Weight Loss

Did you know that around 40% of the times it is you who blow up your weight loss program? Don’t you believe it? It surely will sound incredible since you believe that you are taking utmost efforts to reduce weight and lose excess fat. But there are many things we do knowingly that deter us from our desired goal. In the following section we have named 10 common ways by which we ourselves destroy our weight loss campaign (check out where you went wrong). We have also given what needs to be done on these counts.

• Follow a strict dieting schedule:

A strict dieting schedule where individual promises to eat only a particular food group/groups is particularly difficult to stick to. So do not cut out entire food groups or decide intake of only one type of food.

• Emotional eating
The more depressed you are, the more you eat. Are you one such type of person? The disorder you are suffering from is known as emotional eating. Deal with the disorder professionally or else you would continue adding more weight to your body. Also trying to engage in alternative activities will help deflect attention.

• Going it alone:
Dieting is an onerous process, with the individual having to undergo many a rough patches during the period. Unless he has someone to discuss with and support him in his venture, he is susceptible to dither away from his goal, i.e. reduce weight. So have a good support system to ensure that there is someone to counsel you every time.

• Excessive fasting:
It has always been a misconception associated with weight loss- stop eating and you will lose weight. Fasting, unless for a smaller span of time such as 24 hours is no solution to weight. Instead one begins to lose fewer calories as fasting period extends. Human body is programmed to react in such situation by slowing down the metabolism as it perceives the situation as famine.

• Skip the breakfast
This is an extension of the myth discussed in the earlier paragraph. Skip breakfast and you consume lesser calories; so more weight loss. Is it true? No! At supper you eat more voraciously. So, no skipping of breakfast. Breakfast is an important meal of the day and gets metabolism going.

• Keep a food diary:
A food diary is like a common budget. How much are you eating and how many calories do this produce is written on one side. On the other side is the standard written about the amount and food and calories that a normal healthy person is required. This will help get a real grasp of how one is faring in his weight loss program.

• Set realistic goals:
The goals set by the dieter must be realistic. Unrealistic goals like cutting all soda from the present consumption of 2 liters a day is unachievable. They will largely affect the dieters’ motivations to continue with dieting.

• Weight in every day:
Some dieters are so very excited and impatient with their dieting program that they will weigh themselves everyday. Does weight loss program or dieting produce such instant results? No! Moreover, the changes in the person may not always be quantifiable. This is incorrect since it lowers the motivation.

• Exercise regularly but within limits:
Exercise regularly everyday. But do not overdo the exercise. This will not produce muscles in a day. Nevertheless, there are risks of overuse injuries.

• Strictly deny your favorite dishes:
You resolve to cut the consumption of your favorite dish. But your heart fails to forget it. Will you be able to stick to your resolution? No, there will enough frustration. Instead cutting the quantum of the dish gradually will help.

Rome was not built in a day. The same applies to your body. The changes will be perceived and visible with time, not overnight. So patience is the final answer.

Gauri Rajesh has been associated with the health care industry for long. She has a degree in pharmacy. In her leisure time, she writes informative articles on several topics dealing with general health care.

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Posted by Orce37 at 10:14 PM | Permalink | Comments

Our metabolic rate determines the rate at which we ‘burn up’ our food, and by increasing this rate, we can lose weight more quickly, easily, and safely.

When we diet, by decreasing our calorie intake too drastically, we cause our metabolism to slow down, making it progressively more difficult for us to lose weight. Most diets fail, yet we continue to try one after another, always hoping that each new regime will provide the ‘magic’ solution. If this sounds like your problem, there may be a simple answer. Let’s look at why most diets fail, and how strength training, combined with a healthy food intake can speed up your metabolism, making it easy for you to lose weight.

By drastically cutting our food intake, our body’s natural instinct is to switch to a ‘starvation response.' The fewer calories we consume, the more our bodies become efficient at using these calories - leading to slower weight loss. This was once a useful mechanism for our ancestors when food supplies were less predictable, but this ’vicious circle’ can make life almost impossible for the modern dieter.

When the body is persistently kept short of calories, it breaks down muscle tissue to use as fuel. Our body, using water from our tissue cells, quickly washes this away causing an instant reduction in weight through water loss. However, this weight loss will be short lived, and will quickly be regained when we take in water and the muscle we have lost will slow down our metabolism in the long term.

The reason for this is that each pound of muscle requires a certain number of calories each day just to maintain it. Therefore, the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn even when you’re doing nothing, even sleeping! If you lose muscle, then your daily calorie requirement becomes less. For example, imagine a dieter loses 10 pounds of muscle (along with maybe 20 lbs. of fat) on a strict diet. Now suppose that each pound of muscle had been burning 50 calories a day. Together, those 10 pounds of muscle had been burning 500 calories a day. With this muscle tissue gone, the dieter must now consume 500 less calories a day in order to maintain that weight-loss!

However, of course people do not stick to their diets for ever and when they return to their old eating habits, the weight that they have lost, invariably comes piling back on. Unfortunately, whilst they lost both muscle and fat during the diet, all the weight they regained was fat. So, even though they may weigh the same as they did when they started, they now have a lot more fat and a lot less muscle than they did before the diet. Therefore, their metabolism is slower and their calorie requirements are less. Even if they return to their pre-diet eating habits, they still require 500 fewer calories a day due to the muscle loss. That’s one reason dieters are prone to regaining all of the lost weight, and conversely sometimes even gain weight afterwards.

A good solution is an active lifestyle that includes aerobic exercise, a good weight-training program, and a healthy diet containing fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grain cereals and plenty of lean protein. It is a good idea to eat ‘little and often’ – keeping your metabolism in high gear by eating 4 to 6 small meals a day, rather than one or two larger ones. No food is forbidden, but sweets and high fat junk food are eaten less often, and in smaller quantities. A healthy diet is a realistic and permanent way of eating – not a diet that you suffer through for a week or two and then give up!

The goal is to consume as many calories as you can, while still losing body fat and maintaining or adding lean muscle at the same time. If your calories are already below normal, don’t restrict them further. Instead, maintain your current amount and instead try to become stronger and more active, so you can gradually increase your calories to a normal healthy level. If your calorie intake is already in a healthy range, decrease it only slightly, if necessary. A small reduction of about 250 calories a day, or 10-15 percent less than usual, is more likely to protect your lean muscle, and less likely to trigger a go-slow in your metabolism.

If you follow this type of routine, it’s possible to gain about one pound of muscle per week and lose about one pound of fat per week. The end result is that the number on the scale might not move much at all, it may even go up. Your clothes will feel looser, and you’ll feel great. Yet the numbers on the scale won't move!! It's at this point that a lot of people give up the weight training because they don't understand what's happening.

The truth is that when you're strength training it's possible to get smaller and heavier at the same time, as muscle is a much denser tissue than fat. The fat takes up more space on your body. At this point, it's best to ignore the bathroom scales and rely on the way you look and the way your clothes fit.

The conventional way of dieting can lead to a weak, tired body, exhausted by the constant cycle of starvation and weight gain, unable to enjoy food. However, by following these easy steps above, you can easily reach your goal - the slim, strong, healthy body of a naturally lean person who can enjoy their food without guilt, for life!

Angie Mcilwaine runs http://www.healthidiet.com and has been involved in all areas of diet, health and fitness for more than 15 years. She enjoys helping people healther, fitter and more confident through controlled weight loss and exercise.You can contact Angie via her website - she is only too happy to pass on advice and information. She also has a regular newsletter with original tips and ideas to help you lose weight.

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Posted by Orce37 at 12:42 AM | Permalink | Comments

Diet pills are a very alluring option for someone who has many failed diets under their belt. Moreover, commercials promoting weight loss pills always promise fast and easy weight loss. It is important to know that many diet pills and weight loss aids are counterfeit. Americans spend an obscene amount of money on weight loss products, especially weight loss pills. “According to Fat -- Exploding the myths,  by Lisa Colles, Americans reportedly spend between $30 and 50 billion annually on diets, weight loss programs and products. A whopping $6 billion is spent on weight loss pills and products that are not genuine.

There are many different types of diet pills that can be broadly classified into the following types:

Prescription diet pills: These pills are primarily created for those suffering from debilitating obesity. Weight loss pills are not a mock solution for the problem, nor are they proposed as replacement for the conventional weight loss and management methods such as exercise and diet. When traditional weight loss techniques fail to produce the desired results, most people lose motivation and faith in the process. As a result they turn to quick fix answers like diet pills. The pills that are prescribed are only given for certain conditions and in certain dosages. Furthermore, their side effects have to be closely watched.

Over the counter weight loss pills: The weight loss industry is already cashing in on the average American’s insecurities surrounding body image and a certain definition of beauty based on how skinny you can be. This further fuels the diet industry’s success. They make diet drugs and call them food supplements and these so called "supplements" are largely unregulated. They are not subjected to stringent testing by federal authorities nor are labeling requirements enforced, as in the case of prescription weight loss pills. Moral of the story: if weight loss diet pills are your only recourse, better see a doctor before you take them rather than after.

Weight Loss Diets provides detailed information on Weight Loss Diets, Fast Weight Loss Diets, Weight Loss Diet Pills, Easy Weight Loss Diets and more. Weight Loss Diets is affiliated with Free Weight Loss Programs.

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Posted by Orce37 at 12:58 PM | Permalink | Comments

Are you looking for a way to burn fat? I know,
because I've been there. There is nothing like stepping on that
scale and having a big number stare back at you.

A former athlete, I had never been overweight. I was once (in my
20's) 135 and fit. I could run all day and not get tired; I ate
whatever I wanted and never gained weight. As a child, I was the
skinniest kid in my class, if not the school. I can remember
desperately trying to put on weight (gasp!). To my chagrin, it
never happened.

Aren't you sick and tired of being overweight? Better still,
aren't you sick of trying diet after diet with nothing to show for it?
Tried everything that you know how to burn fat? Well, here are 5
ways to get the weight off. No lies here..just the honest truth
about what works to burn fat:

1. Cut out the sugar. If you are eating lots of sugar, you are
sabotaging yourself. You will never burn fat if you keep eating
sugar. Sugar comes in many forms, and in foods that you would
never even suspect contain sugar. That diet bar/diet
soda/flavored water you're having right now? SUGAR. Stop it.

2. Fried foods. Mom always said they were no good. They still aren't.
Bake, broil, steam your food. Until you get the weight off, fried
foods are a no-no. If you're serious and you want to burn fat,
then stay away from french fries and anything else fried..

3. Exercise. No way around this one. It's not good enough to diet.
Diet alone can only get you so far. To really lose weight and burn
fat, you need to move, and move hard. Sweat. Don't think that
you can just diet, burn fat and look good. You will be skinny and
SOFT. If you're serious about losing weight, you have to exercise.
Sorry, but that's the truth.

4. Water. If you're drinking something, it should be water. Alcohol
dehydrates you. Most other drinks have sugar (a diet no-no).
Water will help your body burn fat. Plus, it makes your skin look
better! (Put down that juice - it's loaded with sugar!)

5. Weight Train. Sorry girls, that's the bad news. It's hard and it
works. It will burn fat more than just aerobics. If you are not
weight training, when you do lose the weight, you will not look
good. Trust me on this. You need at least some muscle on your
body.

So, that's what really works to burn fat. The above methods are
not a magic pill to burn fat. They are not easy. You will not lose
weight overnight, but the weight will come off steadily and you will
look and feel good again. All you have to do is stick with it and find
people that will support you.

Stop wasting time and learn from the experts! Burn fat, lose weight quickly and feel good about yourself. Learn the essential keys to weight loss, get free recipes, tips and articles by visiting our burn fat website.
Marie Borges is a motivational writer, author and healthcare consultant. She spent several years in the healthcare industry helping to educate and motivate people on the importance of successful weight loss and good nutrition to improve overall health and happiness. To change your body for the better, receive free tips, recipes, articles and more, go to http://www.burn-your-fat.com.

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Posted by Orce37 at 12:41 PM | Permalink | Comments

What is a fad diet? Fad diets can be best described as a quick means of weight loss that are often only popular for a brief period of time. Fad diets can range from methodologies as deeply entrenched as Atkins and the Zone diet or as unsustainable as the cabbage soup diet or the Special K Challenge diet.

First of all, it needs to be understood that the weight loss claims made by advocates of these diets are not only fleeting but unhealthy as well. Diets like the cabbage soup diet and the grapefruit diet are going to, in the case of the cabbage soup diet, make you flatulent and, in both cases, have you only regain the weight immediately afterwards.

Fad diets will often overemphasize a single kind of food or type of food. For example, one diet that strikes me as being absurd is the Special K Challenge that advocates replacing two out of your three meals with any flavor of Special K cereal with 2/3 a cup of skim milk, thus typically resulting in a 5 pound weight loss after two weeks. The diet even advocates snacks consisting of Special K snack bars or fruits and vegetables. Astoundingly, there is virtually no decent source of protein included in this diet. While scanning the Special K website, the research used to make such rash assertions as being healthful are vague. They claim that Kellogg’s “nutrition team” worked closely with “leading universities” in order to arrive at their far fetched conclusion. To me, this means little more than a clever marketing ploy led by the Kellogg Corporation. Diets like these don’t take into account that people that are truly committed to weight loss are also working out several days a week, so, there would be a lack of calories needed to properly refuel the body. Basically, nutritional problems arise when a so-called “superfood” becomes the focal point of a diet.

Another diet that falls into the superfood category is the cabbage soup diet. This one along with some other unadorned diets have originated supposedly from hospitals. Diets such as the cabbage soup diet have been allegedly used by patients the week before undergoing heart surgery. By the end of the week, after having only eaten cabbage soup and fruits and vegetables , one is supposed to lose anywhere between 10-17 pounds. Unfortunately, one cannot maintain such a restricted diet for any prolonged period without feeling the ill effects of such a poor diet, such as vitamin deficiencies and the toxic repercussions of cannibalized muscle tissue.

Furthermore, this tremendous weight loss cannot be maintained once normal eating patterns are resumed since water constitutes a large percentage of the weight being lost and, to make matters worse, these diets provide no plan on how to gradually and safely reduce calories without compromising your own health. No matter how great the food is, none should be treated as a panacea. All diets need to be balanced as best as possible so that no ill effects arise.

Learn more about fad diets and find out which is the best diet for your permanent weight loss at PhenForum.com, the place to learn about Phentermine online and healthy weight loss! Join our support group for free and find your own weight loss buddy. Learn how to lose weight and keep it off forever!

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Posted by Orce37 at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments

I’m always so in awe of the synchronicity of things. When we let things happen as God intended and not try to put our energy on the outcome or how things are “supposed” to show up, we let the Universe do its wonderful job in providing all the things to move us forward with our mission here on earth. We then have signs that illustrate that everything is aligned as it should be.

This past week I attended an Emmanuel Apostolic Church and what an experience I had. For several years now, I had felt a pull towards this church but didn’t know why. I kept thinking I have to visit this church, but then never took the action steps toward attending it.

Let me tell you about my experience. Upon arriving as a new person, I am greeted with such a warmth and love that it filled me with tears. I am then given a program and I notice the picture of the Eagle which is on the program. I asked the pastor’s wife if the Eagle is always on the cover of the program and she said, “No, we change it every week.” I open the program and it illustrates their celebration of Black History Month and the topic for that day was “health.” I said a little prayer to God thanking Him for guiding me here.

What does all this mean?

The Eagle is my guide and has a huge significance for me. I’ve written about the Eagle in my book, Wake Up…Live the Life You Love Finding Personal Freedom. Within the past week I was visiting a friend and there were two Eagles in their nest just outside her house. On the way home, I saw two Eagles flying within a few miles of each other. I then drive up my street and my neighbor had her binoculars out looking at the tree by our respective houses with an Eagle sitting in the nest. Incredible, right?

As I listened to the speakers at the church, there was no doubt in my mind why I was there. The speakers discussed health and the illnesses that plague African Americans disproportionately as compared to other ethnic groups. The statistics they quoted were quite alarming. They mentioned heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity. The speakers told the congregation that lifestyle changes are necessary in order to become intentional in creating vibrant health.

You can imagine how I was feeling at this time and why I was there. For years, I’ve visualized me speaking to the masses about health. Here was an opportunity to help this group overcome their adverse statistics and paint a different picture for them.

I like the phrase, “Go BIG, or go home!”

I did meet with the pastor and told him my intent and how I was going to help his congregation. He looked at me in awe when I presented him with this information as he mentioned that prior to our meeting he spoke with three of his parishioners expressing the need for better nutrition and health. Synchronicity? Absolutely!

Do I know all the details of how this is going to be accomplished? No, I don’t. I just know that I’m supposed to do it and the resources and the people will show up. I know it!

What does this mean for you?

You have a mission to complete on this earth. When you are out of balance with your health, you’re so focused on not feeling good that it distracts you from your God-given assignment. You must become intentional about your health.

I remember what I wrote down years ago after reading Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield’s book, Dare to Win. In this book, you are asked to write down your objective in life and here’s what I wrote:

My purpose in life is to empower all people to teach them about health issues to realize they are responsible for their own well-being.

I wrote this down after I had gotten myself well from an illness where I was bedridden. I went through that experience so I would understand what it feels like to have poor health and then to align myself with everything that was going to help me get well. Then years later I gained weight and lost it using all the components of my weight loss program, including the products from Isagenix.

Poor health and being overweight is not where God intends us to be. Let me help guide you to better health. It is possible to feel enthusiasm for life.

Think of me as your sign that is showing up for you. What would it feel like to have support to help you and to know you’re not alone?

Remember what Oprah says, “We don’t do anything by ourselves. We must have support in order to succeed.”

Love and hugs,

Helping you fall in love...with yourself

Tami Close

Weight Loss Consultant

2916 N.W. Bucklin Hill Rd. #291

Silverdale, WA 98383

360-792-2209

http://www.tamiclose.com

Tami Close helps people fall in love…with themselves. She is a weight loss consultant and uses an integrative method, including cleansing and nutritional products from Isagenix, in her weight balancing program. She is certified in healing modalities (Rapid Eye Technology and Emotional Freedom Techniques) to assist people in releasing their negative emotions to help them change their behavior. Tami is a recipient of a grant from the Sumasil Grant Foundation in her work with RET and EFT. She is a master trainer and has a B.S. in Training and Development. She is a #1 best selling co-author with Mark Victor Hansen, Wayne Dyer and Deepak Chopra, Wake Up...Live the Life You Love Finding Personal Freedom. She has also written an e-book, Close Kept Secrets to Weight Loss, along with other e-books.

http://www.tamiclose.com

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Posted by Orce37 at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments

Losing weight and managing to keep off the pounds has become an unreachable dream for most people. No matter what weight loss control program they go into, losing weight seems to be next to impossible.

For weight watchers who have been into a merry go round of various weight loss programs, losing weight is already a lost battle. They have done anything and everything to keep of the pounds without success that winning such battle would already be considered a miracle.

The present lifestyle as well as busy schedules of most people has forced them to eat anything that can be heated in the microwave for ten minutes, fried in succulent oil in five minutes or those foods that can be eaten immediately out of the can.

This lifestyle and food preferences has caused the rise in obesity cases all over the world. Along with obesity come the inevitable ailments like high blood pressure, diabetes, high uric acid and heart ailments, Added to that are the feelings of insecurity, inadequacy and depression due to being called a fatso.

The battle against fat has become so widespread and difficult that most people would ask if there is a way to keep weight gain and obesity from destroying their lives. There are people who have resorted to liposuction and non surgical ways of keeping the pounds off. Others have their usual doses of slimming pills and shakes.

If you are one of those who want to win over the battle of the bulge, then you may just find the solution with natural weight loss programs. Natural weight loss programs are called as such because they do not rely on artificial slimming pills, food or surgery to keep the fat off. Being on a natural weight loss program means taking advantage of what nature has to remain fit and not fat.

Other people go on diet by eating foods that are low in fat and high in calories. Rice-eating people prefer going on a low carbohydrate diet. Others stick to a high fiber diet or a no-eating after six in the evening diet. These diets may be natural but it only helps the dieter for a month or two and then the pounds keep coming back. This is because most diets allow a temporary weight loss that only targets the loss of water, body tissues and even muscles. Losing muscle is not the right thing because it lowers a person's metabolic rate or capacity to burn calories. When a person's metabolism drops, weight gain will surely follow.

Most people binge on food when they are depressed or in the middle of a stressful negotiation or occurrence in their lives. To avoid binging on food and gaining weight in the process, you must solve your problem and find ways to get over your depression. A person's self control can sometimes be the key to weight loss.

A natural way to keep the fats out of your belly is to eat more food. However, the foods you should eat should come from a certain category of food which they call non-caloric food. The name is really a misnomer because all foods have caloric, vitamins or mineral contents. However, such food groups are known as zero-caloric foods because the calories required to burn them is more than the caloric content of such food.

Among these zero-caloric foods are broccoli, asparagus, cucumber, pineapple, cabbage, apples, zucchini, lettuce and carrots. By eating more of these foods you satiate yourself and do not deprive your eating urges. However, the result is that you burn more calories as these foods require more calories to burn.

For advanced fat burning techniques, please visit http://www.lose-weight-naturally.info/

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Posted by Orce37 at 11:34 AM | Permalink | Comments

My sales manager used to tell me “You must learn to walk before you can run.”

At first I was offended by his statement. After all, I was 22 years old and I was smart! However, over the years those wise words have helped me be successful in many endeavors in life, both big and small.

Apply this philosophy if you have 10 pounds to lose. Even if you could stand to lose 50 pounds, think of the weight loss in 10-pound increments. Beginning with a baby step weight loss program will increase your chances to lose more weight.

Tell yourself “I have 10 pounds to lose” and set you goal at that number. Since the first 10 pounds are often mostly made up of water, you should be able to achieve the goal of “10 pounds to lose” in a short time. Doing so will give you a great sense of accomplishment and joy and this will help propel you to on your journey of another 10 pounds to lose.

Eating Habits

Start your weight loss program by thinking about your eating habits. How many meals do you eat every day? Many nutritionists recommend that you eat MORE meals. The theory here is that to lose weight you need to increase your metabolism. If you consume one or two meals per day you will actually slow down your metabolism. Eat four to six small meals a day instead.

Eliminate the desire for junk food

I love taco chips. I also love myself. One has to go. Get rid of junk food from your diet. I find that when I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and do some exercise my craving for junk food usually disappears. My vegetarian friends tell me they have no craving for meat any more. I quit smoking three years ago and that terrible craving went away after a month. Get the picture?

Get your metabolism into gear!

The equation goes like this:

Increased metabolism = fat loss

It’s not easy to lose fat from your body if your metabolism is always low. You need to find out ways to increase that metabolism. Get that lazy body moving! Work up a bit of sweat. I recommend that you try lifting weights. Sound awful? Just try it. I promise the experience will not be as painful as you first imagined. It could actually turn into a pleasurable and fat-losing experience for you! Lifting weights will increase your cardio and this, in turn, will burn off ugly fat. If you cannot lift weights, try Yoga. Yoga has a side benefit: peace of mind. You get two goals with one effort. Walking is a great pastime but it is not especially good exercise in a weight loss regime. My friend told me he get into a walking program of a fast three miles a day. After a month of that he gained three pounds. Ugh! I have similar experience with walking. It might be a very pleasurable and worthy experience, but I did not lose weight that way. The problem is, I think, that it is difficult to get the cardio effect.

I work on my computer all day long. This is a terrific way to gain a lot of weight. My metabolism is always low when I am sitting down. I can FEEL it. To counteract this I will get up and walk a couple of hundred yards every half hour. Baby steps to a greater goal.

Drink enough water

Drink at least 64 ounces of water each day. Your body must get rid of water before it loses fat. If we are dehydrated we hold back releasing water from our system. Dehydration increases the chance of losing muscle tone. This also decreases your metabolism and puts a dent in your weight loss desire. Having said that, drinking too much water is proven to be inefficient or even dangerous. Stick with 64 ounces in addition to your normal fluids intake unless you do a lot of sweat-producing exercise.

Greg Cryns is the founder of http://www.weightlossquest.info Weight Loss Quest.

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Posted by Orce37 at 11:29 AM | Permalink | Comments