Are you a hard gainer, please read!
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How do you tackle the bulking phase while simultaneously lowering high cholesterol?0
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It depends on why it's high? Exercise can lower cholesterol. High cholesterol isn't always caused by diet but, you can still eat high calorie foods containing,for example, monounsaturated oils etc.0
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benpeterson210 wrote: »How do you tackle the bulking phase while simultaneously lowering high cholesterol?
Whats your total profile look like? Because total cholesterol is not a great marker as high hdl will increase total cholesterol. Triglycerides and ldl are better indicators.
But possible maintaining high amounts of fiber, largea amounts of MUFA/PUFA and limiting added sugar and SFA.1 -
Wheelhouse15 wrote: »Yeah, no list is compelete without the pizza!
I work for dominos lol0 -
Hey everyone! I'm new here and have been experimenting for the last month on the most convenient ways for me to intake calories and hit my goals. I'm not a huge eater and I've tried consuming all of my calories through solid food, but it just doesn't seem to be realistic for me to constantly prepare food with my schedule. But, I've been making my own mass gainer shakes that I drink before lunch and dinner have a few questions. As long as I'm hitting my calorie goals, does it matter if I drink a majority of them? Also, does it matter if I'm having so many calories all at once? Should they be split up more periodically throughout the day?
(These mass gainer shakes I make add up to around 1500 calories per shake) I just put a hell of a ton of peanut butter, milk, and bananas in them.1 -
SeriousJak wrote: »Hey everyone! I'm new here and have been experimenting for the last month on the most convenient ways for me to intake calories and hit my goals. I'm not a huge eater and I've tried consuming all of my calories through solid food, but it just doesn't seem to be realistic for me to constantly prepare food with my schedule. But, I've been making my own mass gainer shakes that I drink before lunch and dinner have a few questions. As long as I'm hitting my calorie goals, does it matter if I drink a majority of them? Also, does it matter if I'm having so many calories all at once? Should they be split up more periodically throughout the day?
(These mass gainer shakes I make add up to around 1500 calories per shake) I just put a hell of a ton of peanut butter, milk, and bananas in them.
Calories are king, so yes this is ok provided you are hitting macros and micros1 -
Awesome thread! Very helpful!0
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Bump0
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Really goood point and a bunch of good ideas! But have to say I'm a hard gainer is it high metabolism?!? Who knows! In my case was a sickness and although most people love all those gooddies and would be amazed to be told to eat all that I in my particular I love healthy food and wanna gain weight yes but eat healthy! Not a big fan of pizza, hamburgers, hate hh and all those goddies wonce in a wile yes I'm human right! Ahahah
So in my case and it's how I fell it's almost like saying eat whatever and a lot and you'll be fine!
I love fruits and veggies I'll take a blow of them instead of meet or pasta! Hate sauces and salad dressings! I like natural food I like felling the taste of every ingredient! I love food but what I love doesn't give me enough to gain so I'm in a stressful position where I do not know any to eat! If I eat what I like won't gain enough if I eat what you say I feel sick and it's an effort to shove it down!
Is there any advice on good healthy food I can eat that will give me what I need and still make me happy eater!?
Help !!!!!
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Sofia_Garcia wrote: »Really goood point and a bunch of good ideas! But have to say I'm a hard gainer is it high metabolism?!? Who knows! In my case was a sickness and although most people love all those gooddies and would be amazed to be told to eat all that I in my particular I love healthy food and wanna gain weight yes but eat healthy! Not a big fan of pizza, hamburgers, hate hh and all those goddies wonce in a wile yes I'm human right! Ahahah
So in my case and it's how I fell it's almost like saying eat whatever and a lot and you'll be fine!
I love fruits and veggies I'll take a blow of them instead of meet or pasta! Hate sauces and salad dressings! I like natural food I like felling the taste of every ingredient! I love food but what I love doesn't give me enough to gain so I'm in a stressful position where I do not know any to eat! If I eat what I like won't gain enough if I eat what you say I feel sick and it's an effort to shove it down!
Is there any advice on good healthy food I can eat that will give me what I need and still make me happy eater!?
Help !!!!!
Healthy is getting adequate nutrients. Self imposed limitations can make it harder. I can tell you what I think is healthy, but your definition is going to be different. I'd still recommend getting adequate fruits/veggies because fiber is great for health, incorporate proteins (especially ones with higher levels of fat like fish, red meats, chicken with the skin), and healthy fats (nuts, avocado, etc...) to ensure your body is performing properly.
This thread isn't just about eating dirty foods. It's about strategies to eat healthy foods and adding additional calories from calorie dense/low satiating foods to ensure you are hitting target calories. In the end, if you dont' hit calorie levels, you will never gain. In the end, the biggest drivers for health (metabolic markers) are weight/body composition, activity level and genetics. Foods can augment that, but even then it's limited.
Overall, you are the type of person I made this thread for. You have a lot of limitations on foods and don't want to eat other foods because you have perceptions of what is healthy and not. All those foods on the first page do have nutritional value...some more than others, but all can be incorporated in a very healthy diet.
Look at fats (avocado, nuts, butters, oils); concentrate on high sugar fruits, legumes and starches; and add in high quality meats/fish that contains fat and protein such as dark fish, chicken with skin, duck, bison, etc..
There are also several links at the bottom to sites with recipes.4 -
Looks like a recipe for getting fat! I would be afraid that it would be impossible to cut back down later. Lots of unclean junky foods listed. I am not sure this is the best advise.8
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craigaronoff1 wrote: »Looks like a recipe for getting fat! I would be afraid that it would be impossible to cut back down later. Lots of unclean junky foods listed. I am not sure this is the best advise.
you need a calorie surplus to gain weight (muscle and fat). how else do you think you build muscle?3 -
craigaronoff1 wrote: »Looks like a recipe for getting fat! I would be afraid that it would be impossible to cut back down later. Lots of unclean junky foods listed. I am not sure this is the best advise.
Too high a surplus and inadequate training will make you gain fat. Less nutritious food in moderation is fine and can help people reach their cal goals to get into a surplus, especially those that have a very high cal goal. Putting restrictions on what you can/can't eat is unnecessary. If you struggle to eat and are always too full and don't hit your calories, you will not gain.. I've seen people stuck at square one for years (yes years) because of this mentality.2 -
craigaronoff1 wrote: »Looks like a recipe for getting fat! I would be afraid that it would be impossible to cut back down later. Lots of unclean junky foods listed. I am not sure this is the best advise.
No one is saying,eat these foods exclusively. You can add them to your normal diet if you like. That's what I did and is how I gained weight for the first time in years. These foods won't make you fat unless you eat a big surplus- of anything.
The reason I was never able to gain weight is that I was fixated on having to eat "healthy "food. By which I mean fruit,vegetables,whole grains etc etc. Not only was I unable to eat enough of these things to gain weight (I have a small appetite and get full very quickly) ,it also made me ill (I suffer from ibd) Once I'd dropped the notion that I had to eat 3 meals a day consisting of complex carbs and vegetables,and switched to more frequent,smaller meals which included many of the foods listed above as well as fruit,vegetables etc,I finally gained weight. An added bonus is that my appetite has improved.0 -
donkey9512 wrote: »Looks like a recipe for getting fat! I would be afraid that it would be impossible to cut back down later. Lots of unclean junky foods listed. I am not sure this is the best advise.
You understand this is the weight gain discussion right?? Getting bigger is the goal.4 -
stanmann571 wrote: »donkey9512 wrote: »Looks like a recipe for getting fat! I would be afraid that it would be impossible to cut back down later. Lots of unclean junky foods listed. I am not sure this is the best advise.
You understand this is the weight gain discussion right?? Getting bigger is the goal.
Of course I understand that. My point is that it is too easy to overdo junk food and get fat. Replace the word junk food with, say, certain highly processed foods with low nutrient content and empty calories. It's easier to say junk food.
Instead of eating McDonalds Bigmac I would prefer to have an avodado which is calorie dense and not processed. You can easily get 3500 calories in one meal at McDonalds. I was once everyday eating fast food even though I was a hard gainer. The term 'hard gainer' refers to hard gaining lean mass. I guarantee if you are not reasonable and eat junk food any hard gainer will be a fast fat gainer. Then they'll spend the next two years dieting down to cut and find they've gained no muscle, or worse, they'll achieve the dreaded skinny-fat physique! I think some restrictions or mindfulness is needed.
I'm not saying don't ever eat junk. I eat junk sometimes because I enjoy it! Life is too short. I would not purposely replace healthy eating habits just to hit a caloric surplus. I guess adding some calorie dense foods like steak, pasta, pizza are perfect.
So I suppose I would modify my stance and just say that we maybe should be careful with empty calories. Someone above in the thread said wisely that muscle is slow to build but fat is quick to accumulate.4 -
comptonelizabeth wrote: »craigaronoff1 wrote: »Looks like a recipe for getting fat! I would be afraid that it would be impossible to cut back down later. Lots of unclean junky foods listed. I am not sure this is the best advise.
No one is saying,eat these foods exclusively. You can add them to your normal diet if you like. That's what I did and is how I gained weight for the first time in years. These foods won't make you fat unless you eat a big surplus- of anything.
The reason I was never able to gain weight is that I was fixated on having to eat "healthy "food. By which I mean fruit,vegetables,whole grains etc etc. Not only was I unable to eat enough of these things to gain weight (I have a small appetite and get full very quickly) ,it also made me ill (I suffer from ibd) Once I'd dropped the notion that I had to eat 3 meals a day consisting of complex carbs and vegetables,and switched to more frequent,smaller meals which included many of the foods listed above as well as fruit,vegetables etc,I finally gained weight. An added bonus is that my appetite has improved.
I agree. I too have IBD and I lost 10 lbs in 3 weeks. Too many fibrous foods and vegetables can make you feel too full with low calories. It's also a lot of stress on the digestive track for someone with IBD.2 -
This thread is for people that are having problems hitting their calorie goal, if they are overdoing it, then they perhaps need to cut back on the cals and the advice here would not be for them. No one is advocating eating junk food all day.
The list includes a variety of calorie dense items, and avocado is the first thing on there. If you don't want to eat something, choose something else. If you can't moderate junk food and are gaining too fast, then don't have it. You like avocado? Great. Have at it. I find it very filling and at the end of the day if I was super full and had 500 cals to fill, I wouldn't choose to eat that.
When I started my first bulk I tried to eat only "clean" foods.. I struggled, rarely hit my cal goal, and gained no weight. I started to be more flexible and it helped. I started to gain at a decent pace, I didn't get skinny-fat.. I tracked my weight and cals and adjusted as necessary.5 -
donkey9512 wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »donkey9512 wrote: »Looks like a recipe for getting fat! I would be afraid that it would be impossible to cut back down later. Lots of unclean junky foods listed. I am not sure this is the best advise.
You understand this is the weight gain discussion right?? Getting bigger is the goal.
Of course I understand that. My point is that it is too easy to overdo junk food and get fat. Replace the word junk food with, say, certain highly processed foods with low nutrient content and empty calories. It's easier to say junk food.
Instead of eating McDonalds Bigmac I would prefer to have an avodado which is calorie dense and not processed. You can easily get 3500 calories in one meal at McDonalds. I was once everyday eating fast food even though I was a hard gainer. The term 'hard gainer' refers to hard gaining lean mass.
NO! Hard gainer refers to anyone who has trouble gaining weight. 20 years ago, I was a 'hard gainer'
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stanmann571 wrote: »donkey9512 wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »donkey9512 wrote: »Looks like a recipe for getting fat! I would be afraid that it would be impossible to cut back down later. Lots of unclean junky foods listed. I am not sure this is the best advise.
You understand this is the weight gain discussion right?? Getting bigger is the goal.
Of course I understand that. My point is that it is too easy to overdo junk food and get fat. Replace the word junk food with, say, certain highly processed foods with low nutrient content and empty calories. It's easier to say junk food.
Instead of eating McDonalds Bigmac I would prefer to have an avodado which is calorie dense and not processed. You can easily get 3500 calories in one meal at McDonalds. I was once everyday eating fast food even though I was a hard gainer. The term 'hard gainer' refers to hard gaining lean mass.
NO! Hard gainer refers to anyone who has trouble gaining weight. 20 years ago, I was a 'hard gainer'
Not according to Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardgainer
I don't mean to nit-pick but in general, when people say they are a hardgainer, they mean they want to gain muscle. The danger in taking a looser definition is that people who once thought they were hard gainers, will quickly find how easy it is to gain fat if they eat the wrong foods or too much of the wrong foods. That was my whole point above. Everything in moderation and occasional indulgences are a good thing for someone struggling to gain weight. Just make sure you gain the right type of weight LOL!
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donkey9512 wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »donkey9512 wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »donkey9512 wrote: »Looks like a recipe for getting fat! I would be afraid that it would be impossible to cut back down later. Lots of unclean junky foods listed. I am not sure this is the best advise.
You understand this is the weight gain discussion right?? Getting bigger is the goal.
Of course I understand that. My point is that it is too easy to overdo junk food and get fat. Replace the word junk food with, say, certain highly processed foods with low nutrient content and empty calories. It's easier to say junk food.
Instead of eating McDonalds Bigmac I would prefer to have an avodado which is calorie dense and not processed. You can easily get 3500 calories in one meal at McDonalds. I was once everyday eating fast food even though I was a hard gainer. The term 'hard gainer' refers to hard gaining lean mass.
NO! Hard gainer refers to anyone who has trouble gaining weight. 20 years ago, I was a 'hard gainer'
Not according to Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardgainer
I don't mean to nit-pick but in general, when people say they are a hardgainer, they mean they want to gain muscle. The danger in taking a looser definition is that people who once thought they were hard gainers, will quickly find how easy it is to gain fat if they eat the wrong foods or too much of the wrong foods. That was my whole point above. Everything in moderation and occasional indulgences are a good thing for someone struggling to gain weight. Just make sure you gain the right type of weight LOL!
Why don't you quote the guy who coined the term? His website is still around(20 years from the first time I went to it)3 -
stanmann571 wrote: »donkey9512 wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »donkey9512 wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »donkey9512 wrote: »Looks like a recipe for getting fat! I would be afraid that it would be impossible to cut back down later. Lots of unclean junky foods listed. I am not sure this is the best advise.
You understand this is the weight gain discussion right?? Getting bigger is the goal.
Of course I understand that. My point is that it is too easy to overdo junk food and get fat. Replace the word junk food with, say, certain highly processed foods with low nutrient content and empty calories. It's easier to say junk food.
Instead of eating McDonalds Bigmac I would prefer to have an avodado which is calorie dense and not processed. You can easily get 3500 calories in one meal at McDonalds. I was once everyday eating fast food even though I was a hard gainer. The term 'hard gainer' refers to hard gaining lean mass.
NO! Hard gainer refers to anyone who has trouble gaining weight. 20 years ago, I was a 'hard gainer'
Not according to Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardgainer
I don't mean to nit-pick but in general, when people say they are a hardgainer, they mean they want to gain muscle. The danger in taking a looser definition is that people who once thought they were hard gainers, will quickly find how easy it is to gain fat if they eat the wrong foods or too much of the wrong foods. That was my whole point above. Everything in moderation and occasional indulgences are a good thing for someone struggling to gain weight. Just make sure you gain the right type of weight LOL!
Why don't you quote the guy who coined the term? His website is still around(20 years from the first time I went to it)
I don't know who first coined the term and the original meaning is irrelevant anyway in regards to this topic. Words change meaning all the time and are a reflection of the culture which gives rise to their use. In today's world and with the sport of bodybuilding, hard gain generally refers to lean muscle.
I hope I was not off topic. I just wanted to add that most people are looking to gain quality weight. This should be obvious. Anyone can easily gain fat if they eat too much. Therefore I think we need to be precise about the fact that the reason for a caloric surplus is to maximize lean gain and minimize fat.6 -
Thanks for the reply now it's a bit more clear and yes I know I'm a picky eater! It's due my background, I lived in a island for 30 years and we have a very natural eating kinda way! From the land to the table even fast food is home made ahahhah
I will try to incorporate some of the second advice seams more adequate for me!
Thanks again
Cheers0 -
Most "hard gainers" have a problem putting on mass at all... be it either fat or muscle. The problem with the vast majority of them is simply not getting enough calories. I don't think anybody ever advocates for nothing but "bad" food. You still need to meet your micro and macro nutritional needs to stay healthy... but you CAN meet those needs and still eat at McDonald's every single day. Go check out BB.com, reddit /bodybuilding /gainit /naturalbodybuilding and see that there is one thing in common when most people talk about "hard gains" - super skinny guys/gals who can't gain at all - It's not just muscle for most of them, it's both.
With guys and gals who can put on pounds no problem but have issues with gaining muscle mass or strength, it's almost ALWAYS because they aren't lifting with progressive overload or a proper program and has nothing do with what foods they are eating.
btw - I'm a "hard gainer" and it was an understanding of concepts like CICO and forums and threads like this that finally helped.2 -
jseams1234 wrote: »Most "hard gainers" have a problem putting on mass at all... be it either fat or muscle. The problem with the vast majority of them is simply not getting enough calories. I don't think anybody ever advocates for nothing but "bad" food. You still need to meet your micro and macro nutritional needs to stay healthy... but you CAN meet those needs and still eat at McDonald's every single day. Go check out BB.com, reddit /bodybuilding /gainit /naturalbodybuilding and see that their is one thing in common when most people talk about "hard gains" - super skinny guys/gals who can't gain at all - It's not just muscle for most of them, it's both.
With guys and gals who can put on pounds no problem but have issues with gaining muscle mass or strength, it's almost ALWAYS because they aren't lifting with progressive overload or a proper program and has nothing do with what foods they are eating.
btw - I'm a "hard gainer" and it was an understanding of concepts like CICO and forums and threads like this that finally helped.
I agree with everything you said except I take issue with the statement '...but you CAN meet those needs and still eat at McDonald's every single day.'.
The average meal at Mcdonalds with a Bigmac, large fries and soft drink is probably about in the neighborhood of 1500 to 1750 calories. So if someone requires, say 2500 calories to maintain their weight then they probably should aim to consume 3000 calories per day. Which means would be consuming over half their target calories in empty calories every day! Those super skinny hardgainers that no matter what cannot gain weight are simply not eating enough and/or are very active. Maybe a minority of hardgainers can get away with McDonalds every day but it will catch up with you as you age. There are better strategies to gain weight that still allow for indulgences.
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donkey9512 wrote: »jseams1234 wrote: »Most "hard gainers" have a problem putting on mass at all... be it either fat or muscle. The problem with the vast majority of them is simply not getting enough calories. I don't think anybody ever advocates for nothing but "bad" food. You still need to meet your micro and macro nutritional needs to stay healthy... but you CAN meet those needs and still eat at McDonald's every single day. Go check out BB.com, reddit /bodybuilding /gainit /naturalbodybuilding and see that their is one thing in common when most people talk about "hard gains" - super skinny guys/gals who can't gain at all - It's not just muscle for most of them, it's both.
With guys and gals who can put on pounds no problem but have issues with gaining muscle mass or strength, it's almost ALWAYS because they aren't lifting with progressive overload or a proper program and has nothing do with what foods they are eating.
btw - I'm a "hard gainer" and it was an understanding of concepts like CICO and forums and threads like this that finally helped.
I agree with everything you said except I take issue with the statement '...but you CAN meet those needs and still eat at McDonald's every single day.'.
The average meal at Mcdonalds with a Bigmac, large fries and soft drink is probably about in the neighborhood of 1500 to 1750 calories. So if someone requires, say 2500 calories to maintain their weight then they probably should aim to consume 3000 calories per day. Which means would be consuming over half their target calories in empty calories every day! Those super skinny hardgainers that no matter what cannot gain weight are simply not eating enough and/or are very active. Maybe a minority of hardgainers can get away with McDonalds every day but it will catch up with you as you age. There are better strategies to gain weight that still allow for indulgences.
A big Mac is 26g of fat, 27g protein and 41g carbs. What's 'empty' about that?6 -
donkey9512 wrote: »jseams1234 wrote: »Most "hard gainers" have a problem putting on mass at all... be it either fat or muscle. The problem with the vast majority of them is simply not getting enough calories. I don't think anybody ever advocates for nothing but "bad" food. You still need to meet your micro and macro nutritional needs to stay healthy... but you CAN meet those needs and still eat at McDonald's every single day. Go check out BB.com, reddit /bodybuilding /gainit /naturalbodybuilding and see that their is one thing in common when most people talk about "hard gains" - super skinny guys/gals who can't gain at all - It's not just muscle for most of them, it's both.
With guys and gals who can put on pounds no problem but have issues with gaining muscle mass or strength, it's almost ALWAYS because they aren't lifting with progressive overload or a proper program and has nothing do with what foods they are eating.
btw - I'm a "hard gainer" and it was an understanding of concepts like CICO and forums and threads like this that finally helped.
I agree with everything you said except I take issue with the statement '...but you CAN meet those needs and still eat at McDonald's every single day.'.
The average meal at Mcdonalds with a Bigmac, large fries and soft drink is probably about in the neighborhood of 1500 to 1750 calories. So if someone requires, say 2500 calories to maintain their weight then they probably should aim to consume 3000 calories per day. Which means would be consuming over half their target calories in empty calories every day! Those super skinny hardgainers that no matter what cannot gain weight are simply not eating enough and/or are very active. Maybe a minority of hardgainers can get away with McDonalds every day but it will catch up with you as you age. There are better strategies to gain weight that still allow for indulgences.
I find it both comical and insightful that virtually every proponent of "clean eating" has to take their discussion to the extreme of eating nothing but fast food (or sweets/sugar, or whatever they happen to be demonizing) every single day in an attempt to make their point.
As if one couldn't apply a little common sense, take context and dosage into consideration and moderate their intake of such foods and still have a healthy, balanced, well-rounded diet.1 -
donkey9512 wrote: »jseams1234 wrote: »Most "hard gainers" have a problem putting on mass at all... be it either fat or muscle. The problem with the vast majority of them is simply not getting enough calories. I don't think anybody ever advocates for nothing but "bad" food. You still need to meet your micro and macro nutritional needs to stay healthy... but you CAN meet those needs and still eat at McDonald's every single day. Go check out BB.com, reddit /bodybuilding /gainit /naturalbodybuilding and see that their is one thing in common when most people talk about "hard gains" - super skinny guys/gals who can't gain at all - It's not just muscle for most of them, it's both.
With guys and gals who can put on pounds no problem but have issues with gaining muscle mass or strength, it's almost ALWAYS because they aren't lifting with progressive overload or a proper program and has nothing do with what foods they are eating.
btw - I'm a "hard gainer" and it was an understanding of concepts like CICO and forums and threads like this that finally helped.
I agree with everything you said except I take issue with the statement '...but you CAN meet those needs and still eat at McDonald's every single day.'.
The average meal at Mcdonalds with a Bigmac, large fries and soft drink is probably about in the neighborhood of 1500 to 1750 calories. So if someone requires, say 2500 calories to maintain their weight then they probably should aim to consume 3000 calories per day. Which means would be consuming over half their target calories in empty calories every day! Those super skinny hardgainers that no matter what cannot gain weight are simply not eating enough and/or are very active. Maybe a minority of hardgainers can get away with McDonalds every day but it will catch up with you as you age. There are better strategies to gain weight that still allow for indulgences.
I find it both comical and insightful that virtually every proponent of "clean eating" has to take their discussion to the extreme of eating nothing but fast food every single day in an attempt to make their point.
As if one couldn't apply a little common sense, take context and dosage into consideration and moderate their intake of such foods and still have a healthy, balanced, well-rounded diet.
He was responding to someone else who brought up eating mcdonalds everyday1
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