Intermittent Fasting Support Group?

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Replies

  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member
    Hi I'm so glad I found this group. Without getting nasty I have to say I'm glad I found a group that doesn't blindly preach the ole "you'll go into starvation mode if you don't eat every 3 hours" stuff.
    I'm pretty good at daytime fasting. In fact I usually don't even feel like eating until I get home from work - around 6 or 7pm.

    I have a question - what if I like coffee with a bit of milk and sugar? Does that defeat the purpose?
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,834 Member
    I have coffee with a splash of milk. (no sugar though) Fasting keeps the blood/glucose level low and by having sugar that will spike blood/glucose so that is not a good idea.
  • pork_belly
    pork_belly Posts: 144
    Hi I'm so glad I found this group. Without getting nasty I have to say I'm glad I found a group that doesn't blindly preach the ole "you'll go into starvation mode if you don't eat every 3 hours" stuff.
    I'm pretty good at daytime fasting. In fact I usually don't even feel like eating until I get home from work - around 6 or 7pm.

    I have a question - what if I like coffee with a bit of milk and sugar? Does that defeat the purpose?

    Coffee is fine but hold off on the sugar. You can do a sweetener if you wish.
  • firedragon064
    firedragon064 Posts: 1,082 Member
    I don't know if I can call yesterday as fasting day. I ate 1600 cal. I definitely did not have problem sleep last night.
    I'm looking for tomorrow fast tho. I'm going to have tea since it's friday. I've been avoid caffeine on fasting day because I'm afraid I would be sleepless at night.
  • HallehRae
    HallehRae Posts: 13 Member
    Hurray! I'm so happy I found this thread. I just did my first 24 hr fast yesterday and it was pretty tough. I had been trying the leangains approch of 16/8 without much results so I decided to switch to ESE, so I'm going to try to fast for 24 hrs every other day. Is anyone else trying this, and did you get a nasty headache/dizzy feeling at first? I'm thinking that it should get easier as time goes on like leangains did. Any thoughts?

    Thanks :)
  • letstrythisagain
    letstrythisagain Posts: 11
    Is it suggested that women do 10/14 instead. that would fit in better with my work schedule which is 4pm-12. When i get home i need a little glass of wine and a small snack, so accordingly then i should eat from 3-12, does that sound right?
  • HallehRae
    HallehRae Posts: 13 Member
    Is it suggested that women do 10/14 instead. that would fit in better with my work schedule which is 4pm-12. When i get home i need a little glass of wine and a small snack, so accordingly then i should eat from 3-12, does that sound right?

    Yes, according to Martin, the guy at leangains, he suggests women only fast for 14 hrs instead of 16 because of feedback from his clients. I personally didn't have a problem with 16 though, so it's all about what works best for you and your body.
  • Huskeryogi
    Huskeryogi Posts: 578 Member
    Is it suggested that women do 10/14 instead. that would fit in better with my work schedule which is 4pm-12. When i get home i need a little glass of wine and a small snack, so accordingly then i should eat from 3-12, does that sound right?

    Yes, according to Martin, the guy at leangains, he suggests women only fast for 14 hrs instead of 16 because of feedback from his clients. I personally didn't have a problem with 16 though, so it's all about what works best for you and your body.

    I will ditto this. Martin says that some of his female clients had mood swings with 16 hour fasts. I have not had a problem with it at all. I frequently forget to eat my first meal on time and go to 17 or 18 hour fasts without thinking about it.
  • theresamommyof4
    theresamommyof4 Posts: 206 Member
    Oops! I hit save too soon and now I don't have time to respond! I do the 24 hours every other day with great results. More later :)
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,332 Member
    Hurray! I'm so happy I found this thread. I just did my first 24 hr fast yesterday and it was pretty tough. I had been trying the leangains approch of 16/8 without much results so I decided to switch to ESE, so I'm going to try to fast for 24 hrs every other day. Is anyone else trying this, and did you get a nasty headache/dizzy feeling at first? I'm thinking that it should get easier as time goes on like leangains did. Any thoughts?

    Thanks :)

    ESE style is not every other day, it is 1 or 2 days a week where you fast by eating a normal supper, they don't eat anything until supper the next day. Then you break your fast with a normal supper, not some super huge as the 24 hour fast is supposed to be giving you are calorie deficit.

    I know some people do every other day, but that is not really ESE, that is every other day IF.

    I have found that the 24 hours gets easier the longer I do it. Not that it was much of a struggle even at the beginning for me. The only time I struggle is when I don't have a good night's sleep during the fast due to other factors.
  • HallehRae
    HallehRae Posts: 13 Member
    Hurray! I'm so happy I found this thread. I just did my first 24 hr fast yesterday and it was pretty tough. I had been trying the leangains approch of 16/8 without much results so I decided to switch to ESE, so I'm going to try to fast for 24 hrs every other day. Is anyone else trying this, and did you get a nasty headache/dizzy feeling at first? I'm thinking that it should get easier as time goes on like leangains did. Any thoughts?

    Thanks :)

    ESE style is not every other day, it is 1 or 2 days a week where you fast by eating a normal supper, they don't eat anything until supper the next day. Then you break your fast with a normal supper, not some super huge as the 24 hour fast is supposed to be giving you are calorie deficit.

    Ah, ok thanks. I guess I'm not doing ESE then. I have read about people fasting for 24 hours every other day though I forget where. Guess I better start researching again :)
  • HallehRae
    HallehRae Posts: 13 Member
    Oops! I hit save too soon and now I don't have time to respond! I do the 24 hours every other day with great results. More later :)

    Theresamommyof, I would love to hear more about your experience with it when you get the chance! Thanks :happy:
  • theresamommyof4
    theresamommyof4 Posts: 206 Member
    Hurray! I'm so happy I found this thread. I just did my first 24 hr fast yesterday and it was pretty tough. I had been trying the leangains approch of 16/8 without much results so I decided to switch to ESE, so I'm going to try to fast for 24 hrs every other day. Is anyone else trying this, and did you get a nasty headache/dizzy feeling at first? I'm thinking that it should get easier as time goes on like leangains did. Any thoughts?

    Thanks :)

    ESE style is not every other day, it is 1 or 2 days a week where you fast by eating a normal supper, they don't eat anything until supper the next day. Then you break your fast with a normal supper, not some super huge as the 24 hour fast is supposed to be giving you are calorie deficit.

    I know some people do every other day, but that is not really ESE, that is every other day IF.

    I have found that the 24 hours gets easier the longer I do it. Not that it was much of a struggle even at the beginning for me. The only time I struggle is when I don't have a good night's sleep during the fast due to other factors.

    So rileysowner, do you do the every other day IF, or do you just fast for 24 hours a couple days a week? I'm getting awesome results with the every other day, but I worry that I'm losing too fast. I like the 24 hour every other day, because well... it works and I feel like I have better control, but with 14+ pounds in the last 4 weeks, I'm wondering if I'm not dipping into unhealthy weight loss. So, I'm seriously considering switching to the 18/6 and just fasting 24 hours once a week.
  • theresamommyof4
    theresamommyof4 Posts: 206 Member
    Ah! I will soon! I just asked rileysowner a question, and now I have to run again! I'll be back in a little while!
  • theresamommyof4
    theresamommyof4 Posts: 206 Member
    Hurray! I'm so happy I found this thread. I just did my first 24 hr fast yesterday and it was pretty tough. I had been trying the leangains approch of 16/8 without much results so I decided to switch to ESE, so I'm going to try to fast for 24 hrs every other day. Is anyone else trying this, and did you get a nasty headache/dizzy feeling at first? I'm thinking that it should get easier as time goes on like leangains did. Any thoughts?

    Thanks :)

    ESE style is not every other day, it is 1 or 2 days a week where you fast by eating a normal supper, they don't eat anything until supper the next day. Then you break your fast with a normal supper, not some super huge as the 24 hour fast is supposed to be giving you are calorie deficit.

    Ah, ok thanks. I guess I'm not doing ESE then. I have read about people fasting for 24 hours every other day though I forget where. Guess I better start researching again :)

    Okay... I guess most of my info was in my question last night, but here's what I've been doing. I started doing IF just over 4 weeks ago. I hit a plateau, couldn't lose any more weight, so I tried it out of desperation. I broke my plateau, and I've been on track since then. I've lost at least 14 pounds in 4 weeks, and with as far as I need to go, I really like seeing that amount of weight loss, but at the same time, I worry that it might be coming off too fast. I start my 24 hour fast right after breakfast, then have breakfast the next morning and continue with my day of eating. My problem is that I don't get any more food in on my "eat" day than I would if I were just following my normal diet. So maybe 1500 calories. MFP set my daily calorie goal at just over 1500, so I'm eating half of what I should in order to lose a healthy amount of weight, if that makes sense.

    So all that being said, I think I might try the 18/6 with a 24 hour fast tossed in every week and see how I do.

    I hope that helps!

    ~Theresa
  • pork_belly
    pork_belly Posts: 144

    So all that being said, I think I might try the 18/6 with a 24 hour fast tossed in every week and see how I do.

    I hope that helps!

    ~Theresa

    This is close to what I do. I do 19/5 with my feeding time at 4PM. Whenever the mood hits me I will throw in a 36-40 hour fast. Mostly I do this when I've plateau or what to be aggressively proactive about reaching a goal. I'm at the start of one right now. I also do a low carb diet so I'm pretty satisfied with one big meal to break the fast and then something a little later if need be.
  • theresamommyof4
    theresamommyof4 Posts: 206 Member

    So all that being said, I think I might try the 18/6 with a 24 hour fast tossed in every week and see how I do.

    I hope that helps!

    ~Theresa

    This is close to what I do. I do 19/5 with my feeding time at 4PM. Whenever the mood hits me I will throw in a 36-40 hour fast. Mostly I do this when I've plateau or what to be aggressively proactive about reaching a goal. I'm at the start of one right now. I also do a low carb diet so I'm pretty satisfied with one big meal to break the fast and then something a little later if need be.

    So on average, about how much do you lose in a week?
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,332 Member
    Hurray! I'm so happy I found this thread. I just did my first 24 hr fast yesterday and it was pretty tough. I had been trying the leangains approch of 16/8 without much results so I decided to switch to ESE, so I'm going to try to fast for 24 hrs every other day. Is anyone else trying this, and did you get a nasty headache/dizzy feeling at first? I'm thinking that it should get easier as time goes on like leangains did. Any thoughts?

    Thanks :)

    ESE style is not every other day, it is 1 or 2 days a week where you fast by eating a normal supper, they don't eat anything until supper the next day. Then you break your fast with a normal supper, not some super huge as the 24 hour fast is supposed to be giving you are calorie deficit.

    I know some people do every other day, but that is not really ESE, that is every other day IF.

    I have found that the 24 hours gets easier the longer I do it. Not that it was much of a struggle even at the beginning for me. The only time I struggle is when I don't have a good night's sleep during the fast due to other factors.

    So rileysowner, do you do the every other day IF, or do you just fast for 24 hours a couple days a week? I'm getting awesome results with the every other day, but I worry that I'm losing too fast. I like the 24 hour every other day, because well... it works and I feel like I have better control, but with 14+ pounds in the last 4 weeks, I'm wondering if I'm not dipping into unhealthy weight loss. So, I'm seriously considering switching to the 18/6 and just fasting 24 hours once a week.

    I do 24 hours (supper to supper) one or two times a week. Usually only one, sometimes two depending on what the rest of the week looks like. I for the most part do the leangain 16/8 for the other days, but not always. I can't comment on the issue of whether doing every other day 24 hour fasts is healthy, but I am an advocate of slower weight loss to allow time to lean new eating behaviors thus allowing for long term success unless there are health reasons to lose weight quickly. The advantage of the one or two 24 hour fasts a week is that you can switch the day easily, so you are not handcuffed in terms of social events based around meals. You just fast a different day. Every other day sort of locks you into a pattern.
  • pork_belly
    pork_belly Posts: 144

    So on average, about how much do you lose in a week?

    Right now my calculations put me at 1.875 per week. Keep in mind that I'm close to what ultimately I believe will be my final weight. So I have about five more pounds and I'm done with losing. Currently I am in the healthy range for my BMI and I have no intention do start weight training to put some muscles on. I do your basic push ups, sit ups and dips and dumbell work but just for toning.

    I first started the fasting to deal with a plateau I was at. Then I found out about short and long fast. Now I do short fast every day 19/5 and long fast when I need it (36-40). I try not to go over 40.
  • theresamommyof4
    theresamommyof4 Posts: 206 Member

    So on average, about how much do you lose in a week?

    Right now my calculations put me at 1.875 per week. Keep in mind that I'm close to what ultimately I believe will be my final weight. So I have about five more pounds and I'm done with losing. Currently I am in the healthy range for my BMI and I have no intention do start weight training to put some muscles on. I do your basic push ups, sit ups and dips and dumbell work but just for toning.

    I first started the fasting to deal with a plateau I was at. Then I found out about short and long fast. Now I do short fast every day 19/5 and long fast when I need it (36-40). I try not to go over 40.

    Okay! That's right where I want to be...about the 2 lb a week mark. Thanks for the info! ~Theresa
  • theresamommyof4
    theresamommyof4 Posts: 206 Member
    Hurray! I'm so happy I found this thread. I just did my first 24 hr fast yesterday and it was pretty tough. I had been trying the leangains approch of 16/8 without much results so I decided to switch to ESE, so I'm going to try to fast for 24 hrs every other day. Is anyone else trying this, and did you get a nasty headache/dizzy feeling at first? I'm thinking that it should get easier as time goes on like leangains did. Any thoughts?

    Thanks :)

    ESE style is not every other day, it is 1 or 2 days a week where you fast by eating a normal supper, they don't eat anything until supper the next day. Then you break your fast with a normal supper, not some super huge as the 24 hour fast is supposed to be giving you are calorie deficit.

    I know some people do every other day, but that is not really ESE, that is every other day IF.

    I have found that the 24 hours gets easier the longer I do it. Not that it was much of a struggle even at the beginning for me. The only time I struggle is when I don't have a good night's sleep during the fast due to other factors.

    So rileysowner, do you do the every other day IF, or do you just fast for 24 hours a couple days a week? I'm getting awesome results with the every other day, but I worry that I'm losing too fast. I like the 24 hour every other day, because well... it works and I feel like I have better control, but with 14+ pounds in the last 4 weeks, I'm wondering if I'm not dipping into unhealthy weight loss. So, I'm seriously considering switching to the 18/6 and just fasting 24 hours once a week.

    I do 24 hours (supper to supper) one or two times a week. Usually only one, sometimes two depending on what the rest of the week looks like. I for the most part do the leangain 16/8 for the other days, but not always. I can't comment on the issue of whether doing every other day 24 hour fasts is healthy, but I am an advocate of slower weight loss to allow time to lean new eating behaviors thus allowing for long term success unless there are health reasons to lose weight quickly. The advantage of the one or two 24 hour fasts a week is that you can switch the day easily, so you are not handcuffed in terms of social events based around meals. You just fast a different day. Every other day sort of locks you into a pattern.

    Okay! That sounds like a plan :) I'll certainly miss seeing the scales go down as fast, but I think I'll stress a lot less. Thank you!

    ~Theresa
  • HallehRae
    HallehRae Posts: 13 Member
    Hurray! I'm so happy I found this thread. I just did my first 24 hr fast yesterday and it was pretty tough. I had been trying the leangains approch of 16/8 without much results so I decided to switch to ESE, so I'm going to try to fast for 24 hrs every other day. Is anyone else trying this, and did you get a nasty headache/dizzy feeling at first? I'm thinking that it should get easier as time goes on like leangains did. Any thoughts?

    Thanks :)

    ESE style is not every other day, it is 1 or 2 days a week where you fast by eating a normal supper, they don't eat anything until supper the next day. Then you break your fast with a normal supper, not some super huge as the 24 hour fast is supposed to be giving you are calorie deficit.

    I know some people do every other day, but that is not really ESE, that is every other day IF.

    I have found that the 24 hours gets easier the longer I do it. Not that it was much of a struggle even at the beginning for me. The only time I struggle is when I don't have a good night's sleep during the fast due to other factors.

    So rileysowner, do you do the every other day IF, or do you just fast for 24 hours a couple days a week? I'm getting awesome results with the every other day, but I worry that I'm losing too fast. I like the 24 hour every other day, because well... it works and I feel like I have better control, but with 14+ pounds in the last 4 weeks, I'm wondering if I'm not dipping into unhealthy weight loss. So, I'm seriously considering switching to the 18/6 and just fasting 24 hours once a week.

    I do 24 hours (supper to supper) one or two times a week. Usually only one, sometimes two depending on what the rest of the week looks like. I for the most part do the leangain 16/8 for the other days, but not always. I can't comment on the issue of whether doing every other day 24 hour fasts is healthy, but I am an advocate of slower weight loss to allow time to lean new eating behaviors thus allowing for long term success unless there are health reasons to lose weight quickly. The advantage of the one or two 24 hour fasts a week is that you can switch the day easily, so you are not handcuffed in terms of social events based around meals. You just fast a different day. Every other day sort of locks you into a pattern.

    Yeah, I'm thinking to only try EOD for 2 weeks max then switch to once/twice a week. I've talked to people that randomly pick 1 day a week to fast and plan on doing it for the rest of their lives. There have been studies that have shown that periodic deprivation is really healthy for the body (longer life, less instance of disease, etc.) I'm not going to try and quote them, but it does make a whole lot of sense to me since for thousands of years humans just didn't have access to food everyday and we seemed to do just fine :)
  • hush7hush
    hush7hush Posts: 2,273 Member
    Hey, IF-ers!

    Okay, so, I usually fast once a week for 24-36 hours. I'm thinking about incorporating a 16/8 method into my life! :D

    I work overnights, so my eating window would be 7pm to 3am. Which is basically what I already do.

    My question for you is, does anyone combine both the daily IF, and the weekly fasts? Have you noticed any good results with it? What have you noticed while doing a 16/8 approach? Do you feel that it's better than a weekly 24 hour fast?

    Thanks! [:

    I pretty much don't want to stop my weekly fasts. But I also sort of incidentally did a 16/8 the past couple days, and I love how much it leave me to eat in those few hours. I dig it.
  • crisanderson27
    crisanderson27 Posts: 5,343 Member
    Hey, IF-ers!

    Okay, so, I usually fast once a week for 24-36 hours. I'm thinking about incorporating a 16/8 method into my life! :D

    I work overnights, so my eating window would be 7pm to 3am. Which is basically what I already do.

    My question for you is, does anyone combine both the daily IF, and the weekly fasts? Have you noticed any good results with it? What have you noticed while doing a 16/8 approach? Do you feel that it's better than a weekly 24 hour fast?

    Thanks! [:

    I pretty much don't want to stop my weekly fasts. But I also sort of incidentally did a 16/8 the past couple days, and I love how much it leave me to eat in those few hours. I dig it.

    That's pretty much what I do hun. The only difference between my 24hr fasts, and my regular days is I eat a snack when I come home at 4ish pm on my regular days...and I skip to dinner on my fasting days at 7ish pm. It's working alright.
  • hush7hush
    hush7hush Posts: 2,273 Member
    Hey, IF-ers!

    Okay, so, I usually fast once a week for 24-36 hours. I'm thinking about incorporating a 16/8 method into my life! :D

    I work overnights, so my eating window would be 7pm to 3am. Which is basically what I already do.

    My question for you is, does anyone combine both the daily IF, and the weekly fasts? Have you noticed any good results with it? What have you noticed while doing a 16/8 approach? Do you feel that it's better than a weekly 24 hour fast?

    Thanks! [:

    I pretty much don't want to stop my weekly fasts. But I also sort of incidentally did a 16/8 the past couple days, and I love how much it leave me to eat in those few hours. I dig it.

    That's pretty much what I do hun. The only difference between my 24hr fasts, and my regular days is I eat a snack when I come home at 4ish pm on my regular days...and I skip to dinner on my fasting days at 7ish pm. It's working alright.

    So you just throw on an extra 3 hours and it becomes a 24 hour fast? I was thinking I'm not sure how I'm going to effeciently incorporate my 24 hour fasts. It would end up being like stop eating at 3am on Wednesday, and start eating at 7pm on Thursday. Ouch.
  • crisanderson27
    crisanderson27 Posts: 5,343 Member
    Hey, IF-ers!

    Okay, so, I usually fast once a week for 24-36 hours. I'm thinking about incorporating a 16/8 method into my life! :D

    I work overnights, so my eating window would be 7pm to 3am. Which is basically what I already do.

    My question for you is, does anyone combine both the daily IF, and the weekly fasts? Have you noticed any good results with it? What have you noticed while doing a 16/8 approach? Do you feel that it's better than a weekly 24 hour fast?

    Thanks! [:

    I pretty much don't want to stop my weekly fasts. But I also sort of incidentally did a 16/8 the past couple days, and I love how much it leave me to eat in those few hours. I dig it.

    That's pretty much what I do hun. The only difference between my 24hr fasts, and my regular days is I eat a snack when I come home at 4ish pm on my regular days...and I skip to dinner on my fasting days at 7ish pm. It's working alright.

    So you just throw on an extra 3 hours and it becomes a 24 hour fast? I was thinking I'm not sure how I'm going to effeciently incorporate my 24 hour fasts. It would end up being like stop eating at 3am on Wednesday, and start eating at 7pm on Thursday. Ouch.

    Well, if you eat dinner at 7pm on one Monday, and don't eat after...then eat at 7pm on the next day...yes, it's 24hrs. If you eat at 10pm on Monday...then of course eating at 7pm on Tuesday isn't going to do you much good in terms of a 24hr fast.

    For me...on the days I intend to use the ESE (24hr fast), I don't eat after dinner the day before...that gives me my 24hrs. The other days, I'll have a snack when I get home around 4pm, and a snack after dinner sometime before 9ish pm.

    Again, it seems to be working. My weight isn't changing much, but my abs are becoming more and more defined every week.
  • hush7hush
    hush7hush Posts: 2,273 Member
    Thanks Cris. [:
  • crisanderson27
    crisanderson27 Posts: 5,343 Member
    No problem...glad to help out hun =D.
  • crisanderson27
    crisanderson27 Posts: 5,343 Member
    *Double Post
  • theresamommyof4
    theresamommyof4 Posts: 206 Member
    Hurray! I'm so happy I found this thread. I just did my first 24 hr fast yesterday and it was pretty tough. I had been trying the leangains approch of 16/8 without much results so I decided to switch to ESE, so I'm going to try to fast for 24 hrs every other day. Is anyone else trying this, and did you get a nasty headache/dizzy feeling at first? I'm thinking that it should get easier as time goes on like leangains did. Any thoughts?

    Thanks :)

    ESE style is not every other day, it is 1 or 2 days a week where you fast by eating a normal supper, they don't eat anything until supper the next day. Then you break your fast with a normal supper, not some super huge as the 24 hour fast is supposed to be giving you are calorie deficit.

    I know some people do every other day, but that is not really ESE, that is every other day IF.

    I have found that the 24 hours gets easier the longer I do it. Not that it was much of a struggle even at the beginning for me. The only time I struggle is when I don't have a good night's sleep during the fast due to other factors.

    So rileysowner, do you do the every other day IF, or do you just fast for 24 hours a couple days a week? I'm getting awesome results with the every other day, but I worry that I'm losing too fast. I like the 24 hour every other day, because well... it works and I feel like I have better control, but with 14+ pounds in the last 4 weeks, I'm wondering if I'm not dipping into unhealthy weight loss. So, I'm seriously considering switching to the 18/6 and just fasting 24 hours once a week.

    I do 24 hours (supper to supper) one or two times a week. Usually only one, sometimes two depending on what the rest of the week looks like. I for the most part do the leangain 16/8 for the other days, but not always. I can't comment on the issue of whether doing every other day 24 hour fasts is healthy, but I am an advocate of slower weight loss to allow time to lean new eating behaviors thus allowing for long term success unless there are health reasons to lose weight quickly. The advantage of the one or two 24 hour fasts a week is that you can switch the day easily, so you are not handcuffed in terms of social events based around meals. You just fast a different day. Every other day sort of locks you into a pattern.

    Yeah, I'm thinking to only try EOD for 2 weeks max then switch to once/twice a week. I've talked to people that randomly pick 1 day a week to fast and plan on doing it for the rest of their lives. There have been studies that have shown that periodic deprivation is really healthy for the body (longer life, less instance of disease, etc.) I'm not going to try and quote them, but it does make a whole lot of sense to me since for thousands of years humans just didn't have access to food everyday and we seemed to do just fine :)

    Yep, I plan to do it forever too. I'm doing it to lose weight (of course), but your right, the health benefits are amazing.
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