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jesseneufeld · 5 years ago

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Why Eating Less Doesn’t Always Work

Off the bat, I should say that I’m actually a fan of eating less. I’m on record as saying that my goal is to figure out how few calories I can eat and still thrive. Still, eating less isn’t always the magic bullet people will hope it will be. There are many ways that eating less can go wrong.

For weight loss, the advice to “eat less, exercise more” often doesn’t work like it “should” on paper. The weight-loss diet industry thrives on repeat customers who struggle to lose weight and keep it off. Dutifully following this strategy has led many people down the road to frustration and dejection, as they blame themselves for their failure to successfully lose weight. This is despite their best efforts to eat less.

From a health perspective, eating less is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, caloric restriction may promote longevity. It certainly does in many animal models. Human evidence is still mixed, but I’m betting that the same is true for us.1 On the other hand, long-term or severe calorie restriction can cause serious health problems, including nutrient deficiencies, hormonal imbalances, and muscle loss.

Today I’m going to look at some of the ways that restricting calories can go wrong—or simply be ineffective—as well as ways to eat less to actually promote health.

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Just Eating Less Is (Often) Not Sufficient for (Long Term) Weight Loss

Don’t get me wrong. At the end of the day, if you’re trying to lose weight, the body must expend more energy than it takes in. I’m not talking here about the oversimplified CICO—calories in versus calories out—approach to weight loss. Calories are just one variable in the incredibly complex equation that ends in weight loss. I’m talking about more valid but harder to quantify balance between energy consumed and energy expended.

In both cases, the idea behind eating less is to put fewer calories (or less energy) into the system. However, the energy balance approach recognizes that:

All calories are not created equal.

The types and amount of food we eat, as well as when we eat, affect how the body uses those calories.

The “energy out” side of the equation is dynamic. It, too, is affected by the foods we eat, their hormonal impacts, and the body’s natural desire for homeostasis.

Oftentimes, when someone is struggling to lose weight, they’ll get, “You’re just eating too much. Eat less, and you’ll start losing.” This person might already be down to 1100 or 1200 calories per day. They’re thinking, “How can I possibly eat less and still have the energy to get through my day?” The advice-giver doesn’t understand how the body adapts to calorie restriction.

The Body is Incredibly Adaptive

One of the reasons that weight loss is so difficult is that your body actively fights back against it. It makes sense if you think about it. The body stores fat for times of famine. It doesn’t know (or care) if it has stored “too much” according to your personal preferences. When you intentionally try to lose weight, your body “defends” its body weight by altering the amount of energy it expends.2 It tries to tightly ration body fat in case you’re facing a prolonged food shortage.

Let’s back up. The “energy out” side of the energy balance equation comprises several factors:

Basal metabolic rate – the energy your body expends in the everyday functions of being alive (breathing, circulation, generating new cells, etc.)3

Thermic effect of food – the energy it takes to metabolize the food you eat

Activity-induced energy expenditure – the energy you spend moving your body

When you eat in a caloric deficit and start to lose weight, the body responds by lowering its metabolic rate. That’s actually desirable from an aging perspective. Reduced metabolic activity and subsequent lower oxidative stress might explain why caloric restriction promotes longevity.4 It’s not so great when it comes to weight loss.

Moreover, the body responds to caloric restriction by dialing back activity. “Non-exercise activity thermogenesis,” or NEAT, is the term for the energy you expend through spontaneous movements like tapping your feet or nodding your head along to music. NEAT can vary up to 2000 calories per day between individuals.5 That’s a massive difference in “energy out.” It gives your body a little of wiggle room when it comes to reducing energy expenditure.

These metabolic adaptations aren’t inherently bad. One reason your metabolic rate goes down as you lose weight is simply that smaller bodies expend less energy. Unfortunately, though, it’s also a coordinated attempt to thwart your ongoing weight loss efforts. This is why weight loss is so tricky. There are things happening under the hood that you can’t monitor. Eating less can actually increase your body’s adaptive response, making it harder and harder to lose weight.

People Are Bad at Counting Calories

Another reason the advice to “just eat less” fails dieters is because people are notoriously bad at judging how much they actually eat. In studies, participants chronically underreport their caloric intake, even when they are paid to be accurate6 and when they are dieticians.7

If you’re also trying to balance your food intake against estimates of how many calories you burn through exercise, fuggedaboutit. One study found that individuals believed they burned three times more calories than they actually did on a treadmill test.8 Another small study showed that individuals who were struggling to lose weight underreported their caloric intake by 47 percent and overestimated energy expended by 51 percent, on average.9 (It’s not you. Activity trackers are notoriously terrible at accurately estimating calorie burn.10)

Even if you’re diligently weighing and tracking your food, you’ll probably be off through no fault of your own. The FDA allows a margin of error of up to 20 percent for calories reported on food labels.11 Packaged meals and restaurant meals often contain many more calories than stated on labels and menus. 12 13

“Weight Loss” Isn’t Actually the Goal

What you really want is fat loss. Nobody is striving to lose lean muscle or organ tissue or bone mass. Unfortunately, that’s often exactly what happens when people restrict calories too much and for too long without taking great care with what they are eating.

There are lots of ways to eat less. You can start your day low-fat, “heart healthy” (eye roll) cereal and skim milk, drink a smoothie for lunch, and have plain chicken breast and steamed broccoli for dinner. Or, you can eat in a compressed eating window, enjoying eggs, chicken thighs, steak, fatty fish, and abundant vegetables. Only one of these options will get you sufficient protein, healthy fats, and lots of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients to mitigate non-fat loss.

When Eating Less Backfires

When It Causes Excessive Hunger

Not surprisingly, hunger is a common complaint among people who are trying to restrict calories. Besides being unpleasant, excessive hunger can derail your efforts by causing you to unintentionally eat more. You take a slightly bigger portion, grab a handful of nuts in between meals, and eventually devour the ice cream hidden in the freezer. Those calories add up.

Some hunger is to be expected if you are eating in a caloric deficit (although there are ways to attenuate hunger that I’ll discuss later). Excessive hunger is a problem, and a sign that you’re overdoing it.

When It Messes with Hormone Balance

Leptin is one of the hormones responsible for regulating appetite. It’s considered an energy indicator, communicating to the brain whether you have sufficient energy on board. When you’re losing weight—specifically when body fat is on the decline—leptin drops.14 In fact, it drops more than would be predicted by body composition alone.15 It seems to be signaling to the brain, “Hey, we’re losing our fat stores over here! Send help.” If leptin gets too low, all hell can break loose. Symptoms of low leptin include hunger, depression,16 loss of libido, and infertility.17

Going too low on calories can also depress thyroid function. In particular, lower T3 seems to be related to calorie restriction even without weight loss. I’m not convinced this is necessarily a bad thing. It may actually be adaptive—another pathway by which caloric restriction increases longevity.18 That said, you can definitely have too much of a good thing. You don’t want to restrict calories to the point where you start experiencing symptoms of hypothyroid such as feeling cold all the time, unexplained weight gain, or fatigue.

When It’s Stressful

I’ve said it a million times: stress is the enemy of health and weight loss. As with so many things in life, calorie restriction can be an adaptive (hormetic) or maladaptive stressor. It all depends on how it’s applied and how your body reacts.

Restricting calories increases cortisol, aka “the stress hormone.”19 Chronically high cortisol leads to problems including:

Excessive carb cravings

Belly fat storage

Increased inflammation

Exacerbation of existing health problems

When It Counterintuitively Reduces Appetite

I know, this sounds like a good thing. If you’re trying to eat less, isn’t it better if your appetite is reduced? Yes… to a point. Anecdotally, I see a subset of people whose appetites are suppressed when they restrict calories—possibly due to being in ketosis20—and who subsequently struggle to eat enough. If they aren’t mindful, they can easily under-eat to the point they are getting enough nutrients.

If you suspect you might be under-eating, use an app like Cronometer to track your food for a few days. Make sure you are checking the nutritional boxes you need to stay healthy.21

When You Burn Muscle Too

Caloric restriction can lead to your body catabolizing muscle tissue if you’re not careful. Some muscle breakdown is probably unavoidable, especially if you are losing substantial amounts of weight, but you want to mitigate it as much as possible. Protein intake is key. Eating more protein protects lean mass (muscle and organs), even when you’re in a caloric deficit and losing weight.22 23

When you eat less, make sure you aren’t cutting your protein precipitously. You may even want to increase it a bit.24 Your calorie deficit should come from reducing fat and/or carbs, depending on your current diet.

What about Metabolic Damage?

Dieting forums are filled with dire warnings against dieting so long or so hard that you go into “starvation mode” and create permanent “metabolic damage.”

You might be familiar with the highly publicized Biggest Loser study, which followed contestants from the televised weight loss competition.25 The researchers found that six years after losing significant weight, the contestants’ resting metabolic rate was on average 500 calories lower than would be predicted based on their size. That meant they had to eat many fewer calories (and/or burn more) just to maintain their weight, compared to people with similar body compositions who hadn’t lost a bunch of weight. In fact, many of them regained significant weight in the six years after the show ended.

As I said above, it’s well established that the body defends against weight loss by slowing metabolic rate and reducing energy expenditure. Other studies have shown that this metabolic adaptation persists even when people maintain or start to regain weight.26 27 28

Whether this constitutes permanent metabolic damage is a hotly debated topic. A recent paper called the notion into question. 29 The authors reanalyzed data from several studies that purportedly showed persistent metabolic downregulation. Using different equations that took into account participants’ body composition, they concluded that given enough time, metabolism will revert back to pre-weight-loss levels. Even the men from the most extreme weight loss experiment to date, Ancel Keys’s Minnesota starvation study, recovered eventually.

I’m not convinced that caloric restriction “breaks” your metabolism by any means. Still, if you engage in sustained caloric restriction and weight loss, there will likely be a period in which your metabolic rate is reduced. That means if you go right back to eating as much as you were before, you’ll regain weight. It seems to the trade-off.

How To Eat Less and Thrive More

Focus on Nutrients

The less you eat, the more every bite counts. Make the most of the calories you eat by prioritizing nutrient density and getting sufficient protein. Although I embrace fat in my diet, it’s the cherry on top, not the main course. I fill my plate with nutrient-dense meat, seafood, and poultry; eggs; and abundant veggies. Then I add sauces, dressings, and condiments (Primal Kitchen, naturally) for flavor and interest.

Prioritizing nutrient-dense foods ensures that you are being nourished on a cellular level. Consuming mostly low-protein, low-fat, low-nutrient foods will leave you hungry, unsatisfied, and craving more. There’s a reason that physique athletes only follow the “chicken breast and steamed broccoli” diet for short periods before competitions. It’s miserable. It messes with sleep, sex drive, and mood. You’re hungry all the time. It’s no way to live.

Eating sufficient protein increases satiety30. It helps keep your metabolic rate up by protecting energy-guzzling muscles and organs. Protein also has a higher thermic effect than fat or carbs, further contributing to metabolic rate.31

Cycle Your Caloric Deficit

If you’re chronically in a caloric deficit, say 15 to 20 percent or more, you may benefit from cycling in periods where you eat at maintenance calories. That means you try to eat about the same number of calories you need to break even each day. Obviously you can’t know exactly how much energy you’re expending, but you can use an online calculator to get a rough estimate. It doesn’t matter if you’re spot on.

The idea here is to “reset” your hormones, especially leptin and thyroid hormones. This will also bring your metabolic rate back toward baseline, although it will decrease again once you go back to a caloric deficit.

There’s also something to be said for taking a mental break from restricting calories. Especially if you feel stressed, or you simply get tired of feeling hungry, loosening the reins periodically is a good idea. Stress counteracts the benefits of any diet or lifestyle intervention, including calorie restriction.

There are many ways to execute cyclical dieting. Go with whatever style works best for you. A popular method is 8 to 10 weeks of caloric deficit followed by 2 weeks at maintenance, and repeat. A word of caution, though: Those maintenance weeks aren’t meant to be free-for-alls. Sure, you can enjoy some foods you avoid during the deficit phase. It’s no big deal if you eat somewhat above maintenance some days. Eating 10,000 calories in a weekend can quickly wipe out a few weeks’ worth of caloric deficit, though. If you’re trying to lose weight, you’ll be taking three steps forward, and two (or three!) steps back if you do this. If you’re going for longevity and general health benefits, it doesn’t make sense to binge on inflammatory foods.

Experiment with a Ketogenic Diet

As I mentioned, ketones are known to suppress appetite, which can lead to a spontaneous reduction in calories. If you are struggling with hunger but still eating a moderate- or high-carb diet, consider doing a Keto Reset. Drop your carbs to 50 grams or less. Increase your fat proportionately. (Carbs have 4 calories per gram, while fat has 9 calories per gram. If you reduce your carb intake by 50 grams, that’s 200 calories—about 22 grams of fat.)

Anecdotally, lots of people report that they find it much easier to sustain a caloric deficit on keto. They no longer feel like they are white-knuckling it and relying on willpower. If you have questions about going keto, head to my keto diet hub and grab my free Beginner’s Guide to Keto.

Try Intermittent Fasting

Many people find it easier to eat less when they observe a shorter eating window. Start slowly. If you currently eat between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.—a 12-hour window—see if you can shorten it by an hour or two. Six- and eight-hour windows are common, but there are no hard and fast rules about what’s optimal. As with keto, intermittent fasting isn’t for everyone, and you have to make sure you’re eating enough in your window.

If you’re eating less for longevity purposes, fasting may give you an extra boost in the autophagy department.

Be Patient, and Listen to Your Body

Trying to starve yourself into rapid weight loss is a bad idea. Hopefully that goes with saying. A modest caloric deficit with periodic breaks seems best in most cases.

As always, you should experiment and see what works for you. Especially when it comes to longevity, we don’t have enough solid evidence from human studies to lay out a specific calorie restriction protocol that is optimal. We probably never will given the tremendous variability between people.

Although caloric restriction has benefits, it’s a means to an end. Like carb restriction, intermittent or extended fasting, HIIT, it’s a tool in your metabolic toolbox. Use it appropriately, enjoy the benefits. Apply it too much or in the wrong situations, and you risk digging yourself into a hole.

Be patient. Stack the odds in your favor by eating satiating, nutritious foods, and by doing all the “other stuff” that supports metabolic health—getting plenty of sleep and sun, exercising appropriately, moderating stress. Resist the temptation to double down on restriction when your body needs a break. Control the variables you can control and make peace with the outcome.

Related posts from Mark’s Daily Apple

7 Common Calorie Myths We Should All Stop Believing

9 More Calorie Myths We Should All Stop Believing

Dear Mark: Am I Eating Too Little Food or Too Much Iron?

Top 14 Ways to Increase Your Metabolism

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fionaharnett · 6 years ago

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Name: Fiona Harnett

Electronic Journal link/password: fionaharnett.tumblr.com

Project Evaluation (approx. 1000 words) An important part of the way you develop your own photographic practice throughout the course is the relationship between your research (in all its forms) and your own creative practice. You should have been making regular updates on your blog throughout the semester and using it as a space to think through and develop your ideas. Project evaluation is an opportunity for you to reflect on, and summarise, these updates so that your tutors can have a clear overview of your working process, progress and development during the module. Use the headings below as a guide and feel free to add to this and include images if you wish.

Project Title: The Comfort of Strangers How did this develop and what was involved in the decision making process?

My project started out with the title “Looking for Jenny Spain”. Initially I felt the story was about my search for a dead person and I included myself in the story. I was hopeful that I might be able to make contact with her family, or that I might even feel a sense of her presence in the landscape where she died. After presenting the story to my lecturer and listening to feedback, I realised that I needed to take myself out of the story. My role was to create the story. The title became “The comfort of strangers”. My inspiration for the title came about when researching quotes for my voice over. The woman who had found the car whilst out walking her dog described how she had seen what she had thought was a child being cradled on the backseat of a car. It was the idea that two people who were strangers could share their final moments together and in death Jenny had been cradled by someone she had known only through internet contact. I think the title works well and I believe that the idea of offering comfort to strangers comes from the fact that without an emotional connection it is easier to offer comfort. Without the emotional entanglement, I believe we have more energy to offer empathy and understanding. I am interested in how as a photographer you take the position of ‘the photographer’ which shares facets of being ‘the stranger’. The photographer offers comfort in the form of allowing people to be seen and acknowledged. ‘The Comfort of Strangers’ has many layers; the relationship Jenny had with a stranger; the comfort I found in making the video, from the perspective of a stranger/photographer and lastly my intention to elevate the story of a stranger from my perspective as a mother of a twenty three year old to another mother who has lost her twenty three year old.

Subject: Suicide Reflect on the subject matter of your project.

I have always had a keen awareness of death, and wonder how it might feel to have reached the decision to end your life. It is a subject that poses so many questions, but has so few answers. People’s reactions to a person killing themselves often feels like a reflection only on themselves and how they feel, rather than trying to reach an understanding of the person who has decided that life can no longer be tolerated. I wonder if this inability to empathise is about not having felt that depth of despair. I am interested in how people react to suicide; from the commuter whose train is delayed by somebody under the track, to the road closed by toxic fumes and the builder of an extension starting his day by finding the owner of the house hanging from the ceiling. There is a prevailing sense of getting life back to normal as quickly as possible and the idea that every day life must go on. Whilst life moves on quickly, I am struck by how changed we become. The experience leaves a layer of feeling and experience. Things are different. Although I understand on some level that houses and landscapes do not absorb death, I am struck by my instinct to search and look for clues, open to the possibility of finding something.

Visual Research Reflect on how key photographers / visual artists who are relevant to your project research have impacted upon the development of your project? Explain how they influenced your approach and what you learned from them.

I have been influenced by the work of Willie Doherty. Doherty often takes an existing image or other information as a starting point and then proceeds to see what be can found or discovered at this location. For example the picture below was the place where a knee capping had occurred. I watched many interviews with Doherty where he spoke about the landscape being permanently changed by the events that had unfolded in them.

Many of his works, ‘Ghost Story’, ‘Buried' and ‘Remains’ have come from investigating specific places in Northern Ireland, as a means of thinking deeply about the existence of past events. I was particularly struck by how simple yet haunting ‘Ghost Story’ was, and this became my inspiration for my video. I am struck by how haunting his images are, and how by contextualising an image or in the case of ‘Ghost Story’ writing a voiceover a powerful project can be created.

Aims, Objectives, Concept Discuss your aims and objectives and the main concept for your project and evaluate how successfully these have been resolved.

My aim and objective was to share a story of a suicide that happened in my village. The story made no big headlines, it was just an everyday tragedy. On the day the bodies were discovered I realised I would not be able to walk my dogs, the road was closed. Although it happened some time ago I am reminded of that day every time I pass the spot. I became curious about who they were and what their story was. My objective was to get people to think about how a person who can appear successful and happy can be struggling to live. We have no way of knowing and this makes every encounter we have with another person a chance to empathise. The figures for young people and suicide are increasing and with the internet we have access to information and groups of people who share similar beliefs. I know I struggle with finding a place in the world for my work and often feel overwhelmed with the sheer number of images and films being fed to me on a daily basis. Given that my objective was to share a story, through my eyes I feel some success. A video about Jenny exists in the world which without me would not of done. My aim was to reach out to Jenny’s mother and let her know her daughter did not go unnoticed. My lecturer asked me to think about what my project might mean for his son growing up in the world today; I think it might sound trite but I think it quite simply means, we need to show kindness and reach out to people who we think are struggling. Although I feel I resolved some aspects, I find it hard to judge if it would leave any emotional impact on someone else. My hope is that the video and the story might just stay with you, filed in the back of your subconscious.

Production Reflect on the specific production methods you have been exploring and how these approaches and visual strategies have affected your project development.

I used my I phone 7 to film the project. I bought a gimbal and was surprised at how good the tracking shots looked. I used a sound recorder from university and edited in Premiere Pro. Through feedback I have identified and leant how to hone my editing skills to create a more polished video. I have explored the use of music and how it is possible to have the music overtake the pictures. I have experimented with editing and have learnt how to fade sound in and out, making it seem less separate to the pictures. I have looked at graphic title sequences looked at typefaces and credits. At times I wanted to be happy with what I had created, but realised that a lot of my learning happened in following the feedback and realising that even what seemed like a small change, for example moving my voiceover to a more established scene, made huge improvements to the outcome.

Presentation How effectively have you communicated your ideas in relation to your identified audience and context?

A Ford Ka sits in the middle of a gloomy gallery, one door ajar.

My ambition for this film would be to exhibit it experientially. Viewed through the windscreen of a claustrophobic small car. Participants could only engage with the artwork two at a time (because they would be watching from the back seat of the car). They would be encouraged to watch the film with a complete stranger. A pressure sensitive switch activates the film and in-car speakers high-ten the emotional experience as the film plays out large on the wall facing the car.

Evaluation Identify the strengths and weaknesses of your project and what you might do to improve it in the future?

I think the project was definitely a journey for me. I feel that I am much better able to take on board ideas and use feedback to strengthen my project. From the outset there was discussion on what kind of project it was…art? social commentary? I was very quick to dismiss any need for statistics but knew that I had not been able to resolve what the film was trying to say. Eventually I was able to understand and be open to what my lecturer was saying. By adding a caption explaining briefly that suicide numbers for young people are going up and that there appears to be a link with social media, I felt it helped to give the video more of a purpose. I think the strength of this project is that it sensitively highlights an untold but tragic story, it asks people to think about suicide and how the internet and social media play their part. The project for me has been about learning new skills, which I feel would enable me to take on any future video projects with more confidence.

#Wall Page Screen

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iamspok · 7 years ago

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Top 10 Video Game Sidekicks

Modern day gaming is a much more collaborative experience, geared towards often fast-paced, multiplayer or co-operative gameplay, whether you like it or not the days of the story mode is in it’s twilight with many of the bigger developers now opting to either forego the traditional single player experience or incorporating it into an overall online mode (see Destiny, Titanfall, Star Wars Battlefront) and while gamers have pushed back, there is no doubting that the further into the future we get, the more integrated we are.

But for many years, there have been characters who were designed to help you on your path and simulate that collaborative experience, some of which became beloved heroes of the gaming community and some, well, not so much (I personally still have nightmares about Natalya from Goldeneye and her casual stroll through a hail of AK-47 gunfire)

This article is dedicated to the characters that made the game a better experience, whether it be for gameplay or purely for the story, they live on with the legacy of each game on the list.

Dogmeat (Fallout)

The idea that dog is man’s best friend always seems to have been prevalent in everyday life but never has it been more important than in the post-apocalyptic world of Fallout.

Dogmeat would do anything to protect you, he would attack anyone or anything at anytime, he sniffs out valuable items that aid your survival in this unforgiving world, he will follow a scent for miles and he is your only remaining family, if that’s not enough to earn this dog a place on this list, then you obviously aren’t a dog person.

Cortana (Halo)

Cortana is the first blockbuster sidekick on this list that was introduced to the world in the incredibly successful Halo.

The supercomputer would assist you by hacking rogue alien systems, providing tactical assistance and decoding transmissions essential to your mission and gives Master Chief his only human link (ironic) in the entire game.

To put into perspective how successful this sidekick would become, she now resides on tens of millions of PC’s around the world as a virtual assistant that helps operate the Windows system, if that’s not a sign that you’ve been important, I don’t know what is.

Otacon (Metal Gear Solid)

‘’Snake, you of course know the saying ‘one for all, all for one’. It’s from ‘The Three Musketeers’ - the book, not the candy bar’’

In one of the most intense gaming series of all time, often with cut-scenes that were obscenely longer and more detailed than anything that had come before it or since, Otacon brought a lighter tone to the world of Metal Gear Solid.

With his often ill-timed explanations of totally random subjects (see pre-ripped jeans, daylight savings, Chinese proverbs) he became a cult favorite amongst hardcore MGS players, the fact that he used to help Snake through various missions with his codec updates is only an added bonus that gets him on this list.

Weighted Companion Cube (Portal)

‘‘It’s just an object..it doesn’t even do anything’’ said absolutely no one who has ever played Portal. This little cube was pretty much your only ally in the entire game, starting out as just a lump that you would use to hit switches or complete a puzzle it eventually became a friend (yes, I said a friend) and as the game presented more challenging obstacles it became invaluable.

Then came the incinerator, I struggle to think of anything else in pop culture that felt as crushing a blow for the loss of something that was not even alive in the first place (maybe Wilson from Castaway)

Godspeed trusted companion cube, we will meet again.

Yoshi (Super Mario World)

Step aside Luigi, because Yoshi is the one true sidekick to Mario.

First introduced in 1990, Yoshi first came about simply as a mode of transportation for the famous brothers but soon became very useful on their adventures. You could ride him (which was cool as hell anyway) you could sacrifice him to get over obstacles or just throw him away when he wasn’t needed, he would help you take care of those pesky enemies and I defy you to name any other sidekick that pooped out power-up’s at the rate he did.

He’s stuck with the series over the years and has even managed to get a few game’s of his own (Yoshi’s Island, Yoshi’s Story, Yoshi’s Wooly World to name a few) which is something that only one other character on this list has managed to accomplish, impressive.

Claptrap (Borderlands II)

Let's be honest, usually when you have a sidekick whose main purpose is to provide comic relief it falls flat on its face, but in the world of Borderlands, it is exactly what you expect and what you need.

Despite the fact he raised an army and tried to kill you at the end of Borderlands, by the time you come across him in Borderlands II all is forgiven after a few minutes, mainly acting as a guide through the wastelands of Pandora, the game quite literally would not have been the same without him. Not just satisfied to be the life and soul of the party, Claptrap will also open doors for you and help you open those magical loot chests that you lust after.

Leonardo Da Vinci (Assassins Creed 2)

Assassins Creed 2 was an excellent game, ranking as either many gamers favorite of the franchise or most important, it overhauled the game mechanics from the original which had been hailed as a storytelling master stroke, but showcased cumbersome climbing and fighting physics that often made the game feel like a chore, it’s hard to put into words just how much this installment lit a fire under the series that has since become a juggernaut, reaching as far as Hollywood.

Among the riveting missions, the outlandish, often villainous supporting characters and mysterious storyline set in the various visually stunning cities of Italy, you had the chance to meet the one and only Leonardo Da Vinci.

At first you’re excited about how he fits into the narrative of the story but when you realize that he’s building you item’s that the game hasn’t presented to you before, the real fun starts. First, there was the hidden blade, he then introduced you to some new fighting techniques, which in a game like Assassins Creed is very important to keep things fresh, along with the ability to poison enemies (honestly, is there anything more satisfying than poisoning just one guard in a group and seeing him go crazy? no) but this all lead up to arguably the best mission of the game in sequence 8...WHERE YOU FLY OVER THE ROOFTOPS OF VENICE IN A GIANT DAMN WOODEN BIRD!

Tails (Sonic Series)

There may be no more important entry into this list than Tails. In 1992 when the beloved character was first introduced, gaming culture was still in its relative infancy on the mass market and was about to take a big upward swing over the next few years and Sonic The Hedgehog would play a major role in its development.

Sonic would become one of the most popular games on the Sega mega drive and its marquee title, with its addictive side scrolling action and it’s fast-paced boss fights, it was in the rarefied atmosphere only shared by Super Mario Bros at the absolute crux of the gaming community, but where Mario had his trusty Luigi, Tails would be a more useful sidekick to Sonic, his power of flight would occasionally be invaluable for successfully completing a level and without him, there would be no biplane to take down Dr. Eggman’s wing fortress.

I’m sure anyone reading this article who had a younger sibling and had to share a mega drive would also agree, Tails is the best!

Ellie (Last Of Us)

Although being a playable character later on in the game and spawning a spin off (Left Behind) there could have been no list without the incomparable Ellie from The Last Of Us.

This is widely regarded now as the greatest video game of all time and the character of Ellie provides a huge reason for this, as you navigate the post-apocalyptic world following an outbreak that ravages the United States, you lose your family and your hope for a new humanity until you are introduced to Ellie, the 14-year old girl who could potentially hold the fate of humanity inside her.

A connection with any character in a video game this intense is incredibly rare as she becomes increasingly important, not just to the story but to you as the player and explains the mixed emotions at the end when Joel would essentially rather see the human race die then have Ellie taken away from him, totally fair in my books.

Elizabeth (Bioshock Infinite)

The best AI sidekick of all time? I would say so.

Bioshock has always been an immersive story-driven experience, through the underwater steampunk world of Rapture featured in the first 2 installments, gamer’s were presented an extremely dark, often terrifying experience as we learned to deal with the psychopathic enemies that lurked in the shadows, by the time Bioshock:Infinite was released, we were ready to ascend to the clouds of Columbia.

Often times, ’escort’ missions in video games are incredibly tedious so if I were to tell you that Infinite is basically one, long escort mission, many would simply not bother playing it but Elizabeth proves to be the most helpful and one of the most interesting sidekicks in video game history.

She keeps herself out of the way of danger, she tosses you supplies and ammunition when it’s needed most, she can find money and open locked doors and if you played the game on the hardest difficulty like me, she is absolutely necessary.

I can still say to this day that the feeling of accomplishment I had upon completing Infinite is unparalleled and Elizabeth is the very definition of what a video game sidekick should be.

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apsbicepstraining · 7 years ago

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US PRO Rugby season come to Denver v Ohio designation decider

Americas first pro rugby organization conference intention its season on Sunday. For one of the men who built it happen “its time” for reflection, remain and getting ready to go again

On Sunday afternoon in Obetz, just outside Columbus, the Ohio Aviators will play the Denver Stampede. The wins with a bonus part, in Ohios case will be the first PRO Rugby champions.

The five-team league has no championship game. Best over 12 rounds prevails. It just happens that go the final weekend of the tournaments first season, these two teams have not sorted out who that is.

Couldnt have schemed it any better, replied Steve Lewis, the freshman organisations director of rugby, over breakfast on the Upper West Side. Were it plannable, of course. Its an interesting symmetry: our first game was Ohio at Denver[ in the snow in April] and that was a close-fisted finish, the only recreation weve had that is entered into additional day, which was one of our inventions. So this is ideal: final tournament of the year, all the marbles. It mounts it up nicely.

Lewis is an ebullient Scot whose ebullience has not been entirely chafed off by nine months spraying to and fro in sole service of Americas first pro conference. Like conference owned Doug Schoninger, he works out of New York City. The five units are in the middle and west Ohio, Denver, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco.

Lewis has reason to smile, gingerly as much as wearily. Crowds ought to have acceptable if small-time; press coverage positive if slightly bemused; politics, in a rugby scenery that manages to be scattered and congested at once, manageable if predictably intense. Denver, for example, moved residence mid-season, from the Glendale Raptors rugby-built Infinity Park to Ciber Field, a college soccer stadium. Words were exchanged. The dealership lived and so did the conference.

Season one of Schoningers epic, then, is almost in the can. A inspect will follow in September, followed by planning for season two. Swelling is on the cards: Canada, perhaps. The east coast, perhaps.

You wishes to pair beings up from a antagonism view and a hurtle perspective, Lewis said. So Chicago for Columbus, Boston for New York. That in my view “wouldve been” ideology, but we may not find the venues.

Much of Lewiss work has been visible at the existing venues, on their freshly marked-out turf. Much has gone to plan.

Jamie Mackintosh takes on the San Diego defence. Picture: Joseph K Ghammashi/ PRO Rugby

Two of the tournaments marquee knacks internationals employed to be good citizens as well as good participates will encounter in the decider: the South africans back row Pedrie Wannenburg for Denver, the New Zealand prop Jamie Mackintosh for Ohio. Over scrambled eggs and strong coffee, Lewis described how Mackintosh, from Dunedin, a hotbed of All Black rugby, came to live and play in Obetz, a village outside Columbus most well known for its Zucchinifest which has nonetheless hugged rugby, building a small stadium from scratch.

Everyone wanted to go to San Francisco and San Diego, he responded. So how do I get anyone to go to Obetz and Sacramento and Denver?[ Italy back] Mirco Bergamasco wanted to go to Sacramento, because his wife had lived there before.[ Australia rugby league great] Timana Tahu had lineage bonds in Denver, so that was OK. But how do I get anyone to go to Columbus?

[ Ex-Zebre flanker] Filippo Ferrarini was the first one. I contemplated: Youre Italian, Columbus, off you go. He didnt get it, so I had to explain it to him subsequentlies. And then Mackintosh rose on track and he was really easy.

The New Zealander is a one-cap All Black loosehead, a big humanity known to home devotees as Whopper. He approached rugbys American frontier with generally Kiwi affability.

He added, I dont mind, Steve, Im really easy, wherever you want to placed me.

I supposed, What kind of region do you like?

He announced, Im a country boy, Id instead be somewhere with a little bit of chase, a bit of fishing.

So I had to call up Paul Holmes at[ Ohio-based US national improvement academy] Tiger Rugby and allege, Is there any chase and fishing near Obetz? He responded, Oh yeah, consignments. So I told Mackintosh I imagined Ohio might be the claim fit for him and he went there, espoused it and went well.

Steve Lewis speaks to Matt McCarthy of rugbywrapup.com in March.

San Franciscos star man, Mils Muliaina, has 99 more All Black caps than Mackintosh. Unfortunately, the largest full-back arrived late and has not boasted often for a unit which tottered to 3-8 ahead of its final had met with Sacramento( likewise 3-8, moving Saturdays game a playoff to shun last home ). But on the whole the experimentation has worked. The big names have visas and may be back for more.

Discussing recruitment for 2017, Lewis said: I dont think we need the marquee actors as much anymore, though. If were expanding my biggest pertain is structural constraint, ie: are there enough good players to staff those stretch units? Clearly if we do[ expand] then the number of foreign actors on each team will need to go up, likely to five to seven, and I think that well skew younger.

Asked where such foreign players might come from, he enunciated: Everyones inhaling around, but my next happy hunting ground is likely to be South Africa. Biggest talent pool, constriction of geniu, exacerbated by the falling rand and the coaching arrangement. Theres going to be lots of good young South African players, shall we say competitively priced. So that would be a sweet recognise, I feel.[ New Zealand] Mitre 10 Cup people, the docket duty, Japan the docket works.

At home, the docket still needs to work for everyone. PRO Rugby flowed from mid-April to the end of July. One top fraternity challenger, the east-coast American Rugby Premiership, is set to move to September-November. The west-coast Pacific Rugby Premiership, home to Glendale and other powerful societies, may or may not follow. Politics.

PRO Rugby will continue to grapple with whether to play in the June Test window. This year, while the Eagles lost to Italy and drum Russia, it did. Politics-plus.

Nor, Lewis said, does the PRO Rugby docket work with the European season. But, thought-provokingly in an age of Premiership tournaments in New Jersey and Pro1 2 conceptions of a team on the US east coast, he included: You do have academy musicians there who have bugger everyone to do between January and May. I think thats policy options and weve had those the talks with Quins, London Irish. So I anticipate the league will probably skew younger.

The young league, Lewis said, depicts encouraging development of raise. Teams have improved in fitness and knowledge; tries have been scored at a standard of performance somewhat below Currie Cup, slightly below Mitre 10 Cup, a reasonable grade to have aimed at, a reasonable degree to have got to.

Also, along with cherry-red safe tackle wrinkles on shirts and no move, PRO Rugby empowered reviewers to evade too many scrum re-sets by awarding free-kicks. Harmonizing to fascinating analysis of the tournaments stats by Jake Frechette for Rugby Today, the policy seems to be working.

In the 2015 Six Nations, Frechette writes, 51% of scrums were completed successfully. At the World cup finals, 68%[ of scrums] were completed successfully. For PRO,[ where average number of scrums per competition is high-pitched at practically 20] the rate thus far is 77 %. Thats good bulletin for everyone who wants to see the pellet played from a scrum instead of listening a referees whistle. Thats all of us, right?

Pedrie Wannenberg in action for Denver, against San Diego. Picture: Connie Hatfield

Players have glowed. Dom Waldouck, formerly a centre for Wasps, Northampton, London Irish and England Saxons, did well at Ohio and has earned a ordeal at Newcastle. Langilangi Haupeakui, a hard-hitting Sacramento No8, came to the league from a tough upbringing and fraction two rugby with the East Palo Alto Razorbacks. Five a few months later, Lewis said, he got fit, eventually ate well and all of a sudden, boom, launched into the Eagles, got a detonator and is going for a contest with Harlequins next week when they come over.

Other achievers include Spike Davis, a defensive attack who attended camp with the Washington Redskins and Green Bay Packers before pitching up in Ohio as a 6ft 4in, 250 lbs wing. There is also Hanco Germishuys, a US junior flanker no longer a male among boys or a son among people after a season with Denver, and the San Diego openside Cecil Garber, a learn from the Seattle Saracens with a attack count off the charts.

Weve fulfilled that part of the mission, Lewis said. Three, four, five participates are now on[ USA coach] John Mitchells radar who maybe wouldnt ought to have otherwise.

Thanks to Lewis and Schoninger, a pro competition that would not otherwise have been on nature rugby radar is now there. A blip, perhaps, but thriving brighter. After Sundays finale, there will be a breather for all concerned. Then the hard work begins again.

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apsbicepstraining · 7 years ago

Text

US PRO Rugby season come to Denver v Ohio designation decider

Americas first pro rugby organization conference intention its season on Sunday. For one of the men who built it happen “its time” for reflection, remain and getting ready to go again

On Sunday afternoon in Obetz, just outside Columbus, the Ohio Aviators will play the Denver Stampede. The wins with a bonus part, in Ohios case will be the first PRO Rugby champions.

Much of Lewiss work has been visible at the existing venues, on their freshly marked-out turf. Much has gone to plan.

Jamie Mackintosh takes on the San Diego defence. Picture: Joseph K Ghammashi/ PRO Rugby

The New Zealander is a one-cap All Black loosehead, a big humanity known to home devotees as Whopper. He approached rugbys American frontier with generally Kiwi affability.

He added, I dont mind, Steve, Im really easy, wherever you want to placed me.

I supposed, What kind of region do you like?

He announced, Im a country boy, Id instead be somewhere with a little bit of chase, a bit of fishing.

Steve Lewis speaks to Matt McCarthy of rugbywrapup.com in March.

PRO Rugby will continue to grapple with whether to play in the June Test window. This year, while the Eagles lost to Italy and drum Russia, it did. Politics-plus.

Pedrie Wannenberg in action for Denver, against San Diego. Picture: Connie Hatfield

Weve fulfilled that part of the mission, Lewis said. Three, four, five participates are now on[ USA coach] John Mitchells radar who maybe wouldnt ought to have otherwise.

The post US PRO Rugby season come to Denver v Ohio designation decider appeared first on apsbicepstraining.com.

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2swp1do via IFTTT

#IFTTT #WordPress

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apsbicepstraining · 7 years ago

Text

US PRO Rugby season come to Denver v Ohio designation decider

Americas first pro rugby organization conference intention its season on Sunday. For one of the men who built it happen “its time” for reflection, remain and getting ready to go again

On Sunday afternoon in Obetz, just outside Columbus, the Ohio Aviators will play the Denver Stampede. The wins with a bonus part, in Ohios case will be the first PRO Rugby champions.

Much of Lewiss work has been visible at the existing venues, on their freshly marked-out turf. Much has gone to plan.

Jamie Mackintosh takes on the San Diego defence. Picture: Joseph K Ghammashi/ PRO Rugby

The New Zealander is a one-cap All Black loosehead, a big humanity known to home devotees as Whopper. He approached rugbys American frontier with generally Kiwi affability.

He added, I dont mind, Steve, Im really easy, wherever you want to placed me.

I supposed, What kind of region do you like?

He announced, Im a country boy, Id instead be somewhere with a little bit of chase, a bit of fishing.

Steve Lewis speaks to Matt McCarthy of rugbywrapup.com in March.

PRO Rugby will continue to grapple with whether to play in the June Test window. This year, while the Eagles lost to Italy and drum Russia, it did. Politics-plus.

Pedrie Wannenberg in action for Denver, against San Diego. Picture: Connie Hatfield

Weve fulfilled that part of the mission, Lewis said. Three, four, five participates are now on[ USA coach] John Mitchells radar who maybe wouldnt ought to have otherwise.

The post US PRO Rugby season come to Denver v Ohio designation decider appeared first on apsbicepstraining.com.

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2swp1do via IFTTT

#IFTTT #WordPress

0 notes