Age: 42 Sex: Female Height: 5' 5" Weight: 140lbs Race: White Duration of Complaint: Recent (5/24 - 6/24), Chronic (2008 - 2024) Location Geographic: Southern California, USA Location Body: Neck / Back / Chest / Left Arm / Abdomen Current Issues: Fatigue / Pain Current Medications: None
Any insight into how any of the following may be connected or thoughts regarding a root cause(s) would be awesome! From most recent and back:
(6.1.24) ER visit for incapacitating fatigue not alleviated by rest, chills, muscle twitches for past several months, fever symptoms with normal temperature, pelvic pressure and tightness at inner thighs, hard lump/lymph right side upper neck, rash on neck under jaw and left wrist (labs in normal range except D-Dimer 1.07 mcg FEU/ml no PE shown on CT)
(5.22.24) Chronic (episodic, lasting weeks at a time) neck/back pain of medium to high pain level radiating to left arm/wrist/hand with sore spot felt on spine near the area where a shirt tag hits your back, hypersensitive to touch in shirt tag area (no trigger of note, with progressive loss of strength and persistent pain in left wrist), growing fatigue felt mostly in the first half of the day (Xray showing cervical spondylosis)(labs for coinciding physical in normal range except LDL 102 mg/dl, Urinalysis squamous epithelial 10-20 / Bacteria Few / Calcium Oxalate Many, possible contaminated sample, Ferritin in range at low end at 24 ng/mL)(neck/back pain radiating to left arm thought to be relative to GI issues from 2008 to 2023)
Chronic Issues beginning 2008 to present day:
-Insomnia (inability to fall asleep, improvement as of 2023), GI problems (reflux, GERD, gastritis noted in records), Sharp pain at either center of chest, left chest or lower neck/upper back area radiating to left arm/wrist/hand
Unusual Medical Incident (2018): Sudden onset of blurred vision, self described as "4D", closing one eye required to do anything that required sight, relevant to both near and far, persistent for 1 month with sudden resolution, diagnosed as Convergence Insufficiency, 1 occurrence only
Unusual Medical Incident (2008): Hemoperitoneum 400ml with clots concentrated in pelvic area, originally assumed to be due to appendix, diagnosed as Hemoperitoneum of unknown cause during surgery, not due to gynecological issue or other expected cause(s) per ER notes
Misc Note: Spiral fracture at left femur 2009, implant of titanium rod and screws currently in place
Thank you!!!

My lowest recorded weight was ~148lbs in 2020. I can't remember how much my starting weight was before that weight loss; probably around 220lbs if I had to guess. I at one point was using this sub to lose that weight so I'm back. Since covid hit, I gained over 100lbs; my highest was ~268lbs in 2022 and am now at ~257lbs as of today.
I want to know how I can get back on track for weight loss. I am a ~5'4" woman and I would like to weigh 120lbs as a huge stretch goal. My doctor would like to see 2-4lbs lost before I see him next, in the beginning of August. I am completely physically healthy aside from my weight, but it does weigh (ha) on me mentally a lot (I have Bipolar 1 and it strongly affects the depression component of it).
What are some tips you would share to someone coming back? Is intermittent fasting good (I thought about trying 12/12 to start)? What's the best fitness app? I had been using Omada because my insurance covered it but I didn't like that it didn't track calories. Did give me a fancy scale though. I recently picked back up My Fitness Pal as it's what I used to use and the features that it has that I actually use are all free (premium might be nice but I can't afford it atm). I did take a look at Lose It! but it seems like most of what I'd want out of it is paid.
Sorry if this is long-winded, ramble-y, or hard to read!! Just looking for some help, both physically and mentally.

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Im sorry but those sub results on reddit(keywords ON REDDIT ) aren't results , like literally nothing changes , no glow up , it's either growing up , learned how to do makeup , haircut, or better sense in fashion , different angle/ lightening and what's even funnier is that they call it "drastic" like imo nothing changed , "but the chin/ neck-" "but the eyes" eyelash extensions and makeup exists , and have y'all heard of smt called losing weight 😱like its just common sense .as someone with an ethnic nose it annoys the heck out of me when I see someone with a perfectly fine and common nose and they post that their nose changed when the only thing is it "slimmed" down , but in fact it didn't really , it's just a different angle and imo nothing changed and someone with a very small tiny hump saying that the hump disappeared when it's just a different angle, I mean it's really annoying, it's really annoying when I'm trying to look for results and I'm sorry but you guys probably saw that popular madison beer CC results of that one girl , but every time I look into the picture it isn't results it's clearly makeup and a bit of weight loss like I could literally look like that girl in the before pic when I'm in bed but the moment I get up and learn how to do my makeup I would look 100% completely different, and it's true , like I'm sorry no offense but I'm just being realistic on here and I don't like when people try to sugarcoat certain stuff

My son is 2.5 years old and is a VERY picky eater. I am really struggling with allowing my son to choose to say no to food but I am at a loss. To be clear, his doctor is not at all concerned about his weight. But we have only seen his new doctor once. His previous ped put him in feeding therapy and on a medication to increase his appetite, but I didn't feel any of that was necessary, so we have since switched doctors. Here's my current struggle, the only foods my son will eat are: breaded chicken, sausage patties, eggs, peaches, bananas, yogurt, chocolate milk, nutri grain bars, pouches and some other snacks. I feel like EVERY single meal time is a problem. We do not high chair him because he refuses to eat and says all done the whole time. He will sometimes eat while walking around and playing, but I don't know how much food he should be consuming every day. He LOVES chocolate milk and asks for it all day, but I don't give in until he eats some. I saw a post the other day that kids this age eat air, so maybe I just need to chill. I also have 2under2 and am going through my own mental health issues, so this just exacerbates all my stress and worries. Do I just need to let him be? He can communicate his needs and when he's hungry, but I just feel like he doesn't eat and adequate amount of food, but what do I know lol? Please ease my mind. I know I should not worry since his doctor doesn't seem concerned at all, nor does my son appear underweight. I think this post is me realizing I may have terrible PPA. 😬😬

hi fermentation subreddit users!! I recently decided that I wanted to try something new and I am VERY new to anything fermentation wise lol, the most I've done is try (and fail) to create a sourdough starter I started off with a ginger bug bc I kept seeing stuff about them on tiktok and I will happily consume anything with fizzy bubbles my little ginger guy was doing so good and getting a little bubbly until on day 3 when it got a little thicker than what i saw in the videos. I saw a couple different ways that could happen and i assumed it was just because i added too much ginger and sugar (because i did oops) so i just left it as I read that it was best to starve it when that happens and i was planning to feed it the day after or even later if the texture was still off the next day, i opened my jar to find what I'm pretty sure was white mold growing on top :( I've read the tips and troubleshooting info for this club but I have no idea what applies to this situation honestly, I haven't seen anyone else that had to use weights or anything similar and I'm allergic to mold so I don't think I can safely skim it off and keep going
This brings me to my question(s) is there anything i should keep in mind for this round? I've seen so many different ways of doing this but not a lot of explanation on what's best. i have a few specific questions but I'd really appreciate any tips at this point!!
first, is it better to loosely cover the jar or to have it sealed tightly?
should i make sure to only use distilled water or does it not matter?
is grated or chopped ginger better?
does it really matter if i add too much ginger?
does stirring prevent mold growth? if not, how can I prevent it this time? I know that this is probably a stupid question but I'm at a loss
When i made mine, i had it loosely covered (paper towel rubberbanded on) with tap water, chopped ginger, I added too much and i only stirred once a day it tasted really good and seemed to be growing bubbles, but I'm not sure if they were carbonation bubbles or not now 😭😭
I'm in the southern US w lots of humidity and decent warmth right now!! not sure if that changes anything

For the context F41, HW 115kg, CW 111.8kg, GW 89kg, H 5f5, Intermittent fasting since 2019 during work days (18 months break during pregnancy and breastfeeding).
I've tried many things in my life to lose weight and prior to my second pregnancy I was able to lose some weight, then stalled, then lost interest and yo-yoed back and more. My biggest success 12 years back was to join the gym and actually go there daily for 2 years 5 days a week (22kg loss and maintained it for another 4) but this lifestyle where being active took 3 to 4 hrs of my life every day proved to be unsustainable long term due to work and family commitments. I now have working arrangement that could support this lifestyle but my weight is almost at my highest and my energy levels are really low.
I identified multiple vitamin deficiencies after Covid 2 years ago (mostly with my D3, B12, Iron and B9) and these are mostly rectified today to the point that I have no more depression, brain fog, extreme fatigue, I can walk without pain and my cravings for high carb high fat food have now minimised but some of bad habits from that time are still there.
I tried keto on top of IF last year for 3.5months and I failed to lose beyond 4kg of water weight and this was all largely due to overeating on protein and anything keto.
I ordered my first month's supply of MJ and I have some serious doubts if I ever can manage to regulate my overeating problem. I eat even when I'm not hungry, my eating window starts at 5 pm and doesn't finish till I go to bed. I binge on anything, even healthy stuff. I just feel the urge to have something in my mouth. I tried without fasting but eating breakfast and lunch only adds calories to already terrible eating habits. IF helped me maintain my weigh at least over the last few years.
I am a smoker and I vape on top of that which only shows my strong addiction problem. I don't drink at all.
Any thoughts?

Sparse neural networks have often struggled to match the performance of dense models due to signal propagation issues and complex hyperparameter tuning. However, the recent paper "Sparse Maximal Update Parameterization: A Holistic Approach to Sparse Training Dynamics" from Nolan Dey, Shane Bergsma, and Joel Hestness of Cornell University proposes a transformative solution: S$\mu$Par. This innovative approach allows for the independent scaling of activations, gradients, and weight updates, making sparse models more efficient and effective.

Key Points:

• Stability: S$\mu$Par ensures stable training dynamics regardless of sparsity levels, crucial for consistent model performance.
• Efficiency: By reparameterizing hyperparameters, S$\mu$Par reduces tuning costs, allowing small dense network parameters to apply to large sparse models.
• Performance: Demonstrated improvements in large-scale language models, achieving up to 8.2% better loss compared to traditional methods.

Potential with Future AI:

Scenario	Description
Real-time AI	Implementing S$\mu$Par could enhance real-time processing in AI applications, such as language translation or autonomous driving.
Energy Efficiency	Reducing computational costs for AI models, leading to greener AI technologies with lower energy consumption.
Scalability	Facilitating the development of larger, more complex models without prohibitive costs or resource demands.

Predicting Sparse Training Dynamics
Conclusion: Predicting Sparse Training Dynamics
Harnessing S$\mu$Par's holistic approach promises significant advancements in the efficiency and capability of AI models, marking a step forward in the evolution of artificial intelligence.

AI, #ArtificialIntelligence

Read the full paper

Hello!
I hope we're all doing well.
We are very, very short on characters, so no wasting time here. Here is the PAYPAL 50 USD giveaway info.
To enter... just type Giveaway: -answer-
If you could walk out with a fighter of any organisation, at any time of era, who would you walk out with?
Draw will be randomly selected via random.org, and announced during the June 22nd write up!
We got 10/12 correct last time around, lets hope the good results continue this week with this insanely tough card (i have some doubts).
ALSO ITS A BIG ONE SORRY (I recommend using the TL;DR write up for this one... you'll see why soon.)
(c) - Champ
D/DWCS - Debut/Dana Whites' Contender Series
FLS - Fight Lose Streak
FWS - Fight Win Streak
NS - No Streak
(#x) - Rank in division
x/3 - Confidence Levels
Lets go!
Prelims
Women’s Strawweight
Puja Tomar (D) (+195) (8-4-0, 4 FWS) v Rayanne Amanda (-240) (14-7-0) - I truly have no clue what to say about this one.
Tomar is coming off a rather strong string of victories in the regional promotions of South Asia, and I believe they are giving her a spot here due to the popularity from the Road to UFC tournament where we are seeing an increase of Indian MMA fighters fight in the upper echelon of professional MMA promotions. Tomar is a very ferocious fighter who has a relatively strong Muay Thai and Kickboxing base, she is absolutely not afraid to let her hands go early, that first round is almost always her best round as she is seemingly able to just overwhelm her opponents on the feet. As much as her striking is rather aggressive and quite damaging, her ground game and wrestling is not quite up to that level, and it is the wrestling and grappling of Amanda where I see Tomar struggling somewhat. Now, circling back to Tomar’s striking, she is very volume centric with her attacks, with a severe detriment to her defences, her hands are fast with the aggression but her chin is exposed to counters and it just looks like a clumsy offence to me. She also uses her left body kick quite a lot in between her punch combinations, and whilst that’s going to be somewhat effective against Amanda, I do think the repetitious kicks are going to be well read by Amanda, leading her to catch and perhaps trip Tomar. Still, as long as this fight remains on the feet, we could possibly see Tomar take this fight to the distance and get a win.
Amanda is coming off a tough loss against Talita Alencar and did somewhat well against her, stuffing almost all of her takedown attempts and really dealing some damage on the feet. The problem with Amanda’s last opponent compared to Tomar is that Tomar’s striking is going to come with a lot more frequency, there will be quite a few combinations thrown her way and in order to counter that for Amanda’s particular striking style is to meet her in the middle and be the harder hitter. I don’t think Amanda is going to want to keep this fight standing a whole lot though, I think she is going to actively look for the takedowns and ensure that she controls Tomar throughout the fight, perhaps even look for a submission. However, since she did so well on the feet against Alencar, I do wonder if she is going to be a lot more comfortable on the feet coming into this fight against Tomar, because she does have quite a bit of power in her hands, although it’s not great knockout power, it’s still a very damaging right hand. In terms of her submission ability, she is very, very aggressive on the ground, not really wasting a lot of time in setting up a submission, typically favouring an armbar which is going to be a most likely submission in this fight due to Tomar having not that much experience in ground situations, thus perhaps punching off her back and leaving her arm open for a grab. That’s at least my speculation for a set up for an armbar, and since Tomar has lost twice already to Armbar, I think it’s just a tendency for her to leave her arms exposed for an attack.
This looks like a striker versus grappler bout, and whilst Tomar is a bit of a threat on the feet, I don’t think she has what it takes to take on a more experienced fighter in Amanda who has the near perfect style to counter the striking of Tomar. I got Amanda winning this one, it’s likely going the distance, but we could also see a submission here, so keep an eye out for a double chance Sub/Dec prop for Amanda.
Amanda via UD - (1/3)
Bantamweight
Cody Stamann (+175) (21-6-1, NS) v Taylor Lapilus (-210) (19-4-0, NS)
Stamann is coming off a fairly competitive fight against Douglas Silva de Andrade, and whilst it was clear that Stamann’s gameplan throughout the fight was to wrestle and get the fight to the ground, he still did show his ability to mix it up on the feet and even drop Silva de Andrade in the third round. Stamann might be a great wrestler but I think his boxing is pretty damn good as well, often using a very slick and quick jab to soften up his target before shooting for a takedown, so he is quite well versed wherever the fight is, however I do think he is going to have a tough time tracking down Lapilus here since Lapilus has a significant reach advantage and very, very good takedown defence (albeit with some trouble when he fought Basharat, more on that later). Defensively, Stamann is great at level changing and being a moving target, sometimes switching stance or moving his head off the centre line, he is quite good at being a hard to hit target, and what makes him even more dangerous is his ability to move off that line, then spring back into an aggressive attack, often throwing a three to four strike combination with heavy variance in attack (uppercut, hooks, straights, never the same sort of attack). However, one thing that I have noticed is that due to Stamann’s tremendous output that he usually utilises in the first round, he tends to slow down and not be as defensively sound in the second or third round, his hands remain somewhat low, there is not a whole lot of level changing and his takedowns become much easier to read as the entry looks a lot more laboured. However, as much as his takedown defence does slow down, his power and his boxing is still very good in bursts. I mean, this combination he lands is the same one he tried to set up in the first round, this is experience being shown by Stamann and something Lapilus is going to have to be keenly aware of coming his way. Stamann does favour the double leg entry a lot, and since Lapilus is relatively good at reading level changes and fighting off takedown attempts, I just think that after the first or second round, the chance of success of a takedown diminishes greatly.
Lapilus is coming off a tough loss against Farid Basharat, someone who is rapidly becoming a force of somewhat gentle nature who is highly technical and very well rounded, so for Lapilus to experience three rounds against someone like Basharat is pretty damn great for one's career. Lapilus is a very well rounded fighter who has pretty sharp boxing, favouring straights over hooks and uppercuts, this plays into the favour of his significant reach advantage, but I do see him being victim to a left hook by Stamann, a left hook that Stamann uses fairly well. Lapilus is going to have to rely on a strike and move pattern in order to stay away from that left hook because that is probably one of the most dangerous weapons that Stamann uses well. Lapilus is pretty good at defending takedowns, he isn’t impervious to them, but his instinct to stuff the head and circle away has made him a tough opponent to wrestle against, because not only does he stuff the leg, but he often retaliates with strikes as he circles away, so whatever failed takedown comes his way from Stamann (if any), Stamann will be on the receiving end of some good strikes. Lapilus also has a thudding left kick which is effective at smashing his opponents body or head, and we have seen Stamann eat a lot of body shots by Silva de Andrade, so I do think that Lapilus does have some striking advantage at distance, he just needs to be aware of that left hook of Stamann.
The possibility of an upset here is pretty high since Stamann is very well rounded and has a lot of speed and explosive forward movement. However, the reach advantage of Lapilus is going to help him in fighting at a distance and dealing significant damage from his brilliant counter punching, and I don’t think the wrestling threat is going to be too high for Lapilus because he has already boosted his wrestling capabilities in preparation for his fight with Basharat, and that’s a skill that is carried very much onto future fights. Lapilus should win this fight, but if you are looking for underdogs, I wouldn’t be surprised if Stamann gets this.
Lapilus via UD - (1/3)
Women’s Strawweight
Eduarda Moura (-175) (10-0-0, 10 FWS) v Denise Gomes (+145) (8-3-0, NS)
Moura is coming off a strong debut win over Montserrat Ruiz, and honestly, it probably is a good opponent to debut against, but it doesn’t really show me, personally, a lot of what she is capable of since I don’t exactly rate Ruiz highly. Moura has shown to have great wrestling and grappling, she utilised her wrestling very well against Ruiz, utilising a slick sweep to get into top control in the first round, basically keeping the fight on the ground for the remainder of the round. Moura is absolutely awesome on the ground, and since she has a huge physical advantage in this fight against Gomes, as soon as she ends up in top position here, I suspect Gomes is not going to have a very easy time getting out of it. Moura’s striking is a bit wonky though, she isn’t at all a standard kickboxer or anything like that, it’s all basic strikes to set up a takedown, and I do think the longer she stays on the feet to trade with Gomes, the worse it is going to be for her since Gomes has ridiculous sharp and fast boxing, the very same power and force that knocked out Jauregui, someone who I rate fairly high as a tough up and comer. Now, there is some slight concern regarding that recent weight miss by Moura, as she weighed in at 119 pounds when she fought Gomes, but I feel like that is due to the cancellation of her first bout against Kim, so whilst it’s not a weight miss against a long scheduled opponent, her size and physique could be a tiny bit of a problem on the scales. Not a huge one, but the possibility is there.
Gomes is coming off a tough loss against the veteran Angela Hill, and it was Hills wrestling that ultimately got her the win, it was the path of least resistance for her and she took it. That same advantage on the ground falls within Moura’s style and so I do hope for the sake of Gomes and her team, that she has improved in the takedown defence just enough to make Moura’s takedowns less of a certainty, because if she can stuff that first takedown, I think we are going to see the live odds switch throughout the fight. Gomes has a massive advantage on the feet, she is so quick with her punches and is able to just be a ferocious, aggressive fighter from the get go, it didn’t take her long to take out Jauregui at all, and it all started from that very powerful right hand. That is the biggest threat for Moura, that right hand, if she can land that against Moura I think we are going to see another big upset because boy does she have power. However, it looked too easy to take Gomes down when Hill fought her, it was a relentless pace and I think Hill's volume of takedowns assisted her greatly in controlling the heavy hitter in Gomes.
That’s essentially it for this fight, I don’t quite see it being too competitive as both fighters have opposite styles, so whoever is able to counter the other with their own style (Moura with the wrestling/grappling and Gomes with the boxing) is most likely to win this one. I do not at all feel comfortable saying that there is possibility of an upset here because both fighters have a somewhat equal chance to win this one, but in terms of my prediction I think we are going to see Moura utilise her wrestling from the get go and be a bit of a bully.
Moura via UD - (1/3)
Women’s Flyweight
Andrea Lee (-125) (13-9-0, 4 FLS) v Montana De La Rosa (+105) (12-9-1, 3 FLS) - From here on in, i’m calling “De La Rosa” DLR. Although I think everyone calls her DLR in the betting/chat circle. Also, I am aware that this is a rematch, but I will be somewhat typing as if it’s a fresh fight because of the subtle improvements both fighters have made since their first bout in 2019.
Lee is on a pretty horrendous losing streak right now, and one might imagine that at the age of 35, we are only going to see a steady decline from now on. However, despite her losing streak, she is still a rather fierce competitor on the feet. Lee is typically known for her Muay Thai, she is very, very good at dealing damage through the traditional means of clinch striking, so a lot of elbows and knees are incorporated into her striking. Lee is also generally good at moving and circling away from danger, she’s a very light footed fighter and this often helps set up her leg kicks and long punches, but most of her effective damage comes from the clinch, so as long as DLR is engaging in the clinch with Lee, Lee will hold most of the advantage. One thing that I do like seeing about Lee is her wrestling improvements, she has become a fairly well rounded fighter, and this was very much highlighted when she fought Miranda Maverick. Miranda Maverick is very well known for her takedown and wrestling capabilities, and even she struggled to get Lee down 5 of 8 times. Her takedown defence may not be outstandingly great, but her urgency to get up if that takedown was sloppy and had minimal control or positional advancement behind it is her best new asset as a fighter, and sometimes urgency is all one needs to turn the tide.
DLR is coming off three tough losses against the likes of Aldrich, Suarez and Barber, three names who we all recognise by now, but I suppose the most relevant fight to look back on would be her most recent against Aldrich, also because Aldrich generally is a fairly good striker and that’s the kind of fighter DLR needs to prepare for. DLR, straight off the bat, has a very obvious wrestling and BJJ advantage over Lee, there is very little doubt in my mind that a lot of the planning for this camp, and preparation for Lee surrounds level changing and keeping Lee on the ground, however I do not at all expect there to be a threat of a finish here, it is simply going to be a control based game plan with some ground and pound or positional changes. During their second bout in 2019, DLR landed a whole lot of takedowns on Lee, although it was 7 of 12 that did not land which is a massive amount for someone who needs to get that takedown to get a win. DLR’s striking is a bit rudimentary, she can throw all the attacks any other MMA fighter learns to throw, although it’s clear that her main style is wrestling. She has absolutely made a lot of improvements to her striking, her shot selection is a lot better, but she is not a striker, she uses all of her kicks and punches to set up takedowns and such. Her striking defence is a bit of a problem, I do see her close her eyes a lot and react to feints often which makes me think she is a bit anxious on the feet, so once Lee pours on the pressure, expect a clinch or a level change from DLR.
Here’s a slight rub. Judging criteria has been a major point of change in MMA history, there has been a lot more focus on damage over control, and who has received the most damage when Lee and DLR fought in 2019? DLR. Who receives the most damage on the feet in her last 5 fights? DLR (at least for the most part). I see Lee winning this fight, I think Lee’s takedown defence and urgency to the feet is an upgrade that DLR has not caught up to (with her striking). This fight is going the distance, or at least over 2.5 rounds.
Lee via UD - (1/3)
Bantamweight
Daniel Marcos (15-0-0, 15 FWS) v John Castaneda (21-6-0, 2 FWS) -
Marcos is coming off an unfortunate NC over Aoriqileng in which he may have accidentally neutered Aoriqileng with a perfectly timed nutshot, but prior to all of that happening, he was systematically breaking down the 35 fight veteran. Marcos has always been a patient but vicious fighter, capable of dealing damage from all ranges, and most important, all angles. I bring the angles part up because the one thing I see Marcos doing consistently well are his leg kicks, he is so good at dealing damage from both the inside and outside angle, making it hard to check due to not knowing which way to turn the leg. Now, I do have some concerns when it comes to Marcos, but they mostly stem from his strengths as a counter-striker. First, he doesn’t move a lot, he has a typical counter style of waiting for his opponent to make the first move. I don’t have a lot of faith in this style, Aoriqileng managed to land some clean straight punches on Marcos during that fight and I think a very good boxer will be able to deal some more significant damage. Marcos’ takedown defence is also, whilst not properly tested, sitting pretty at 89% and that is a huge factor coming into this fight for Castaneda, because if Castaneda is eating too many leg kicks and goes for a sloppy takedown (a tale as old as time, we have seen this happen many times to many, many fighters) Marcos is capable enough to shrug it off and keep the punishment going.
Castaneda is coming off a fantastic win against Kang in which he effectively outpaced him on the feet, and it was a rather challenging fight for Kang due to Castaneda’s constant movement and stance switches, it was difficult to get a read on what was coming Kang’s way. Castaneda’s kicks were pretty fun to watch, he has a very strong right leg kick which buckled the stance of Kang a little bit, but it didn’t come without a heavy read on the defensive “flaws” of that kick, and that is the fact that Castaneda is fairly counterable when he lands that outside right kick, his hands are low and it’s not exactly a quick kick, it comes fully loaded, so the from the time he launches that attack to when he can return it to a rear post position, he is very exposed to counters, and traditionally the best way to counter a kick is with a straight punch down the line, and what have we seen Marcos do effectively throughout his UFC career? Counter. That is the only clean counter that I can see Marcos using because Castaneda doesn’t set up those kicks, they are naked single shots that, whilst very quick and effective, is going to be a risk to use against Marcos. Castaneda’s wrestling is also a great weapon he utilises often, and whilst he might not be too effective against Marcos due to Marcos’s excellent ability to defend takedowns, it would be enough to pressure Marcos back and perhaps pin Marcos against the cage. However, I do think the biggest danger to Marcos here will be Castaneda’s movement and speed, Castaneda is very good at switching stance and throwing some very, very hard to read attacks, he uses these stance switches to mask kicks and entries to a blitz, and he can keep up this style of movement and attack for a long, long time.
I do think that Castaneda is susceptible to well timed counters, especially if his kicks are well read by Marcos, and whilst Marcos is most definitely going to struggle somewhat in finding his offensive attacks, those counters are going to be key in winning this very interesting fight. I got Marcos winning this one, he is such an interesting Bantamweight, I can’t wait to see how far this fighter soars.
Marcos via KO R3 - (1/3)
Bantamweight
Brad Katona (-500) (13-3-0, NS) v Jesse Butler (+380) (12-5-0, NS) - I must say, sometimes i’m a little bit concerned about wide lines like this, but at a glance, it makes sense.
Katona may be coming off a loss against Armfield, but boy was the fight a great back and forth, fought at a very high pace. Katona thrives in chaos, the faster the pace, the better it is for Katona as he often overwhelms his opponent as the rounds go by. He may not be the cleanest fighter defensively or offensively, but the overwhelming activity he uses when he fights is often his best asset as a fighter. Katona uses a lot of striking volume when he fights, often in exchanges but initially at distance and in bursts. He is very durable and whilst he absorbs a lot of damage, his chin is pretty damn tough as he hasn’t been cracked or dropped too many times. Katona also has very good wrestling, he’s often able to just blast the double leg and get the fight to the ground relatively quickly, and whilst I don’t exactly see him looking for takedowns in this fight due to the submission threat from Butler, I do think that any takedown and any control time on top of Butler is good, especially if Katona reads the submission setups fairly well. Since the main threat coming from Butler is his submissions, I do suspect that Katona is going to keep this fight standing where he will no doubt have a substantial speed advantage, but I am not too sure if the possibility of a finish is there. If you do want to bet on Katona via KO, I suggest a combo round 2 or 3 is your best bet, as the first round is going to be a bit of a feeling out process in my opinion.
Butler is someone who I was hoping to see a bit more of when he fought Miller one year ago, but the fight didn’t even last a minute before Butler got knocked out and put away. Butler’s history has mostly been him getting his opponents to the ground and using his long frame to lock down his opponents and look for submissions, that long frame is going to be incredibly advantageous in this fight against Katona if he can lock in a body triangle, because the longer the legs, the stronger the hold is, especially if there is a tie up where one leg is under their opponents leg, I don’t know the technical term for it, but hopefully you know what i’m talking about. Anyway, Butler’s main chance to win this fight is to take it to the ground and find that submission, because the longer he remains on the feet, the more comfortable Katona becomes, and thus the more confident he is as the fight goes on, and a confident Katona is a very, very dangerous one. I don’t think we are going to see Butler use his striking that effectively, the reach advantage does make me think that there’s going a natural jab/cross range advantage for Butler, but I just haven’t seen him use it that much, most of his success is from his grappling. If the fight goes to the ground, with Katona in top control, I almost guarantee that Butler is going to go for an arm triangle off his back, his long legs make that lock so easy to set up and secure, so expect Butler to be active on the ground.
Fights like this are tough, it’s hard to tell what Butler is going to do since we barely saw him fight against Miller, and in those 11+ months since, we haven’t seen him fight again until now, so I don’t know what he’s improved on, all I know for a fact is that his grappling is going to be dangerous for Katona, but the stand up should be all Katona here. That’s about as simple as I can put it. I don’t really see a chance of an upset here unless Katona is employing a wrestling heavy gameplan.
Katona via KO R3 - (2/3)
Welterweight
Charles Radtke (+165) (9-3-0, 6 FWS) v Carlos Prates (-200) (18-6-0, 8 FWS) - Straight off the bat, I want to say that placing a bet on this fight not going the distance is looking like a fairly safe bet. Let’s get to the breakdown.
Radtke is coming off an upset win over Gilbert Urbina, and whilst he was facing someone who had a taller frame and a reach advantage, Radtke was very good at slowly walking him down with some slight pressure, and measuring that left hook over and over until he was it cleanly, and boy is that left hook a work of art. One thing that I do like about Radtke is his coachability, he listens actively to his corner, and if Belal is in the corner of Radtke, I genuinely think that’s the secret weapon because Belal has pretty damn good fight IQ and being around that kind of fighter accelerates growth somewhat. Radtke has a very tight guard, his hands are somewhat high and he is very good at adjusting defensively to his opponents attacks. Radtke is quite diverse with his weapons as well, often using the leg kicks to soften up his target and making his opponent somewhat drop the guard a little bit, allowing that left hook target to be more available. Now, Radtke is going to be fighting in a bit of a similar way to how he fought Urbina, he is going to bounce into range in order to land that left hook, and having seen Prates fight Giles, that left hook is going to be there all day due to how Prates defensively backs away. Hands low and often head a bit out of range, but it’s going to take very little for that punch to land and deal significant damage, it absolutely destroyed Urbina when it landed, I can only imagine what it’s going to do against Prates.
Prates is coming off a very competitive back and forth KO win against Trevin Giles, a very tough opponent to debut against and for the most part, prior to the KO win, Giles was very effective with his boxing, landing his punches fairly cleanly, but it does not take much for the Muay Thai fighter in Prates to find his shots and land that phenomenal one-two. Prates has a significant reach advantage coming into this fight, but he somewhat suffers from the same defensive problems a lot of longer fighters suffer from, and that’s their defence being their offence. Teeps and jabs are his best defensive tools since it keeps his opponent out of range and unable to land the cleaner shots, which is why when Giles started to extend the combinations, the last few shots in that combination would land hard. Prates not only has to be worried about that dangerous left hook that Radtke throws so effortlessly, but he also has to be concerned about the wrestling offensive that Radtke has in his back pocket too, and whilst we haven’t seen a lot of his wrestling in the UFC or DWCS, you would think that he is well rounded enough to know how to wrestle.
I do not know who is going to win this one, on one hand Radtke’s left hook, perhaps an overstated attack of his, is most likely going to land if he uses it as an extension to a combination, but on the other hand, Prates has over a hundred Muay thai fights under his belt, he has a significant reach advantage and he has a nasty nasty arsenal of attacks. His left knee up the middle is such a dangerous tool he uses. The safest bet here, and the only betting advice i got for this one is that this fight doesn’t go the distance. As for my prediction, I want to say Prates wins this one, that reach advantage is massive, but his defences are a concern. This one is probably going to shove my face into a pile of shit, but I think Prates wins this one. I think that the left knee is going to be pivotal in countering some of the boxing that Radtke uses, and that height advantage is going to allow that knee to come up quicker.
Prates via KO R2 - (1/3)
Lightweight
Thiago Moises (+115) (18-7-0, NS) v Ludovit Klein (-135) (21-4-1, 2 FWS)
Moises is coming off a strong win over Mitch Ramirez, but its one of those fights that seems like a set up for future fights, like a comeback win set up deal because Ramirez isn’t exactly a high level opponent, and the competitive step up from Ramirez to Klein is astronomical. Moises does have a grappling advantage in this fight, and I do think that this is the first time Klein has faced a proper BJJ specialist, so it would be interesting to see if the very impressive takedown defence of Klein is going to hold up well enough against Moises. Moises is a fairly calculated striker as well, he does not throw volume nor combinations, a lot of his attacks are safe, single shots that have quite a bit of power in said shots, but they are by no means anything too special, it's just the timing and shot selection that impresses me the most. Now, if Moises cannot get the fight to the ground, he is going to lose this fight, Klein is so fast with his strikes, his kickboxing is far better, he has a lot more power and he is a tenacious fighter who tends to throw a lot of volume, all things that could freeze Moises a little bit. Moises is going to have to stick to him like glue and try to get the fight to the ground, that is his only way to win this fight, grapple and submit. I am not too confident in saying Moises will keep Klein down, because Klein himself has shown to be very good on the ground, although perhaps not to the level of BJJ that Moises is.
Klein is coming off back to back wins against Bahamondes and AJ Cunningham (late replacement), and Klein honestly has never looked so good. Klein is an exceptionally well rounded fighter who has extremely slick striking as well as outstanding kicks, in fact I would say his kicks are his best form of striking, they come from all angles and there are almost no reads for them, he just flings them out there without any major set up, it’s such an effective attack. Kleins southpaw stance allows him to target the liver side of the body effectively, and that’s most likely going to be a key in this fight in order to slow down and lower the hands of Moises, and once his hands are lowered, then you will see Klein attack the head. Now, the biggest concern I have for Klein is the grappling of Moises, but that concern isn’t exactly a major one because Klein is so well rounded, he has very, very good takedown defence and if he is in top position there is little doubt in my mind that Moises will be safe in that bottom position because boy does Klein like to ground and pound, he is very active in top position. Klein is going to have to be aware of the exchanges as well because Moises is more than willing to sit down on his punches and throw them back his opponents way, and that’s probably where Moises is at his most dangerous because he doesn’t care how much he gets hurt, as long as he’s firing back. There is a possibility of Klein slowing down after the first or second round, the power and volume he throws at is brilliant and such a dangerous force to deal with, but that comes at a cost to cardio and I think if Moises is able to hang in there for two rounds and survive the storm, he should be able to turn this fight around, but that’s all speculative since Klein typically takes a fight to the distance, and to take a fight to the distance and fight like he does, that’s some excellent cardio.
Ultimately, this is a tough fight to predict, Moises is going to have to either use the same game plan he did against Ramirez and chew up the legs, or he’s going to have to stick to Klein like glue, whether its against the cage or on the ground, and try to find that submission because on the feet, Moises is going to contend with a barrage of highly technical strikes that come from all angles. Klein has excellent takedown defence, he is quick to stuff the head or sprawl, and he is very quick at retaliating with elbows and knees when the break happens, so he is constantly damaging his opponent. I got Klein winning this one, I did have Moises as an underdog pick prior to tape review, and there is a solid chance of him winning, but I think Klein is a very well rounded fighter who can make this fight very difficult for Moises. This fight could also go the distance so keep an eye out for o2.5/1.5 odds.
Klein via UD - (1/3)
Main Card
Welterweight
Punahele Soriano (+140) (9-4-0, 2 FLS) v Miguel Baeza (-170) (10-3-0, 3 FLS) - Boy oh boy is this going to be a battle, I cannot imagine any other outcome here other than brutality and bloodshed, and I'm all for that happening.
Soriano is in a bit of a tough position, his last 4 losses have occurred in his last 5 fights, and each time he has lost he has been on the receiving end of some savage knockouts or brutal beatdowns, but that is his entire style and it is something he is typically known for, walking through fire to deal significant damage back. This is also the first time Soriano is moving down to 170, so be aware of how he looks on the scale because he’s already a very large and thick fighter, so that cut could be concerning. Soriano is a heavy hitting fighter, everything he throws is powerful and it is generally a bad idea to stand in front of him unless you are a technical striker, and I don’t think Baeza is that technical of a striker. Soriano’s best weapons are his power side punches, he is so good at setting those up with standard jabs or even just letting them go without any set up because he knows the knockout power he possesses is often more than enough to put away his opponents. The only problem he has come across when he fights is someone who is typically a lot quicker and longer than he is, someone who can throw a very quick combination and circle away from any retaliatory strikes coming his way. One major advantage that Soriano has compared to Baeza is his activity, he has always been a somewhat active fighter, he has been in three fights whilst Baeza has been inactive, and whilst it is true that his chin has been rocked and shocked, he has always hung in there until the end, he has never really been put away cleanly. I do see Soriano look for strong liver punches throughout this fight in order to slow down the returning fighter, his left hand is very good although when he’s in the pocket his striking misses a lot, it’s highly inefficient and it sometimes looks clumsy, so his best range is going to be straight range, boxing range where he can rely on those straight overhand left and left straights.
Baeza is an interesting case, he was a highlight fighter for me when he won against Matt Brown, and then he had that remarkable performance against Takashi Sato, but since that fight three years ago, he has hit roadblock after roadblock named Ponzinibbio, Williams and Fialho. Baeza is no doubt still a very well rounded fighter who, despite not being much of a submission artist, could very well submit Soriano as he is a black belt in BJJ and it has been shown that takedowns are a bit of a problem for Soriano. However, it is quite difficult to say how Baeza is going to approach this fight since he hasn’t fought in two years, and I spoke about a two year break recently with Gall. What has Baeza worked on in those two years? The amount of unknowns in this particular fight doesn’t please me that much because I hate speculating, but if we are to compare the Baeza of 2022 to today's Soriano, I think we are going to see Baeza land a lot more cleaner punches down the line, but Soriano’s left hand is so educated and so quick and powerful that it could stun or rattle Baeza who is possibly still making mid-fight adjustments as he gets used to fighting again (as there is octagon rust/ring rust). Baeza has a bit of an opening for Soriano and that’s his right side body, the liver side, I see Soriano smashing that body with powerful hooks over and over, and whilst you might argue that Baeza switches his stance a lot, he primarily favours the orthodox stance where he can launch that beautiful jab which could be problematic for Soriano. The other weapon that Baeza uses very well is his outside leg kick, it's not necessarily a thudding kick, but it’s incredibly effective due to the speed of it, making it hard for Soriano to read it.
I need to cut this short, heck, this whole write up feels too long, so in conclusion, it’s a very tough fight to predict with a lot of story behind it, you have Soriano moving down to 170 and the question as to how he is going to look on the scale, then you have Baeza coming back after two years, with questions surrounding how he is going to look, and what he has improved on going to be answered this weekend. This is a fun fight though, but I have to go with the underdog here in Soriano.
Soriano via KO R2 - (1/3)
Middleweight
Julian Marquez (-115) (9-4-0, 2 FLS) v Zach Reese (-105) (6-1-0, NS)
Marquez is coming off back to back KO losses against “Robocop” Rodrigues and Barriault, two fairly hard hitting fighters, and it kind of makes sense that he lost to them because Marquez barely has any defence, he is a stand and bang kind of fighter who ultimately is here for mostly entertainment value. He has no prospect of being a champion or even a ranked fighter at that rate, he is simply a stepping stone for more talented fighters to advance through the ranks. With that said, Marquez is a reckless individual who throws ridiculously heavy and can be a danger to practically anyone he faces, minimal technique, maximum damage, he is a heavyweight in a Middleweight’s body. However, his propensity to finish fights is ridiculously high, so whenever there’s a Marquez fight, its generally a good idea to look out for the odds for his fights not going the distance. If Marquez’s massive punches don’t phase his opponents, he usually goes for a takedown and grapples where he is surprisingly decent, so that’s an alternative way to win a fight, but I honestly don’t think he’s going to do that against a much taller and longer fighter in Reese, who has quite good BJJ himself.
Reese is relatively new to the UFC, and he is unfortunately coming off a brutal loss against Brundage, and I mean, losing to Brundage adds a little bit of a sting to the record I think. Reese has never fought past the first round in his professional career, he is an exceptionally quick finisher and whilst the quality of his opponents is somewhat questionable, I do think that he uses his reach fairly well, although since he finishes fights tremendously quickly, I also think he can be a bit wild with his punches, marching his opponents down and throwing heavy attacks with a tonne of volume, which usually results in a ref stepping in to call the fight. My concern is that I don’t think Marquez is that easy to put away, I mean, sure, Marquez absorbs a lot of damage, but he isn’t one to go down without swinging back.
I need to make this one short, so whilst this prediction could be a bit sketchy, my betting advice for this one is to look for under 2.5 rounds, or “In the distance” (ITD).
Marquez via KO R2 - (1/3)
READ THE COMMENTS BELOW FOR THE REST OF IT.
And that's it!
Primary Parlay: Lee/DLR o2.5 or GTD + Radtke/Prates ITD + Klein/Moises o2.5/1.5 (optional) + Marquez/Reese u2.5 or ITD + CannonieImavov o3.5 or R4 Starts
(Feel free to exclude some of those legs, or break the parlay into two. whatever floats your boat)
Money Parlay will be announced in my "Parlay Explained" write up, as that is when the full odds and stuff are out
Locks of the week: Katona, Rosas Jr, Lapilus and Jacoby (optional).
Alt Bets: Radtke KO R1 or 2 (combo), Moises Sub/Dec (Double chance), Stoltzfus KO/Sub (Double Chance), Reese Sub.
Prediction Accuracy for 2024: 65.3% (Personal best... again).
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if you wish to keep in contact with me or follow me on twitter, my twitter handle is @Slayer_Tip, and my Discord is Slayertip#7013.
I hope you all have an amazing day, look after yourselves, and enjoy this awesome event!

Hello everyone,
I’ve recently narrowed my tire search for my 2018 Toyota Tacoma TRD 4X4 OFF ROAD down to 2 tires (currently with Toyo Open Country RTs):
Falken Wildpeak A/T4W.
BFGoodrich KO3.
I have a dirt road commute and enjoy off roading every so often. Most of my miles are on road.
With my research, I seem to like everything about the Falkens more, except the weight. I don’t care about the loss of speed or the MPG. I see the tire durability as worth it. I am most worried about the weight…65 LB tires for my size (285/70/17).
The BFGoodrich seem just as fine, but with less tread durability and coming in at 57 LBS.
Should I worry about the heavy tire and go with the KO3s, or go with the Falkens?

Hello everyone,
I’ve recently narrowed my tire search for my 2018 Toyota Tacoma TRD 4X4 OFF ROAD down to 2 tires (currently with Toyo Open Country RTs):
Falken Wildpeak A/T4W.
BFGoodrich KO3.
I have a dirt road commute and enjoy off roading every so often. Most of my miles are on road.
With my research, I seem to like everything about the Falkens more, except the weight. I don’t care about the loss of speed or the MPG. I see the tire durability as worth it. I am most worried about the weight…65 LB tires for my size (285/70/17).
The BFGoodrich seem just as fine, but with less tread durability and coming in at 57 LBS.
Should I worry about the heavy tire and go with the KO3s, or go with the Falkens?

Hello everyone,
I’ve recently narrowed my tire search for my 2018 Toyota Tacoma TRD 4X4 OFF ROAD down to 2 tires (currently with Toyo Open Country RTs):
Falken Wildpeak A/T4W.
BFGoodrich KO3.
I have a dirt road commute and enjoy off roading every so often. Most of my miles are on road.
With my research, I seem to like everything about the Falkens more, except the weight. I don’t care about the loss of speed or the MPG. I see the tire durability as worth it. I am most worried about the weight…65 LB tires for my size (285/70/17).
The BFGoodrich seem just as fine, but with less tread durability and coming in at 57 LBS.
Should I worry about the heavy tire and go with the KO3s, or go with the Falkens?

My main aim was to lower my body weight first and build muscle. Should I further reduce calorie intake for weight loss as weight is not reducing. Started at 76 kg. Consumed calories were under 2200 per day. What should I do to reduce weight? Male(24) Height 170 Current body weight 68

I could probably write a novel but I will try to keep it brief.
I've been together with my partner since 2011 and we married in 2015. She is 41 (F) and I am 40 (M). We've had some ups and downs in our 14 year relationship but I would say overall it used to be pretty good.
4 years ago we had a daughter and that is when a lot of the bigger issues began. She had very bad postpartem depression I wasn't even aware of because despite my efforts she has never been very open with her feelings. I think she sees it as a weakness or like she is complaining. One day when our daughter was about a year old she completely melted down, and finally shed some light on to her emotional state. Thankfully that sparked some change and she got into therapy and on meds that helped. About a year later she got off meds and stopped seeking therapy. Things were ok for a while but since have gotten bad again.
She now works a full time job, high stress job. I also work full time. We have a toddler and face the normal life stresses of any family but nothing to crazy? She is been extremely grumpy toward me all the time. She seems unhappy a good portion of time, always tired, has gained a lot of weight, and overall just seems very depressed. She is also complexly OCD about our child and struggles to let go of the reins and let me do much to help out. It feels like she uses our daughter for an excuse a lot of the time for not living her own life or taking care of herself. Besides work, she seems to have no real life of her own, no hobbies, or anything. (she used to love fitness but has not worked out for years. I have even noticed her pushing some friends away and not reaching out which I find odd and unhealthy. We also have had pretty much no sex life since the kid was born. I can count on 1, maybe two hands the amount of times we have had sex. She does give me hand jobs occasionally but she does not seem into it at all. She says she has no libido and doesn't feel attractive. I understand this to a point but after years of talking about it and her doing nothing to try and change, I dont know what to do? Any intimacy we have feels incredibly forced and almost awkward because she is so not into it.
I have gone through a range of emotions. At one point I actually wondered if she was cheating on me because she seems so un-interested. I don't think that is the case but I would be lying to say I often wonder what I am doing wrong and if this is because of ME.
I have suggested she go to therapy again or look into meds. Usually in a heated discussion about this she will say she will, but then does nothing to follow up on it. I am at a total loss for what to do. The more I feel like I try and help ignite some change the more I feel I get pushed away.
Another thing that happened recently is I found out she has been doing blow on multiple occasions with co-workers. When I talked to her about it she lied but then I found it in her purse. I'm definitely more upset to be lied to then her doing it, I dont love it but I think I can accept it if she wants to indulge in that from time to time. The whole thing just kinda weirded me out. In a way it feels a little bit like she is going through a midlife crisis.
I am basically just tired of living with someone who I feel doesn't like me. We dont feel very connected in many ways, whether that be communication, intimacy, etc, more like just roommates that are co-parenting.
I know that I am probably not alone in this scenario and just wanted to hear some perspectives of others who may have gone through or are going through something like this. The thought of separation is really painful, but I don't know how much longer I can stay in this relationship given the circumstances.

So, 15 days into my Keto diet, everything has been going well, but just tested my keton levels using this breathaliser (https://amzn.eu/d/33eXWY6 ,not a fan of pricking my fingers so often 😅) and shows me very close to High ketosis level.
According to the meter, optimum ketosis level is between 10-40ppm; on Sunday I was at 23ppm and just randomly tested this morning at 36ppm.
Should mention it was gym workout day yesterday (but so was Saturday) and also haven’t started drinking much water for the day yet but this is how I am supposed to test, first thing out of bed while fasted just drinking a bit of water before testing. According to the meter, 40-59ppm one enters high ketosis and 60ppm and above is ketoacidosis. So at 36ppm I feel I am clinging too close to high levels of ketosis, assuming the breathaliser I use is accurate. Today is rest day from the gym by the way, so plan to test again first thing tomorrow morning.
So my question is for the more experienced Ketonians out there, do you have any good ways to control the level of ketosis you are in if your results show you as getting too close to High ketosis or god forbid, even ketoacidosis level?
Is it as simple as having more water in the day (I already have 4-6litres daily) or maybe introduce some more carbs in your diet (maybe increase by 20% or something) for the day (I allow for 20-40carbs daily) or even have something like a cheat meal or something sweet to increase glucose levels in the blood.
PS: My body fat currently sits around 10-15% and don’t follow keto for weight loss.
Cheers!

I’m so confused, I’ve really struggled to eat all week. Yesterday I managed 1300 calories and 90+ grams of protein so I felt like I was getting somewhere. Ever other day, for the last 6 days has been 900/1000 calories and 50ish grams of protein. I drink 4 litres of water per day.
I haven’t lost a single pound. That just doesn’t make sense to me, I normally eat 2000 calories a day and very little protein. I can’t make sense of it!?
Edit: I know this dose is just to get me used to the medication, and the losses may come later with higher doses. I just felt if I’d managed a week of eating like that without the medication (which I’d never be able to do) I’d of lost weight, and wondering why I haven’t!

I've been into my weight loss journey for about 8 months now. I have lost about 50lbs of fat and I'm close to my goal but weird things are happening: I have been stuck for several months in the same weight, even gaining over 4kgs/9lbs and then dropping very little again. I'm 178cm/5'10 and currently weigh 81kg. At my lowest I weighed 78.4kg. The weird thing is that for the first time in my life (I'm almost 40 now), I have visible six pack abs and seem to be more ripped every day. I do cardio and resistance training seven times a week and my wife thinks I've gone insane. I try to eat 1900kcal per day but if I do for example two training sessions and burn about 1000kcal extra, I eat a few hundred more, max 2400kcal per day, but at least 130g of protein every day. I use a scale for even apples and bananas to get the most accurate calorie consumption.
Just once I had a cheat day and ate at a japanese sushi buffet and it was so good I almost cried from joy lol. The next day the scale showed at least 4lbs more and it was depressing.
So I'm just wondering how is it possible that the scale isn't budging but my body fat is coming down. Calculators say I should be losing 2lbs every week. I went to a body scan a few months back and it said my body type is muscular and athletic and BF was 13,1%. I find it very hard to believe I'm gaining muscle so rapidly.
So according to BMI I'm still on the overweight side and a long way from my calculated ideal weight. I don't think I'm extraordinarily muscular, it's hard to gain muscle mass while eating so little.
Overall I'm happy with my progress and this sub has played an important role in my journey. Thank you all.
I've seen a lot of positive changes, even my wife seems to love me more. She kisses me more and initiates sex more and seems to be more passionate and loving. It's both nice and a little sad at the same time. I get more smiles from strangers and people seem to listen to me more carefully when I speak.
I do miss delicious food desperately though and I constantly think about foods and eating, feeling hungry most of the time. I guess this is my life now until I die lmao.

Hi everyone, I (22F, 160cm, SW 66kg, CW 63.2kg, GW 50kg) have been on a weight loss journey for the past 3 weeks. I've been doing CICO and volume eating. I didn't see progress much for a while at the start, but I weighed myself this morning (my usual weighing time for standardisation) and I'm down to 63.2kg, which means my BMI is 24.7, in the healthy weight category for the first time in nearly a year!
I know I still have a lot further to go, but this is a big milestone and it's made me feel a lot happier about my health and body, so I wanted to share. Keep going - it works!

I'm not sure if I could do it to my ex and mother. My mom turned 60 recently but damn is she active and healthy minus her smoking. My ex is a really good person but he's overweight and the last major tragedy/loss in his life undid/made worse his weight and health and he deserves to have a happy, healthy, prosperous life.
It's been almost 4 years since finding myself (repressed memories, entire life story and identity is a farse, felt like I and the entire family I grew up with died all at once/grappling with cult like family exploitation and abuse and white knuckling through my new/original reality of KNOWING that you can't know people and all else is a cope) and I can't stand it. I feel insane. I want to literally explode.
It's all fuxk shit bc I got what it essentially a dream job, were I not so broken, and I can tell my boss, middle aged man, see a potential successor in me. I KNOW this job will literally provide me a sort of freedom people dream of and YET I still want to gut myself and rip out my eyeballs! It feels like I'm setting these good people up, them thinking highly of me bc their buying the fucking act that I'm a person and know how to function. No! It's always been a performance! It's all that was every demanded! I've been a fucking tool, literally, my entire life and now I'm grown and the deal now is continue to work your ass off to deserve people in your life or elae I'll just be traumatic mess harming those around me???? Fuck that!!!
I'm tired. And want to run away and stage my death. That's the only way that I think they'd "handle it". They'd be fucking destroyed otherwise and my whole thing has been "no matter how hurt and sad and angry it's never an excuse to hurt those around you, especially the innocent, especially those who show you compassion" so I can't bring myself to, or that's what I tell myself so I don't just rest already.
Shout out to you if you read it all. When the time comes, if society hasn't collapsed by then, this sub will be the first to know. Perhaps soon I'll tell my variant plans. some require more planning than others but all end multiple lives. Rabid dog "father" is top of the list. The man drives school buses for fucks sake why do I let him live????? There's zero speculation he should experience the most prolonged cruel and unusual punishment. And it would do nothing for me but to know he won't ruin any other lives. But ultimately I wasn't and will never be saved. There is only work for me. There has only ever been work. That's the only use people have to each other and Im honestly over it. Not that others don't deserve it, I'm just not so special that without me "the thing" wouldn't get done. It would. We are inconsequential.
My fucking mom and ex tho. If there's any mercy in this world I'll get killed in a freak accident that doesn't involve another. We're it not for this otherwise dream job, my care for my mom and ex wouldn't be enough. It's such a good place providing life saving/changing service. I literally wouldn't bother rising from bed until the rage took me to the previously expressed places.
This has been my rant, thank you for reading. I hate my life despite what I am grateful for. Gratitude unfortunately isn't enough

Her coworkers told her it was a bad place to live, but she didn’t share the same sentiment. Sure, the outlets were painted over, there was a permanent rust mark on the bath tub that ran into a suspicious hole in the floor of the bathroom, the windows squeaked when they opened or shut and two of them got stuck regularly, but it was hers. For the first time in her adult life, she gets to live alone. So what if mildew grew above the window in the bedroom and there was no dishwasher? This place has character, and she loves it. Her mom flew out to help with the move. She had seen the pictures that were beautifully doctored and was in full support of the move. Emily called her as she signed the lease and they immediately started scouring the internet for furniture and paintings to hang. Her mom flew out to help with the move, wanting to make sure Emily didn’t overstress herself and backslide on the progress she was making. It had been a bad year, the breaking point being her fiancé leaving her in a letter while she was away at a funeral. This apartment, while exactly what Emily believed she needed, was simultaneously exactly the place any mother would be terrified of their daughter living. Her mom couldn’t help but make a few comments. “The fire escape door doesn’t have a lock on it, what if someone breaks in”, so they got a little battery powered alarm. “It smells like weed, what if you go into work smelling like weed”, it really wasn’t that strong, but they got extra candles. “There’s a homeless camp outside” oh, that. The street at the foot of the building did have a decent homeless population. There was a shelter across the street and while only some of them took up residence in the actual shelter, a great number of the homeless lived on the street right outside, to stay close to the food. There weren’t any violent outbursts, a few of them talked to Emily briefly, they all seemed very kind, just down on their luck. Emily’s mom has nothing to worry about.
She learned very quickly that the day time population and the evening population were very different.

The apartment has two bedrooms, one bathroom, one living room, and one kitchen. The two rooms are on one side while the kitchen and living room are down a long hallway. The bathroom is in between. When picking the bedroom, Emily opted for the room that faced the courtyard (away from the homeless people) and didn’t have an unlocking, barely alarmed fire escape door in it. She set up what little things she maintained in the breakup and started scouring the internet to fill the rest of the space. In a matter of days, the apartment was transformed into what Emily needed it to be. Vibrant colors on every surface, small touches of personality wherever she could squeeze them in. Granted, most of the knick knacks were meaningless, little trinkets she picked up in bulk to facilitate the overall goal of filling the space, but she promised herself that she would work to replace them as time went on. Those items were just place holders for when she was ready to be the person that had hundreds of trinkets accompanied by hundreds of stories. She stayed at her mom’s hotel with her until the apartment was full. Why not? She didn’t see her mom often and her mom’s hotel room was not nearly as lonely as Emily’s new apartment. So Emily’s first night wasn’t until everything was as moved in as it could be. Every article of clothing was hanging exactly where it was meant to be, the desk in her office was littered with her work papers, the kitchen fully stocked and all the meaningless trinkets lined shelves across all the rooms. It felt lived in, even though no one had truly lived here since the last tenant moved out a few months prior. On her first day, Emily started to grasp what it truly meant to be completely alone. There were no roommates in the kitchen to shuffle around when she wanted a drink of water. When she wanted to take a shower, there was no one already occupying the bathroom. When she made dinner and cooked too much, there was no one to offer it to, and when she sat down to relax before bed, there was no one waiting on the couch for her. Solitude, whether she liked it or not. She poured a glass of wine and tucked the small blanket around her feet, settling in to watch her TV show. This was by no means a new show to Emily. She had seen the entire series twice and now picks and chooses whatever episode she wants to watch again and again. A comfort show, something that won’t be different to her. On this particular episode, a team of detectives is hunting down a serial killer that enjoys recreating Edgar Allen Poe stories. It’s one of Emily’s favorites, and it’s at the end of a season so the episode has two parts, which turns a forty-two minute commitment into an eighty-four minute commitment, which delays the thing she has been dreading the most, sleeping completely alone. On the plane ride home from the funeral, the only thing she could think of was sinking into Spencer, her now ex-fiancé’s, arms and going to sleep. She was exhausted from the entire trip, emotionally and physically drained from not only losing her sister-in-law, but running around to comfort every family member struggling to hold it together. This is what Emily is good at, putting her emotions aside for others. But the second she got on the plane to fly home, she realized how much it had affected her. She wanted so badly to be held while she finally took her time to grieve the woman that had become a part of her family. He had kept up appearances, gave her nothing to worry about the entire time, he was distant, sure, but that could be written off as not knowing the person he needed to be for her. Giving her the space that she needed. When she sent her flight information and he said he wasn’t going to be out of work in time to get her, she didn’t bat an eye as she called a car to pick her up from the airport. Yet as soon as she stepped into the apartment they shared, she felt how different the air was. Nothing was particularly out of place, the air just felt different. She went to their room, and where she expected to see his pajamas strewn across an unmade bed. Instead, a letter sat in the center of the bed. It detailed that they were over, he didn’t love her anymore. There wasn’t an ounce of kindness in his writing, nothing that cued any outside reader to the fact that they had been in a dedicated and loving relationship for the past three years. In his letter, he said that he would be back in one week from his trip and she should be out by then. Afterall, it was his name on the lease. Emily was at a loss for what to do, grieve her sister, her fiancé, any of the other people that left her life unexpectedly that year. She curled up in the bed, laying on his side because the sheets still smelled like him, and she cried. Not the body shaking cry that causes someone exhaustion, she was already exhausted, this was just the final straw. She blankly focused on one spot in the carpet as the tears rolled out of her eyes and on to his pillow. The sunset and soon she was cast in darkness, save for the street lamp that cast just below her face through the blinds. She didn’t sleep, didn’t even bother trying, because when you lose enough in such a short period of time, why not lose sleep too. That was the last night Emily spent alone. The next day, she took up temporary residence at her friend’s apartment. Lonely but not alone. She found her new apartment and took up residence in her Mom’s hotel room while she waited for her meaningless trinkets to fill her shelves. This will be the first night she will face complete and utter loneliness. Once her double feature rolls to the credits, she turns the TV off and notices how the room becomes remarkably quiet. The only sound even close to her was the gentle hum of the refrigerator in the adjacent room. Still and silent. Time for the rounds. Window by window, every lock is checked, every blind is pulled down tightly. She fills a cup with cold water for her nightstand. As she’s getting ready for bed, she passes the front door three times and checks the lock and deadbolt all three times. Finally, the office. If her mother hadn’t made a comment about the safety, or lack thereof, of the fire escape door, it would have been in the back of Emily’s mind, but since it was spoken, she couldn’t help but worry about it. The small alarm they had purchased was blinking, indicating it was on and ready to alert in the event of an intruder. She shut the lights off and closed the door, adding just one more layer between her and the imaginary intruder. Across the hall, she peeled the covers back to her bed and laid down, before getting back up to check on the fire escape door again. Eventually, she pushed her desk against the door, making sure to stack the edge of it with several books propped up and open, the idea being that one nudge of the desk would knock the books over and be a second form of alarm. As a final measure, she grabbed her largest kitchen knife, checked the front door locks again, and set off to sleep. This is the moment of stillness. Weeks leading up to this moment, where she has forced herself to face the very thing she has been avoiding. All she can do is wish for just one distraction. Perhaps the universe has given her enough bad luck, maybe in the spirit of turning things around, she will get exactly what she wishes for, because in that moment of stillness, she hears the beginning of an argument outside through her single paned glass. A couple is fighting outside. Emily can’t make out the words, but it’s quickly escalating in volume and passion. She ponders for a moment. Should she interject herself into this couple’s private moment? What kind of person sits and watches as someone goes through something that intense and raw? Not a good one, that’s for sure, but Emily felt as if she deserved to not be a good person, not yet anyway. She snuck to her living room, all the lights still off, and slowly, so slowly raised the blinds. She could see the couple and make out a few words. The man felt that the woman was dead weight. They were homeless because of her. He had stayed with her through…something, but Emily couldn’t make it out. She walked slowly towards the window, as if it was an animal that would spook if she moved too quickly, and opened it just a few inches. Night air slowly trickled in, causing the hairs on her exposed thighs to stand on end. 

“you want to rub my face in it? You chose to stay with me through all of that, I never asked you to stay” The woman screamed in his face.
“I stayed with you because I loved you, I would have done anything for you” the man shouted back, throwing his hands up in exasperation.
“Well I am sick of feeling like I owe you something, I am fucking sick of it” she turned to look behind her shoulder as if someone was waiting for her. “You don’t fucking love me, if you loved me, we wouldn’t be living in the car on the side of the fucking street waiting for our next meal”
“We are here because of what I sacrificed to be with you, we are here because I stopped working when you got sick, we are here because of your bills. The only thing you have to be upset about is getting fucking sick. You don’t take care of yourself, that was your fucking problem until you dragged me in and made it my problem” He spat back at her, stepping closer.
“I could have been fine, you were always holding me down and I am fucking sick of it. You held me back, you have punished me for the cards I was dealt when you knew about them from the start. You want someone to hate for how things turned out, hate yourself. I would have been fine without you. I would have been fine. You want to sit on that pedestal, you want to judge me from the outside, you want to make me feel bad and use my struggles to make yourself feel like the hero? You’re fucking scum and I am done with you” She turned to walk away. For a moment, Emily thought he would let her go, she thought that he would let her get away and try to live without him. Maybe she would make it without him, if he loved her, wouldn’t he want that? Then she saw him reach into his waistband and pull out a gun. Emily’s hand found her mouth and she felt all air stand still as she watched on.
“You are not going to ruin my fucking life and walk away, that’s not what we’re going to do, you’re the fucking reason, you have to live with what you have done to us or die on this fucking street” His hand trembled as he slowly brought the gun up to her. Emily ran back to her room, grabbing her phone from the nightstand, she dialed 9-1-1 and ran back to the window.
“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?” The operator said that well-rehearsed words calmly.
“um, Hi- yes, hello. There are two people in a fight outside of my apartment. The man has a gun” Emily barely whispered, not wanting either party to know she was there.
“You’re going to shoot me? Is that where we are now? You want to shoot me?” The woman walked closer to him and it was everything in Emily to not scream at her to run away. “You’re too much of a fucking pussy, you want me to ruin your life which is exactly why you’re going to let me walk away right now” The barrel of the gun was pressed against her chest. “You can’t say that I ruined your life if you kill me, you can’t say that I broke your heart if you’re the one that blows mine to pieces”
“I could say that shit with you dead or alive, baby” He says this in a volume just barely above talking, Emily isn’t sure she heard it right when a gun shot rings out in the air and the woman falls to the ground.
“Ma’am, are you there? Was that a gun?” The operator speaks with a bit more force, drawing Emily’s attention briefly away from the scene.
“The McDonalds off of Sharon, right outside the homesless shelter, he just shot her” Emily didn’t have time to ponder the lack of emotion in her voice, if she thought she had hit an emotional rock bottom, she was wrong. The operator started to ask more questions but Emily just hung up, her eyes planted on the woman laying on the ground with a bullet in her chest. She panned to the man and immediately felt the blood rush from her body and her stomach launch into somersaults. His eyes were planted firmly on hers. When she has returned with her phone, she had stepped out of the shadows and placed herself directly in the screen of the window. They held each other’s gazes for a moment, but she was not the cause of his pain, therefore not worth his troubles, yet. The woman sputtered on the concrete. He went to her, on his knees, he leaned into her. She pulled him in closer by the back of his neck with her bloody hand and whispered something in his ear. When she let go, he slowly straightened and stood towering over her. All of a sudden, his foot was driving repeatedly into her skull against the sidewalk. Blood splattered and trickled out onto the light colored concrete, appearing black in the night lighting. He stomped and stomped, after she was long dead, until red and blue lights started to illuminate him.

He didn’t run. He didn’t move at all and for a moment, Emily believed that he was beginning to realize what he had done. But that cold gaze turned back towards her. He knew that she was the reason the cops were called, he knew she was the reason that his bad luck had taken an even worse turn. His gun followed his gaze and Emily ducked just before a bullet flew through her window. Glass shards shattered about her living room around her, she stayed down until she heard the officers yelling at the man to put his gun down. He started to scream as they barked orders over him. Emily peaked above the windowsill and saw him in cuffs, leaning against the front of the car. She waited and watched as they got him into the back of the car. Soon, more cars and trucks and vans appeared, carting off the remains of the woman. Emily went down to give her statement, she told the entire story to an officer. She was with them until the early hours of the morning, answering question after question, writing and signing a statement. Finally, when the last officer told her to stay out of trouble before he drove off, she made the trek back up to her apartment. Her freedom, her new home. Early sunlight started to trickle into the room from the broken window. The living room looked different now, and not just because of the broken glass in the carpet and sofa. This living room had been apart of something, and it was changed now. She turned to go to her room, certain she would fall asleep with no issue at the point, when her eye caught on something stuck in the door frame. A brass bullet was wedged into the old wood. It caught in the sunlight and Emily though, in that moment, ‘This is the most precious thing’. She dug the bullet out of the frame and held it in her hand, rolling it in her palm, back and forth, then walked to her bookshelf, still filled with meaningless trinkets, and placed it on the third shelf from the top, right at eye level. 

Her first trinket, the beginning of her new life.

Hey there!
My partner and I have always talked about going to the gym, weight loss, etc, but we have never seemed to push towards it until now. I wanted some advice on whether or not we are going in the right direction. For reference, my partner is:

• 24M, 180lbs, 5'8"
• TDEE shows as 2,137 for maintenance calories
• He is aiming for 1700-1750 calories intake a day based off of MyFitnessPal suggestions
• His goal weight is 160 for now, and then 150 later down the road

For reference, I am:

• 19F, 130-140ishlbs, 5'2"
• TDEE shows as 1,582 for maintenance calories
• I am aiming for 1250-1300 calories intake a day based off of MyFitnessPal suggestions
• My goal weight is 120

The guidelines we are following includes:

• 2x 15 minute walks daily (approx. 7k goal a day)
• 2x 1 hour gym weekly
• 2x water bottles a day
• Be kind to our bodies
• Generally "don't drink calories"
• Allow for rest
• Support each other

Generally, we are eating healthier but we are also not denying ourselves sweets and such so long as they fit within our calorie budget. Would this be a good start for us? Going to the gym, we would go for approx 1 hour - 1 hour and a half and likely start with mostly cardio (elliptical, station bike, etc).
Looking for friendly advice and open to anything: )

For reference 47/M 180cm/5'10" 122kg/269lb
Ive always been fat ever since I could remember but and my best weight was 76kg/167lb back when I was 22 years (25 years back). I was between 80-85 kg/180ish lb till I was 35 when I kept watch on my weight but then I kept gaining. I've always had to fight my body on weight.
My work is sedentary on some days and involves mild activity on others. I average about 4000 steps a day at work on the active days. On days (about twice a week) that I make it outside for walking I do betwen 6-8000 steps and cross 10000 on occasion. My TDEE estimate is 2500 cal.
I have some ADHD features and once I have food in my mouth I get "lost" in that sensation. Like just before a meal I know I have to keep an eye on what and how much I am eating. Then I begin eating and I want the feeling of food in my mouth to never ever stop. By the time I'm done and am back to myself, a surprisingly large amount of food has been consumed and I feel bad.
I want to lose half a kg/1lb a week for the next 1 year.
How can I go about it? I know CICO is at the heart of weight loss but there are a couple of barriers for ideal implementation - 1) we (wife and I) cook food for the family as a whole so I guess my focus will have to be more portion control and less food prep and 2) because I help prepare food for the family my access to snacking foods is easy.
And I want to be my "normal" self when eating. I want to be able to be able to say "thats enough" midway through the meal. I want to not lose my mind when I eat. I want to be mindful of how much I'm eating.