more than you can handle and no time to cook. Or someone will come home hungry and you'll have to quickly switch from your working person mode to homemaker mode. Both men and women struggle with this delicate balance, and more often than not, crumble under the weight of fast food take out. Enter the cold salad: one of the most under-used dishes in your diet arsenal.

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Should the “3 Day Diet” See the Light of Day?

Avoid high sodium meat packed with preservatives

I make a point to keep abreast of every fad diet around, and I was alarmed to find yet another terrible diet is on the march: the 3-day diet ^[1]. This awful diet causes the person to eat small breakfasts and lunches, which is fine, but then tells you to consume a cup of ice cream or two beef franks along with dinner! The portions are just ridiculous, and it looks like anyone on this diet must want to starve during the daytime and then stuff him or herself at night. Which is not the point of a diet, especially with heart disease on the rise, since the last thing we need is more sodium from preserved meat such as beef franks.

The second biggest flaw in the 3-day diet is that it tells you to drink four glasses of water a day ^[1]. You need more water than that, and it's really too bad that water's role in successful dieting is often neglected. Water is one of the easiest ways to feel full without packing on the pounds - or even becoming sluggish and slow during your workday ^[2]. Water keeps your system running smoothly, helps prevent headaches and helps keep your kidneys running in tip-top shape, resulting in better fat-burning metabolism.

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What Fad Diet Supporters Don’t Tell You

Examine the psychological side of dieting

Healthy weight loss is the main topic on this blog, and though I always discuss the technical aspects I feel people should know, I think it's important to evaluate the psychological side too. Emotional eating or eating because of stress are often overlooked, but they are just as serious as the foods you choose to eat. As humans, we are wired to eat for survival. But there's a 15-minute delay between actually being full...and our minds reporting to us that we're already full, which is called your appestat. This means your appestat can create a hunger battle within your mind since it has a lag time between your mind and your stomach feeling full. Today I'd like to discuss two salient points that I feel fad diet supporters have failed to tell you as they relate to the psychological side of dieting.

A Healthy Diet Is Not About Pain!

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Mini Meals – A Weight Loss Wonder

In recent years, research^[1] has showed that eating 5 - 6 mini meals throughout the day, also referred to as grazing, is more beneficial in aiding weight loss than eating 3 larger meals in a day.

Why Mini Meals Work

There are a couple of reasons why mini meals are so great for people trying to lose weight. First, it teaches portion control by default. If you pre-package a mini meal or snack, such as a 100 calorie package of almonds, you will likely eat much less than if you were just snacking on a large bag of almonds. Second, losing weight and changing your dietary habits is very challenging for many people.

Therefore, knowing you will be able to eat something every 2-3 hours by following the grazing strategy for weight loss can help relieve some of the stress and worry that many dieters fear about being hungry, not being able to snack, and having to be so restricted in very limited food choices. Third, eating smaller meals more often can help boost your metabolism, which in turn, helps you burn more calories faster. Plus, smaller meals are easier to digest than larger ones for the obvious reason that there just isn't as much work for the stomach to do, which is helpful for people with sensitive stomachs and sufferers of colitis and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).

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How to Handle The Big Sloppy Meal

Southern Fried Anchovy: this would qualify as a diet buster

If you want to lose weight when eating out, you should ask for half portions even before the food arrives at your table. This really makes your healthy weight loss efforts count, as you won't be tempted to overeat. But what about situations where you are unable to get half portions, or it's inappropriate or difficult to request them? Situations like attending a business conference where you don't want to take home leftovers or a fine dining restaurant where it's not polite to ask for a doggie bag? Healthy weight loss is important, but so are social graces.

Family Situations

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Acai Berries: Feel Like Wasting Your Time (And Money)?

Acai berries...another fad diet that does not work!

An Internet search for acai berries is like browsing a list of spam emails. A majority of these so-called 'balanced reviews' that weigh the 'pros and cons' of acai berries are thinly veiled marketing ploys that involve getting you to give up your credit card details for a free trial of acai berry supplements which you'll find extremely hard to cancel later. Against all of these expert opinions, you may think, what makes my diatribe any different? Well, I work as a nutrition counselor, advising people on wholesome food and fitness. That's my 9 to 5. I'm also a loving mother of two kids, whom I try to teach to think logically about nutrition, and I've never advocated a single fad diet. I am also not trying to sell you anything, and this blog post will not lead to some place where you can purchase some dubious supplements like acai berry or any other product.

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The South Beach Diet: Sounds Compelling – But Does It Work?

The South Beach Diet is expensive to follow.

Despite how popular the South Beach Diet is, I would never recommend it to any of my clients who come in for nutrition consultations. In this article, I've compiled research on why the South Beach Diet is not a replacement for a healthy diet.

The South Beach Diet was developed by cardiologist Dr. Agatston in the 1980s as a strategy to help his patients reduce their risk of heart attack. The diet is based on the idea that good carbohydrates are those that score low on the glycemic index[2] and that the dieter could consequently 'kill' the hunger pangs that accompany high sugar intake. Though some of Dr. Agatston's ideology is sound, like introducing oily fish and nuts, the extreme phases of the diet, i.e. lack of solid exercise and lack of evidence-based research make this diet a poor choice overall.

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The Atkins Diet: Eating Steak To Lose Weight?

The Atkins diet is a high protein diet that is harmful to the body.

As a nutritionist, it pains me to think that people keep subscribing to fad diets, which can greatly endanger your health and lead to the ballooning effect, i.e. when a person diets and then balloons back to his/her original weight weeks later. Plus, limiting your diet to only a few food groups can even harm your body. This has inspiredme to start a series to explain the real deal behind fad diets. Today, I’ll start with one of most popular fad diets: the Atkins diet.

The entire basis of Atkins is that a low-carb diet allegedly puts humans into a state of fat-burning ketosis, which Dr. Atkins claimed could help people to burn 950 calories more per day. However, one of the world's leading medical journals, "The Lancet" conducted a study which concluded that there was no such metabolic advantage[1], and that dieters were just eating fewer calories out of boredom [2].

However, some people who start on the diet are greatly encouraged by the fact they suddenly lose 2-4 pounds in the first few weeks. Cause for celebration? No! The weight that dieters lose in those first few weeks is usually water weight. The extreme lack of carbohydrates results in depleting glycogen stores, which releases the reserve water locked in your body[3]. This is not fat, and you will gain it back.

There are several dangers that low-carb diets pose[2]:

- Cholesterol

Studies in 2009[2] have shown that dieters on low-carb diets actually increased their cholesterol levels, and since then twodeaths (by cardiac arrest) of dieters on such low-carb diets have been reported.

- MG, or Methylglyoxal is a glycotoxin that causes blood vessel and tissue damage. In a 2005 study (Beisswenger, et al.) it was shown that MG levels in Atkins dieters doubled shortly after the diet started.

- The Atkins diet is a high protein diet, and Wikipedia contains a harrowing story about such diets:

"High protein diets can cause the loss of calcium and a lowering in urinary citrate levels, which may lead to osteoporosis and kidney stones (Ornish,2004). Ketone bodies are excreted in urine with cations to neutralize the charge, so the body is losing essential cation minerals such as calcium, potassium, and magnesium, which in one case led to the death of a sixteen-year-old girl. She died from ventricular fibrillation arrest two weeks after starting a high protein-low carbohydrate diet. During resuscitation attempts she had hypokalemia (lower than normal amount of potassium in the blood) and also hypocalcemia (lower than normal amount of calcium in the blood)[14] Ornish also wrote that the Atkins diet leads to constipation in 70% of the subjects, 65% had halitosis (bad breath due to exhaled ketones), 54% were experiencing headaches, and 10% reported hearing loss.[14]"

So how does the Atkins Diet compare to a simple reduced calorie diet? According to the New England Journal of Medicine[3], two groups of obese people were tested. One group was on Atkins, and the other was on a reduced calorie diet. The obese group on Atkins showed slightly better weight loss on the low-carb diet after six months, but there was no longer any difference during the 12 months. The verdict? Don't buy into the hype. Once you stop the Atkins diet, with its limiting and exhausting food restrictions, you'll gain those pounds right back.

[1] The Lancet, Volume 364, Issue 9437, Pages 897 - 899, 4 September 2004

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atkins_diet

[3] http://www.sciencedirect.com

How To Get Rid of Belly Fat

"I will lose weight" is one of the most popular New Year's resolutions in the world. It's also the one resolution most of us fail to keep.

Despite the odds, and what the scale may tell you, you are capable of losing that weight! Fat is only a temporary part of you, and you can lose it. In this post I'd like to dispel some weight loss myths as well as give you some essential tips and tricks so you can finally lose that belly flab.

Abandon Hype All Ye Who Come Here

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Maintaining Your Diet at the Buffet Table

Buffet tables make you forget you're on a diet.

If everyone carried little comic thought bubbles above their heads near buffets, I wouldn’t be surprised to find these statements inside them.

“I didn’t eat lunch. That means more room for buffet dinner!”
“I’m on a diet – I guess I’ll eat salad with all that dressing first.”
“They might run out – let me get a big plate!”
“I’ll only eat the expensive stuff. Haha.”
“Oh good, buffet. I’ll diet tomorrow!”

It does seem rather unfair that you need to take 5,000 steps to burn through a single hot dog. Just think of what gorging yourself at the buffet table will do to your diet. Burning off what you ate at the buffet table will take many more times that – it could take hours upon hours of exercise. But how do you maintain your diet faced with a feast of epic proportions?

Slices of Genius

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How I Fell in Love with Pilates

Exercise plays an important role in my life. While running (and more recently, swimming) has been my passion since college, I have always tried to also incorporate some type of strength training exercise because it boosts your metabolism and burns fat. Running, as a cardiovascular exercise, is better for burning calories and maintaining a healthy heart.

I have tried many types of strength training exercises over the years such as free weights, yoga, weight machines, circuit training and calisthenics. Over the past eight months I have dropped all of those exercise and fallen in love with Pilates!

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The Misunderstood Avocado

Avocado is a good source of monounsaturated fats.

The misunderstood avocado is not a force of evil in the dieting world. Most people shy away from this fruit because it’s ‘so fattening,’ only seen next to a bowl ofnachos.. The fad diet books have warned us about its dual nature. “You can eat fruit, but shy away from the avocado or it will make you fat!”

Sure, the avocado is high in fat. It’s almost all fat. One avocado is about 360 calories and 30 grams of fat. However, it’s high in monounsaturated fat, and that kind of fat is good for your heart. –Plus, avocado’s health benefits include helping to control diabetes, fighting inflammation and protecting babies from birth defects.

Avocados for Diabetics

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Simple & No Cost Ways to Losing Weight Naturally

This may not be what you want to hear, but natural and healthy weight loss is the only way to maintain your weight...period. There are thousands of weight loss pills and diet programs that promise they are the ultimate solution for getting rid of excess weight, but most are short-term solutions and some do not really work at all. Taking pills is not the answer (sorry!).

Losing weight the natural way is the safest solution to weight problems. Here are some natural weight loss methods:

Proper Diet

Eating lots of fruits and vegetables and avoiding fatty foods is a good start. Such foods clog up your internal system. Fruits and vegetables are rich in fiber and help in the elimination of unwanted toxins from your body.

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Eat Smaller Food Portions To Help Lose Weight

As I mentioned in my previous post, moderation and balance is important to maintain in life. You may have resolved to lose weight, but you need to do it safely and naturally. To get started. you obviously need to control the amount of food that you eat. One way of doing this is to eliminate large, heaping portions on your plate during meals. Eating too much at one time will be hard for the stomach to take and digestion problems may result. This rule goes for diet food, too. Smaller amounts are better for the body and can therefore can help speed up the body’s metabolism.

Here are some tips to help change your habit of having big portions of food:

1. Use smaller plates at home. Small plates get easily filled up.

2. When you eat in restaurants where food servings are large, you can place a portion on your plate and have the rest wrapped or shared with your companions. Be conscious of what you are placing on your plate.

3. Never get seconds. This should be part of your resolution when trying to lose weight.

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