Fat to fit - diary of a food lover

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Katiebug33

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OK, I know. This isn't going to be easy. This is a long journey and it's going to take more than just halving the amount of mayo i drown my hot chips in every time i decide i've "earned this unhealthy meal" after a long day of study or putting everyone else before myself. Time to be selfish, for my own good.

I'm Kate, I'm 21 years old and I haven't had junk food in almost two hours. As of this morning I weigh about 132kgs (290lbs). My short term aim is to go three days straight without eating any "junk" (including cholocate, lollies, spaghetti binges or anything deep fried). My medium-term goal is to get under 128kg, (280lbs) which is how much i lost in my last journal. And long term, hitting the 100kg mark would be sweet, as i cant remember the last time i was that weight.

I'm 5'11 and have a solid build. Used to play basketball, broke my ankle, took a few years off, put a bunch of weight on, life got busy, yaddah yaddah... no more excuses.

This time i'm going back to basics. One day at a time. One meal at a time. One kilo at a time. I stocked up the fridge with salad and lean meat today, no pasta in sight. Carbs are my weakness and at this weight, hardcore exercise is NOT my friend, so i'll be easing back into it slowly so i dont injure myself and have another excuse to fall back on.

This diary is for my own records, hopefully one day i'll look back on them and laugh at myself for not doing it sooner. But for now, this is serious. And anyone who wants to share the journey or help me along the way is welcome to.

Gunna try to give daily updates this time, the last journal was weekly and it didnt stick.

Here we go!!

xx
 
I'm 21 and pushing 5'11 myself ^_^ Read your last diary and wish you luck with this one also--It's a long road but you have us to support you and you'll do it in time. Just stay focused and keep your eye on the long term goal as well as the little ones you set yourself. Good luck!
 
ok, not off to a great start, but little changes are needed, right? this morning started with spam (light) and 2 eggs on a wholemeal roll. I had some cucumber with it because i saw it in the fridge and i've never seen a rule that says you cant have it for breakfast with spam and eggs.

ANYWAY. Mid morning study cravings left me drooling over the haighs chocolates i have in the fridge, but i went for the apple instead, it kept me occupied long enough for me to finish half my essay before i went to the kitchen and cooked up some fish and a dozen wedges, plated next to some more cucumber, carrot and alfalfa sprouts. only a SMALL blob of mayo, not my usual 3tbsp, but maybe 1tbsp. And no salt on the fish, just lemon juice. i know its only tiny, but i really think i need to start with these tiny little steps, make them habits, then change them a bit more. i guess im trying to trick myself into being healthy, as im a creature of habit and my habits are currently no good.

The BF, Braedan, is on board, and he is wonderful, he says he'll come and cook me fish once a week if i make the salads to go with it. Wants to go on walks with me along the beach too. He recently joined a gym and we giggle about how buff he is going to be soon.

The weather is FINALLY starting to improve, we've had the coldest winter in like 40 years or something, and while we might not get snow, no-one likes to go for a run in the rain and wind. Gunna take advantage of this sunshine :) considering getting a personal trainer too, maybe just once a week. group sessions maybe? not sure which one would work better. might try both! haha

Dinner tonight - maybe chicken with some spinach and pumpkin salad, its going to be lacking pine nuts cause i forgot them at the shop yesterday, dangit. Note to self: make shopping lists.

Anyway, back to the essay.

Kate
 
Good job on taking the first step, its often the hardest! Admitting what our problems are and confronting them is (to me) the most difficult part. That goes along with combating them of course. If you don't admit its a weakness then you can't fight it right?

Anyway - I think you're doing a great job and making a great change by starting small. You want this to be a sustainable life change not just a crash diet. By changing small habits you'll make a big effect. Eventually you'll see huge changes, and those will be the result of the small decisions you make along the way!

Good luck and I can't wait to read more about your progress! :)
 
Cheers for the support guys :) and definitely agree with admitting weakness in order to fight something, SQ (just read ur name, im a bit of a gryffindor fan myself <3)

Tonight's dinner ended up being: a banana and a handful of peanuts, about 200g of kangaroo steak, spinach and pumpkin salad with home made dressing and (ashamed) half a dozen chocolate balls, which are in the fridge staring at me every time i look in there.

Tomorrow i have more kangaroo and salad for lunch, ill take an apple as well. I really need to work out something good for brekky though. Maybe a piece of toast and a banana or something? Hmmm, will have to think of something quick and easy before i go shopping next time.

So another (healthier than usual) but not great day.

GOOD NEWS, however, is that i cranked out 20 minutes of awkward exercises on the fit ball, even when i couldnt be bothered. Gunna increase my core strength :)

OK, back to uni tomorrow! Which is pretty full on, i only came back from my clinical placement like 2 days ago, eek! REALLY need a holiday.

Kate xx
 
hey

hey katiebug..

Any updates regarding your journey?
It might be an inspiring and motivating story for all of us who wish to lose a lot of weight. Of the diets you've tried, which one is the most effective? Which one worked for you?

Have you heard about raw foods? They're kinda "in" these days.

Jean
 
jeankarla said:
hey katiebug..

Any updates regarding your journey?
It might be an inspiring and motivating story for all of us who wish to lose a lot of weight. Of the diets you've tried, which one is the most effective? Which one worked for you?

Have you heard about raw foods? They're kinda "in" these days.

Jean
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Yeah, you don't need to do that Katie, I think you are doing just fine without doing on of these fad diets. You don't need that. If you look around at the various stickie posts, you can find a ton of information.

And that is really the key..information. Educate yourself about portion sizes and calorie amounts. You know what you are doing and that is what is important. Keep your head up and kepp pushing forward. We are here to help ya!
 
Bugger diets, its all about balance. I am the weight i am now because i've been eating TOO MUCH food. A lot of what i eat now is healthy, i have a daily apple and salad on my sandwiches, the thing is, in the past i've have two whole sandwiches and pick up a pasta on the way home as a pre-dinner snack. I can't count the number of times i've eaten so much i end up feeling sick. Dont get me wrong, i eat bad foods more often than i should, but i have no intentions of giving up chocolate or hot chips, i just want to have them LESS OFTEN and reduce the AMOUNT i have when i do buy them.

If you're looking for ideas on motivation, one that works on me when i'm driving past a fast food place is telling myself "OK, i wont go through the drive through today, but i'll let myself have something bad tomorrow instead" the trick is when the next day comes to do the same thing; "OK, not today, but tomorrow ill let myself buy a block of chocolate" and keep delaying it until you forget you wanted the bad food in the first place. I know it sounds stupid, and it might not work for everyone, but i've spent years promising myself that "Tomorrow i'm going to start my diet and lose weight and get fit" yaddah yaddah and it never worked, so i used the same principle, just swapped it over to benefit my health.

OK, my food for today was, again, better than usual but not great. This morning i almost missed my 8am lecture and had to skip brekky, so when i had my break i splurged on a ham and cheese croissant, but for lunch i had leftover kangaroo and spinach/pumpkin salad. This afternoon i came home and i was STARVING but i resisted the unhealthy food and made myself a chicken and salad sandwich. Tonight i'm having fish and salad with my boyfriend, then we're going for a walk on the beach :)

I also walked from the train station to uni (about 15 minute walk) instead of catching the bus two stops (yep, thats how lazy i've been in the past, i broke out into a sweat, how embarrassing!!)

When i came home i cleaned out the rabbit hutch and made them a giant enclosure on the lawn so they could run around, i'm spoiling my bunnies this week cause i am probably giving them away this weekend :( my university demands are just gunna take away all my time and i dont want to lock the bunnies in a hutch outside all day every day while im on placement next year, so i've found a really sweet lady to come adopt them. As selfish as it sounds, i think it will give me more time to focus on my weight loss too, sad, but true. As guilty as i feel, at least i am trying to do the right thing by them. I'll attach a photo to share.

Anyway, feeling good, still feeling very determined, my weight has about 2kg of fluctuation throughout the day (weird, eh?) but when i weigh myself in the mornings it's been saying i've lost almost a kilo already. pretty stoked. Wanna get back into the 120kg's asap, as it also takes my BMI under 40 (from "severely obese" to just plain old "obese")

OK, off to go buy some fish, yum!!

Kate xx
 
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If you're looking for ideas on motivation, one that works on me when i'm driving past a fast food place is telling myself "OK, i wont go through the drive through today, but i'll let myself have something bad tomorrow instead" the trick is when the next day comes to do the same thing; "OK, not today, but tomorrow ill let myself buy a block of chocolate" and keep delaying it until you forget you wanted the bad food in the first place. I know it sounds stupid, and it might not work for everyone, but i've spent years promising myself that "Tomorrow i'm going to start my diet and lose weight and get fit" yaddah yaddah and it never worked, so i used the same principle, just swapped it over to benefit my health.
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This is a great idea! It doesn't work for me, but other ppl have told me that it really works well for them!

And I get the 2kg fluctuation thing, it's the same for me! If I weigh myself in the morning and again at night there can be anywhere from 1 kg to 3 kg difference.. I think it's from all the water/food intake :p

Since you don't plan on cutting junk food out of your diet completely, maybe it would help if you decided at the beginning of the week how much you can have, and then only buy that amount, just a thought.

Wish you all the best!
 
hey katie - big up for the south aussies!!! Im from adelaide too.

good luck on your journey. the food diaries are great for motivation and inspiration, reading the previous days of mine has given me some direction as to what I want to try and eat like this week. They definitely help me focus a bit more on my diet.

what I also found was good for me at the start of my weight loss was cutting out carbs as much as possible. that means bread, milk (even light stuff), sugar etc. start to read the labels of everything you eat (I cant stop reading them now before I try anything new).

you'll start to see how much of what we eat and drink contains unnatural amounts of energy which ultimately gets turned into fat when we cant burn the energy.

When you start the low carb diet, dont be afraid to eat lots of protein (meats and eggs are best source), fat (healthy fat like that of peanuts) and green vegetables whenever you start to get hungry. The aim of the initial part of a low carb diet is to ultimately reduce your craving for sugar. It took me 2-3 days to kill the cravings.

I initially believed diets were a load of crap until I started the low carb diet about 3 mths ago now. It was the turning point for me as after a couple of days without chips, soft drinks, vegemite on toast, milk in my coffee and sugar in my tea, I no longer had the cravings.
 
The Journey said:
Since you don't plan on cutting junk food out of your diet completely, maybe it would help if you decided at the beginning of the week how much you can have, and then only buy that amount, just a thought.

Wish you all the best!
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Thanks!! Thats not a bad idea, but i get the feeling it wont work for me, as if i plan an unhealthy meal it seems to be all i can think about, for example - when I go out to dinner somewhere, i always check out the menu online beforehand and find the yummiest thing on there to pre-plan my order even if its days/weeks before i go there!! gah, it sounds so sad when i write it out!! Food has seriously taken up waaaay too much of my life lately, i've been living meal-to-meal, its like the second i finish one meal i start planning the next.

Last night i kept waking up all frustrated because i was dreaming about a giant bowl of spinach leaves and couldnt find any good bits in there!! Haha, i have vivid dreams almost every night, but when i woke up i found this one particularly amusing. I think it was my subconscious admitting i didnt like the salad i made yesterday (primarly consisted of spinach leaves) so today i googles a whole heap of salad recipes. gunna try a red cabbage and onion recipe tonight and have it with some lean chicken.

Feeling pretty good though, today i had a 2 hour lecture that almost ALWAYS puts me to sleep and i stayed awake and alert through the whole thing, feeling pretty energetic.

OK, food wise today was: a banana for breakfast (still need to work out something to keep me going a bit longer, i was hungry within an hour and splurged on a big cookie that i saw had FOUR HUNDRED calories!!! hence why i am about to go to the gym) then i had leftover salad and a mini can of chicken for lunch, a dozen shapes bikkies and an apple for an afternoon snack.

I know my diet probably looks awful to some of you, i know most diaries dont admit to splurges EVERY day, but i really am proud of myself, because if i wrote down what i ate even just last week, gosh, it would have scared you. OK, one meal i had last week was three GIANT potatos smothered in butter, three layers of grated cheese and bolognese with soft drink on the side and a chunk of lemon cake with extra (butter) icing for dessert... all in one sitting!! I dont even was to THINK about how many calories is in a meal like that!!

So yes, even though it probably seems like i'm not sticking to my guns or have much determination etc, i honestly think i've almost halved the amount im eating.

Oh and cheers roy!! (woot woot for adelaide!!) I agree with the carb craving thing. I did a diet with mum once that made you eat nothing but protein for 3 days. It sounds extreme but it DEFINITELY tackles the carb cravings. Can i ask what you do for breakfast? I'm really struggling for good carb-free ideas... i thought boiled eggs would be good, but i really want breakfast to be my biggest meal of the day (thats just whats worked for me in the past - if i have a big brekky i rarely feel hungry the rest of the day) anyway half a dozen eggs every morning is gunna get a bit pricey (and probably smelly too)

OK, off to the gym, im gunna go work my charms and ask for a free personal training session. Fingers crossed! Haha :)

Kate
 
Way to go! You've really made some big changes there, don't think it's baby steps. I'd say you're doing everything perfectly. Can I ask what you are studying? It sounds like medicine... How are you coping with the workload while trying to shop/cook/eat healthily?
 
Hey Kate,

Thought I'd say hi. I'm 5'11 too!

I have to say I don't think you're food looks bad! I think it's important that we do this weight loss in a way that is achievable for us. And you've already lost 3kgs that is awesome!

If you slow down on the weight loss then you'll have room to move in what you are eating:)

That dream about spinach leaves is pretty funny. Better than dreaming about chocolate maybe?

I had 2 poached eggs with a small amount of baked beans this morning. Was really filling and not too many cals?

Anna
 
Shinsplint said:
Way to go! You've really made some big changes there, don't think it's baby steps. I'd say you're doing everything perfectly. Can I ask what you are studying? It sounds like medicine... How are you coping with the workload while trying to shop/cook/eat healthily?
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Hey - yeah, I'm studying physiotherapy (think its called physical therapy outside of aus) and it's pretty full on, i've just come back from my first clinical placement (three weeks of unpaid work experience) and over the three weeks i got a -really- sore lower back, and i was absolutely exhausted every single day; probably from holding too much extra weight. Next year i have 4 more placements (each one lasting 8 weeks - thats eight MONTHS of placement in total) and if i want to survive next year without injury, i really need to drop at LEAST 20kg. Not to mention in the health industry it's not a good look to be overweight, can't preach good health if i look like a walking heart attack eh?

And cheers for the brekky idea anna.banana, i dont mind baked beans in small amounts, maybe i can get some mini-tins :)

Change of plan for dinner tonight. Making a tomato and basil wholemeal pita... thing. Ha, its an experiment ;) then laksa (curry coconut soup).

Gym was goooooooood, got all nice and sweaty, 1km on the rower, 1km on the xtrainer, 1km on the treadmill and then a bunch of ball exercises.. oh and i'm obviously still charming, i scored the free personal trainer session tomorrow, hehe :) gunna ask them to give me some core strength exercises to help fix my sore back.

Dinner time!

Kate
 
I used to skip breakfast as I don't feel heaps hungry in the mornings but now I have started to have an egg with some bacon (no bread, definitely no bread) and sometimes also have some cooked mushroom and tomato.

Yeah, the worst part of a low carb diet is how expensive it can get. I eat good steak 4-5 nights a week at the moment but I can afford it luckily as I work full time and live at home so no rent or mortgage yet (actually a reason why I am dieting now is cause when I buy a place next year I wont be able to eat like I am now).

But you can stick to the green veggies and some of the other non sweet veggies (steer clear of sweetness and starches as much as possible) if meat and eggs is getting expensive for your budget. Also, canned tuna is reasonably cheap and a great source of protein.

One other tip I was told and seems to work with reducing my appetite in the mornings is to make sure you are getting 8hrs sleep minimum. It has been proven that sleep deprivation has a high correlation with overeating. You will obviously be so much less exhausted at the end of the day as well.
 
OK, i've found two recipes i LOVE. but im not sure how healthy they are...

One is: wholemeal mini-pita bread with basil dip, cooked under the grill, then taken out, put a thin layer of low fat feta, a whole (diced) tomato and some fresh basil leaves. OMG - SOOOOOOOOOO tasty. I had two of them for dinner last night and i was completely full!! Its odd cause if i had two mini pizzas of the same size, i would be hungry again within half an hour.

The other one is a salad - it has a quarter of a cabbage, some toasted almonds, spring (green) onions and fried noodles. I know the noodles aren't good for me (i checked out the calories though, and the noodles alone are about 120 calories per serve, so if i'm having it as a main meal i dont mind) oh and the dressing is a combination of soy sauce, vinegar and olive oil. I always hear that olive oil is good for you, and i always buy the 'extra lite' olive oil... but i guess like anything, too much is not good, so i only use about half the amount of dressing they recommend and its still delish!!

this morning i had lite spam and 2 eggs on a wholemeal roll, i went to the gym straight after and got an awesome new workout from the personal trainer there, he had me shaking with all the weights, it felt great!!

for lunch i had the aforementioned cabbage salad, and braedan is cooking me dinner tonight as it's our 11 month anniversary (nawww, lame? haha) but he promised it will be healthy, i think he is getting us some more fish. I've really gotten a taste for it lately, and apparently it's great brain food, so its a bit of a win-win :)

I've spent about $200 on groceries this week!! How insane is that?! I ran into my old manager at the local supermarket and asked her if she could promise me hours at her store i would transfer from my old one, she was SUPER keen cause we're good friends, and if i transfer i only need to travel 10 minutes to get to work, instead of the usual 25 (or in peak hour - 40 minutes?!) but yeah, living out of home is a HUGE expense when you're a full time student. Bills, rent, bills, groceries, petrol, rego and insurance, grrrr, feels like the second i get paid it gets evenly distributed to anyone except myself!!

So yes, feeling a bit broke, but literally on top of the world about my health. I jumped on the scales this morning and i was 129.8kg!! Yaaay!! Under the 130 mark and over the 5kg lost mark!! I will wait until my official saturday morning weigh-in before changing my ticker though, as encouragement to keep it off and keep working hard.

Anyway, off to uni then a long night of study (and maybe a little bit of romance? :p)

Kate
 
roysymmonds83 said:
I used to skip breakfast as I don't feel heaps hungry in the mornings but now I have started to have an egg with some bacon (no bread, definitely no bread) and sometimes also have some cooked mushroom and tomato.
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Ahoy there! Yep, I went and got some mushies and tomato this morning (thanks to your post!! :)), but i think im still going to have some kind of carb in the mornings, the wholemeal bread really does keep me feeling full for a number of hours so maybe i'll just cut it back to one slice and up the egg and mushroom quota, i love my carbs too much to cut them out completely.

And as for sleep I find about 7 hours is good for me, i usually wake up after 7 hours even if my alarm isnt set to go off for another hour or two. I can eventually fall back asleep if im stubborn enough, but i usually wake up more tired... I totally understand about being exhausted with not enough sleep, if i only get 5 or 6 hours i am NOT a happy chappy!! Is it true that the amount of sleep you need is dependant on your age?? I swear i heard that somewhere..
 
Katiebug33 said:
Ahoy there! Yep, I went and got some mushies and tomato this morning (thanks to your post!! :)), but i think im still going to have some kind of carb in the mornings, the wholemeal bread really does keep me feeling full for a number of hours so maybe i'll just cut it back to one slice and up the egg and mushroom quota, i love my carbs too much to cut them out completely.

And as for sleep I find about 7 hours is good for me, i usually wake up after 7 hours even if my alarm isnt set to go off for another hour or two. I can eventually fall back asleep if im stubborn enough, but i usually wake up more tired... I totally understand about being exhausted with not enough sleep, if i only get 5 or 6 hours i am NOT a happy chappy!! Is it true that the amount of sleep you need is dependant on your age?? I swear i heard that somewhere..
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yeah, cutting them is a good start and if it is easier than going cold turkey completely on carbs then that is better than not. My advice would be to try and gradually decrease the carbs over time (which is what I have been trying to do). anything less than 100gm of carbs a day is good, 60gms is great and 20gms is excellent. The daily recommended (I say its recommended but I dont agree with it personally) is 300gm.

with the sleep, it is not just about feeling awake. The sleep process allows the body to recover from elevated cortisol in the body (amongst other things) and increased cortisol can lead to an increase in appetite. I used to sleep 5 or 6hr but are trying my hardest to get 8hrs min, and seem to be improving. there were plenty of articles like the followin on the net which I have read about this:

I dont profess to know everything but in the last couple of months I have been reading around on a whole heap of things and talking to a nutritionist and doctor friends of mine.

Changes to my lifestyle, and ones which I would recommend, are:
1. reduce carbs and starches as much as possible
2. reduce alcohol
3. increase sleep
4. increase water intake (3L min if doing 45mins exercise a day)
5. increase protein and fat (good fats like peanuts, olive oil and fish oil caps) intake
6. get exercise everyday (even if it is walking)
7. take additional vitamin D3 (taking as much as 3000IU a day) and multivitamin caplet each day.

These rule are how I am trying to live now, I am not trying to tell you what to do only what I believe have helped me lose weight and originated in the last couple of months from my own investigation. It seems to be working as today I received another comment from a work colleague (the 4th in the last 3 days). Most of them are cheap to do as well.
 
roysymmonds83 said:
Changes to my lifestyle, and ones which I would recommend, are:
1. reduce carbs and starches as much as possible
2. reduce alcohol
3. increase sleep
4. increase water intake (3L min if doing 45mins exercise a day)
5. increase protein and fat (good fats like peanuts, olive oil and fish oil caps) intake
6. get exercise everyday (even if it is walking)
7. take additional vitamin D3 (taking as much as 3000IU a day) and multivitamin caplet each day.
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Sweet!! Cheers for that, i'm definitely open to any suggestions and I wont think of it as 'telling me what to do' but more offering words of wisdom that have already worked for you :)

I dont drink alcohol often (letting down university students nation-wide: sorry guys!) and you've made me feel better about my olive oil salad dressing :D haha. I REALLY need to increase my water intake though. I probably drink about a litre a day, if that. A month ago i scored myself "parotitis" - a salivary gland infection often caused by dehydration. It sucked, but luckily it was whisked away by antibiotics within a week. Anyway I carry a small water bottle with me and usually knock it off every day (600mL) but dont drink much at home. I've put some low-calorie cordial in the fridge which has helped but still definitely not reaching my 2L (or 3L) a day. Hmmm.

_________________________________________________________________

Okie dokie. Last two days have been GREAT!! I'm so proud of myself!! Been to the gym two days in a row (I was there for a whole hour today and man, was i sweating!!)

Food wise last night Braedan took me out to a seafood restaurant, i indulged in ONE small piece of white bread with butter and some pita bread with dips for entre, i got the grilled calamari and grilled hake for main and had a glass of OJ with the meal instead of wine (I know fruit juice has heaps of sugar, but it was a special occasion) The meal was served with roasted potatos and while i ate most of them, i left a few on the plate at the end (which i've never done before) so again, little steps :)

This morning was a piece of toast with basil dip and feta, lunch was a mini can of tuna with my cabbage salad and an apple. Theres a mug of laksa reheating in the microwave as i type this, which will be my afternoon snack, and i'm heading up to the river with braedan tonight so not sure what the go is for dinner.

Big win for me today was resisting temptation. Me and three girls from uni went to the cafe on the corner and i was SO tempted to get a giant latte or a piece of cake or a cookie or something, but i put my wallet away and munched on my apple, Sharlene gave me a bite of her cheesecake and, omg, foodgasm!! it was so amazing, but i didnt have any more or buy my own piece.

It sounds crazy but i've never felt this "in control" of my own diet. It's unheard of for me to be the only one at a table of four not indulging in a little something, usually i just need someone to hint that they want to eat something bad and i am already lined up with a crate of chips and anything deep fried within a 2km radius. Feels very self empowering.

Anyway, i STILL havent written that stupid neuro essay which is due in like THREE DAYS?! so i have to go and stop getting distracted.

Kate
 
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