I know she had era tour but I don’t think I can do it w a broken heart is actually eras tour

I thought of this too. Maybe sometime down under? No way to know, but I did think the line she threw in at the end “Try and come for my job” might have hinted at something. I can read it both ways. As always, we’ll never know for sure. But I think it’s fair to say she has felt this way many times. It reminded me of Katy having to go on stage immediately after having her husband tell her he was filing for divorce. And it’s relatable. We’ve all had to put on a happy face at work and pretend things are fine at home.

Eden’s Gate: The Mother Chapter 10 - The Lost Girls

Warnings: slight violence, slight language. 

Word count: 2.2k

Where it all began. 

Summary: Timeline of the Winchester family lives and deaths. Flashback chapter. 

Guest OCs: Joel Winchester (FC: Josh Brolin), Marie Campbell (FC: Fairuza Balk), Mandy Winchester (FC: Cristina Scabbia).

Guest Characters: Jacob Seed and Miller in war flashback. Archangel Michael, Raphael and Gabriel in flashback. 

Note: The italic red indicates different time periods so bare with me on this chapter. They’re all short mini chapters within one big chapter. 

********

June 1988

Joel Victor Winchester has enlisted into the U.S Army, and his father Alfred isn’t happy about it.

“Really? That’s what you’re gonna do?” he asks his son, “You’re gonna throw your life away?”.

“Dad, I don't want to hunt anymore. I want to travel. See the world” he explains to his father.

“Yeah sure, getting yourself killed will definitely help out with that” he sarcastically tells him. 

Joel grew tired of hunting monsters for a living. He wanted to change his life for the better, he enlisted into the U.S Army. His girlfriend Mandy was against it, but at the same time she didn’t want to hold him back. Within a few months he went off to training in Georgia. He felt a huge weight lift off his shoulders once he stepped off in that training base. 

Aside from the Sergeants getting into his face, and yelling at him. Making him do 100 push ups in 1 minute. Joel actually liked it there. Better than stabbing a demon in the face, or cutting off a vampire’s head. It’s better than getting chased by Hellhounds. 

________

November 1990

Iraq, the Gulf War. Operation Desert Storm. Joel along with his unit of 10 other men are passing through a desert town somewhere near the Persian Gulf. When an ambush causes Joel and his fellow soldiers to get separated from each other in the middle of the desert.

“This is Winchester to base do you copy?” he says into his radio, “Base this is Winchester do you copy?”. 

Nothing but static on the other end of the radio. 

“Now what?” Miller asks him. 

“We keep moving forward” he answers.

“Are you sure?!” another soldier asks. 

“Yeah, I’m sure” he replies. They all push forward through the hot desert as the sun shines bright on them. 

“I don’t think I can push forward” a young Jacob Seed tells Joel. Panting and stumbling through the hot sand. 

“C’mon Seed we have to keep moving” he tells him.

After several minutes of walking through the sand an explosion sends Joel, Miller, Jacob and a few others flying several feet away from each other. They all manage to find each other after god who knows how long. Almost dying of dehydration.  

“We gotta keep moving” Joel’s second in command tells him.

Joel looks around and notices they’re missing a few of their men.

“Where’s Seed and Miller?!?” he asks them. They look around for them, and accept that they were either killed, or they got lost in the explosion. 

“We have to look for them” Joel tells them. 

“Sir, we have to keep moving forward to base” his second in command tells him. They move forward through the desert and make it to their base. Not wanting to leave two of their men behind, knowing they could still be alive. 

__________

December 1991

It’s been over almost a year since Joel came back from Iraq. He wasn’t the same after all that shit. He suffered from PTSD, night terrors and insomnia. He has burn scars on his right shoulder, bicep and 30% of the right side of his body. 

Thinking that Mandy would leave him because of his trauma and disfigurement of his skin. She stood by side through all of it. She didn’t see him any differently, she still loved him regardless. With the help of her sister Marie, he planned on proposing to her. On December 22 1991 just before Christmas. He proposed to her at a Christmas party in front of all their friends and family.

Taking a knee, the usual way of proposing. 

“Mandeline Lucille Campell will you marry me?!” he asks, ring in hand. The crowd of their friends and family “awe” in response. 

Her hands covering her mouth, she nods her head and softly mutters “Yes” to his proposal. 

Tears filling her eyes as he places the ring on her left ring finger.

________

September 7 1992

The wedding of Joel Victor Winchester & Mandeline Lucille Campell. 

"Are you ready?" Marie asks her older sister. As she dusts off her white wedding dress. 

Mandy nods her head, taking a deep breath, "Yeah, yeah I'm ready!". 

Preparing to walk down the aisle, and marrying the love of her life. Her long-time boyfriend, then fiancée and soon to be husband. 

“Do you Mandeline Lucille Campell take Joel Victor Winchester to be your lawfully wedded husband. In sickness and in health. For good, or for worse. Till death do you part?” the priest asks.

Looking up at her soon to be husband, “I do” she answers. 

He asks Joel the same exact thing, and he gives the same exact response.

“I do” he says, looking down at his now beautiful wife. 

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride" the priest tells Joel, and he kisses his new wife. 

_______

May 1994

Mandy announces her pregnancy with her first child. Waiting patiently for the results, sitting on the bathroom floor as Joel sat on the opposite side of the bathroom door. She got the results, and she is indeed pregnant. She opens the door, and immediately runs into Joel’s arms, tears streaming down her face. 

“What is it?!, what is it?!” he asks, excitedly. 

She shows him the stick, and he lifts her up. Kisses her.

“We’re gonna be parents!!” he mutters, excitedly. Lifitng her up off the floor.

____________

July 1994

Joel and Mandy get the results on the sex of their first child. The ultrasound technician puts the gel on her stomach and uses the sonographer to scan her belly.

Joel holds onto Mandy’s hand in anticipation. Squeezing it.

“So let's see what we got here” she tells them, as she scans her stomach. 

“It looks like you’re having a girl!” she tells the soon to be parents.

They look at each other excitedly, in shock and in tears. 

“We’re having a girl!!” Mandy mutters to Joel, kissing him. 

___________

January 19 1995

Mandy goes into labor a few months early, and gives birth to a healthy baby girl at the Phoenix Regional Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona. After being in labor for 7 hours.

Weighing 7 pounds 6 ounces. Born at 2:15pm. 

“She’s so beautiful” Mandy says, cradling her daughter. A nurse walks into the room, with a clipboard in hand and asks “So what are we naming her?”.

“Paige Hannah” Joel tells her. She writes down the name and takes it to file it for records. 

“And you wanted to name her Dawn Mercedes” Mandy mocks him, looking down at her new infant daughter. 

He chuckles, “Yeah, I’m glad you changed my mind about it”. 

A few moments past and a man walks into the room.

“Joel and Mandeline Winchester?'' he asks, walking into the hospital room. They both look up at the man. 

“Yes?” Joel questions him, “Who are you?”. 

“I’m Michael” he tells them, “Archangel Michael”. 

They look at him in confusion, Joel stands up from the hospital bed and becomes defensive. 

“What do you want?” he asks in a threatening tone. 

He puts his hands up showing that he means no harm. “I mean no harm to you, your wife and the new addition to your family”.

He goes on to tell them that he is baby Paige’s Guardian Archangel. That he will protect and watch over her until the day she dies. 

"So what? Babies are assigned Archangels when they're born?" he asks. 

"Yes, I believe Raphael is Mandeline's guardian Archangel, and I'm yours" Michael tells them. 

__________

August 5 1998

Mandy gave birth to another girl at the same hospital where she had Paige. 

Almost having her at their home which is 15 minutes away from the hospital.

Weighing 7 pounds 8 ounces born at 7:42am, now with baby number two in the family. 

Mandy’s sister Marie watched over Paige while they went to the hospital. 

After 3 in half hours of labor pain and contractions, she finally had baby Katella. 

“I can’t believe it” Joel mutters, looking down at his new infant daughter “We now have 2 beautiful girls. She’s so beautiful”. 

They both stare down at their new addition to the family. 

“I’m so glad Paige stopped me from naming her Sasha Georgia” he says to Mandy. 

She chuckles, “Yeah me too. Katella Evyanna is a better name for her”. 

“Gabrielle would’ve been better” a man tells them, who appeared out of the blue in front of them. 

They both look up at the man, Joel scoffs at him, rolling his eyes and looking up at the ceiling “Let me guess. Gabriel? Archangel?”. 

He smiles at them, and says with his hands up “Guilty!!”. 

“What do you want?” Mandy asks him, Already knowing what this is all about. 

He sighs, sitting at the foot of the bed “The same route my big bro Michael did with little Paige. I’m this little one's Guardian Angel. I will protect, watch over her and blah blah blah until she dies. All that jazz”. 

They both look at him in confusion, and also in a way underestimating the youngest Archangel.  

"It's not too late to name her Gabrielle Tricksterina" he tells them. 

"We'll stick with Katella Evyanna. Thanks Gabe". Mandy says to him. 

________

November 14 1998

Baby Katella is 3 months old, Paige is 3 years old. 

“What time are you gonna be off?!” Mandy asks Joel, from the kitchen table. 

“Same time as usual” he tells her from their bedroom “5:30pm”. 

He continues to get ready for work while Mandy feeds Kate her bottle, and Paige is sitting in her high chair eating cut up fruit.

He walks into the kitchen, and kisses her, and his daughters goodbye.

“I’m leaving for work now” he tells her. Kissing her head, as well as the two little girls. 

Going to his job at the auto shop where he works as head mechanic. 

Mandy is taking maternity leave from her job as a receptionist at a dental office.  

________

April 19 1999

The night where it all happened, the night where Azazel took Joel’s life by causing a house fire.

Killing him when he went to check on baby Katella. 

Confronting the demon that took his life. Killing him and pushing him up to the ceiling. 

Mandy woke up to the smell of smoke, thinking Joel was cooking something. 

She went to check on both Paige and Kate. Upon checking on her youngest daughter, a droplet of blood lands on Mandy’s hand, she looks up and sees her husband laying against the ceiling. 

Within seconds the whole ceiling was engulfed into flames. Killing Joel instantly. 

Paige runs to the room, and sees everything. Mandy grabs Kate from her crib and hands her to her eldest daughter.

Telling her to take her sister and run as fast as she can.

Running out to the front lawn as the house is engulfed in flames. 

_______

September 2011

“Mom what’s going on?” 16 year old Paige asks her mother.

Des Moines, Iowa. A teacher from Paige and Kate’s high school had reported to Child Protective Services about some cuts, bruises and other wounds on Kate’s arms and hands. 

A cut on Paige’s left cheek, and bruised, bloody knuckles. 

Reporting that the 2 girls are being abused by their mother. 

Mandy would never lay a finger on her kids. Wasn’t able to convince the police and CPS that she would never hit her kids. 

Even with Paige and Kate coming to her defense. They still took them away from her.

“Everything is fine girls” she tells them. 

“Girls you’re gonna have to come with us” an officer tells them. 

They both look at him, and everyone else in confusion. 

“What’s happening?!” 13 year old Kate asks. Hiding behind her elder sister. 

“Girls I’m Nancy from Child Protective Services. You’re both gonna have to come with us” she tells them. 

“Why?!” Paige asks. 

“You both attend Des Moines Junior high?” the officer asks.

“Yeah” Paige answers. 

“A teacher reported some wounds, and other physical injuries on you” he tells them. 

They take the girls away from Mandy after they both resisted. Taking them away in separate vehicles. 

Mandy later would have child abuse charges against her, and she would flee Iowa shortly after. Paige and Kate were sent to live with their uncle Brent and aunt Laura. 

Mandy was charged, and had a restraining order against her. Forbidding her from seeing, or contacting her daughters until they turned 18. Once Paige turned 18 she took off and searched for her mother. 

__________

January 2012

"There's a man in Hope County, Montana that needs protection" Raphael tells Mandy. 

"Okay, what's his name?" she asks. 

"God hasn't given me his name, but you are the one that must protect him" he tells her. 

Not understanding what the job is actually about, she reluctantly agrees to protect this man whom she has no idea who he is or what his name is. Not knowing what he looks like either. 

"Okay, I'll go to Montana and protect this man who I never met, nor seen" she tells the Archangel. 

Weight/Mindset Changes Over Time

2012 (18 years old): Restrict as much as possible

Weight changes: ~160 > ~130

This was late high school bleeding into my freshman year of college. I was barely 10 pounds overweight when I started, but I thought I was HUGE. I ate 1200 calories per day religiously, worked out for 7+ hours per week, and prioritized weight loss over everything else. I remember getting very upset when I accidentally ate over my calorie goal, even by 100 calories. While effective for weight loss, this was an unsustainable way of eating/exercising. 

2013-2014 (19-20 years old): Eat whatever, but stay active

Weight changes:  ~130 > ~170

This covers the majority of my college years (before I began my student teaching internship). I stopped paying attention to what I ate because I was so overwhelmed and stressed out with schoolwork. I was overweight, but not to the point that I felt disgusted with myself.  However, the only reason I didn’t gain much more was because I was extremely active in college. 

2015-2016 (21-22 years old): Eat and drink excessively to deal with stress

Weight changes: ~170 > 242 

I didn’t become obese until I started teaching. My student teaching internship and first year of teaching were so difficult for me. I began truly abusing alcohol and eating to extreme excess. By my estimates, I was probably eating 3000 calories per day MINIMUM during this time period, and I wasn’t exercising at all. I knew I was gaining weight, but I was too afraid to weigh myself. It wasn’t until this picture was taken at a friend’s wedding that I stepped onto the scale and realized how bad things had gotten. 

2017- early 2018 (23-24 years old): Lose weight with CICO/IF/Veg Keto

Weight changes: 242 > ~190

After my wakeup call, I began focusing on changing habits slowly. I built several habits that stick with me even now, such as drinking 60+oz of water per day and intermittent fasting (hardly ever eating breakfast, OMAD on workdays, etc.) I was very successful, especially after I began doing vegetarian keto. I truly believe that I felt better and less hungry, and I lost weight more easily when I was doing keto, but being both vegetarian and keto was simply too difficult to maintain in social situations or when visiting restaurants. However, it did lead to me permanently decreasing the amount of carbs I ate after having been a “carbatarian” for many years. 

Mid/late 2018-2019 (24/25 years old): The seizure era, attempt at maintenance eating

Weight changes: 190 > 205 

In April 2018, I began having seizures as a result of a previously undiscovered cyst in my brain. Long story short, I was put on steroids, had to have brain surgery, and became dependent on other people for many basic needs for months on end. I was also forbidden from strenuous exercise for months. My priorities shifted and I focused on trying to maintain my weight rather than on losing weight. I still gained about 15 pounds (some of it water weight due to not being on keto anymore), but I considered this an overall win since I could have reverted completely to old habits. 

Late 2019/Early 2020: All hell breaks loose

Weight changes: 205 > 222

Many people say that your 5th year of teaching is where you hit burnout, and I could not agree more. I fell into a depression and stopped caring about my weight. I didn’t exercise or track my food anymore, and my weight went up significantly in a short period of time. 

2020 (26 years old): Weight loss with a maintenance mindset

Weight changes: 222 > ? 

In early 2020, I started listening to the Half Size Me podcast and had a revelation: Focus on habits and sustainability, not results. If you cannot  reasonably do something for the rest of your life, you will never keep the weight off. Any changes you make must also be flexible enough to withstand major life events, like discovering a brain cyst or going through a rough patch with your mental health. 

Over the past few weeks, I have focused on subtle habit changes that I can easily do indefinitely. If I had done this in 2012, I would have never gained the weight in the first place. If I had done this in 2017, I would have reached my goal weight by now and kept it off.  

How to Lose Weight Faster, But Safely

https://linktr.ee/fitness1234

Lose 5 pounds in one week! It's a trope we see everywhere. And while it’s possible that someone can lose that much (if not more) in that time period, it really depends on your metabolism and loads of other factors, including physical activity and body composition, all of which are entirely unique to you.

Weight loss ultimately comes back to the concept of calories in, calories out: Eat less than you burn and you’ll lose weight. And while it’s possible to lose water weight quickly on a low-carb diet, I certainly wouldn’t advocate for it. The diet itself can trick you into thinking that this eating style is working — when really, you might gain back what you lost as soon as you eat carbs again. That can feel incredibly dispiriting if you want results that last longer than a week.

Based on my experience in nutrition counseling, most of us tend to snack on foods that aren’t nutrient-dense, but are high in calories. For example, skipping sugary beverages is often the easiest way to lose weight faster. You don’t feel full from drinks — even the ones that do contain calories — so swapping those out for sparkling water or unsweetened tea and coffee is the best place to start. Other major culprits often come in refined grains like cereals, chips, crackers, and cookies.

If you're looking to speed up weight loss, I'd also encourage you to be mindful of the foods you eat that you don't choose for yourself. Think: food pushers at work or your kids’ leftovers. Noticing where your extra calories actually come from is another step to making better choices in the short and long term.

In my experience, there are a few other tips that hold true for almost all of us across the board — and they’re concepts that we can put into practice beginning right now.

So, here’s where to start:

1. Eat more vegetables, all of the time.

It’s that simple, I promise! If you think about making any meal mostly veggies (at least 50% of anything that you’re having), you’re on the right track to better health and weight loss.

2. Build a better breakfast.

All meals are important, but breakfast is what helps you start your day on the right track. The best, heartiest breakfasts are ones that will fill you up, keep you satisfied, and stave off cravings later in the day. Aim to eat anywhere between 400 and 500 calories for your morning meal, and make sure you're including a source of lean protein plus filling fat (e.g., eggs, unsweetened Greek yogurt, nuts, or nut butters) and fiber (veggies, fruit, or 100% whole grains). Starting your day with a blood sugar-stabilizing blend of nutrients will help you slim down without sacrifice.

3. Know your limits with salt.

Since salt is a preservative, packaged and processed foods are often highest in sodium — something to keep in mind when planning your meals. When it comes by buying snacks, a "low sodium" product has to be 140 mg or less per serving — so if you're REALLY in a bind, you can follow that guideline for what to put in your cart.

4. Drink more coffee.

Start your day with a cup of joe. Caffeine is a natural diuretic and an excellent source of antioxidants, which protect your cells from damage. You can have up to 400 mg — about a venti Starbucks coffee — daily, according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Not much of a coffee drinker? Tea is also a natural diuretic, and types of herbal tea such as dandelion or fennel root can also lend a hand. In fact: When a recent study compared the metabolic effect of green tea (in extract) with that of a placebo, researchers found that the green-tea drinkers burned about 70 additional calories in a 24-hour period.

5. Skip sugary beverages.

We just don't feel full by liquid calories in quite the same way as we do real food. Drinking a juice or caramel coffee drink just isn't as satisfying as eating a bowl of veggie- and protein-packed stir-fry. So monitor your intake of juice, soda, sweetened coffee and tea, and alcoholic beverages. If you consume each of those beverages during the day, you'll have taken in at least 800 extra calories by nighttime — and you'll still be hungry. (Incidentally, alcohol may suppress the metabolism of fat, making it tougher for you to burn those calories.)

6. Buy a set of 5-pound weights.

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It's a one-time investment you'll never regret. Here's why: Strength training builds lean muscle tissue, which burns more calories — at work or at rest — 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The more lean muscle you have, the faster you'll slim down. How do you start strength training? Try some push-ups or a few squats or lunges. Use your free weights to perform simple bicep curls or tricep pulls right in your home or office. Do these exercises three to four times per week, and you'll soon see a rapid improvement.

7. Eat spicy foods — seriously!

It can actually help you cut back on calories. That's because capsaicin, a compound found in jalapeño and cayenne peppers, may (slightly) increase your body's release of stress hormones such as adrenaline, which can speed up your ability to burn calories. What's more, eating hot peppers may help slow you down. You're less likely to wolfed down that plate of spicy spaghetti — and therefore stay more mindful of when you're full. Some great adds besides hot peppers: ginger and turmeric.

8. Go to bed.

There's tons of research that demonstrates getting less than the desired amount — about 7 hours — of sleep per night can slow down your metabolism. Plus, when you're awake for longer, you're naturally more likely to snack on midnight munchies. So don't skimp on your ZZZ's, and you'll be rewarded with an extra edge when it comes to losing weight.

9. Keep a food journal.

Loads of research demonstrates people who log everything they eat — especially those who log while they're eating — are more likely to lose weight and keep it off for the long haul. The habit also takes less than 15 minutes per day on average when you do it regularly, according to a 2019 study published in Obesity.

Start tracking on an app like MyFitnessPal or use a regular notebook. It'll help you stay accountable for what you've eaten. Plus, you can easily identify some other areas of your daily eats that could use a little improvement when it's written out in front of you.

10. Take a walk!

Don't get me wrong — exercising at any time is good for you. But evening activity may be particularly beneficial because many people's metabolism slows down toward the end of the day. Thirty minutes of aerobic activity before dinner increases your metabolic rate and may keep it elevated for another two or three hours, even after you've stopped moving. Plus, it'll help you relax post-meal so you won't be tempted by stress-induced grazing that can rack up calories.

11. Resist the urge to skip a meal.

Skipping meals will not make you lose weight faster. If a hectic day makes a sit-down meal impossible, stash a piece of fruit and pack of nut butter in your car or purse and keep snacks in your office desk drawer — anything that will keep you from going hungry!

Going long periods of time without food does double-duty harm on our healthy eating efforts by both slowing down your metabolism, and priming you for another binge later in the day. (Think: You've skipped breakfast and lunch, so you're ready to takedown a whole turkey by dinner!) Make it your mission to eat three meals and two snacks every day, and don't wait longer than three to four hours without eating. Set a "snack alarm" on your phone if needed.

12. Eat your H2O.

Sure, you certainly need to drink plenty of water to help combat bloating, you can (and should!) also consume high-water content foods. Reach for cucumbers, tomatoes, watermelon, asparagus, grapes, celery, artichokes, pineapple, and cranberries — all of which contain diuretic properties that will also help you stay full due to their higher fiber content.

13. Munch on mineral-rich foods.

Potassium, magnesium, and calcium can help to serve as a counter-balance for sodium. Foods that are rich in potassium include leafy greens, most "orange" foods (oranges, sweet potatoes, carrots, melon), bananas, tomatoes, and cruciferous veggies — especially cauliflower. Low-fat dairy, plus nuts, and seeds can also help give you a bloat-busting boost. They've also been linked to a whole host of additional health benefits, such as lowering blood pressure, controlling blood sugar, and reducing risk of chronic disease overall.

14. Ignore the gimmicks.

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At any given time, there are dozens of weight-loss hypes in the marketplace that claim to take off 10 pounds in 10 days, or whatever. Desperation can tempt us to try anything — from "clean eating" to cutting out food groups entirely. Keep in mind: Just because an avocado-kale-salad dripping in coconut oil is deemed "clean" by a so-called "expert" on your Instagram feed does not make it an unlimited food. Moral of the story? Avoid fads, eat real food, watch some Netflix, and unwind (perhaps with a glass of wine in hand). Now that's my kind of detox.

15. Let yourself off the hook.

You already know that a perfect diet doesn't exist, but many of us still can't resist the urge to kick ourselves when we indulge, eat too much, or get thrown off course from restrictive diets. The problem: This only makes it more difficult, stressful, and downright impossible to lose weight. So rather than beating yourself up for eating foods you think you shouldn't, let it go. Treating yourself to about 200 calories worth of deliciousness each day — something that feels indulgent to you — can help you stay on track for the long haul, so allow yourself to eat, breathe, and indulge. Food should be joyful, not agonizing!

16. Look for our emblem on food labels.

Ultimately, long-term weight loss requires some short-term behavior change and healthier habit formation. That's why we created our Good Housekeeping Nutritionist Approved Emblem, which exists to help turn smart food choices into healthier eating habits. All GHNA foods and drinks make it easier to find — and eat — good-for-you foods without additional time, effort, and cost. We target the lifestyle-related factors that make healthier eating hard, and find simple but creative solutions that actually work! Look for the emblem on labels wherever you shop for food.

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Gorgoldand’s Gauntlet One-Shot...Part 2?! (of 3?)

To give the DM of our Sunday campaign a break, we players agreed to do round robin DMing sessions. I’ve somehow managed to be the first up for actual DMing. I hate DMing (except by play-by-post) and had joined this group so that I wouldn’t have to DM yet again, so naturally I was the first to have to DM an actual session outside of character creation. They gave me two demands: the game couldn’t be hack-and-slash and I was to make pregenerated characters.

So I did.

They are all quirky af. I’m running them through a module (”Gorgoldand’s Gauntlet,” 3.0 1st-level dungeon crawl, Dragon Annual #5, pg. 39-51) I thought wouldn’t take long. We just finished session two and I can foresee at least another session and probably two to complete it (12-14 hours of play at the rate we’re going).

Characters

My original intention was to make each character a character sheet that would neatly fit onto a 3″ x 5″ notecard, as I’d found dot grid ones at Walmart and figured I could manage.

Unfortunately, I lost those immediately before the session and had to remake the character sheets from memory an hour before the game was to start. These were on normal notecards because I didn’t have character sheets on hand, either.

Originally, I had rolled on the Random Edgelord Backstory Generator for each character and given them a detailed boon and drawback. (I managed to remember some of what I’d done, but only so much, so each is a little weirder as a result.) Each character comes from a different time period, the rationale being that they’d all been the victims of Victoria Belanger (with faux French pronunciation), a seemingly immortal medusa, and had found themselves restored in the bizarre-looking chambers of David Astanox, who requests as repayment that they survey Gorgoldand’s Gauntlet. The main DM couldn’t make it to the first session, so I left his character frozen in carbonite petrified in Astanox’s domain.

The characters are:

Gimli O’MacGloinovskiidesson, LN Male Dwarf Rogue. Medieval. Has a suit of mithril full plate of which he’s protective to the point of paranoia (it’s his former blankie), a phobia of all things bug-like (shrieks like a little girl [as in high pitched] on sight), and a fondness for good cheeses (specifically brie).

Ronan the Bardbarian, NG Male “Half-Orc” Skald. Bronze Age. He’s not actually a half-orc, but a genetic throwback; this gives him the Ferocity monster ability (but no Darkvision or fluency in Orcish) and Small Man Syndrome (despite being one of the biggest non-monster people he’s ever met). A former ~kindergarten teacher, he manipulates people into doing what he wants by treating them like his students (gold stars, etc.).

Phillip Withtwoells, NE Female “Halfling” Witch. Totally not a pile of crows in a coat. That’s because she’s actually a nickel possessing a pile of ravens (which have become her flock of familiars) and using them to masquerade as a halfling from c. 1955. She’s looking for a better host body (she’s immobile otherwise) and wants “shinies” to bribe/trick said host into accepting her.

The other DM’s character, Florence “F” Valentine, CN Male Dhampir Magus. Contemporary (petrified a couple of months ago). A coven of night hags and succubi seduced and devoured his imaginary friends; now he’s (almost literally) Batman. Despite this, he gets a twitch when confined to dark, dank spaces. Not particularly fond of short, human-like creatures (dwarves, some fey, gnomes, goblins, halflings, etc.). Surprisingly flammable.

Sessions

We’ve managed to make it through two rooms and a doorway each time we’ve played (c. 3-4 hours).

In the first session, Gimli repelled down a steep cliff face with Phillip tied to him (Ronan followed behind) to get into the dungeon. Unbeknownst to him, the jinkin (originally jermlaine; same thing lore-wise) who had taken up residence in the dungeon had added a trap at the entrance: a dead giant spider’s husk filled with dust of sneezing and choking (Fort DC 15 vs. 2d6 Con damage). Being arachnophobic, he attacked the husk and both he and Phillip took (2? 3? I forget) Con damage. Ronan then fell into a spiked pit with poison ivy, but saved vs. the ivy and instead just lost all but two HP (not that it matters, given Ferocity). Finally seeing the jinkin, the group walked into the next trap (wires made from human hair stretched across the passageway; hanging from these were fish hooks), got flustered, set fire to the hair, and then saw the jinkin escape on similarly made ropes (used as ziplines) strung across a wide chasm.

This session, F showed up and the group stood around trying to figure out how to cross said chasm (for the better part of twenty minutes; highlights include Phillip pulling out a raven from under her blouse) before F pulled out a grapple gun to swing across the chasm while holding Phillip as I played fitting music (skip to :20 if it doesn’t start there). He threw the grapple gun back to Gimli, who succeeded at swinging across, and then to Ronan, who lost his grip and fell into the water below. As Ronan was climbing out of the water, the merrow living down there grabbed his leg and pulled him back in. A short fight ensued; the only injured party was the merrow. Afterward, it took me quite a bit of time to convince Phillip (remember: obsessed with shinies) to show interest in the twenty pound bag of coins (1000 coins -- 750 silver, 250 gold) stuck beneath a boulder in the water. Finally lifting it the rock and dividing the treasure, the party moved on to the next room, which had a weird “trap” (riddle door plus hidden rust monsters). Gimli went “berserk” (full panic mode), had his axe melt before him, and fainted from fright on turn two. (F’s rapier also got rust monstered.)

You may be wondering why it took three hours to do all of that. Well, between more introductions, tangents, figuring out how to deal with each obstacle, and hilarity, we could only do so much.

The reason I project another one or two sessions is that the next trap is Minesweeper, followed by a teleportation trap, then another riddle door, and finally the loot room (which has a weird mirror, the “boss”, and a “you screwed up” encounter). Even without needing to introduce themselves, I doubt we’ll make it through any single trap in the span of an hour.

I’m stuck on the question of continued hilarity, though. See, Gimli has nothing left to fear in this dungeon besides conductivity (the Minesweeper trap is made up of lightning tiles). There isn’t anything in the dungeon that can set F aflame except (maybe) that trap, as well. Ronan’s player isn’t sure how to play up the kindergarten aspect (he’s trying admirably, but he’s clearly confused). Phillip, meanwhile, will want to try to take control of the dungeon’s final boss (a “coin dragon” -- a magical sword that telekinetically creates a dragon construct out of nearby coins and treasure), but that’ll take at least a session to get to and will require some passing of the buck. Or nickel. Whatever. Thankfully, the teleportation trap ties into the local fey (gremlins), though the gremlins didn’t make the trap (they just utilize it for shenanigans). I might be able to concoct some arbitrary suffering from them via F’s hatred of short people.

17 Practiced Weight-Loss Tips

Losing weight is not ever easy and there’s no one tip that’s going to change that. Though, it also doesn’t have to be as complex a process as many of us make it by counting every calorie or disrobing our diet of whole food groups while trying to follow violently preventive diet plans.

As an alternative of accepting a radical or all-encompassing method, try accepting a series of healthy customs and making them an essential part of your eating monotonous. As your good habits start to outweigh the bad, you may well find that losing weight and, critically, upholding a healthy weight become natural to you. And you’ll get to keep on eating carbs through.

 Underneath you’ll find 17 tips that can put you on the path to weight loss. You don’t have to try to take on all 17 at once. In fact, we’d certainly advise against trying that, because you’ll surplus manually and rapidly lose incentive. Pick a few to start with that you think you can achieve, then keep coming back and adding more in to your lifestyle. Before too long you’ll find that the fit choice becomes your first choice in all kinds of situations, and when you add all those composed, you’ll be losing weight without even thinking about it.

 1. Be Truthful

“Time and again, patients say to me that they are dissatisfied that they have ‘only’ lost a pound in a week,” says George Hamlyn-Williams, principal dietitian at The Hospital Group. “The realism is that one pound (454g) of fat equates to around 3,500 calories. This means that over the week the pound was misplaced, they have eaten on average 500 calories less per day – a massive attainment! It’s so easy to eat or drink an additional 500 calories – two standard 50g bars of chocolate would do it. But, to eat 500 calories less is much more hard and to be reliable with it is even more challenging – so give yourself a break and pat yourself on the back if a pound comes off. Dredge up, if you keep going, that’s 52lb (23.5kg) over a year – over 3½ stone!”

 2. Get Aware With Portion Sizes

“If you’re watchful of portion sizes you can say goodbye to calorie including,” says Kerri Major, a listed dietitian and SENr sports dietitian, and author of The Dietitian Kitchen. “It can be valuable to look at the optional portion size on food packaging and see what you’re eating in comparison with this.

 “Using your hands to get a coarse idea of an suitable serving size can also be a really valuable tool. This is never going to be 100% accurate, but it’s a simple and valuable way of helping you get the right portion sizes.”

 Here’s Major’s general advice for the portions that make up a stable meal.

·       Protein 1 palm-size portion

·       Carbohydrates 1 handful of complex carbohydrates, characteristically wholegrain diversities

·       Vegetables 2 handfuls of non-starchy vegetables such as broccoli, mushrooms or salad leaves

·       Healthy fats 1 thumb-size portion

Furthermore, a share of fruit is one piece of whole fruit, like a banana, or one handful (about 80g if you have scales to hand), and Major counsels aiming for three helpings of dairy or dairy replacements a day. “Helping sizes of dairy vary contingent on the product,” says Major. “Once more, I endorse checking the food label, which typically indicates an suitable serving size.”

 Of course, what’s precisely right for you be contingent on a number of things, counting how active you are. If you’re hesitant how much you should be eating, Major proposes seeing a registered dietitian.

 3. Start Slight

“When set new goals, focus on two to three small, truthful goals at a time and work on attaining them before working towards any more,” says Major. “If you want to start working out more, don’t go from zero to 100. That will be a tremor to the system and something that is hard to stick to. Plan to workout once or twice a week originally, at a time that is good and sustainable for you, before you plan to upsurge your sessions further. Make sure whatsoever the goal is, it is SMART – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-Based.”

 4. Don’t Rely On Inspiration

“Numerous persons depend on inspiration to keep them going when it comes to working out and eating well,” says Major. “Yet, incentive comes and goes, and it’s never there when you want it or need it most. The key is to create hale and hearty habits and become disciplined – two things that can bail you out when incentive is low.

 “Hale and hearty habits can be something as humble as taking the stairs as an alternative of the elevator or walking instead of taking the car. Being controlled is showing up and doing something even if inspiration is at an all-time low. We all know that we regularly feel a million times better for doing something that we know is good for our health than not doing it at all.”

 5. Drink additional water

The rapidest and easiest way of plummeting calorie intake is to drink more water. A study of more than 18,000 adults found that cumulative daily water ingesting by just 1% resulted in the intake of 70 less calories, while drinking three extra glasses dropped calorie intake by 205. Reduced sugar ingesting was a main aim for the calorie discount, according to the Journal Of Human Nutrition And Dietetics.

 6. Be careful added sugars

These can tiptoe into all kinds of foods that you might not imagine to be full of the sweet stuff, like condiments and shop-bought sauces. “Opting for foods deprived of added sugar is a must,” says Jonny Mills, coach at boutique fitness studio Sweat It. “Sugar spikes your blood glucose and if you don’t burn it off it’ll be stored as fat.”

 7. Promotion your tastes

“Make it calmer for yourself to make better choices,” says individual trainer Jess Wolny. “The phrase ‘learned taste’ is basically jobless for food – all your tastes are acquired, so acquire healthier tastes and you’ll want to eat on the mend. Make the change to black coffee in its place of cappuccinos or dark chocolate rather than a slab of Dairy Milk, and after a few weeks you’ll never want to go back. One good tip is to try to recall you’re a grown-up and you eat like one. When reaching for a snack, think: would a child want this? Don’t rely on willpower – this stuff isn’t supposed to be hard.”

 8. Stay liable

“Being liable to manually goes hand in hand with sustenance from friends and family,” says private instructor and physique trainer Phil Graham. “Liability comes in numerous forms – it could be just a aptitude to yourself or telling the whole world via social media – but it’s vital for keeping you driven when the going gets threatening. And a provision network is also vital for times when things go wrong and you need to get back on track. Even healthier, find somebody who has been there and done it themselves because their advice and vision can be priceless.”

 9. Record what you eat

“Script down what you intake is a best method of following your eating lifestyles,” says private trainer Adam Jones. “Does your nourishment vary on vacations or under times of stress? To go one step additional, you could do this with a exercise spouse and show each other what you’re consumption. No one requirements to note McDonald’s or Krispy Kremes if they’re in approachable struggle.”

 10. Clean out your closets

“If I am trying to get lean I won’t keep foods at home I know I should be evading,” individual coach at UP Fitness Marbella Shaun Estrago. “Even if you have astonishing determination it can be almost unbearable to get in after a very long day and eat the food you know you should when there’s a stack of delicious extravagances just an open closet door away.”

 11. Indulge manually

“The number one importance in any fat loss task is obedience,” says David Godfrey, presentation director at One Performance UK. “If you can’t withstand the programme in the long period you’ll not ever attain your goal – or you’ll just ricochet as soon as you do. Compute your calorie target for the week and permit 10% of that to come from your favourite foods. Maximum persons feel like they’re unprincipled when they intake their favourite foods, so integrating them into your nourishment strategy assist maintain you on track deprived of guilt or painful expense. The psychological impression of this is huge.”

 12. Don’t depend on on fat burners

“At finest fat burners are an lavish mixture of caffeine, green tea and other components designed to increase the metabolism or mobilise fat,” says private mentor and fitness model Sean Lerwill. “At foulest you may be taking be something harmful to your health. Voluminous persons take a fat burner as an reason to skip the gym when they’re weary (frequently for the reason that they aren’t eating adequate) or short on time, in the incorrect confidence that it will do the job as a replacement for physical training. Nevertheless even if your fat burner does mobilise fat you still need to keep fit to burn it off or it will just continue to be stored.”

 13. Eat gut-friendly diets

“Nutrient preoccupation through the gut is the key to successful weight loss,” says Matt Warner, head of personal training at Ultimate Performance Manchester. “Tenderness of the gut lining can avert fascinating nutrients, which can make you more starving and knock your hormones out of wallop, heartening fat storage. Evade foods that you’ve found to cause gut uneasiness and eat more fibre (veg) and omega 3 fatty acids and vitamin D3 (oily fish), as well as taking a high-quality probiotic to refill your gut with good microbes.”

 14. Make your own diets

“If you don’t make your personal food then you can only predict at what you’re really eating in terms of calories, macronutrients (carbs, fats and protein), micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) and fibre,” says personal trainer Gus Martin. “If you don’t have a clear impression of what you’re eating, you simply can’t cane to the everyday restrictions needed to create a calorie deficit, which is when your body has no choice but to burn fat stores.”

 15. Boss the supermarket

“The most significant session of the week for fat loss isn’t in the gym, it’s in the supermarket,” says individual coach Steve Kowalenko. “The selections you make when you’re food shopping will control how well you set yourself up for the week in advance so buy, cook and eat real food. Maintainable long-period weight loss is about etching good habits and that all starts with what you put in your food basket.”

 16. Don’t shop starving

“Shopping starving leads to bad thoughts,” says listed nutritionist Sophie Thurner. “We all know it and yet we all still do it. That three-for-two proposal looks so tempting, and then you end up getting three of the not-so-healthy things, which you’ll have to finish, because nobody of us like to waste food. Have a detailed list of matters you need for a beleaguered, well-organized approach without the risk of buying things you don’t need.”

 17. Keep healthy food

“Confirm you have hale and hearty small amount of food obtainable,” says Thurner. “That can be anything from hummus or lodge cheese with carrots, bell peppers, cucumbers or celery, or a hard-boiled egg and a wholegrain cracker, to some Greek yogurt with fresh berries. Stock your pantry with nutritious staples such as tinned chickpeas and tinned tuna, and have some frozen veg and herbs in the freezer.”

15 Tips on How to Lose that Muffin Top

There are lots of suggestions on exactly how to shed your muffin top however they are all based around the same principle, in order to shed the roll of fat around your waistline that is escaping over the top of your denims or trousers you need to drop weight. The method to shed weight is to melt even more calories than you consume and to do this you need to exercise and look at what you eat.

I have provided a couple of suggestions that might help you, they vary from what training to do to just how to remain motivated.

First of all you need to recognize that you can not identify lower fat removal, if you want to lose your muffin leading after that by following these suggestions you will however the fat might come off of various other areas of your body. It all depends upon just how your body shops its fat, often the initial place fat goes is the last location it comes off of. No quantity of problems or planks is going to obtain rid of just the fat round your stomach, all you will certainly be doing is reinforcing the muscular tissues which are hidden by the fat, once you lose the fat you will see the difficult job you put in.

1.Keep a Food Journal

Work out the number of calories you are taking in. Everyday for a week write down what you consume as well as consume, right down the exact quantity you eat and drink too ie. If you have 1 chocolate chip biscuit and 1 oatmeal biscuit after that compose that down don't just compose 2 biscuits as each will certainly have a various amount of calories. At the end of the week include everything up as well as split it by 7 as well as you will certainly have your daily standard calorie intake. You might be surprised by the distinction in what you assumed you were eating as well as what you are in fact eating.

Compare that to the estimated ordinary daily calorie requirement which is 2000 for females as well as 2500 for males, this is just a price quote and will certainly depend upon your age, weight, height, body composition and also degrees of activity.

If you are consuming much more calories than you need after that these will be become fat. To shed 1lb of fat in 1 week you require to burn 3500 calories, that's 500 calories per day.

2. Don't just stop eating

Reduce your calories and you will reduce weight, but do not simply dramatically lower your calorie intake as this will have the opposite end result of what you desire as your body will certainly enter into malnourishment mode as well as will store every little thing you place in it as it will not understand when it will certainly next get the gas it requires. You need to ensure you have a healthy well balanced diet plan so that your body obtains whatever it needs to operate appropriately and also be efficient at burning that fat off.

3. Exercise

You knew that was going to be there really did not you. Cardio is the very best method to lose fat but don't simply jog long and steady for 60mins. Press harder do interval training for 25mins, alternating in between 1 min high strength - really push yourself after that do 1 min moderate intensity however 1 minutes high strength, maintain rotating until you have finished your exercise session. Interval training is a recognized approach of melting fat faster and quicker.

4. Weight training

Build muscle and also shed fat even when you are refraining anything. Increased muscular tissue mass means boosted metabolism so it can operate at melting that fat also when you are loosening up. Plus once you have lost the muffin top you will certainly be entrusted nice toned and also strong muscle mass from exercising with those weights. A combination of cardio as well as weight training will certainly have you blowing up away that fat a great deal faster than cardio alone.

5. Melt more calories throughout your regular day

There are different methods you can aid burn those calories. At the office, if you have stairways then take them, not the elevator. Can you cycle or stroll to function? If you take public transportation after that leave a quit previously and also stroll the rest of the way. Required to talk with someone in the workplace, go and see them rather of making use of the telephone. Relax far from your desk, go for a short brisk walk.

6. Intermittent Fasting (IF)

IF is when you quick for a collection quantity of time, this could be 24 hrs or 16 hrs. If you quickly for 1 day two times a week you will certainly be taking in 30% much less calories which will certainly cause weight management. This is not a diet plan as well as due to the fact that you are routinely consuming on your non rapid days and also in between the rapid days your metabolic rate wont reduce, this only occurs if your are fasting or limiting your calories for extensive periods of time such as days and weeks, due to the fact that you are just not eating 2 days each week as well as not on successive days this will not happen.

7. Drink water

Water itself will not assist you drop weight but if you consume alcohol a glass before a dish it will certainly make you feel fuller quicker and also because of this you will certainly consume less food. Sometime when we are dehydrated we blunder the signs as feeling hungry. Drinking water is also key to keeping your body functioning properly.

8. The biggest tip of them all is Action

Yes activity is what is going to obtain you losing that weight, as quickly as you comprise your mind you intend to lose weight as well as remove that muffin leading after that you have to action it, obtain the round rolling. Make an objective and afterwards function to achieve it, there is no very easy means to drop weight, it originates from putting in the time and also initiative.

9. Inspiration

Sometimes the best means to encourage individuals are to see images of others that have accomplished their objective and shed weight, Look online for photos of individuals who have figures you would like, make sure you choose a healthy and balanced realistic individual. Don't fail to remember that a great deal of versions and stars are photo shopped for publications and also image shoots. Select a person who is comparable in age, height as well as frame dimension as on your own, as if you are 5ft2 and also mid twenties don't choose a photo of a 6ft 18 years of age model, it is unrealistic and also will only leave you really feeling disappointed. There are great deals of real individuals that show their before and after photo, considering these program you it is possible. Take your very own picture so you can check out the development you make as your body begins to alter the method it looks when you begin to eat health and wellness as well as exercise.

10. Ditch those scales

Don' t reply on the ranges to show you just how much you have progressed. Take body dimensions as muscle evaluates greater than fat (well not truly but muscles is denser than fat so 1 pound of lean muscle will use up a lot smaller sized space on your body than 1lb of fat) so if you are getting muscle mass and losing fat there could not be as much modification on the ranges and this could lead to you obtaining de inspired. With dimensions you will see your body form is transforming as those cm/inches come off.

11. Join a class

Try spinning or circuit training. These tasks will obtain you melting fat quick, they have actually the included benefit of having other individuals there to help motivate you as well as press you further than you might push on your own if you are working out alone.

12. Find an exercise buddy

If there are two of you that have the exact same goals after that you can assist to motivate each various other, it is more challenging to say no to going running if another person is depending on you to select them.

13. Snack on low GI foods.

Low glycemic index foods will leave you really feeling fuller for longer so you wont be getting to for those sugary deals with to provide you an increase of energy.

14. Beware just how much juice you drink

I know a few of you favor drinking juice to water yet fruit juices can be high in calories and will not be assisting you remove that muffin top. Enjoy out for any soda beverages as these are extremely high in sugar and can be quiting you fro losing those pounds.

15. Reward yourself

When you have actually gotten to among your objectives eg lost cms/inches or lbs then award on your own. It is ALRIGHT to have a chocolate bar or a pair of biscuits etc yet only in moderation and as a treat not as an everyday staple in your diet plan. If you attain your primary goal buy on your own a new item of apparel. It is great to have your major goal and afterwards smaller sized objectives so that you can keep yourself inspired For example your primary goal may be to shed 10lbs, a smaller goal will be a tipping rock to achieving your main goal so could be an objective to visit the gym 3 days a week and so on.

Just a number of other points I would love to add.

1lb to 2lbs weekly is a healthy as well as practical quantity of weight to lose so don't be disheartened if you do not see big decrease in numbers like on the TV show The Most significant Loser.

Fat cells never ever disappear, they can either diminish or they can increase in number so if you do not stay up to date with a healthy and balanced and also balanced diet plan there is a chance that you can place the fat right back on really easily, it will certainly simply go straight to the currently existing cells as well as they will certainly expand as well as if you place on even more weight than before after that brand-new fat cells will be formed. This is the why when you wish to drop weight it is better attained through an adjustment in way of living and also not crash diet regimens which are unhealthy and also see individuals place the weight back on again as quickly as they quit the diet.

Alcoholics Anonymous is famously difficult to study. By necessity, it keeps no records of who attends meetings; members come and go and are, of course, anonymous. No conclusive data exist on how well it works. In 2006, the Cochrane Collaboration, a health-care research group, reviewed studies going back to the 1960s and found that “no experimental studies unequivocally demonstrated the effectiveness of AA or [12-step] approaches for reducing alcohol dependence or problems.”

The Big Book includes an assertion first made in the second edition, which was published in 1955: that AA has worked for 75 percent of people who have gone to meetings and “really tried.” It says that 50 percent got sober right away, and another 25 percent struggled for a while but eventually recovered. According to AA, these figures are based on members’ experiences.

In his recent book, The Sober Truth: Debunking the Bad Science Behind 12-Step Programs and the Rehab Industry, Lance Dodes, a retired psychiatry professor from Harvard Medical School, looked at Alcoholics Anonymous’s retention rates along with studies on sobriety and rates of active involvement (attending meetings regularly and working the program) among AA members. Based on these data, he put AA’s actual success rate somewhere between 5 and 8 percent. That is just a rough estimate, but it’s the most precise one I’ve been able to find.

I spent three years researching a book about women and alcohol, Her Best-Kept Secret: Why Women Drink—And How They Can Regain Control, which was published in 2013. During that time, I encountered disbelief from doctors and psychiatrists every time I mentioned that the Alcoholics Anonymous success rate appears to hover in the single digits. We’ve grown so accustomed to testimonials from those who say AA saved their life that we take the program’s efficacy as an article of faith. Rarely do we hear from those for whom 12-step treatment doesn’t work. But think about it: How many celebrities can you name who bounced in and out of rehab without ever getting better? Why do we assume they failed the program, rather than that the program failed them?

When my book came out, dozens of Alcoholics Anonymous members said that because I had challenged AA’s claim of a 75 percent success rate, I would hurt or even kill people by discouraging attendance at meetings. A few insisted that I must be an “alcoholic in denial.” But most of the people I heard from were desperate to tell me about their experiences in the American treatment industry. Amy Lee Coy, the author of the memoir From Death Do I Part: How I Freed Myself From Addiction, told me about her eight trips to rehab, starting at age 13. “It’s like getting the same antibiotic for a resistant infection—eight times,” she told me. “Does that make sense?”

She and countless others had put their faith in a system they had been led to believe was effective—even though finding treatment centers’ success rates is next to impossible: facilities rarely publish their data or even track their patients after discharging them. “Many will tell you that those who complete the program have a ‘great success rate,’ meaning that most are abstaining from drugs and alcohol while enrolled there,” says Bankole Johnson, an alcohol researcher and the chair of the psychiatry department at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. “Well, no kidding.”

[...]

AA truisms have so infiltrated our culture that many people believe heavy drinkers cannot recover before they “hit bottom.” Researchers I’ve talked with say that’s akin to offering antidepressants only to those who have attempted suicide, or prescribing insulin only after a patient has lapsed into a diabetic coma. “You might as well tell a guy who weighs 250 pounds and has untreated hypertension and cholesterol of 300, ‘Don’t exercise, keep eating fast food, and we’ll give you a triple bypass when you have a heart attack,’ ” Mark Willenbring, a psychiatrist in St. Paul and a former director of treatment and recovery research at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, told me. He threw up his hands. “Absurd.”

Part of the problem is our one-size-fits-all approach. Alcoholics Anonymous was originally intended for chronic, severe drinkers—those who may, indeed, be powerless over alcohol—but its program has since been applied much more broadly. Today, for instance, judges routinely require people to attend meetings after a DUI arrest; fully 12 percent of AA members are there by court order.

Whereas AA teaches that alcoholism is a progressive disease that follows an inevitable trajectory, data from a federally funded survey called the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions show that nearly one-fifth of those who have had alcohol dependence go on to drink at low-risk levels with no symptoms of abuse. And a recent survey of nearly 140,000 adults by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that nine out of 10 heavy drinkers are not dependent on alcohol and, with the help of a medical professional’s brief intervention, can change unhealthy habits. We once thought about drinking problems in binary terms—you either had control or you didn’t; you were an alcoholic or you weren’t—but experts now describe a spectrum. An estimated 18 million Americans suffer from alcohol-use disorder, as the DSM-5, the latest edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s diagnostic manual, calls it. (The new term replaces the older alcohol abuse and the much more dated alcoholism, which has been out of favor with researchers for decades.) Only about 15 percent of those with alcohol-use disorder are at the severe end of the spectrum. The rest fall somewhere in the mild-to-moderate range, but they have been largely ignored by researchers and clinicians. Both groups—the hard-core abusers and the more moderate overdrinkers—need more-individualized treatment options. The United States already spends about $35 billion a year on alcohol- and substance-abuse treatment, yet heavy drinking causes 88,000 deaths a year—including deaths from car accidents and diseases linked to alcohol. It also costs the country hundreds of billions of dollars in expenses related to health care, criminal justice, motor-vehicle crashes, and lost workplace productivity, according to the CDC. With the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of coverage, it’s time to ask some important questions: Which treatments should we be willing to pay for? Have they been proved effective? And for whom—only those at the extreme end of the spectrum? Or also those in the vast, long-overlooked middle? For a glimpse of how treatment works elsewhere, I traveled to Finland, a country that shares with the United States a history of prohibition (inspired by the American temperance movement, the Finns outlawed alcohol from 1919 to 1932) and a culture of heavy drinking. Finland’s treatment model is based in large part on the work of an American neuroscientist named John David Sinclair. I met with Sinclair in Helsinki in early July. He was battling late-stage prostate cancer, and his thick white hair was cropped short in preparation for chemotherapy. Sinclair has researched alcohol’s effects on the brain since his days as an undergraduate at the University of Cincinnati, where he experimented with rats that had been given alcohol for an extended period. Sinclair expected that after several weeks without booze, the rats would lose their desire for it. Instead, when he gave them alcohol again, they went on week-long benders, drinking far more than they ever had before—more, he says, than any rat had ever been shown to drink. Sinclair called this the alcohol-deprivation effect, and his laboratory results, which have since been confirmed by many other studies, suggested a fundamental flaw in abstinence-based treatment: going cold turkey only intensifies cravings. This discovery helped explain why relapses are common. Sinclair published his findings in a handful of journals and in the early 1970s moved to Finland, drawn by the chance to work in what he considered the best alcohol-research lab in the world, complete with special rats that had been bred to prefer alcohol to water. He spent the next decade researching alcohol and the brain.Sinclair came to believe that people develop drinking problems through a chemical process: each time they drink, the endorphins released in the brain strengthen certain synapses. The stronger these synapses grow, the more likely the person is to think about, and eventually crave, alcohol—until almost anything can trigger a thirst for booze, and drinking becomes compulsive. Sinclair theorized that if you could stop the endorphins from reaching their target, the brain’s opiate receptors, you could gradually weaken the synapses, and the cravings would subside. To test this hypothesis, he administered opioid antagonists—drugs that block opiate receptors—to the specially bred alcohol-loving rats. He found that if the rats took the medication each time they were given alcohol, they gradually drank less and less. He published his findings in peer-reviewed journals beginning in the 1980s. Subsequent studies found that an opioid antagonist called naltrexone was safe and effective for humans, and Sinclair began working with clinicians in Finland. He suggested prescribing naltrexone for patients to take an hour before drinking. As their cravings subsided, they could then learn to control their consumption. Numerous clinical trials have confirmed that the method is effective, and in 2001 Sinclair published a paper in the journal Alcohol and Alcoholism reporting a 78 percent success rate in helping patients reduce their drinking to about 10 drinks a week. Some stopped drinking entirely.I visited one of three private treatment centers, called the Contral Clinics, that Sinclair co-founded in Finland. (There’s an additional one in Spain.) In the past 18 years, more than 5,000 Finns have gone to the Contral Clinics for help with a drinking problem. Seventy-five percent of them have had success reducing their consumption to a safe level. [...] In the United States, doctors generally prescribe naltrexone for daily use and tell patients to avoid alcohol, instead of instructing them to take the drug anytime they plan to drink, as Sinclair would advise. There is disagreement among experts about which approach is better—Sinclair is adamant that American doctors are missing the drug’s full potential—but both seem to work: naltrexone has been found to reduce drinking in more than a dozen clinical trials, including a large-scale one funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism that was published in JAMA in 2006. The results have been largely overlooked. Less than 1 percent of people treated for alcohol problems in the United States are prescribed naltrexone or any other drug shown to help control drinking. To understand why, you have to first understand the history. The American approach to treatment for drinking problems has roots in the country’s long-standing love-hate relationship with booze. The first settlers arrived with a great thirst for whiskey and hard cider, and in the early days of the republic, alcohol was one of the few beverages that was reliably safe from contamination. (It was also cheaper than coffee or tea.) The historian W. J. Rorabaugh has estimated that between the 1770s and 1830s, the average American over age 15 consumed at least five gallons of pure alcohol a year—the rough equivalent of three shots of hard liquor a day. Religious fervor, aided by the introduction of public water-filtration systems, helped galvanize the temperance movement, which culminated in 1920 with Prohibition. That experiment ended after 14 years, but the drinking culture it fostered—secrecy and frenzied bingeing—persists.In 1934, just after Prohibition’s repeal, a failed stockbroker named Bill Wilson staggered into a Manhattan hospital. Wilson was known to drink two quarts of whiskey a day, a habit he’d attempted to kick many times. He was given the hallucinogen belladonna, an experimental treatment for addictions, and from his hospital bed he called out to God to loosen alcohol’s grip. He reported seeing a flash of light and feeling a serenity he had never before experienced. He quit booze for good. The next year, he co-founded Alcoholics Anonymous. He based its principles on the beliefs of the evangelical Oxford Group, which taught that people were sinners who, through confession and God’s help, could right their paths. AA filled a vacuum in the medical world, which at the time had few answers for heavy drinkers. In 1956, the American Medical Association named alcoholism a disease, but doctors continued to offer little beyond the standard treatment that had been around for decades: detoxification in state psychiatric wards or private sanatoriums. As Alcoholics Anonymous grew, hospitals began creating “alcoholism wards,” where patients detoxed but were given no other medical treatment. Instead, AA members—who, as part of the 12 steps, pledge to help other alcoholics—appeared at bedsides and invited the newly sober to meetings. A public-relations specialist and early AA member named Marty Mann worked to disseminate the group’s main tenet: that alcoholics had an illness that rendered them powerless over booze. Their drinking was a disease, in other words, not a moral failing. Paradoxically, the prescription for this medical condition was a set of spiritual steps that required accepting a higher power, taking a “fearless moral inventory,” admitting “the exact nature of our wrongs,” and asking God to remove all character defects. Mann helped ensure that these ideas made their way to Hollywood. In 1945’s The Lost Weekend, a struggling novelist tries to loosen his writer’s block with booze, to devastating effect. In Days of Wine and Roses, released in 1962, Jack Lemmon slides into alcoholism along with his wife, played by Lee Remick. He finds help through AA, but she rejects the group and loses her family. Mann also collaborated with a physiologist named E. M. Jellinek. Mann was eager to bolster the scientific claims behind AA, and Jellinek wanted to make a name for himself in the growing field of alcohol research. In 1946, Jellinek published the results of a survey mailed to 1,600 AA members. Only 158 were returned. Jellinek and Mann jettisoned 45 that had been improperly completed and another 15 filled out by women, whose responses were so unlike the men’s that they risked complicating the results. From this small sample—98 men—Jellinek drew sweeping conclusions about the “phases of alcoholism,” which included an unavoidable succession of binges that led to blackouts, “indefinable fears,” and hitting bottom. Though the paper was filled with caveats about its lack of scientific rigor, it became AA gospel. Jellinek, however, later tried to distance himself from this work, and from Alcoholics Anonymous. His ideas came to be illustrated by a chart showing how alcoholics progressed from occasionally drinking for relief, to sneaking drinks, to guilt, and so on until they hit bottom (“complete defeat admitted”) and then recovered. If you could locate yourself even early in the downward trajectory on that curve, you could see where your drinking was headed. In 1952, Jellinek noted that the word alcoholic had been adopted to describe anyone who drank excessively. He warned that overuse of that word would undermine the disease concept. He later beseeched AA to stay out of the way of scientists trying to do objective research. [...] As the rehab industry began expanding in the 1970s, its profit motives dovetailed nicely with AA’s view that counseling could be delivered by people who had themselves struggled with addiction, rather than by highly trained (and highly paid) doctors and mental-health professionals. No other area of medicine or counseling makes such allowances. There is no mandatory national certification exam for addiction counselors. The 2012 Columbia University report on addiction medicine found that only six states required alcohol- and substance-abuse counselors to have at least a bachelor’s degree and that only one state, Vermont, required a master’s degree. Fourteen states had no license requirements whatsoever—not even a GED or an introductory training course was necessary—and yet counselors are often called on by the judicial system and medical boards to give expert opinions on their clients’ prospects for recovery. Mark Willenbring, the St. Paul psychiatrist, winced when I mentioned this. “What’s wrong,” he asked me rhetorically, “with people with no qualifications or talents—other than being recovering alcoholics—being licensed as professionals with decision-making authority over whether you are imprisoned or lose your medical license?

PROPER REST TIME DEPENDING ON YOUR FITNESS GOALS

Hi beauties!

|All Photos Shot By www.rionoirland.com |

I would like to start this by saying that I am currently sitting in a coffee bean, SUCCESSFULLY ignoring my massive craving for a bagel with peanut butter right now…just pretending to enjoy this cappuccino with burnt milk, living my best life.

Also - listening to the new Kevin Abstract album, on repeat. Anyone else a fan? Ugh it’s so good.

ANYWAY - I want to talk about rest periods because there’s a lot of contradicting convos going on and I feel like it would help to just clear the air up a bit.

> I have a lot of clients say they want to get a bigger butt or sculpted arms but they don’t want to lift any weight.

> I have other clients who are so used to the quick fast paced environment of fitness classes that they tell me they don’t feel like they’re getting in a good workout unless they sweat a lot but they also don’t feel like they’re getting any stronger in their weekly classes.

> And I have other clients that I train online that just want to know how fast they should be going. How much rest is too much rest? How much rest is actually too LITTLE? What’s the benefit of longer or shorter rest periods?

WELLLL it all depends on your goals, but you can really think about it in 3 separate categories. Let’s start here:

STRENGTH TRAINING

Strength training of course means using weight but today it holds more meaning than just that. If your goal is to build strength faster, then your focus should be on doing strength training workouts. According to ASSM, if you’re looking to get stronger faster, then the best rest time for you is 3-5 minutes between sets.

Keep in mind though that if you’re doing proper “strength” training then you are doing 1-6 reps per set MEANING that you are using a weight that you can literally only lift between 1-6 times before failure. With that said, it’s pretty clear that whatever you’re doing is HARD and heavy af.

During this kind of training, your body uses phosphagens from your ATP system (Adenosine Triphosphate Phosphocreatine System) in order to produce energy VERY quickly without the use of Oxygen (less than 10 seconds).

BUT your body’s phosphagen reserve is like the shitty street light that everyone hates. It lasts for about 15 seconds then takes 3 minutes before it turns green again.

So we use up our reserve within that 15 seconds while we do our 1-6 reps and then if we wait the proper 3-5 minutes before we try to go again, then we’ll be able to lift more weight, and get stronger, faster.

According to Bodybuilding.com :

In one study, athletes lifted a weight more times in 3 sets after resting 3 minutes compared to when they rested only 1 minute (Kraemer, 1997). Another study showed a 7% increase in squat strength after 5 weeks of training with 3 minute rest periods.

The group that rested for 30 seconds only improved their squat by 2% (Robinson et al, 1995). Two more studies that examined very short rest periods (30 to 40 seconds) found they caused nowhere near the strength gains from longer rest periods (Kraemer et al, 1987; Kraemer, 1997)”

MY SUGGESTION:

If you’re looking to build strength in a specific area (like booty for example) then try adding one day a week of STRENGTH TRAINING. Try doing 5 sets of hip thrusts for 5-6 reps, then rest for 3-5 minutes before trying again.

Follow that up with some complimentary exercises like:

3 x 12 Romanian Dead Lifts

3 x 10 Goblet Squats

And then end with some band work and really chase the burn with:

3 x 30 band walks.

UNLESS - you are a beginner. If you are just getting into weight training then you might want to do a month of training where each exercise is done for a rep range of 10-15 to strengthen ligaments and avoid getting hurt.

2. HYPERTROPHY TRAINING:

Who’s heard of this one?!

Hypertrophy training is what you do when you want to get bigger, faster. The rep range for this type of training is typically anywhere from 6-12 reps.

The rest time for this kind of training is 1-2 minutes because this short rest period causes a greater release of anabolic (growth) hormones than longer rest periods. Resting for shorter periods of time also causes more of a burn in the muscles which I’m sure we’ve all experienced. This burn is the sign of lactic acid building up and the “pump” for lack of a better word, is the blood flow to that area, which is actually a great thing because where there’s quicker blood flow - there’s more protein being delivered to that area as well! Woooo!

I think hypertrophy training is my favorite kind of training. You might be thinking, well I don’t WANT to grow my muscles, and I don’t WANT to get BULKY. Fortunately for you, getting bulky is SUPER hard to do. You may think that your training is making you bulky but chances are, it’s your diet that’s throwing you off. Plus - we don’t have nearly enough testosterone to grow the way that men do.

Guys on average have 300 - 1,000 u/dL whereas females only have 30 - 90 u/dL. We’re like delicate little flowers lol and thinking that we’re going to get as bulky as men is like thinking a little flower can turn into a huge palm tree. It’s just not going to happen, unless you’re taking steroids…then, well…we know what that looks like.

True anabolism from hypertrophy training only last about 48 hours which is why for someone who wants to grow their ass, they need to be CONSISTENT and SHOW UP REGULARLY in order to see the kind of results they’re expecting. If you do hypertrophy training 1-2 times a week then don’t do it again for a week, your muscles are just in a maintenance phase rather than a growth phase.

MY SUGGESTION:

Do 2-3 days of hypertrophy training a week with your 1 day of strength training. I make sure to set my timer during rest periods to ensure that I get going again as soon as I need to… or else I end up getting distracted and taking 5 minute rest periods which is no bueno.

3. ENDURANCE TRAINING:

Endurance training is best for anyone who is looking to increase their muscular endurance. This is what most of us ladies are used to with all the classes that we typically attend. As a trainer I know that if I take a women through a endurance style workout that she’s most likely going to do a great job BUT if I were to take a man though the same kind of workout, it would kill them. Men don’t do as much endurance training as they do strength and hypertrophy.

Classic endurance training is when you use light weights for 15-20 reps and rest for 45 seconds to a minute between sets and it’s biggest purpose is to make your muscles more resistant to fatigue. If you want to start applying true endurance training to your workouts, try doing a 1:1 work to rest ratio or a 1:2.

So if you did the 1:1 ratio you would do for example, squats for 30 seconds then rest for 30 seconds. If you did the 1:2 ratio then you would do squats for 30 seconds then rest for 1 min.

MY SUGGESTION:

Add one day of endurance training to your weekly training regime!

So now you can see why if you’re someone like the old me, you’re wondering why your butt ins’t getting any bigger even though you’re going to Orange Theory and Barry’s every day.

Or maybe you can now see why going to Yoga and doing cycling a few times a week isn’t exactly getting you the toned look that you want.

As women we need to work on not being so afraid of the gym and of lifting weights. We don’t have NEARLY the same amount of testosterone that men do so we can get away with doing the “same” training as men and experience great results without looking like a man.

Also something to note is that you can’t spot reduce (burn fat in one particular area on your body) but you can build muscles in specific areas.

So for me, I might do 2 lower body hypertrophy days a week + 1 lower body strength training day and then I’ll do 1 upper body hypertrophy day + 1 full body endurance day.

My main focus isn’t to grow my arms but I never neglect them and I still use heavier weights than most women. I’d say my arms are strong and toned and not bulky. Before when I was using 2-5 pound dumbbells for my upper body, I had flabby arms. Now I curl with a 40 pound barbell, bench with 35’s, do overheads presses with 25 pounds, etc and my arms have done nothing but toned up.

Just try it and see how it benefits you!!

If you feel like you’re lost or would like some personal guidance in the gym, e-mail me at [email protected] to talk about your goals and get a personalized work out plan!

x

THERMODYNAMIC THYROID AND WEIGHT LOSS: FEEL FABULOUS IN 2019 PART 1

METABOLISM, THYROID AND WEIGHT LOSS

This article is the first article of a ten-part series on Fat Loss and the best tips, and tricks to help Get You in Shape. This first article will focus on your body’s internal furnace, the thyroid. This vital gland is responsible for regulating your metabolism, or how well you burn calories. A healthy thyroid will burn fat quickly, whereas an unhealthy thyroid can lead to weight gain. Learn more about the relationship between your thermodynamic thyroid and weight loss here!

  THERMODYNAMICS OF THE THYROID

The thyroid gland is a butterfly-shaped gland located just under the Adam’s apple (larynx) in the neck. This gland produces hormones such as the thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) that regulates the body’s metabolic rate, as well as many other functions. A typical range for TSH levels is between 0.4-4.0 mU/L. If you are currently being treated for a thyroid disorder, the normal range is between 0.5-3.0 mU/L.

If your thyroid is functioning at its full potential, you will be burning calories efficiently, but if it slows down, weight gain is inevitable. If your thyroid is operating at too high of a rate, that is called hyperthyroidism, where your thyroid is overactive. The opposite is true if your thyroid is functioning at too low of a frequency which is called hypothyroidism.

 WHAT DIETARY ISSUES CAUSE THE THYROID TO SLOW DOWN?

A slow thyroid can be caused by a few dietary issues such a super low carb diet, not eating enough calories, over-exercising and under eating and even soy products can negatively impact the thyroid.

 SUPER LOW CARB DIETS 

It seems everyone is on the low carb bandwagon these days, but research has shown that consuming less than 50 grams of carbohydrates a day over time can hinder your metabolism and thyroid function. Short-term low carb intake is fine, but long term low carb intake can be problematic. Initially, you will lose weight, but that is mostly water and glycogen. Restricting your carb intake too drastically can decrease thyroid output in the long run. Without enough carbs, you lose muscle and slow down the T3 hormone.  If you are committed to a low carb strategy, then carb cycling my be the best solution to keep your metabolism rate high and maintain a healthy relationship between your thyroid and weight loss (more on carb cycling below).

 NOT EATING ENOUGH CALORIES

Regularly eating fewer calories than your body needs will slow your metabolism down. You only need to reduce your calorie consumption by 10-15% of what your body requires to lose weight and still keep your metabolism in gear. Drastically reducing calories can have a negative impact not only on your current metabolism but even long-term as it will cause severe nutrient deficiencies and health challenges which may include insomnia, low energy, irritability and depression.

 Another downfall to not eating enough calories is once you resume your regular eating, you will gain back what you lost and possibly increase even more because you have a slower metabolic rate due to the drastic reduction in calories and muscle loss during the low calorie eating phase.  An example of this would be a female eating 800 to 1000 calories or a male eating 1400 to 1700 calories.  Severe low calorie eating is not a great strategy for fat loss. If you need any help with exploring your caloric needs for you body and optimizing your health program, feel free to check out our  8-week Body Makeover Program.

OVER-EXERCISING

When you over exercise and combine that with not eating enough calories, this sends a signal to your body to preserve body fat and switch over to starvation mode. When you are in starvation mode, your body will get rid of muscle and store fat as this is the body’s natural reaction and is an evolutionary trait that allows us to survive in challenging environments. You can exercise more, but you will need to eat more to do that (more details on calorie counting below).

 When you exercise more and eat less, initially it will work to lose weight but only in the short term. The relationship between thyroid and weight loss can be seen when you slow down your thyroid and metabolism resulting in future weight gain and then some, and this is the most common mistake made when people are trying to lose weight. So, if you exercise more you have to eat more, if you exercise less you have to eat less.  To read more about optimal nutrition, check out my free grocery: free grocery list.  The “grocery list” gets into the details of healthy eating to lose fat.  Remember, to lose body fat, not only do you have to eat healthy, but you have to eat healthy and eat the right amount of calories – “eating healthy” and “eating healthy to lose body fat” can be two separate things.

 SOY PRODUCTS

Next time you are out at a sushi restaurant, you might want to pass on the edamame. Soy foods contain anti-metabolic factors such as saponins, soyatoxin, phytates, protease inhibitors, oxalates, goitrogens, and estrogens. The goitrogens block the synthesis of the thyroid hormones and interfere with iodine metabolism.

  THE TV SHOW “THE BIGGEST LOSER” WAS A MONUMENTAL FAILURE

In an article in the New York Times, discussed the sad outcome that the majority of the contestants on the Biggest Loser gained all the weight back and for some, gained even more weight compared to when they started.  They also individually each had a slower metabolism after the show.

 It is frustrating to see that these brave and courageous people, endured so much and in the end were back to where they started – even worse off, because each had a slower metabolism!  From an emotional perspective, I can’t imagine how these people felt after working so hard, for so long, and in the end gaining all the weight back.  My heart goes out to each individual on the show and hope that at some point, their body will begin to self heal or possibly they will explore new ways to increase their metabolic rate.

 The New York Times reported that “thirteen of the 14 contestants studied regained weight in the six years after the competition. Four contestants are heavier now than before the competition. It has to do with resting metabolism, which determines how many calories a person burns when at rest. When the show began, the contestants, though hugely overweight, had normal metabolisms for their size, meaning they were burning a normal number of calories for people of their weight. When it ended, their metabolisms had slowed radically and their bodies were not burning enough calories to maintain their thinner sizes.”  The contestants, years later, had a significantly slower metabolism after the show ranging from 200 calories slower and up to 800 calories slower for some contestants.

“One contestant, Mr. Cahill was one of the worst off. As he regained more than 100 pounds, his metabolism slowed so much that, just to maintain his current weight of 295 pounds, he now has to eat 800 calories a day less than a typical man his size.”

The bottom line is that under eating and over exercising is a huge problem.  It works for a period of time, but in the long run can lead to a slower metabolism.  When looking to lose body fat, there is a speed limit on how fast you can lose fat; if you go to quickly, like in a competition, you start losing muscle mass and your body goes into survival mode which alters various hormones such as thyroid hormones, leptin and ghrelin which invariably leads to regaining weight. 

It is important to lose weight or body fat at a healthy pace – 4 to 8 pounds of fat per month.  If you go beyond this speed limit, there’s a good chance you are losing muscle mass and altering hormonal function thereby slowing your metabolic rate.  Learn more about muscle mass and boosting metabolism through strength training for weight loss.

 THYROID AND METABOLISM: HOW TO INCREASE METABOLIC RATE?

One way to add fuel to the fire in your furnace is to cycle your carbohydrate and calorie intake. You can do this by alternating lower carb days followed by higher carb days. This process will kick start your Thermodynamic Thyroid and metabolism back into high gear. Carb cycling allows you to continue to eat carbs from clean sources, and cycling provides for better utilization of fat for burning as fuel, as opposed to burning carbs and muscle for fuel.

·       Low Carb Days – On these days you would take in approximately 50-150 grams of carbs each day from non-starchy vegetables. When done in a series of three to six days, it encourages the body to use up stored carbs (glycogen) and switch over to burning body fat for fuel.

·       Higher Carb Day – On this day you would take in approximately 200-400 grams of carbs from complex carbs such as sweet potatoes, white potatoes, organic rice, squash, and fruits.

 One strategy would be to follow a low carb diet (50 to 100 grams) for 3 to 6 days and then switch to one day of high carb eating (200 to 400 grams).  If you are committed to a low carb strategy, then this is the best solution to keeps your thyroid and metabolism running hot!

I’ve been a personal trainer and nutritionist in Los Angeles for the past 17 years, as for my clients, only about 20 to 25% of my clients follow a cyclical low carb strategy.  Most of my clients eat a balanced diet and allocate about 25 to 30% protein, 40% carbs, 20 to 30% fat.  You can follow these parameters whether you are vegan, vegetarian or omnivore (eat plants and animals).  I find that following a balanced diet is:

·       Psychological easier to follow, more choices

·       For most, they feel much better and have more energy

·       Feel stronger during weight lifting

·       Less likely to have any nutrient deficiencies – a lot of low carb people don’t eat enough fruits and veggies making them magnesium deficient and having other deficiencies

But for some, either genetically or if a person is having gut issues, it would be better to follow a cyclical low carb diet.

 COUNTING CALORIES – TEDIOUS BUT HELPFUL

Another strategy which is much more time consuming would be to count your calories – this does take a lot of time and effort but could really pay off and help you determine if you’re eating too much or too little.  For those of you that don’t like math, I need to forewarn you, this is a bit tedious and does require some effort which is described below.  If this sounds a bit much, feel free to skip this section.

For my clients that are interested in this strategy, the first step would be to look at overall body fat percentage.  You could either buy a Tanita scale or find a Dexa Scan (a machine that scans your entire body) that is located near you which can help you determine your overall fat percentage.  Most Dexa Scans cost about $50 to $75 for a scan.

The equation that I use is to:

1.     Find out body fat percentage

2.     Find sedentary caloric needs

3.     Find out the total calories needed to maintain body weight by using sedentary caloric needs plus activity level calories

4.     And lastly, shoot for 10 to 15% below maintenance calories to lose body fat

So, to get started, take what ever your body fat percentage is and find your lean body mass.  So for example, take a 200 pound male at 20% body fat.  His lean mass would be around 160 pounds.  The next step would be to find out what his sedentary calorie expenditure is – in our example, you simply multiply 160 pound by 10 which is 1600 calories a day.  If this person laid in bed all day and didn’t move he would burn approximately 1600 calories.

The next step is to add a multiplier based on activity level; does this person sit all day, or does he exercise frequently or is he performing manual labor.  Given these variations, this can range from .25 to 1 (this range is based on activity level and training).  So for example, let’s say that this person was really inactive, I would use the multiplier of .25.  So for our example, 1600 calories times .25 is 400 calories and so his total calories would be about 2000 (1600 plus 400) in order to maintain his weight.  But for someone more active in our example, you could use a multiplier that is higher such as .75 which would come out to 2800 calories (1600 times 1.75).  So for this scenario, if this person was much more active, to maintain his weight he would eat 2800 calories.

To lose weight you only need to reduce your intake of calories by 10-15% of your total daily caloric requirements. In other words, if you need 2,800 calories per day to maintain your current weight, you would need to reduce that to 2,520 calories per day, and you will lose weight far more effectively than you would be doing by drastically under eating.  If you do follow this equation and for some reason you are not losing body fat after 10 days, reduce calories by 100 and see if that helps.  If not, reduce by 200 calories.  This is not a perfect system and for some may take some tweaking.  If you’re still having issues, feel free to contact meand set up a consultation.

The app that I use to count calories is mynetdiary, but any app could be used for this.  Yes, this is a tedious process of weighing food and doing some math, but much can be learned from this process.   Another option would be to count calories for 2 to 4 weeks to get the hang of the process and then stop.  After this period, you should have a pretty good understanding of eating the right amount of calories to lose body fat and gain muscle.

To lose body fat, counting calories is not mandatory and simply eating healthy and exercising is sufficient for most people.

 AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE AND THYROID HEALTH

If you think you are having thyroid issues or symptoms related to an autoimmune disease, you may want to see a doctor to have a thyroid panel done. You can also start implementing changes to your diet. Gluten and poor gut health is one of the leading causes of autoimmune problems, especially autoimmune thyroid conditions. Making positive changes to your gut health through diet can help reduce inflammation and heal your thyroid. 

 If you’re not working with a nutrition coach, you may want to seek professional advice and guidance to discuss a healthy nutrition and gut building protocol.

In my practice, I’ve found that a good nutrition and a supplement program can help to optimize TSH.  Also, adjusting your overall lifestyle can have a huge impact on your hormonal health. 

 When your body is showing symptoms and health issues, something is wrong.  Think of it like a red light on the dash board of your car.  If your car is saying “check engine” and you ignore it, what will happen?  You will completely burn out your engine!  This is also true with the human body.  Our dash board is analogous to symptoms that are occurring – hormonal imbalances, low energy, headaches, insomnia, anxiety, depression, stomach issues, anger issues… These are all reds lights on your dash board.  Red lights never get better, they only get worse if you don’t take action immediately.

 HELPFUL TIPS: A HEALTHY THERMODYNAMIC THYROID AND WEIGHT LOSS

1.    Detox –  Our liver detoxifies our bodies, and when we are toxic it slows down our system and can negatively affect our metabolism, thyroid and weight loss effort. If you are working with a nutritionist, ask for a good detox program and make sure you are eating only whole foods – food that is pulled from the earth, or picked from a tree, or is hunted or raised.  If it is in a wrapper chances are it is not a whole food.  If you are shopping in the aisles at the grocery store and not shopping on the periphery or outer perimeter, chances are you are not eating whole foods.

2.    Eat Organic – The overuse of pesticides can disrupt and over burden the body and may lead to a hormonal imbalance. Eating organic gives you the antioxidant-rich food that you won’t get in non-organic fruits and vegetables. Eating organic foods will reduce your toxic load, assisting the effort to a healthier thyroid and weight loss success.

3.    Supplements – Helpful supplements may include tyrosine which may help speed metabolism and iodine which may help with metabolism and thyroid function.  Other supplements that are beneficial are B-complex, kelp capsules, selenium, vitamin D and zinc.  Why supplements?  Can’t you just get these nutrients from food?  Because of the over use of our fields and a lack of crop rotation, our soil has become depleted.  Our foods simply have less nutrient density compared to 100 years ago.  Unfortunately, we have too many people on planet earth to feed and the focus is on quantity production of food, not quality.  The second reason why supplements make sense is that we are constantly detoxing due to our toxic environment.  Daily, we are exposed to 100,000 different types of toxins and chemicals which in order to detox uses up nutrients from our diets.

4.    Check Your Thyroid Levels – Many people are not aware they have a slow metabolism until they get their thyroid levels checked. Testing your thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and T4 are part of the routine testing and are usually ordered together. Testing T3 may be required if TSH is abnormal. The reverse T3 test measures the inactive form of T3.

5.    Eating the Right Amount of Calories – Keeping the metabolism in high gear requires the right amount of fuel. If you don’t consume enough calories, your body goes into starvation mode, and your metabolism will slow down. Each time you eat, your metabolism kicks back up again. Eating smaller meals 3-5 times a day can help keep your body’s furnace burning.

6.    Keep a Food Journal – Journaling your food will help with accountability and awareness.  The most common phrase I here among people is that “I eat healthy”.  Many people don’t realize how much junk food that they may eat over the course of a week; eating lots of non-organic foods, processed foods and junk food can really add up.  Tracking your body weight and waist measurement and comparing that to your food journal can be helpful to achieving the body you desire.

7.     Sleep and Stress – This may be one of the more obvious tips, but both sleep depravation and high levels of stress can cause various types of hormonal imbalances.  For my clients, I recommend sleeping 8 to 10 hours a night and managing stress with meditation, yoga and stretching.  Intense exercise can be a huge form of stress and is probably not a good idea of you are under a lot of work or life stress.  Also, working on optimism and positive self-dialogue can have a healthy impact on overall well-being and hormonal health.

8.    Get at least 20 minutes a day of sunshine – Sunlight has shown to be protective against autoimmunity and has a positive impact on thyroid health – “The majority of the data here reported suggest that vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency may be associated with increased risk of thyroid autoimmunity and that reduced serum concentrations of vitamin D are linked with a major aggressiveness of thyroid cancers.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5543192/

Being a holistic personal trainer and nutritionist in Los Angeles for the past 17 years has given me some interesting and key insights into healthy eating and exercise.  To find out more details and for a complete list of healthy food options, feel free to download my free grocery list.

 A healthy thyroid doesn’t take a lot of work, but it does require some careful measures. To lose weight you only need to reduce your intake of calories by 10-15% of your total daily caloric requirements. In other words, if you need 2,300 calories per day to maintain your current weight, you would need to reduce that to 2,000 calories per day, and you will lose weight far more effectively than you would be doing by drastic dieting or over-exercising. For more helpful tips contact us today or check out our 8-week Body Makeover Program! Kick start your metabolism and make 2019 your year to feel fit and fabulous.

 WEIGHT LOSS IS THE #1 HEALTH GOAL IN AMERICA

Weight Loss is the #1 Health Goal in America.  And, there is a strong correlation between belly fat or a large belly and degenerative disease.  Whether you want to look great naked or simply just want to live longer, getting leaner and healthier has to be one of your priorities in life.  If you interested in learning more about getting lean and healthy, please check out my 10 part series on the science of weight loss.

Part 1 – Metabolism and Weight Loss

Part 2 – Strength Training and Weight Loss

Part 3 – Gut Health and Weight Loss

Part 4 – Stress and Weight Loss

Part 5 – Insulin and Weight Loss

Part 6 – Testosterone and Weight Loss

Part 7 – Sleep and Weight Loss

Part 8 – Brain Health and Weight Loss

Part 9 – Sunlight and Weight Loss

Paul Giamatti Weight Loss – Ultimate Hack to Lose Weight

Paul Giamatti Weight Loss

Despite the fact that Paul Giamatti is not seriously ill several fans are concerned as to how he lost so much weight.

Giamatti had no prior experience with fitness but he began working out and adopting a healthier lifestyle,

He also said that he has cut back on his favorite dish pizza, and has started snacking on fruits and other nutritious meals,

He was able to lose 15 pounds in a year by exercising regularly and adopting a healthy lifestyle.

Paul Giamatti an actor and producer from the united states has recently lost weigh lost roughly 15 pounds during season5 of billions,

The health of paul’s admirers is also a source of concern for him because he’s lost a lot of weight in a short period of time,

And hasn’t spoken anything about it publicly however we’ve unearthed some information on paul Giamatti’s weight loss struggles.

Paul’s diet regimen is a bit mysterious however we can say that his diet plan was effective and that it helped him achieve his objectives,

He cut off junk food and drinks from his diet instead of sugary drinks he drank water all the time as a result he benefited much from this,

Paul did his workouts at home and enrolled in online yoga sessions every morning he walks for 15 20 minutes on a treadmill before moving on to yoga positions,

And weight lifting Giamatti hasn’t felt this powerful in a long time he’s in good shape now,

That he’s shed weight and has no health issues his weight loss was completely normal and had nothing to do with any illness,

Paul cut his beard as he started losing weight he shaved his beard because he wanted to see how he would appear if he lost weight.

After some time paul’s beard may grow paul Giamatti’s weight loss journey is still a mystery,

His billion costar claimed that he had no clue how paul dropped so much weight during the pandemic,

Claiming that he may have fasted for the whole time so that is all we know for the time.

I Hope Friends Love this Information About Paul Giamatti Weight Loss, Now Friends I Tell you how you also lose weight in a very simple way.

Friends Now My Friend Elaina Tell you how to lose weight like Giamatti in a very easy way without any personal trainer. So let’s Start Friends.

Safe & Quick Weight Loss Diet

Stop all the diet confusion this short presentation is only for busy women and men like you who want a simple fast way to lose weight without having to starve yourself,

Crazy exercise or sacrifice great-tasting foods you’re about to learn the premier weight loss and health acceleration technique,

For women and men based on the same nutritional science used by celebrities personal trainers health bloggers and bit moms,

All over the world and it’s so simple that women and men just like you are using the same information to transform their bodies and lives every day like Isabelle,

From Oklahoma who says I just wanted to say thank you for this wonderful information, I am into week three and so far I’ve lost 12 pounds,

My blood pressure is normal my cholesterol is good my migraines are almost non-existent and I have loads of energy after years of trying every diet out,

There I believe my search is finally over recommend this program to all of my friends and family and Kaelyn from Florida,

Who says after so many long years of fighting the battle of the bulge with too many diet programs to mention and taking pills for so many things,

This simple system made it possible for me to lose 30 pounds in less than three months,

I went from a size 12 to a size four no larger extra-large sizes than anything I fit in small and even extra small,

Now my blood pressure is now normal cholesterol no more issues blood sugar super I am a healthy,

A 130-pound woman who feels great looks great eats healthy and sports a size 4. now to show you exactly how this works,

I’d like to introduce you to the creator of the system he’s a professional board-certified health coach named drew or health coach.

Drew as his clients call him drew has helped thousands of women and men just like you lose weight gain more confidence and wake up every day.

Feeling energetic and excited about their new lives what he’s going to show you is going to completely change everything you thought,

You knew about losing weight and getting healthy one last thing please Read this Article all the way to the end for a special surprise.

Drew has for you look if you’ve ever tried to lose weight and struggled I get it it’s frustrating maybe you’ve fallen into the cycle of yo-yo dieting,

Maybe you’ve tried one of these fad diets saw some results and fell off the wagon and gained it alright back and despite your best intentions,

You’ve had trouble sticking with the diet and this just leaves you feeling like a failure worse than you did before you started,

Or maybe you’re worried about what that excess weight is doing to your health increasing your risk for life-changing illnesses like cancer diabetes heart disease or worse not,

To mention how your health is keeping you on the sidelines unable to play and be active with your family,

I recently had a client come to me and tell me she was sitting with her daughter one day she reached out and grabbed a big handful of her belly,

And said mommy why are you so fat she knew instantly that it was time to make a change had another client came to me,

Because she’d just gotten their four-year-old daughter a brand new bicycle complete with training wheels and a little basket on the front for her birthday,

The problem was she could barely make it up the block without being bent over huffing and puffing completely out of breath,

She told me she was so embarrassed that’s not the kind of mom she wanted to be I have some clients in the dating world struggling to be comfortable in their own skin,

The excess weight around their bellies is killing their confidence holding them back from getting out there and finally meeting that special person,

Hear stories like this all the time my name is Drew and I’m a professional health coach and I’ve helped hundreds of people just like you lose weight.

Even when they’re at the end of the rope and they thought they had tried everything before but let’s be honest for a minute,

Diet advice is downright confusing don’t eat carbs eat more carbs eat fewer calories eat more calories eat less fat no way you have to eat more fat,

It’s enough to drive anyone crazy that’s why I put this article together for you I just want to give you the information you need to lose weight,

And get healthy in the easiest fastest way possible because I promise you that no matter where you are right now you can lose weight.

You can get healthy and you can look and feel like someone 5 10 even 20 years younger you just need to understand a few simple things,

And trust me it doesn’t matter if you need to lose 10 20 30 40 pounds or more if you want to lose fat through your belly,

Your arms your back your thighs your butt wherever once you see how simple this is you’ll realize,

Literally, anyone can do it so next couple of minutes I’m going to show you a really simple secret,

I teach my clients a method they’ve all used to almost effortlessly slim down get healthy and look better now than they could have ever imagined,

Now you might be thinking to yourself okay here comes you had another new fad diet but honestly, nothing could be further from the truth,

Because if you’re like most of my clients you’ve probably already tried most of these miracle diets more than you care to think about some may have even worked for a little bit,

But eventually, you fell off the program for one reason or another and immediately gained all the weight back everything you lost and maybe even picked up,

A few extra pounds along the way just wears you down kills your self-esteem it makes you feel like you just don’t have what it takes to lose the weight,

And get healthy am I right understand I’ve seen this a thousand times before the important thing to realize it’s not your fault,

Most of these diets aren’t set up for long-term success they’re just a quick fix designed to sell books not to help you get healthy in a lifelong sustain,

Able way it has nothing to do with your willpower those dices aren’t practical and on top of that you’re busy,

You probably have a job maybe you go to school maybe both you might have a child you could have three kids,

Housework yard work errands a million other things you have to do during the day the last thing you need is a complex math problem,

Every time you take a bite of something the way I see it life’s too short to deny yourself great tasting food.

Food should be fun and I promise you that healthy food doesn’t have to taste bad if you don’t have a program,

That you enjoy you’re never going to stick with it so it’s not going to work in the long run.

Now I’ve learned by working with hundreds of clients over the last 10 years that to get someone to stick with a program,

The meals need to be super simple to make super-fast reasonably inexpensive with no weird exotic ingredients,

Delicious and most importantly give you amazing weight well weight loss results and to get those results these meals need to be packed with everything your body requires,

And most importantly be satisfying so to help my clients I found the perfect solution I started making them meal-replacement smoothie recipes that had all the ingredients,

They needed they were jam-packed with super nutritious nutrient-dense food they were easy to make,

And they tasted amazing I would give these to my clients and they could go to the store spend ten minutes shopping come home throw a few things in the blender,

And five minutes later have a perfectly nutritious meal and it was great not only were they easy to make and tasted like dessert,

But they really really worked to help people melt away their stubborn body fat my clients were thrilled they were seeing amazing results fast,

And because I used my knowledge of health and nutrition along with years of working with personal clients to make these recipes specifically for rapid weight loss.

They weren’t going to find these anywhere online or in a bookstore they were specially formulated recipes designed to give your buy the fuel it needed,

Melt away fat as fast as possible and taste amazing so pretty soon my kitchen looked like a laboratory of a mad scientist.

I would have to try all the smoothies because I wouldn’t just give them a recipe without trying it myself first,

Because I knew if it didn’t taste good there was no way that they’d drink it and that would defeat the whole purpose.

So after months and months of my kitchen being a disaster, I decided that I need to do something different,

So I put together all of my best tasting fat burning meal-replacement smoothie recipes into rapid results,

Three-week program in total had more than 36 recipes that I could literally just hand to someone and say here you go this is all you need to lose weight,

And get healthy program was super simple they could spend a few minutes each day in the kitchen,

Probably a fraction of the time they’re used to spending making meals and many of my clients have told me their grocery bills actually went down,

Because they stopped buying sodas snackfoods and all those empty calories they used to buy,

So the way this program works it’s really simple all they had to do was use my special smoothie recipes to replace two meals during the day,

And they eat whatever they want for their other meals It couldn’t be easier and almost immediately,

They’d see the pounds start falling off faster than they ever thought possible and perhaps the best thing of all this is a program you can do over and over again once you hit your goals, 

You can use it to maintain your desired weight with almost no effort whatsoever making it super simple to continue to lose as much weight as,

You want even after the initial three weeks one of my clients has lost almost 70 pounds over the last few months by continuing to follow the program.

70 pounds rather than pick my word for it she sent me this article to show you what she thinks of it,

So take a look Hey my name is Amanda and I wanted to share the results that I’ve had using a diet called the smoothie,

Diet started the diet after having my second son I had gained about 70 pounds all throughout two pregnancies,

And had tried many other ways to take the weight off and just nothing was working for me everything was just too hard,

Or I was hungry all the time and I was super cranky and so I found the smoothie diet which is so easy to follow you basically,

Just make the smoothies which taste amazing you replace certain meals with them the shopping lists are included recipes are included,

And all in all, it was a very easy diet for me to follow I’ve been using everything I learned from the program to keep the weight coming off,

So at this point, I’ve lost almost 70 pounds the smoothies were absolutely delicious they were filling I never really felt like I was missing out on anything,

And the best part especially as a young mom was the incredible energy that I felt like I had I didn’t even feel like I needed my morning coffee,

Anymore drew was absolutely fantastic to work with anytime I had a question or was in need of more information about something was able to email him,

And he would email me right back with the information that I needed so I never felt like I was in the dark,

I always felt like there was communication there um so I would highly recommend this smoothie diet to anyone who’s looking for a really great,

And easy way to lose weight without feeling like you’re hungry or missing out on something thanks and good luck,

So as you can see this really is the perfect system for busy people with busy lives who want to lose weight,

And get healthy I recently had a client email me right after she started the program she was over the moon with excitement,

Because she dropped three pounds and a whole pant size in the first three days and just got another email yesterday from a woman,

Who said she just had a baby five weeks ago and just started the smoothie program on Monday and Thursday she got on the scale and,

Said she already lost seven pounds she couldn’t have been more excited she even got her husband to do the program with her,

And while everybody’s body responds a little differently to this program the science behind it will work for anyone it’s built for rapid fat loss and to be sustainable for the long,

Run It’s not uncommon to see dramatic weight loss in the first week I once had a client email me,

Because she lost eight pounds in her first week and this is funny she just sent me the picture of the scale that’s all she sent me I knew,

How much did she weigh when she first started I wrote back did she lose eight pounds and she wrote back yes yes,

She was so excited and honestly so was Is he ended up losing a total of 18 pounds which is crazy,

And she looked better had more energy was more confident than she felt in years if that’s not enough check out some of the amazing transformations,

Below this video again everybody tells me the same thing they can’t believe how well this program works and they’ll never try another diet program again,

They weren’t having to spend hours and hours on meal prep they didn’t have to do complex math equations every time,

They ate they weren’t choking down bland food pretending to tell themselves how much they loved it these were meals they actually looked forward they never felt like they were,

Giving anything up on this program and that such a big part of why it works so well So what I wanted to do is take this whole program,

And put it out there for you to use I figured since I’ve already packaged everything in a way that’s simple and easy to follow this can benefit everybody,

Not just my private coaching clients so I put everything together into one easy-to-follow system I’ve literally done everything for you to make this program as easy as possible.

I’m calling this program the smoothie diet you get a full 21-day program irregularly used in my private coaching clients,

This tells you exactly which smoothies to have each day and which meals to replace and like I said earlier you can eat whatever you want for your other meal.

Obviously, if you want the fastest results you should keep your meals healthy and nutritious and I even provide some sample meals,

And snack suggestions to make sure you lose weight as fast as possible but even if you don’t follow my suggestions you will still lose weight,

You get all 36 of my delicious fat-shredding meal replacement smoothie recipes shopping lists for each week to help make it as simple,

As convenient as possible you’ll be able to walk into the grocery store and in just a few short minutes get everything you need for the whole week,

And be out the door in one shot I’m also including my smoothie tips and prep guide this step-by-step guide will help you make the perfect smoothie every time,

There will be zero trial and error definitely no missteps nothing you’ll make your very first smoothie and everyone thereafter just like a pro,

Nowi know what you’re probably thinking how much does this cost right we all think that about everything when you stop,

And think about it doing nothing is probably the worst most expensive choice possible maybe it doesn’t cost you any dollars today.

But it does rob you of living the kind of life you’ve always dreamed of it’ll almost certainly take years off your life usually you could have spent with your family,

Watching your kids grow up if you continue down the cycle of yo-yo dieting jumping from one diet program to another you just continue to gain more,

And more weight and eventually you will fall victim to all that excess weight and at that point, it might be too late.

So honestly, what could be more expensive than that, and let’s not even talk about the cost of doctor’s bills for appointments,

And prescription medications that have worse side effects than what they are actually treating will most likely cost you thousands tens of thousands,

Or maybe even more who knows what the cost of health insurance going up and up every year the bills just pile up more and more and more,

When you stop to consider what commercial weight loss centers charge for meal services like weight washers is crazy,

Most of these programs aren’t affordable to anyone with a family let alone someone who has bills to pay and even a plain old health club,

Membership can cost you somewhere between 50 and100 per month that’s why when I sat down to think about the price,

I didn’t want to exclude anyone who was truly committed to changing their life so I settled on a price that I feel everyone can afford.

Just 47 and trust me it’s worth way more than 47 think about how much would you pay to walk into your high school or college reunion wearing,

The same size clothes you wore when you graduated or how about spicing up your love life for that extra boost of confidence you get from melting away those unwanted pounds.

You’ve been so self-conscious about looking like the slim sexier you’ve always pictured in your mind,

And how would it feel to finally have the energy to keep up with your kids all day long and make sure you’re around to see all those important moments in their life,

And knowing you don’t have to worry about life-threatening illnesses like diabetes heart disease and even some cancers,

I think when you stop to consider all this you’ll agree 47 is an amazing price want to make this so irresistible you’d be crazy to say no to it,

That’s I’m also including a couple of special bonuses you’ll love that’ll help you get even more from the program,

It’s even faster results the first bonus is my three-day smoothie detox now this is something I’m super excited about,

And it alone is almost worth the price of the whole program alone I’ve just recently added this to it and people are really getting amazing results already from it.

The detox is something you can do before you start the actual 21-day program to help clear all the cobwebs out of your system and get your body ready for the program,

Can also be used anytime you want to lose a few quick pounds or reset your health after you go off track like over the holidays,

We all know we cheat a little bit over the holidays but the great thing about the detox is you’ll see almost immediate weight loss results,

As I mentioned earlier one of my clients lost three pounds in three days and went down a whole pant size just during the detox phase.

So this is quickly becoming one of my customer’s favorite parts of the program the detox bonus will include three days of free meal replacement,

Smoothies plus two snacks per day the detox smoothie recipes themselves are a shopping list for the detox program,

And your choice of two different recipe options I’m also including a second bonus with the smoothie diet program I call my quick start guide,

It includes all the shopping lists I’ve mentioned and all the smoothie recipes in one convenient location.

So you can just print this out and have everything right there this is a fast-track to-do list that will help you start enjoying the benefits of the program from the very first instant.

You download it and again you won’t have to wait until you read all the core guides to get started after all I know some of my clients are super excited to get started,

And want the fastest results possible this is like you and it’s like me a quick start guide is just what you need listed I’m not gonna lie,

I’m doing everything I can to make this impossible for you to say no to because if you really want to make a change,

And you want to lose weight if you want to get healthy I want to make it as easy as possible for you to say yes this really is one of the best opportunities you’re ever going to get.

I’m practically giving this program away and I’ve done everything humanly possible to make it totally risk-free for you as you can see,

This isn’t some late-night fitness gizmo or miracle supplement or anything like that this is a real program made with all-natural real ingredients,

That’s backed by solid nutritional science and proven to work with real people just like you and it even comes with an ironclad money-back guarantee.

I wouldn’t put my name on it or stake my reputation on this program unless I was100confident that it really does work.

So let’s just recap what you get you’re going to get the entire three-week program including over 36 great-tasting scientifically-backed real worlds,

Proven meal replacement smoothie recipes weekly grocery lists to make shopping simple quick and convenient a very easy follow schedule,

That takes all the guesswork out of the program and my unconditional 60-day warranty that guarantees your complete satisfaction,

Not to mention the bonus content of the three-day detox which will get you ready for the program and give you a quick weight loss,

Win right from the get-go this alone is a huge benefit because remember if you’re ever looking to lose an extra few pounds quickly,

Or you fall off the wagon you want to catch back this will help you get right back to where you want to be,

And you get my quick-start guide which will give you everything you need in one convenient place if you’re excited to get started right away,

And get the fastest results possible this is something you’d literally pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars to learn,

If we work together one-on-one you can get the full benefit of the complete program and when you stop to consider,

How much you stand to gain and how little you stand to lose which is literally nothing thanks to my guarantee I think you’ll agree,

Triumph Over Your Self-Image To Making Use Of On The World Wide Web

https://vnptvinaphone.net.vn/cho-thue-wifi-su-kien-vnpt-ha-noi-internet-hoi-nghi-mang-hop-truc-tuyen/ Take joy in small progress. Acknowledge yourself really good demographics . done little and consistent weight loss progresses. Funds too harsh on yourself if it's shed off pounds that simply. The key here is consistently losing of unwanted body fats. On the other guitar hand, try not to be saddened chronic weight gains after several exercises; these types of due towards the muscles you build. Remember the fact that muscles weigh more than fats, thus, increase in weight does not nesessary follow that you are currently getting fatter - maybe you are obtaining leaner. Above all, carry out due diligence honest to yourself an individual really have gained some pounds as a result fats or due to muscles. As a problem less expensive chairs, can perform take them anywhere, yet they are also great in the event you have a swimming pool or enjoy sitting on your deck, patio or porch. Advertising are environmentally conscious, some outdoor folding chairs are manufactured of plastic. Many over these are previously Adirondack style (straight back with slats and crested tops) so they are almost completely easy to maintain. Some ones may require assembly. Wrought iron outdoor folding chairs are a lovely choice for weddings along with very special outdoor functions. This style usually comes using a soft cushion that is removable may possibly be machine washed. Many individuals find fat loss a chronic endeavor. For some, the shedding of pounds could seem lasting it really is just a short-term event. They will not know until they all over again stand about the scale and located that include regained the lost weight - worse, the weight regained is greater compared to a weight said goodbye to. On the other hand, several popular diets can be found ineffective as they definitely lack the lasting factors of exactly what the best weightloss routine truly might be.

Okay, I actually typed it six situations when the big red "iPhone Disabled Several minutes . in 1 minute" appeared. Once when went by, I attempted it yet again and it locked for five minutes. My 8th effort got us a 15 minute wait. And my ninth and 10th attempt equally received a 60 minute "iPhone Disabled" delay work-time. I was needs to submit an inaccurate passcode the eleventh time before after enough time it wiped my data. Chew foods well. By chewing foodstuff well, you consume slowly. Must take this activity because, a person have surroundings some food, it takes 20 minutes to signal your brain of the sentiments of breadth. Thus, if you eat fast, genuine effort a big tendency you have taken a regarding food within 20 minutes compared to eating slowly and gradually. Aside from that, chewing your food well helps your body easily metabolize what consume. It also prevents you from constipation and indigestion tribulations. I could've taken a graphic with my phone but it would've been hard shared there . without pinching and zooming all your place, which gets cumbersome after a long time. This thing showed up life size. Features amazing. If I'd been near a Best Buy, I would've been cracking out the charge card right that is when. One belonging to the biggest explanation why people approach to these web business adventures, undeniable fact that it's easy to start high on a small budget. And also the business is managed among the comfort in the provide event wifi service own natural. You can simplify things around the property. What many people need ideas is how the 4G network can be brought into any home as skillfully. Setting up a mobile connection and then adding home service in order to use merely one internet provider and cut costs at duration. On top of that, making your program work by your internet connection can allow you to be combine three services into one invoice. Are there any better strategies to simplify your bill-paying process every four week period?

Today’s entry

PTSD tw, trauma tw, suicide tw, breakdown tw, etc...

November 24th

Went back through the other files in the subfile this collection is in. Mine > rec. Writing > books > life story.

Before the large breakdown I had at UNT, I thought of myself as...mythical. There were so many coincidences in my life, as I’ve highlighted in archives and writing, but...

I may make some of “Humanity” into this book. I don't know. It is an interesting perspective of me slowly descending into madness even if I didn’t see it at the time.

Everything comes back to that period in my life- I feel everything about me, fundamentally, changed because of that breakdown. I wrote over 220K words in about two months, stopped wearing shoes, climbed buildings and twelve-foot brick walls for storm photos. There’s a lot I think I remember, but much of it seems like another lifetime- did I once eat 7 oranges in a couple of hours? Did I really lose 15 pounds in less than two weeks? Was I really a freshman in a junior level history class? How much melatonin was I really taking? Was it truly at one point over forty mg? Is it true I had my period for a month once? Did I wear Nike shorts and flip-flops in 30/40 degree weather while it was sleeting/raining because I cared that little about myself? How much self-destructive and suicidal behavior did I practice while I thought I was fine?

There are so many things that don’t seem real or traumatized me that I have completely disconnected from the period in my life.

Did I really? Did I really?

Just what happened to me?

It would be ptsd trauma if I wasn’t so confused. And maybe it is. The weight I don’t even know I carry but feel. On October 10th this year, I documented a catharsis in the struggle I started fighting when I returned home after that breakdown.

The question is, do I have to face this? Face more than the results of that breakdown and figure how if all that really happened? Disembodiment is a sign of trauma, right?  

Do I have to face what happened to me in elementary, in middle school, in high school, at UNT? If I do, will that just delay the inevitable breakdown where all those memories come back, and I truly lose myself? I’m important. But look at my resume, look at what everyone thinks I’m going to accomplish. I’ve wanted to save the world my whole life. I actually stand a chance of doing some world-saving. What will the world lose if it loses me?

Not to be egotistical, but I’ve built a library of over 6 thousand books.

I stand before a forking road, and I do not know which path to take- if insanity awaits if I avoid or if I face it, and what will happen if I’m lost- or what may not happen if I’m lost. 

-

Also, you know, if I was to psychoanalyze my writing during that breakdown, it’d be over 220k words to weed through painstakingly.

-

Does the progress I have made in my health negate the tragedies that lurk? Have I fortified myself in the inevitability those years come to clarity?

Should I face it to learn what I lost of myself or accept who I am now? Am I know, currently, whole? Or a pale shadow swelled to life at the appearance and feel?

I stand upon a plain of long grass, wind-whipped to near death, resolute against the wind. I do not dare to look back, go back, but hesitate to move.

A chance to make it right again

Summary: It’s been a year since you last saw Luke Hemmings, rockstar and your former best friend, but when invited to celebrate Christmas with the Hemmings family, you might get a chance to make everything right again.

A/N: I know that I haven’t been in any way active on here, but in celebration of Christmas I thought I’d post a small one shot which includes a little bit of Christmas spirit (not very much though), I hope you enjoy x

“How are you, darling? Feels like I haven’t seen you in forever.” Liz greets you with a loving hug and you can’t help but melt into it. Perhaps there’s just a gene for great hugging skills in the Hemmings family because it’s the exact same case with Luke.

“Yeah, it’s been way too long,” you agree, sending her a big smile while pulling away. “I’m doing great, thank you, what about you? Has Andrew’s back gotten any better?” She leads you into the dining room while assuring you that Luke’s dad is doing way better than last you talked with a member of the Hemmings household and that her only worry is that he’ll be eating too much Christmas food because he always has a hard time losing the extra pounds afterwards.

“But enough about us! We are so happy you’re coming; the children haven’t talked about anything else the whole day.”

You laugh, easily imaging the small kids that have always loved you jumping up at the thought of you celebrating Christmas with them this year. “Thank you again for letting my join you for Christmas, Liz. It really means a lot,” you say and smile.

“Nonsense! I’ve known you for 15 years, Y/N, you’re a part of the family, you know you’re always welcome,” she argues and warms your heart with her kind words. It’s true you’ve been a friend of the family for many years and even lived here for short periods of time when your parents were on business trips or something like that, but you’ve never been here for the holidays and not many people would open their homes on Christmas for their child’s former best friend. But that’s just the way Andrew and Liz are, and you’re extremely grateful for it. Otherwise you would be forced to celebrate Christmas alone in your small apartment without any of the things that usually defines your favourite holiday, such as a Christmas tree, tasty food and good company. Originally it was the plan that you should celebrate the holidays with your best friend, but her mum got sick two days before Christmas and had to go to the hospital, your parents and the rest of your family was in Spain (or was it Italy? You weren’t entirely sure) and you couldn’t afford a plane ticket so when you coincidently ran into Celeste and Jack yesterday and they offered that you could join the celebrations at the Hemmings House instead of sitting alone, you accepted the offer even though it would result in a meeting with the boy you had tried your best to avoid for the last year.

As soon as you step into the room where all of Luke’s family gathered, his small cousins run towards you, yelling your name. “Y/N! Y/N! You’re finally here!” Their excitement isn’t exactly quiet and soon the whole family has their focus on you, but the only thing you see is a certain pair of blue eyes. You swallow the lump in your throat and then step forward, hug the kids and listen to their stories about the candy they’ve eaten and their guesses revolving their Christmas presents. However, your focus is elsewhere and you keep on loosing track of what they’re trying to tell you. They thankfully don’t seem to notice that you’re not exactly present and when you make your way around the table to greet all Luke’s uncles, aunts and grandparents you make a bigger effort to answer rightfully to their questions about your studies, how long it’s been since the last time you saw them and thanking them when they tell you that you look more beautiful than ever, that they like your dress or that your new hair style suits you. But just as you’ve almost made your way to the tall blonde you used to call your best friend, dinner is served and you sit down between Jack and one of Luke’s uncles which’s name you don’t recall.

At first you’re tense, embarrassingly aware of his presence so near you but then you get caught up in all the interesting, funny and friendly conversations around you that you manage to forget. You laugh harder than what you’ve done in a long time and you haven’t felt this at home and safe since you were friends Luke and it feels good. Finally, you allow yourself to let go and stop worrying about if your laugh is too loud or if you’re being too much. So when the plates are being taken out and dessert prepared, you’re in a happy and calm state of mind, at least until a certain blond rockstar appears beside you and pats your shoulder.

“Hey,” he whispers.

You turn around, meeting his pale face. His blue eyes have a gentle glow with small pecks of worry and hesitance, like he’s afraid he’ll scare you away. “Hi.” You send him a small smile, and he takes a deep breath and bites his lip, an old habit of his when he’s nervous.

“It’s been a while.” His voice is low, almost gentle and his eyes keeps you trapped. Even if you wanted to, you’re not sure if you’d be able to move from your spot, not when he’s looking at you like this.

You nod. “Yeah, it has.” Flashes of the last time you were together appears in your brain but you show them away, knowing they will upset you and the last thing you want to do after all the kindness this family has shown you is cause a scene.

“Do you- Do you perhaps wanna go for a walk? Get some air, you know? If you don’t want to that’s fine as well, but uh, yeah, I just thought it would be nice,” he proposes, nervously scratching his neck and stuttering more than you’ve ever heard him do before. If this had been old times, you would have laughed and pulled him in a tight hug, but it isn’t. So instead you settle on nodding and shooting him another small smile.

You walk out in silence, the warmth and light of Sydney seeming so out of place when set up against the cold between you and the guy you used to call your best friend.

You haven’t noticed it until now but he’s wearing a ridiculously ugly Christmas sweater you bought for him two years ago and you don’t know if you feel a bigger urge to cry or laugh. You settle for neither of them.

He’s walking in front of you, of course the fastest of the two of you with his long legs. Usually though, he makes an effort to slow down his steps so you can walk together but right now he seems too lost in thought. Suddenly, he stops, standing a few metres in front of you and looking at you like you’ve just placed a knife in his chest. “Why? Why did you just leave? I- I needed you, I needed you so much, but you just left. Why?” He’s standing right there, in the middle of the road and telling you how bad you broke his heart. And your own heart breaks into smaller and smaller pieces for every word he says.

“I just- It sounds so stupid now, but I just couldn’t handle watching you leave me every time I had just gotten you back.” The street is silent besides your low voices. You breathe in, holding back tears and mentally preparing yourself to continue. He deserves answers. “I couldn’t bear saying goodbye in another airport, couldn’t bear only getting to see you five times a year and otherwise only through a screen. And I couldn’t handle that despite you almost never being here with me, I still loved you so much. And I tried to get over you, tried to go out with boys with regular jobs but they just weren’t you. I didn’t know what to do, I’m sorry, but I never meant to hurt you. I’m so sorry.” He looks surprised, which honestly wasn’t what you expected. You thought he would have figured out by now that you had been in love with him but apparently, he hadn’t.

“You- you were in love with me?” he asks, as if processing the fact that you, his best friend through almost 15 years had viewed him as more than a friend without him knowing.

You shrug and answer, voice fragile and almost breaking: “I thought you knew.” You can’t get yourself to look at him, can’t meet his eyes. If you do, you’re afraid you’re gonna cry.

“How could I know? You never told me, never showed me any kind of signs you felt anymore for me than strictly friendship.” He sounds frustrated, but you still don’t have the strength to turn your head and look at him. “How could I know, Y/N?” his voice is barely a whisper, but you hear him loud and clear. You’ve always had a way of following every small thing he does and hearing everything he says. Perhaps it just is like that when you’ve spent so many years having feelings for someone.

You don’t answer him; don’t know what to say, really, because you can’t think of anything that wouldn’t make this awful situation even worse. How can you ever face him again after this?

You can hear him walking closer to you and eventually feel his breath on your neck when he whispers once again: “Look at me, Y/N.”

You shake your head, still not willing to face the shame that’ll surely appear in your body if you ever look at him again. “Please just look at me,” he begs, and you can’t refuse when he asks you like that. You turn your head, meeting his eyes and feeling the wetness in your own. He’s close, so close and you can sense it in every cell of your body. Even after all this time apart, all it wants is to be close to him. “I- I know there’s been happening a lot of shit between us, but do you think that maybe, just maybe, you’ll ever be able to fall in love with me again?” He pauses, swallowing a lump in his throat before continuing: “Because, fairly, I have loved you since forever, but I never in a million years thought you would reciprocate my feelings. And I’m aware that it might be too late, but I needed to tell you and now I need to know; do I still stand a chance?”

You look at him, look at the ugly sweater that’s way too hot for the warm weather, the freckles that adorn his rosy cheeks, the blond curls that’s completely out of place and lastly the sky-blue eyes that’s been your only comfort on lonely nights. And when you nod, it doesn’t matter that it’s a thousand degrees, that there’s not a single sign of snow in this desert-like climate or no mistletoe is in sight: you’ve never felt the Christmas spirit deeper. And when he kisses you, it feels like coming home. It feels like finally being where you belong. It feels perfect, despite the sweat in your armpits, the hands that you don’t know where to put and your teeth that accidently collide.

He smiles against your lips before pulling away, looking all over your face like he’s searching for something. ”Your hair has gotten shorter. I like it; it suits you,” he says. “But your eyes are still the same as they’ve always been, pulling me in and making me wish I never have to let go of you again.” He breathes against your lips, waiting for you to say something.

“Then don’t. Ever. Take me with you, show me the world. I just wanna be by your side.” And then you kiss him again, and all the wrongs turn into rights. “But for now, let’s get back to the party. I’m really in the mood for one of your mother’s desserts.” 

Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG DN Sports Lens Review: Worthy of Attention

The long-awaited Sigma 150-600mm for mirrorless cameras has finally arrived. Available for Sony E-mount or Leica L-mount, does this redesigned super-telephoto zoom meet the expectations of real-world wildlife photographers?

Build Quality and Design

The Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS is one of the company’s better-looking lenses. There’s no glossy finish anywhere and it’s not gaudily large and over-industrial in style. In my opinion, the matte black finish is an immediate relief compared to the unsightly off-white Sony 200-600mm lens.

In all, the lens weighs four pounds 15 ounces (2.2 kilograms) with the lens hood attached. That weight is spread across the 10.5 inches (26.7 centimeters) length and can be handheld, which is how I photographed with it for my review. At 600mm, the lens physically extends out to about 14.5 inches (36.8 centimeters). The lens diameter is 4.3 inches (10.9 centimeters) which fits well in my hand and it takes 95mm filters screwed to the front. Sigma appears to have done well to ensure there was no extra bulk here.

Sigma 150-600mm DG DN at 150mm.

Sigma 150-600mm DG DN at 600mm.

Zoom Ring

The zoom can be operated either by twisting the ring or, by design, pushing and pulling at it directly near the lens hood. There’s a three-stage switch on the left side to which controls the zoom ring tension: locked, tight, or smooth. The locked setting only works at 150mm to prevent zoom creep. I found that the tight setting adds enough tension to avoid accidental shifts in focal length. On the other hand, I felt that the smooth setting was not as smooth as I would have preferred, although this may be more of a physics issue as the weight of the lens physically extending out naturally places a certain amount of tension on the ring.

This lens has a variable aperture that from my testing breaks down as follows: from 150mm to 172mm, the widest aperture is f/5. From 173mm to 365mm, the widest aperture is f/5.6. That leaves f/6.3 being the maximum aperture through the rest of the range from 366mm to 600mm.

For comparison, the Sony 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 lens switches over right around 300mm, so for those hankering over a third-stop of light, this Sigma is an improvement.

Zoom ring tension control switch.

Focus Ring

Looping back to the focus ring, I’m not a fan of its design. It’s awfully narrow and what is worse is that only a portion of the ring that moves is covered in rubber grip. For such a small area, I wish Sigma could have at least placed the rubber ribbing over as much as possible. For wildlife photography, manual focusing becomes very important in certain situations where there are foreground elements and dense foliage at play, and I use it every day I’m out. On the plus side, it does have smooth rotation to it with an appropriate amount of tension to the glide. In the video section of this review, I will discuss its poor functionality further.

One other complaint about both the zoom and focus rings comes from Sigma’s combination of rubber hardness and the wide, triangle-shaped ribbing. After a while, the weight of my camera and this lens starts to dig into my hand and the ribbing starts to feel like little knives. This is in contrast to the Sony 200-600mm I own and Canon telephoto lenses I’ve used where the ribbing is flattened at the edge and doesn’t stick out so far. I’ve never thought of this as a possible issue until using this lens.

Tripod Collar

The tripod foot and collar feature a couple of great design choices. For one, the foot incorporates an Arca Swiss-compatible plate so that no additional add-on is necessary. The collar itself also has notches every 90 degrees so the foot can be set perfectly level by feeling the groove rather than having to eyeball the alignment with markings. This really comes in handy when shooting off a gimbal when I wanted to go from landscape to portrait orientation. Because of it, I did not have to take my eye out of the viewfinder to check level alignment.

A downside I find with the included tripod foot is that it’s quite short. As someone who shoots handheld, I still appreciate having the foot there and I use it as a carrying handle for my setup. With this foot, I can only awkwardly cram three fingers in rather than a more comfortable four. Again, with the weight being a factor, I begin to feel the discomfort of carrying like this for longer periods of time. I guess I can always buy the eye-rollingly expensive TS-81 foot that Sigma sells separately.

Image Quality

Inside, the lens uses 25 elements in 15 groups including four “F” low-dispersion elements and two extra-low dispersion elements, plus a dust and moisture resistant coating on the front element.

The image quality of this lens is where you will get your money��s worth. I find that there’s solid clarity and contrast throughout the focal range, good sharpness, well-controlled color fringing and flaring, and the bokeh shape from the nine rounded aperture blades melt away out-of-focus objects pleasingly.

As one would expect for any telephoto lens, there’s heavy vignetting when shot wide open at either end of the zoom range. At 150mm, I found that by f/7.1 the vignetting was largely relegated to the far corners and by f/13 it was completely cleared up. On the 600mm end, by f/9 the vignetting was largely moved to the far corners and by f/13 it was gone.

Likewise, sharpness improves as the aperture is stopped down to its sweet spot. Shooting at 150mm, I find that each third-stop down shows good improvement at the center up until f/7.1 where it starts peaking. By f/14 the center looks as sharp as it did wide open at f/5 and continuing to stop down from there continues to soften the image. Both f/20 and f/22 are really soft in the center. Moving to the corners, I saw that f/11 is where it meets peak sharpness for 150mm.

Looking at the center sharpness while at 600mm, things are a little bit different. My testing showed that there are big jumps in improving center sharpness when clicked from f/6.3 to f/7.1 and then again from f/7.1 to f/8. The improvements from here on out are not as drastic, but it looks like f/11 is the lens’s true peak sharpness in the center at 600mm. For the corners, I saw f/16 as the peak sharpness for 600mm.

600mm at f/6.3. Left: full image. Right: 100% crop.

Close focus at 150mm.

Close focus at 600mm.

This lens does come equipped with image stabilization which I thought worked adequately as I saw no change in what I’m used to seeing with my Sony 200-600mm. It works well for handheld shooting and I have no complaints as far as this feature goes.

It’s the same story for autofocus, likely thanks to the switch out of the Hyper Sonic Motor from the DSLR models to a stepping motor for this mirrorless-first redesign. From my experience, the Sigma 150-600mm DG DN can competently track birds in flight and quickly sweep the focus plane to hunt down subjects. I never felt I was missing anything due to the autofocusing system during my review period.

Using the Lens for Video

From the older 150-600mm lenses made for DSLR mounts to the 300-800mm f/5.6 Goliath, Sigma has been producing well-favored super-telephoto zoom lenses used by filmmaking enthusiasts and professionals for a long time. A number of pros own these Sigma lenses for their personal setups and then rent out the wildly expensive glass when out on assignment.

I spent a couple of evenings using the lens on my Sony FS5 camera rig to record video. My primary subjects were hummingbirds out in a patch of jewelweed. Everything in the video below was filmed with the Sigma 150-600mm DG DN.

The 150mm to 600mm range was very helpful to create a variety of shots just using one lens (effectively 225-900mm on my FS5). The push-pull zoom was also nice to quickly change focal lengths. While the lens is not parfocal, it does hold itself together enough to where I never lost my subject and simply needed a fine adjustment after zooming in and out.

In the end, I think the downsides outweighed the positives for me when it comes to video. The biggest issue I have is that the focus ring does not have a linear response. This is a massive disappointment, especially when you consider how well-liked Sigma’s DSLR lenses have been to wildlife filmmakers. Without a linear response focus ring, no two focus pulls are the same and instead, it all depends on how fast the ring is being twisted. As a result, smooth tracking of subjects was a big problem with this lens.

It’s not a new issue for Sigma super-telephoto zooms, but another problem is the counterbalancing. Having my fluid head balanced for the lens sitting at 150mm is going to be off when it changes to 600mm since it physically extends and the weight of the glass shifts locations. I would up balancing for around 300mm as a compromise which was okay, but not ideal considering it’s nothing I think about with the Sony 200-600mm I own where the physical size is always fixed at any focal length.

The Tradition Continues

Sigma has earned its reputation for building high-end lenses and selling them at mid-tier prices. This continues with the new 150-600mm DG DN where final image quality looks terrific and the $1,500 price makes it hard to overlook it when shopping for a super-telephoto zoom.

Are There Alternatives?

The E-mount version of this lens is clearly taking on the $2,000 Sony 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS that came out a couple of years ago. What I find interesting is how Sigma with this lens and Tamron with its new 150-500mm lens have been picking away at the design and building features to improve certain things over what Sony made. Neither have made everything better across the board, and the Sony 200-600mm still maintains sole ownership over a few things that make it truly special, but the fact that some flaws are being patched and both Sigma and Tamron charge less for it makes coming to a decision among the three much tougher.

The Sigma features variable tension control on the zoom ring, an Arca Swiss plate built into the tripod foot, notched positions on the tripod collar, a screw-down lens hood, and can zoom out to 150mm f/5, all of which improve upon the Sony. On the flip side, the Sony doesn’t telescope and change physical size upon zooming, has a much wider focus ring that is a linear response, has a quick-release tripod foot, and can accept the company’s 1.4x and 2x teleconverters.

Should You Buy It?

Yes. Undoubtedly there will always be a question of whether to buy this lens or the other options available, but looking at the Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS alone it is well worth the consideration and it will not let you down.

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World Best 26 Easy Safest Ways to Lose your Weight At Home

For most people, one of the toughest challenges is how to lose weight fast and safely at home. Because we know that time is money and we want it now!

When trying to lose a lot of weight very quickly, you will have to take into account your goals and be realistic about what you can achieve.

Losing a lot of weight in a short space of time can be very difficult to sustain and often results in the weight being put back on again.

This will only make you more frustrated and can lead to giving up completely. The aim is not just to lose weight, but to keep the weight off.

In this article, I am going to reveal some information and methods which you can follow and can lose your weight at home with patience and dedication and this will apply for both women and men.

1-Eat a healthy breakfast

Most experts these days believe that breakfast is the most important meal of the day for losing weight. It gives you a strong start to burn more calories and it jumpstarts your metabolism.

There are many different ways you can eat a healthy breakfast but here are some examples of what people have found successful:

Make sure to choose low-fat dairy foods like milk or yogurt, instead of butter or cheese on bread.

Try fresh fruit, preferably dried fruits if you want something sweet, and nuts or seeds would be good too.

Nuts in particular are filled with sustaining energy as well as other nutrients that keep you going for a long time until lunchtime.

They also make an excellent addition to your meals at lunchtime or dinner when added to salads or a light sauce.

2-Drink a lot of water (more than 8 glasses)

Drinking lots of water is better than just drinking sodas and other drinks with high calories.

Water does not only keep you hydrated but it also helps in the digestion process by washing out fats in your body which are usually deposited as layers around your belly area and can be harmful to your health, if not removed on time.

3-Avoid carbonated drinks at all costs!

Besides being packed with empty calories, regular cola has been linked to diseases like osteoporosis, obesity, heart disease, kidney stones, and tooth decay because of the phosphoric acid content in it...and that's just some of them!

4-Add fresh vegetables to your diet

Along with a healthy breakfast, fresh vegetables should be your main food intake.

You can either steam them or sauté them in olive oil with some seasoning (salt and pepper), depending on what you like more.

The way it's cooked doesn't really matter that much as long as you eat enough of them. You should aim for about six to eight servings every day which isn't so hard to achieve

if you just prepare some each morning and have a plate of it ready when you get home from work!

5-Stay away from refined grains

Avoiding all kinds of refined grains is something many people fail at doing but it is essential if you are trying to lose weight quickly and safely at home because they're full of sugar and can give you a huge waistline which will make you look overweight very quickly.

6-Have a high fiber diet

Fiber is amazing for weight loss because it helps to fill you up, so if you have enough of it in your daily diet then it's going to be harder to overindulge in the wrong kinds of foods during the day.

7-Drink coffee with skimmed milk instead of regular milk (women) or black coffee (men)

Most people who are trying to lose weight avoid caffeine but there are some benefits from consuming caffeine as well that might surprise you.

Caffeine is often found in "fat burners" and other supplements that people use for weight loss, but this isn't the only place you can find it.

If you're a coffee drinker then try mixing in skimmed milk instead of full-fat milk to cut down on calories and fat. Of course, black coffee is better for weight loss but not everyone enjoys drinking it.

8-Exercise

Your body needs exercise just like it needs food because when you deprive yourself of one or the other, there will come a point where your body decides that it can't function properly without getting what it's missing (exercise in this case). T

The best way to approach this is with low-impact exercises such as brisk walking or even swimming for 30 minutes each day.

You don't need to join a gym or run around the block if you're not feeling up to it, just do what's good for your body and it will reward you by shedding weight rapidly!

9-Drink Water Before Each Meal to fill yourself up without eating too many calories.

This is especially important at breakfast time when you need something that will kick start your metabolism and keep you going until lunchtime without slipping into a bad habit of snacking on junk food every now and then.

When you drink water first thing in the morning, it fills up your stomach so that any hunger pangs are counteracted with plenty of water instead of calorie-laden foods that often lead to weight gain.

10-Never quit before 12 weeks.

There are people who are always looking for the "quick fix" to lose weight but they never achieve their goals because they're always looking for that one special way of doing things.

The best thing you can do is stick to a diet and exercise plan for about 12 weeks and after that, if you've lost the weight then great! If not, then try something else until you find something that really works for your body.

Read More about How can Student Lose weight in Home

11-Maintain your new lifestyle.

After losing weight quickly at home with this method, you don't have to maintain it forever (unless you want to).

This is just a way of kick-starting your metabolism so that it doesn't slow down again over time. You might even put some more weight on over months or years by eating the wrong kinds of foods or not doing enough exercise.

If you maintain it, then your metabolism which has now sped up will help to keep the weight off if you eat healthily and take regular exercise.

This isn't just about losing weight but maintaining a healthy lifestyle that lasts for years afterward!

12-Treat yourself every once in a while.

When people lose weight quickly at home with this method, they don't have time to indulge in their bad habits as often as they used to so it's important to reward yourself from time to time by eating what you like even though there might be some consequences later on (like putting on more weight).

There are many ways of tricking your body into burning calories faster without trying which is another way of helping you to shed weight faster without depriving yourself of the things you like.

If you want a slimmer body and longer life, this is the best way to achieve it!

13- Be mentally prepared.

If you're going to lose weight, then there is a huge battle ahead of you and the more prepared you are for it, the easier that battle will be.

Losing weight has its ups and downs: sometimes it's so easy to feel great about yourself because your clothes fit better, but other times it can be difficult getting through such hard tasks as exercising when you don't feel like doing them or eating less than usual.

When these things happen along your journey to losing weight fast at home with this method, remember why you started it in the first place and stick with it until you've shed all that unnecessary extra weight! In fact, here's another quote from Napoleon Hill.

"The starting point of all achievement is DESIRE. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desire brings weak results, just as a small fire makes a small amount of heat."

14-Stay away from salty foods.

If you're trying to lose weight fast at home with this method, then it's important not to eat too much salt because salt just makes you thirsty and that in turn leads to the consumption of more calorie-laden drinks.

Cut back on those chips and french fries that are full of fat and instead have a healthy snack like carrot sticks or cucumber slices.

They'll fill you up without all that extra unwanted salt!

15-Get up early and exercise first thing in the morning.

You don't need expensive gym memberships and overpriced personal trainers for losing weight fast at home when there is a whole new world waiting for us outside our front doors! Just get out early and take advantage of the fresh air and natural daylight.

16-Don't let friends or family ruin your diet.

If you're trying to lose weight fast at home with this method, then it's important that people around you don't try to sabotage your progress (as is often the case).

This is especially true of family members who may think they are helping by offering advice but in reality what they are actually doing is giving you something else to eat because when someone offers a plate of cookies, there's usually no way of saying no without hurting their feelings.

Maybe it would be better if they didn't offer food and instead gave other kinds of support which will help you on your journey like getting involved in some activity together or even encouraging you all the time.

If you can't help yourself from eating more than is necessary, then don't eat in front of other people for long periods of time, and if someone asks why simply tell them that you're on a diet because it's healthier this way.

Keeping these tips in mind should make your journey to losing weight fast at home much easier. Just remember that everyone puts weight on when they have a great life so it's not just about shedding the excess pounds but keeping those pounds off permanently!

17-Always Find Positive Things

Always find something positive to think about when you feel self-pity coming over you.  I think this is very important.

You need to think how much better you will be when losing weight and the happier you will feel which is worth every hard work.

18-Sleep Right

How well you sleep at night has a lot to do with your overall health, so it's important that you go to bed early enough so that you are able to wake up fresh without feeling tired all day long.

This is especially true if you're trying to lose weight because if you don't get enough deep sleep, then chances are you'll make poor food choices just out of hunger, and that could lead back up to where before starting this getting into a diet plan.

19-Set small daily goals for yourself.

For example, if your aim is to lose weight fast at home and you want to drop ten pounds from your current weight, then make a goal of shedding just two pounds every week.

That way, it will be easier to stick with because small daily goals are much more manageable than long-term ones.

20-Set yourself some rewards for good behavior.

Getting involved in a diet plan like this can be very difficult especially if you do not have anyone close by who is going through the same thing as you.

In fact, that's why I started this website in the first place! To give everyone that extra support they desire on their journeys towards getting healthier and becoming fitter over time.

As such, it can also help motivate you even more if you reward yourself for every little accomplishment that you make such as going to the gym, eating healthy snacks, or even losing an inch off your waist (whatever it may be).

It can also help to give yourself these rewards at the end of the week rather than giving them daily as it will be better for your long-term progress.

21-Use healthy snacks whenever you start to feel hungry in between meals.

A great way to avoid getting too hungry is by carrying some small snacks with you wherever you go, especially if you're out and about or even at work where there is no option of eating properly due to time constraints.

One thing which I would recommend that's high protein/ fiber bars (which are a lot healthier for weight loss) but otherwise fruit and vegetables are great options (for example apples, bananas, carrots).

Anything that's good for your body is fine so just go with your preferences.

22-Stay away from all drugs and alcohol

Even if it's tempting to have a drink or two after work.   One of the reasons why so many people find weight loss difficult is because they make bad decisions when under the influence.

This can be very off-putting and will often lead them down a slippery slope resulting in an out-of-control lifestyle that just makes everything worse in general!

23-Eat slowly

so that you know that you've satisfied yourself and don't overeat for any reason.

The human body takes anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours (depending on how much food) to tell our brain that we are full, but most people tend to eat too fast which means that their bodies are unable to tell them about the signals of fullness.

So, try and take your time eating so that you know when enough is enough!

24-Never Skip Breakfast.

Breakfast is probably the most important meal of the day, and even if it's difficult for you to cook in the morning before work, then at least make sure you have a decent breakfast such as a bowl of porridge or some toast with jam.

Eating this will help improve your metabolism which will help you burn fat faster over time! So again do not skip breakfast whatever happens.

25-Get Moving as much as possible every single day

Whether it's going for that morning jog routine or maybe working on your household chores around the house, whatever it is just make sure you're doing some form of exercise whenever possible.

This is one of the best ways to keep your metabolism high and also a great way to avoid getting sick or overly stressed out!

26-Try Stretching for 5 minutes every night before bedtime.

Don't worry this doesn't mean that you should try and do any various complicated stretches or poses, all you need to do is stand up straight and then raise both arms above your head as if stretching them out (don't go too far otherwise) and then lower them down again.

Then exhale deeply, breathe in properly through your nostrils and hold it for a couple of seconds until you feel like you can't hold it in anymore. Then breathe out slowly again through your mouth.

This will help you relax properly and fall asleep with ease as well as relieving any stress you have from the day!

Conclusion:

In the end, I highly recommend that you try out any combination of these tips and tricks as opposed to using one plan all by itself.

The best way to lose weight safely is to use a mixture of everything which will allow your body (and mind) to reach its full potential without you having any problems whatsoever! Now it's over to you-

Make sure you comment below with your experiences of losing weight I will Be glad to know your Success Stories.