#mini train going nom nom

[klein-sodor-bahn]

Owning a H0/00 model be like:

Here have this tiny Charlie going nom nom

[restinslices]

LKBS AS FIRST TIME DADS

tried to make these as differently as possible

Bi-Han

His baby is planned so he's not as nervous as other people 

Bi-Han is ridiculously confident. He's helped with his younger brothers and he knows the basics of what a baby needs so honestly, he's pretty sure he's got this in the bag

He did not have it in the bag

Here's the thing; his younger brothers didn't depend on Bi-Han to survive. They had their parents. Plus, Bi-Han spends too much time thinking about his child as an adult warrior and completely skips over them being a child

This baby is depending on him and his partner at all times and they're a baby 

I'm gonna make them all girl dads because listen-

I think patience would be something he'd both struggle and be good at

He's patient when it comes to small mistakes, like knocking something over but he can be a bit impatient when it comes to developing certain skills and when they make bigger mistakes 

Y'all know how Kratos is hard on Atreus but it's because he cares and want him to be prepared for when he's gone? That's Bi-Han

He'd also struggle with saying things in a child friendly manner. I don't mean swearing, I mean he has to pause and think “how do I say this without hurting their feelings?”

He naturally has a harsh sounding tone so he has to try his best to not sound mean. He can't double down 

Since I mentioned speaking, he is not using a baby voice 

People get excited with their first kid and are like “oh my gosh look at my little baby!” and speak all high pitch but he's not doing that at all. He's using his normal voice and adult words with a newborn

Some people have nicknames for things. For example, when my nephew was younger we'd ask if he wanted “nom noms”. Bi-Han doesn't see the point in doing that. He's asking his toddler “do you want food?”

I can understand if people would think he'd be this super grump dad that hates all types of noise but in my head Bi-Han understands that kids make noise and cry. Does it annoy him? Yes. Is he screaming for them to quiet down? No. His world was never gonna stay quiet once he decided to start a family 

Speaking of yelling, I don't think he does it often. Bi-Han is the type to pull his kid to the side and quietly threaten them. Like when your mom would pull you to the side and say if you kept acting up in the store she was gonna whoop you in the bathroom 

He also has “the stare”

Shit gets shut down quickly 

The definition of “wait until I tell your dad”

He'd train his daughter like he'd train anyone else. He's not going easy on her. If anything, he'd be harder on her because she has more to prove 

There's so much he doesn't know how to deal with since this is his first child and honestly, that emo phase probably kicked his ass more than he'd like to admit

The bang, the extensions, the checkered wristbands, the studded belts-

It's embarrassing for him to mention how genuinely concerned he was. He had no idea what was going on and telling her to train harder didn't take the hair dye out her head 

Speaking of which, I think Bi-Han’s biggest mistake as a parent would be trying to mold his child into becoming a mini him. It's not because he thinks he's 10/10. It’s because he's a solid Grandmaster. 

“Back in my day we learned obedience” type shit 

The type to say “I hate when my dad did this” then proceeds to do it to his child 

He'd need help when it comes to emotional awareness and seeing his child as their own individual 

He may accidentally snub them of childhood moments they deserve. It's not with malicious intent, it's more of a “our enemies don't sleep so we won't either”

Imagine if him and his kid ended up having the same distant relationship him and his dad had-

Tragic but definitely possible 

Kuai Liang 

Probably also had a planned baby 

He may only want one child because he's worried he'll end up having another him and Bi-Han

Which is why I think it'd be funny if he had twins-

Follow me camera 

He's expecting one baby. That's it. That's all. 

So when it's revealed he's having twins, he's shocked and afraid 

Bi-Han’s betrayal did a number on him. He doesn't really know why Bi-Han was so angry. He knew about his frustration but he didn't know it'd go this deep and he'd let their father die. He's worried he'll upset one of them and history will repeat itself 

Him dying isn't the problem. The family breaking up is what he's worried about 

Because of this I think he'd accidentally become a helicopter parent

He's overly affectionate to his children. Affection is fine but he smothers them and watches everything they do 

He tries so hard to keep the family together, but it does the opposite. Now his kids are desperate for space. Both from him and each other 

Before we get to that sadness though, Kuai Liang is a great dad 

He trains them and if one has his powers and the other doesn't, he makes sure to not show favoritism 

Idk if he'd be corny enough to buy his twins matching shit. If he doesn't, Tomas will and he won't stop him 

Anything they give him, he's 100% keeping 

He uses a hair tie they painted pink instead of his usual one 

He frames all of the pictures they draw for him 

He attends all their little tea parties and let's them harass him about how much sugar is in his tea 

He doesn't spoil them but he doesn't not spoil them 

He doesn't give them everything they want but he'll get them stuff if it makes him think of them 

Like a doctor's toy he randomly saw 

He tries to be very active in their life when he's not busy 

He has safety plans in case his clan is attacked. They're at war and he doubts the Lin Kuei will spare his children 

I think all the brothers would let their kids know about their job and their responsibilities. No point on keeping it secret. They'll have to do it one day too 

Some parents get really sad when their kids grow up but I don't think he'd get sad. Idk, I just think he'd see it more as an accomplishment. Not everyone makes it far and he's always worried about their safety 

Remember when I said his kids would want space? 

This would probably happen in their teen years and he'd be so confused because wdym he still managed to fuck up?

I think how he'd feel would be a mix of “well they're kids” and “damn, I blew it” 

Overall I think he'd put way too much pressure on himself when it came to becoming a parent and this stresses him out more. At some point though he'd have to learn to let them be them and learn that honestly there's not much he can do

He does his part by being a loving father. He can't make them stay together or make them stay loyal. That's just the goal 

Besides that I think Kuai Liang would honestly be a pretty solid dad. He genuinely loves and cares for the people around him and it'd show with his children. He'd do all the dumb shit some dads are too embarrassed to do with their children. 

He's just a bit smothering 

A lot a bit-

Tomas Vrbada

He actually wants multiple kids 

He doesn't want a whole football team but wants his own little family 

His kid is probably planned too and I think he's possibly the most excited 

I can really see Tomas being a good dad and I think starting his own family that's just his would mean a lot to him 

Yeah he has Kuai Liang and their new clan and for a while he had the Lin Kuei but it's not the same. He wants his family that's only his and is related to him by blood 

So with that being said he's already reading books and watching videos before the baby is even here 

He still feels unprepared when she actually gets here 

First of all girl dad Tomas has no shame. Put the makeup on him. Dress him up in the dumbest shit imaginable. Have him do a duet with you. He's doing it all 

Overall he wants to give this child a way better life than he had 

His family was killed so the bar is in hell but moving on-

I think Tomas could accidentally spoil his child. Can y'all see it? I can see it 

My sources or reasoning? I just think he's the most likely out of the 3. He goes from “I'll give them a better life” to “and I'll buy this and this and this-”

Don't get it misconstrued though, he's still training them to be a warrior. War is everywhere and he got some shitty ass luck 

Imma be real… Tomas might be a leash parent-

I can see him getting tired of this kid running off and he gives up and buys it 

I can see him teaching his kid to do all that smoke shit and they accidentally fly up in the air 

This is another reason for the leash 

I can see Tomas feeling like an outsider with the Lin Kuei so he tries his best to make his child feel confident 

And that confidence can easily turn to arrogance 

He's complimenting their abilities at every turn and I think balance can be something that slips his mind. He's thinking “man I wish I got more compliments and felt more seen growing up” and takes it to an extreme 

So his child is now kinda a cocky asshole, which is something you may expect from Bi-Han’s kid but his would grow up being a bit insecure in a “I can never please him” way. Tomas’ kid is arrogant because “my dad is always pleaded with me”

It's hard to get right 

He's present in everything. Not in a smothering way though, he's just there 

If he has to miss any important milestones or events, he definitely tries to make up for it 

Like if he missed a dance performance, when he comes back he'll ask them to redo it in front of him 

He wants to be present for everything, even if it's small. Idk. I think he'd just really value these moments he'll never get back. He'll have more kids but he'll never see this particular kid dance ballet again 

He adjusts nicely to parenthood I think. It's a challenge but he's confident enough to take any failure he does on the chin and move on 

And if I said he takes the emo or scene phase really well, what are y'all gonna do?

Some kids do coke. Listening to BVB seems like the better choice 

Definition of a spine made of jelly 

Puppy dog eyes work with him. I don't make the rules 

I do, but moving on-

The spoiling part would kick his ass so bad. He'd have to get that shit under control at some point because it's like, no shit your child becomes defiant and spoiled. You give them everything 

They'd have a positive relationship overall. I think spoiling would be the main problem 

My thoughts are unorganized as fuck and I'd like to apologize because now I'm going back in time to say he'd take his child hunting as soon as he could 

His family hunted together and it was usually a nice fun bonding activity so he does it with his child 

I mention this for the first child because his judgment of what's appropriate at a certain age is so off

She's 4 and he's “saddle up. Let's go hunt this large unnamed animal!”

Nothing bad ever happens to the Kennedy's-!

His child is kicked by whatever they were hunting 

Has to be reminded several times that his baby is not a buff grown man like he is that can take some damage. They cannot just thug it out Tomas 

Besides the multiple injuries and spoiling though, he'd be an alright dad with his own little family 

Probably plans on having another one once his kid is like,,, 2 because he's insane 

[msbarrows]

Walks #53 and #54 took place yesterday and today. Much walking was done and urban art admired.

The first was a short one, I walked over to Yonge and caught the subway south to Empress Walk to go to a walk-in clinic near there and finally get a doctor to take a look at my messed up right foot. Also explained I was Type 2 Diabetic but hadn’t gone through the training about how to do my own blood sugar testing etc. So he gave me the paperwork for foot x-rays (both feet in case something is also starting to go wonky in the left) and blood tests. Fasting blood test, so I did that today instead of immediately.

Today was a looooong day. Headed out to what the receptionist at the clinic had said was the closest testing location of four listed on the form for x-rays (Yonge & Sheppard) only to find that location was closed down. Next closest appeared to be (and thankfully was) in the Bathurst & Sheppard area, so I headed over there instead. X-Rays got done pretty quickly, bloodwork lab was backed up and I was there almost two hours. When I arrived the line went from the reception desk and out into the hallway, and it got longer before finally starting to shorten - at the worst point I’d guesstimate there was at least a dozen people waiting, with only 4 actual seats in the waiting room and of course an obligatory Loud Entitled Older White Dude was eventually one of the people waiting too. Dude, no one gives a shit that you have an appointment and aren’t being seen at the very second it was booked for, most of the other people waiting were also not walk-ins. Sit down and STFU instead of being aggressively loud to obviously overworked staff.

It was past noon before I finally got out and could go end my fast (which I’d started before 8pm last night). Yay for the doctor’s office being just beyond a mini-mall that had a Subway. Nom Canadian Club on wholegrain.

Nice thing about today: as I was walking to the bus in the morning my optometrist’s office called to say my second pair of glasses had shown up so they now had both available. So after lunch I went down to the Bay & Bloor area to pick those up, and now have reading (right) and distance (left) glasses in addition to my computer glasses (centre - and yes I could have gone for bifocals for the distance/reading pair but I hates them; I’d rather pay more for separate pairs). Though I am kicking myself a bit for getting the reading pair at my optician’s, I really should have gone to some place like People’s or Hakim Optical and said “give me all the cheapest options”, because I’ll be using that pair very little. Didn’t need pricey designer frames for that.

After that... well. It was past noon and I knew theshitpostcalligrapher was doing a thing at Christie Pits, which was only a few stops west. So I went and took a walk around the park until I spotted her and her friends, said hi, and bought a calligraphed card, which I’ll be showing off shortly in a separate post.

Spent some time walking back west along Bloor (which with the bum right foot I probably shouldn’t have) and then headed back to North York.

[pi-creates]

If a DLC or comic (omg..) was a must-do, what would you like to see?

Hmm.... there's a couple of options that I wouldn't mind seeing.

I feel like there really is an opportunity to do some "400 days" like mini-stories focused on either individual characters, or even one character progressing through a series of small events.

I mean, imagine AJ and Willy going through a stack of those files in the piano room, and AJ notices some hand-written reports (probably done by Aasim or some of the older kids who wanted to help keep records) where they've documented some things that have happened at the school and they've pinned the school photos of the people involved to the papers. This could be like the 400-days billboard, you see these reports and some photos, and AJ and Willy read through them as a transition point into playing out the events. And there's quite a few options that we could explore then that don't necessarily mess with the timeline of TFS.

Stuff like:

Ruby being in the greenhouse with Ms Martin and some other kids when the walkers manage to overtake the place

An event that shows Mitch taking on that Big Brother role to Willy - perhaps with a good show of them adding some of that graffiti and destruction to the school

Marlon training Rosie and the kids all finding out that she's an excellent walker killer when the training pays off and she rescues someone about to get nommed on

Louis and Aasim setting up the rabbit traps and discovering why it's important to mark the trapped trees

Music practice where we see Louis and Minnie composing "Don't be Afraid" - then have that moment where Marlon and Violet are there too and we hear the comments about Marlon wanting to scavenge a guitar so they could all play together... maybe that one even ends with Violet and Minnie climbing the bell tower for the first time or something

Tenn and whatever the hell happened to his face

And it can all culminate in the day the twins got taken from the perspective of someone not involved in the scavenger trip

Those are just off the top of my head, and I'm sure there are better things to explore - but all I'm trying to say is that there are anchor points that bigger stories could be told from if we were to have a "flashback" sort of DLC.

Then ya know, in the end the boys can put the files back and we can get a glimpse of AJ trying his hand at making his own book of things that happen - but ya know, more with pictures because that's his thing. They could even be illustrations of your general choices throughout TFS but how AJ interpreted them.

[fluffymcu]

Letting Loose

Part SEVENTEEN

This series is TICKLE related.

Series Summary:  You’re the little sister of the one and only Captain America. You’re also the youngest girl on the team, so that automatically makes you the avengers’ little princess. And they spoil you as such. They have become your amazing family and you don’t know where you’d be without them. This series will show random adventures and fluffy events in the daily life of the reader and her family, along with an unexpected turn later on as you read.

A/N: I’m so excited to be writing this series! This is my first time writing one and I’m a bit nervous but I hope it all goes well. :)  Hope you enjoy!

Word count: 2,986

This morning you, Peter and Ruby Anne had gotten dressed and ready to go out into the city for some good pizza. The three of you made your way down to the kitchen where a few members of the team were. Bucky, Steve, Bruce, and Tony were there, having breakfast and coffee.

“Hey good morning. Me and the girls are gonna go to the city to get some pizza!” Peter said, you and ruby following behind him. Tony made a weird face and Steve raised an eyebrow at you.

“Pizza for breakfast?” Tony asks. You and Peter shrug before you speak.

“Why not?” Tony just shrugs with both brows raised and waves you off.

“Alright. Go have fun I guess.”

-------

You were at a booth, playing a game on your phone while you waited for Peter and Ruby. They were at the line ordering their mini pizzas and you were securing your seats. Peter ordered what you wanted and now the three of you were sitting at the booth waiting for your pizzas to come out of the pizza oven.

You all made small talk while your drinks came, and made plans to once again stop by the pet shop down the street. It was tradition that every time you went to get pizza, you'd have to stop by the pet shop and look at all the puppies.

“Have you ever been to a pet shop?” You asked Ruby, who was taking a bite out of her pizza. She shook her head as she swallowed her food.

“No, I've never been. I'm not really a dog person.” You gasped at that. You had assumed everyone on earth was a dog person. Who doesn’t love puppies?!

“Really?!”

“Yeah, I guess it’s cause I never had a dog, or met one up close, but I don’t know, they just never caught my attention.” She shrugged. You nodded side to side and hummed.

“Well, now’s your chance to change your mind. Me and Peter have this tradition to stop by the pet shop down the street and look at all the puppies. Peter never lets me go in though, because he thinks that if I go in, I'm walking out with a puppy in my hands.” You say, rolling your eyes. Peter scoffs and rolls his eyes as well.

“I don’t think. I know you will. And then Tony’s gonna blame me for letting you.” He said.

“Whatever. Anyway yeah, so we just look at the animals from the window. But… maybe todayyy can be different!” You say, hope dripping from your voice and you turn to look at Peter with a sly grin. “Since we have Ruby Anne, we have to show her inside! So she can meet a puppy up close and maybe change her mind! Come on, pleaseee? Can we go in, I promise not to adopt anything, I promise!” you plead, pulling out your puppy eyes, knowing he almost always falls for that.

Peter lets out a heavy sigh and rolls his eyes, making your cheer. “Fineee, just because of Ruby Anne.” He says, getting up and waiting for you all to go to the shop.

------

“They’re really cute! And so soft!” Ruby chuckled, walking out of the pet shop with you and Peter on either side of her. She had a really good time looking at all the little puppies and going into the small booths to pet them and snuggle them.

“Right? They’re amazing! Hey, I'm pretty sure now, that if you asked tony for a puppy, he wouldn’t hesitate.” You say with a smug smile of your face as you wiggle your eyebrows at her. She lets out a short laugh. Peter knows exactly why you said that and looks at you while he giggles.

“Dohohon’t even start.”

-----------

You had come home about an hour ago and practiced some ballet as well as training a bit with your brother in the gym. You were now walking in the yard with Ruby Anne, having a nice little girl talk. You were talking to her about Jeremy as you both took a seat on one of the benches in the garden.

“Hmm. Maybe Steve is right.” Ruby chuckled. You shook your head with a smile.

“I used to doubt it but, now I don’t know what to think. But I do know that “we” would never happen.” You scoff. Ruby hums and stares off at the flowers. “What about you? Any crushes you got?” You smirked, nudging her with your elbow. Ruby scoffed and paused for a moment.

She shook her head almost sadly. “Not anymore. It didn’t work out.” She shrugged. You hummed and gave her an apologetic look.

“Well… he's an idiot for not seeing your worth.” You say. Ruby laughs at that and raises her eyebrows as she nods sarcastically.

“Yeah well, its fine. He likes some other girl. She’s so much better for him. They compliment each other very nicely.” She smiles.

“Don’t say that, you are enough. There's no “girl that’s better”. Everyone has something that makes them valuable. You’ll find someone that sees that in you.” You grin, giving her shoulder a comforting pat. She nods and gives you a shy smile.

“Thanks.” She sighs. “So, your turn. You got a crush?” she asks. You take a deep breath and stretch your arms a bit.

“…. I don’t know actually. I mean, I see guys and find them attractive but, I'm not really at the point where I wanna date yet. And I guess that’s what's stopping me. I wanna appreciate and take advantage of my youth. Maybe- I don’t know. I just feel sometimes that when you date at a young age, especially when you both are still growing and immature, you're basically dating for heartbreak.” You shrug. “So I figured I’d just wait, and save myself the pain. I’ll find the right one eventually. But of course, that’s just my take on it.” You chuckle. Ruby nods and smiles.

“Yeah… that’s kinda true I guess.”

-----------

Pietro had brought some Chinese home so everyone gathered to have lunch today. You were having some orange chicken and rice and you couldn’t be happier. After everyone was almost done, Tony spoke.

“So guys I was thinking we should have our movie night outside, what do you think? We set up the yard real nice, weather’s good, we could set up the projector and have our snacks.” He said, smiling when everyone started to agree. You were really excited at the idea and couldn’t wait to set everything up.

That was until now.

After lunch you had taken a shower and a nap. You hadn’t realized its been hours that you were asleep but you were just so tired, you didn’t know why. So when Tony came waltzing into your room to wake you up, your motivation to go help outside was very low.

“Y/nn, wake up…” he sang lightly shaking your shoulder a bit. You groaned loudly, hugging your pillow tighter. “You said you wanted to help with the yard, you’ve been sleeping for a while, its 7:30 and its getting dark. Peter and Ruby are already outside.”

You groaned again, burying your face into the pillow. “mmm. Don’t care.” You mumbled sleepily. Tony smiled softly.

“Aww come on, you don’t wanna get up?” he asked in a very sweet voice. You shook your head no. “You sure? You promised you'd help…” He said, smirking as he lightly started scratching your sides. You began you giggle and kick your feet tiredly, tightening your grip on the pillow.

“Noooohoho. Stohohop.” Your giggles were muffled as you kept your face planted in the pillow. Tony added more pressure, waking you up a bit more and causing you to squirm around. Your laughter became louder and you began to push his hands away as much as you could. “Tohohonyyy!” You yelled, cacklling when his fingers drilled mercilessly into your ribs and you shook him off, giving you enough time to grab the sheets and engulf yourself in them, using the comforter as a shield.

“Come on, get up!” He sang, before smirking. “If you don’t get up, I’ll eat your belly!” He said, poking his head under the covers and hugging your waist to his face, playfully biting and nibbling your stomach. You scream in ticklish agony and flop around as much as possible. His beard was driving you crazy and the noms and noises he was making were not helping at all. “TOHOHOHONY STOHOHOP!” You cry, unable to defend yourself since you were getting tangled up in the covers.

Tony ignored your protests, playfully growling and rubbing his beard all around your torso, occasionally biting your ribs. “I don’t hear a surrender!”

You erupted into loud belly laughter when he began to continuously blow raspberries into your belly. That was the breaking point for you, and you finally decided to give in to make it stop. ”OKAHAHAY ILL GET UHUHUP PLEHEHEHASE!!” You begged, pushing at his head desperately. Tony blew one last raspberry before poking his head out of the covers. He chuckled loosely and helped you untangle yourself from the blankets, giving you a hand to get you out of the bed.

“Glad I was able to convince you. Now come on.” He smiled, leading you out of your room. You whined slightly and lazily walked wherever he led you.

Everyone was out in the backyard, blankets and pillows everywhere, ready to be set up. Steve and Clint were pinning the big white sheet in between 2 close trees and setting the projector up.

When you had gotten to the yard, you went towards Peter, who was helping Thor and Bruce set up the snack and drink table. “Look who finally came out of her coma!” Peter teased, smirking as you rolled your eyes. “Wanna roll down the hill?” he asked, pointing behind him. The backyard had a small hill that the 2 of you liked to roll down off. It wasn’t steep, but it was high enough for it to be fun to roll down. You nodded with a grin.

“Where’s Ruby?” you ask, looking around for her.

“She’s helping Wanda put up the lights. We were practicing cartwheels a bit ago. She’s pretty good!” he said, walking up the hill with you. You smiled at the thought of them playing around.

“Cool! I'm glad she had fun.” You both had your blankets and wrapped yourselves up in them before laying down. “Ready? First one down gets the last pop tart.” You giggle, ready to roll. Peter’s smile faltered as he craned his neck to look at you.

“Wait, what? There's only one left?!” he asked.

“321GO!” You yelled, immediately rolling down, leaving Peter to scramble around and roll down, already too late to win. You were giggling and closing your eyes as you spun and spun until you slowed to a stop. You unraveled yourself and looked up just in time to see Peter roll to a stop. You laughed along with him and both got up, him helping you.

“That was so not fair.” He chuckled.

“I was just kidding about the pop tarts.” You started. Peter sighed in relief. “There’re none left. Thor finished them all.” You tittered, shrugging a shoulder. Peter deflated and groaned, making you laugh.

-------

WHACK!

You and Peter were in the middle of one of your many pillow fights while the rest of the team were finishing up. All that was left was putting the blankets and pillows down. 

You were aiming at Peter and were about to smack him, your arm bent over your head when your pillow was suddenly snatched from behind. You gasped and turned around to see Nat tucking it under her arm.

“Nat!’‘ You cried. She gave you a shrug and half a smirk. 

“What? This is my pillow, I need it.” She said, walking away and leaving you to get quickly knocked to the ground by Peter with the pillow. You could tell he wasn’t done so you quickly got up and and ran, giggling loudly as he chased you. 

You circle around the food table to where Steve is and you run behind him, hugging him for protection. He’s taken aback at first; giving you a weirded out smile, unaware of Peter standing a few feet away, and returning the hug. You beam at him, giving him your brightest smile and looking back over at Peter, who’s glaring at you playfully. You grin and stick your tongue out, watching as he leaves but not before quietly telling you that he’ll be back for you. 

You finally leave your brother’s side once you deem the coast is clear and go help Nat who’s laying the blankets down. 

After helping out a bit, you spot Ruby Anne talking to Peter a little far away. They’re both laughing and you smile to yourself, happy that you’ve been seeing her smile a lot more. You were glad that she actually did what she said she was gonna do and give the team a chance. There was still a lot of progress that she and Tony would have to make, but the more you saw her interact with the other members, you knew things would only get easier from here.

As you’re laying a blanket down, you smirk widely at an unexpecting Bucky, who’s sitting on the ground with his back to you, changing the batteries on some of the battery powered candles. An idea to surprise him slipped in your head and you couldn’t stop yourself. When it came to Bucky, messing with him was your favorite hobby. You didn’t know what made him so fun to prank but he was. 

You grabbed the blanket back and snuck up behind him, careful not to make any noise before throwing the blanket over his head and pulling down/back so that he falls on his back. With a laugh you try to get away but somehow he manages to quickly grab a hold of your ankle before you can run. You scream and protest as he begins to slowly drag you over to him with the blanket still over his head. “Nononononoooohohooo!” You giggle nervously, kicking and rolling around with no avail.

“I wonder who this could be?” He hums, blindly tickling all over you, starting with your thighs, mercilessly tasing them, knowing how that drives you crazy. You’re letting out loud uncontrollable giggles as you pointlessly try to kick your legs out. “Hmm. Feels like... female, mid-teens,” He starts, digging his thumbs into your hips making you convulse with laughter. “About __ lbs., Extremely ticklish, hmm... seems familiar...” He moves his hands to your sides, rapidly squeezing them, smiling at the sound of your laughter. “Apparent poor defense skills,,, very sneaky though; always out to get me...” 

Your stomach was beginning to cramp from all the laughter and teasing. You were begging for him to stop but he only ignored your pleas. 

“God- I know this! I’ve heard that laugh before! It can’t be Peter, it’s gotta be...” Bucky sighed feigning defeat, playing dumb and prolonging the torture for you.  “I feel like this could be y/n but I’m not sure.” He shrugged, shaking his fingers into your ribs. 

“IT’S MEHEHEHEHE!” You cry, throwing your head back as you laughed. Bucky gasped before ripping the blanket off of him and blowing raspberries on your belly. You shriek and arch your back violently, bursting out into hysterics. Your body falls limp as you laugh and accept your fate. 

“I knew it! There’s only one person who’s brave enough to constantly mess with me and think she can get away with it!” He teases, blowing another raspberry and shaking his head into it, chuckling against your skin when you let out a small snort. He sits back briefly only to start leaning down towards your neck. You immediately know what he wants to do and you shrug your shoulder up with a squeal. “Nooohohoho! It’s gonna tihihickle so bahahad!” You cackle. 

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” He said. He chuckled loosely and blew the raspberry in the crook of your neck. Your body instantly paralyzed when you screamed, falling into silent laughter . He finally sat back and watched as you we’re just a giggly puddle on the ground. “I wonder when you’re going to learn that pranking me almost never works out for you.” He thought out loud, smiling as you let out residual giggles sprawled out on the floor. 

“Neveheher.” You say, shaking your head tiredly. Bucky snorts at that and shakes his head at you fondly before scooping you up and laying you on his lap. “You gonna sit with me while the movie plays?” He asks, wrapping his arms around you, cuddling you to his chest. You nod firmly with a hum and cover yourself with a blanket since it’s getting chilly out. The yard is all set up and everyone finds their seats and watch the movie as a family. 

It’s about 2am when the movie ends and everyone is having another snack at the food table. Tony had said that it would be better to clean up tomorrow, since it was late, so all they had to do was clean the food table and bring the leftovers in. Since Bucky had gone to help, you were clingily holding onto Steve’s arm since you were so sleepy you couldn’t even stand on your own. 

When everything wrapped up and you all said your goodnights, you raised your arms at Steve, hinting at the fact that you wanted him to carry you inside. He huffed out a laugh and rolled his eyes, but obliged anyway; picking you up. You wrapped your legs around his waist and your arms around his neck as he carried you inside and up to your room where you quickly fell asleep. 

[ask-voreganronpa-boys]

Gday :3 may I get some headcanons for Gundham and Kazuichi comforting their smol s/o who is scared of thunderstorms like they get pretty jumpy and to make them feel safe, safe noms ps-anyone else jump sometimes and get a mini heartattack when thunder is unexpectedly loud as heck -lol my body jumps startled sometimes like a shook jerboa- 🤣🤣

I can try my best anon!!

Pred!Kazuichi vore headcanon-thunder storm:

He would be a little jumpy but not as bad as you.

He would try several other ways to try and comfort you.

He trys to give you a shower to drown out the noise, wrap you in a warm blanket, cuddle you so the noises are muffled

Of course none of it worked

He tries one last thing that he knows would most likely work the best

He slides you into his mouth gently, letting you go at your own pace mostly

He gives you a big, loving kiss first though

He let's you lay in his mouth for however long you wanted. Though he could feel you shaking on his tongue

He sighs through his nose, giving you a loving lick before tilting his head back and swallowing you.

He feels you slip into his stomach, immediately he hugs his middle and rubs it, whispering sweet and loving things to you

Later on you finally fall asleep. Souda sighs happily, glad you finally managed to fall asleep.

Pred!Gundham vore headcanons:Thunder Storm:

At first he's confused when he sees you shaking

Once he finally realizes what you were terrified of, he is quick to try and comfort you.

He tries distracting you with the Devas, with cuddles, food even. But he was unsuccessful.

Finally he decided to do the one thing that always made you feel better

He was quick to place you in his mouth and swallow, wanting to make you as happy as possible

Now with you calmed down and most likely resting, he gets back to training the Devas

[harveywritings92]

Soulmate AU: Jacob Frye x Reader 2/3

Soulmate au Chibi clone: basically when you’ve cross paths with with your soulmate a small chibi of them appears to you, it’s about the size of a guinea pig and won’t leave your side the longer you’re in denial of your feelings or until you’ve met your soulmate again, after which they disappear.

-=-=-=

Jacobs's side of the story

Jacob was grouchy, cold and tired when he finally got back to the hideout all he wanted to do was get out of his clothes and crawl into bed and sleep for like a year! He moaned relief to be off his feet and was about to take his boots off... when he saw something scurry out of sight behind a sweet jar... did the train have a rodent infestation?

No, they would've noticed until now. standing up Jacob started lifting up jars and other knickknacks nothing...He hummed confused wondering if he just imagined the whole thing due to exhaustion? Then he noticed his top-hat on the floor was slowly making it's way around the room, it turned as if realizing he could see it! 

Whatever was making it move squeaked and started running, Jacob immediately started chasing it unfortunately whatever had his hat couldn't see what was in front of it and they slammed right into the side Jacob's ottoman hard seemly knocking it out.

Jacob pick the hat up and nearly passed out himself when he pulled a little person out of his hat! he staring a the tiny y/nat thing trying to figure what the hell it was? then he recalled seeing what looked like a tiny Henry running around his sister's room. (no, matter how many times she denied it...) He then thought back to when his grandmother told them about a tiny being called a fairy that would appear resembling your soulmate and follow you around until you encountered them again...

Jacob was stunned that it was true! then he looked down at the little knocked out fae in his hands. He?? at least he thinks it's a male was cute, he won't lie about that! and wondered why people were so private about these faeries? probably a society thing! the rich don't want to be bound by the poor?

 He hummed using the back of his index finger to rub the passed out fae's cheek; they woke up and grumbled swatting his finger away...his lips twitched decided to show Evie.. she should still be awake, maybe she can give him a more detailed explanation? 

Evie said that there really wasn't much to explain, her brother surprisingly got the gist of it. these fairies were basically fractured manifestations of your bonded one's soul, their supposed is to guide you back to your soulmate should you want to pursue them. "So what I just let him r -" Evie cut him off. "Her." Jacob's brows shot up as he looked at his sister bemused.

"Her? how do you know?" His sister cocked a brow and pointed to the counter where he set the fae down; he glanced over and did a double take when he saw mini-Henry blushing and covering his eyes! 

Jacob's fae was now in only a white button-up shirt her y/hc was now down to y/hl and the button's on the shirt were down just enough to show small bust, and that they were indeed female, Henry’s fae immediately tossed a handkerchief over the compromised female who looked around tired and confused. 

All while Jacob was in awe at the sudden wardrobe change. "When the hell did she change into that?!" he looked at his sister who shrugged. "I haven't the slightest Idea how they change clothes ...it just happens." Evie sighed tiredly really wanting this meeting to end so she could go to sleep.

 "Now is that all you wanted to know, or did you have anything else you'd like to share?" she slurred trying to hold back a yawn her brother shook his head and got up and carefully picked up the little lady off the counter she yelped surprised by the sudden motion and looked up at Jacob clearly wary of him.  

The hazel eyed assassin took notice of this and made a point of gaining her trust before convincing her to help him find the woman with his fae double, who the real Jacob might add is one lucky little bastard to sleeping next to the real... his face dropped It just occurred to him has no idea what his soulmates name is! that detail sort escaped him in the excitement. "Oi." the the fae in his hand tensed up at looked at him.

"You don't have to be afraid me, you gotta name?" he asked gently as the y/hc color fae tilted her head Jacob frowned wondering if she could understand English? and winced trying to remember those french lessons his father tried to teach him. "urm...q-Quel est votre nom?" he stammered hoping that was right! Again the fae just stared before making a gesture like she was writing. 

Jacob’s eyes widened and set her down on his bed and looked around for her to use be for settling on some ink and paper, he watched the little y/sc woman dip her hand in the ink and used her hand to write, while he got ready for bed. while taking his shirt off he heard her chirp and looked over to see what she'd wrote down. 

[Y-O-U-R-N-A-M-E ...L-A-S-T-N-A-M-E] Jacob repeated the name a few times it's was kind of odd... but hey! If that's her name then that's her name! He asked where she lived [Whitechapel.] he frowned knowing exactly what goes on in Whitechapel and though Y/n didn't seem the type to sell her body, looks can be ...He was brought out by Y/n huffing and puffing while stomping her foot; her face was red with embarrassment. [I'M NOT A PROSTITUTE!] was messily slathered on to the paper.

Jacob blanched started apologizing as the tiny woman crossed her arms and humph'd at him. Jacob on the other hand mentally sighed relieved that his soulmate wasn't being used in some brothel. "Well what exactly is your profession?" The assassin pressed the y/hl fae eyed him before writing down [Lampworking.] Jacob cocked his head to the side intrigued that's a word he's never heard before. 

"You work on lamps or make lamps?" He asked perplexed as he tried to imagine a woman welding a light-post together or making house lamps... the tiny fae chirped and he looked back the paper [It's Glass smithing for beads, marbles, paperweights...] the hazel eyed assassin hummed impressed marbles have their own blacksmiths?... Huh, go figure. 

He took a small box he had stored under his bed it had little gifts and bobbles the children had given him as thanks for saving them, and took a small purple marble out of it this was a test; he had to see this for himself. 

"Can you tell me what this is?"  He handed Y/n the marble which was the size of a football to her, she scrutinized it giving a serious though as she brought it up to the light letting it shine through the glass as if looking for cracks or impurities and wrote.

[A puple Purie* with an ash-gold swirl, nicely made but not by my shop!] She handed it back to him and Jacob hand her a broken black glass bead with half golden bird on it, the y/hc fae examined it for a few moments and looked stunned the up at him excitedly [I know this, I made this!] Jacob blinked taken aback. "Are you sure?" she nodded pointed at the broken bird.

[See the rook? that's my signature.] the hazel eyed assassin took a breath to process what she had said and almost burst out laughing at coincidence, seriously what are the chances they'd both pick a rook as a symbol? the y/ec fae seem to pick up on his giddiness and wanted to be let in on the joke? 

[What's so funny?] She raised an inquisitive brow at him. "Tell me lass have you heard of a gang called the Rooks?.." She shook her head a smirk appeared on Jacob's face oh boy was the little fairy in for wake up call, by the time Jacob had given y/n the run about the Rooks, Blighters and Templars the tiny fae had passed out exhausted.

Jacob carefully cleaned her hands and let her use his cap as a bed, He settled down for night somewhat somber as he stared at the tiny fae knowing he can't out right peruse the real at Y/n at the moment... it was too dangerous right now! and if the Blighters or Starrick figured out he had a soulmate they'd kill her or use her to get to him, Jacob can't let that happen, For both their sakes! 

He reached over and carefully readjusted the handkerchief she was using as a blanket then caress her cheek with the back of his index finger then rolled over and drifted off to sleep.

Y/n's side

The following weeks were relatively normal for Y/n would go to the glass-smith she used to take Mini-Jacob/M.J with her (as long as he stayed hidden), however he'd get all jealous and stand offish towards her when one of her friendlier co-workers approached her, particularly the sales girl up in the jewelry store upfront, It was obvious the blond haired woman fancied Y/n.. or rather YM/n act and the other male worker knew this and would often tell their younger co-worker to 'Go for it' despite the Y/n's protests and obvious disinterest towards the woman.

This caused a bit of hostility towards her males started getting ideas that YM/n wasn't interested in women...and was more interested in one of them, Luckily the boss shot them down pretty quickly noticing the fae the y/hc woman had snuck in. 

He grabbed him much to M.J's distress and wrapped a rag around him making it look like a dress, then snapped. "Look here ya lazy sods!" they looked over at the old man as he held the protesting fae, luckily it was dark enough in the forge that they couldn't get a good look at the little guy.

"The lad's obviously not interested because he's lookin' for his other half, So butt out!" he huffed as the men stared in awe at for a tick before breaking down into snickering and congratulating Y/n who let out a sigh of relief! That could've ended badly, she nodded at her boss who grunted back at her.

 Needless to say that was the last time she brought the fae with her! He'd thrown a fit when she left him at home, but it was for the best! the last thing she wanted was being ganged up on due to a misunderstanding...

It's was another slow day it felt oddly cold despite the forge being on, which should've tipped Y/n off that today wasn't going to end well... But she shrugged it off to just waking up earlier then usual Jacob was oddly excitable this morning she couldn't figure out why? 

The fae was literally jumping off her walls with so much energy, it was like a squirrel on caffeine! It also took her a while to realize that he was wearing different clothes! large coat, a green vest and a top-hat! She'd be lying if she said he didn't look good in it, It made him seem more mysterious if anything.

She could hear M.J. squeaking and playing around with that Rook bead he's seems oddly attached to it, maybe she should turn it into a necklace or bracelet? He'd probably like that! The Y/nat woman finished getting dressed and put her jacket and hat on before turning to M.J.. "I'll be back at around noon to check on you alright?" the fae hummed before gesturing for her to come closer.

The y/ht woman blinked and complied and was surprised when the Hazel eyed fae gave her a kiss on the cheek! Y/n's eyes widened her face felt hot/looked like a cherry as she gawked M.J. who gave her cheeky grin as she stammered out a goodbye! and ran across the road!

Unbeknownst to Y/n the story of YM/n finding his soulmate had reached the salesgirl's ears and went crying to her older brother who was a Blighter, she spun him a tale of a shameless womanizer who broke her heart and humiliated her! of course the girl's brother ate it up without hesitation, And decided some revenge was in order, He snuck passed the rooks patrolling the area and into the shop he using his sisters directions he found and sabotaged one of the stations; YM/n's station. of course Y/n didn't know that

 ...All she remembered was lighting her forge than a flash going off! Her boss later told her how he heard a huge explosion! she was sent flying out of the building and into the back alley adjacent to the shop!

when he got to her she was bleeding pretty heavily from her left eye at least he thinks it was her eye? and holding her right arm while attempting to get up before letting out this god awful wheeze and went slack! he though she was dead! Apparently so did salesgirl saw the whole thing who being dragged away bystanders. 

Started screaming and crying hysterically "I just wanted to scare him! I never wanted This!" Whatever else she was screaming was soon drowned out by the police and rescuers showing up showing up to control the crowed and Y/n was whisked away to a doctor.

All in sight of Jacob's fae who didn't notice he was crying as he dropped his bead... 

[A purie is a cheap clear glass colored marble, they come in various colors and names like Blood Rubies, deep sea blues, green ghosts.]

[amenomiko]

What if.. Ikemen Sengoku Husbands and MC had a son?

PART 2

1. Kenshin

Blond hair like his father, with green and brown eyes. He is like another Sasuke, who can reason with his father every time he starts to unseath his sword and want to cut things for no reason. For example,

MC: Hnn.. I can't sleep if there's mosquito..

Son: Father, don't try to kill one of those if you want mother to cry if one of her unfinished kimono tear apart.

Kenshin:.....hmf.

Yes, he is the calm one. He learned sword fighting all by himself (Which makes Kenshin proud yet gloomy at the same time because he always refuses his offer to teach him)

Kenshin: If you are that good, try to make me fight without me touching my swo- *KLANG!!*

Before he know it, Kenshin's sword were already swatted from his grip only by one strike from his son.

Son:...*smiles* Yes and as you say?

Kenshin:....hmph not bad. *walks out from the training room*

That night

MC: Well aren't you happy that he is skillful at that age?

Kenshin: Hn.

MC: Are you hurt anywhere?

Kenshin: No.

MC: Then.. Do you want sake and your sour plum?

Kenshin: No.

MC: Hmm.. Then how about.. You want to lie down your head on my lap and eat the dried sweet plum that I mix with sake (*´∨`*)?

Kenshin: ....Yes. *hugs MC tighter*

The next day

MC: Honey, stop teasing your father okay?

Son: Why should I?

MC: For me (*´﹀`*)?

Son:..Fine. *pouts and look away to hide his blushing face* Hmf.

2. Shingen

Shingen's son looks like his father. But personality wise... A TOTAL OPPOSITE. Because whenever he come across a woman..

Girl 1: Kyaa..!! It's Lord Shingen's son!! Aaahh so dreamy 😍😍😍😍

Son: *gasp and turn to run* (/>A<)/💦

Girl 2: Kyaaa he is so cute!!! ❤❤❤

Son: *run faster* \(>A<\) 💦💦

Girl 3: Awwww please join us for tea already!!! ❤❤❤

Son: *run faster again and again* (/>A<)/ 💦💦💦

Old Lady: Oh hello Young Lord how are you? ❤

Son: *SHRIEK* QAQ!!!!

MC: *watch from the place not too far from her son* Aahh.. My poor baby 😅.

Shingen: Pffft *chuckle* I wonder why he isn't as dreamy as me.

MC: If there's two Shingens I will be tired (*´∨`*)

Shingen: QAQ BUT WHY-

MC: *ignores* Honey~ I'm here ❤ *opens her arms*

Son: QAQ!! MOTHER!!!! *hugs MC tightly* I WAS SO SCARED（ΩДΩ）!!!!

MC: There there honey. *pat and kiss his forehead* Feel better?

Son: *hides his face in his mother's chest* Hmm (o◞‸◟o)

Shingen:....I want MC too Q3Q

MC: *sigh* I have two babies huh (-"-;)?

3. Yukimura

He looks like his father. But unlike his father who is oblivious when it comes to love when he was in his early adult years, his son is more charming even when he is still a child. So everytime Yukimura playfully teases his wife..

Yukimura: *was flirting with MC actually* Hey enchantress. Stop being so adorable okay?

MC: Hmm? And why is that?

Yukimura: *smirk and about to whisper in her ears* You are catching my heart day by day- *were pushed roughly to the side to the point he fell off* WHA- OAO

MC: Eh (ㆁᴗㆁ✿)- *looks down* Oh hello Honey ❤. Have you bought the Chestnut Dumpling?

Son: *crosses his arms and stand in front of MC* How many times do I have to warn you to NOT BULLY MOTHER ୧( ಠ Д ಠ )୨!!

Yukimura: I'm not even teasing her okay?? It was a conversation between grown up people!

Son: Mother is not an enchantress! Even though I don't know what that means- BUT IT'S A BAD THING GIVING NAMES TO GIRLS LIKE THAT!!

MC: *holds back her laugh* (*´﹀`*) pffftttt- aww Honey.. *sigh* if only your father is this sweet back then. He even call me wild boar you know~

Yukimura: HEY THAT'S--

Son: *GASP* OAO!!!...Mother. *takes her wrist* Let's go find a new father.

MC: Eh (ㆁᴗㆁ✿) Ah-- *was dragged away*

Yukimura: OI BRAT WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING WITH MY WIFE ୧( ಠ Д ಠ )୨ *chases*

Shingen: Ah, another lively day ( ͡^ ͜ʖ ͡^) *noms on the bought dumpling and escapes before Yukimura see him*

4. Sasuke

Also, another copy of his father. Personality wise is the same too. He is a trained young ninja under Sasuke and Kenshin and to Sasuke's surprise Kenshin would always call his son for daily training instead of a surprise attack (which he rant it to MC on how unfair it is, tho MC insist his son is still a child unlike Sasuke who learned about Ninja when he is OBVIOUSLY an adult that time)

And so their daily routine is..

Sasuke: Alright the coast is clear. Follow me.

Son: *nods*

Sasuke: Wait..! Hold back.

Son: The target notices us..?

Sasuke: Not only that.. The target disappears--

MC: *appears behind them with her hands on her hips + long sigh* Stop. Stalking. Wherever. I. Go.

Son: Oh hi mom.

MC: Hello my baby (∩´∀`∩)💕

Sasuke: *face brightens* MC--

MC: No "Hello" For you 😑.

Sasuke: *gloom* ...Oh.

MC: *kisses her mini sasuke on the cheeks before turning to sasuke* Honey, stop using me as a target..! I'm only going for my fabric shopping routine! I know he is on his training but-- *sigh*

Sasuke: Alright. Then.. Maybe we stalk Kenshin-sama instead?

MC: NO ʕʘ̅͜ʘ̅ʔ.

Son:..It's alright mom. I can use Take, or Matsu, or Ume as a bait if he want to harm me.

Sasuke: Or his favorite sake.

MC: *giggles* And plum?

Sasuke: Yes.

Kenshin: *appears*...I heard it all.

MC, Son and Sasuke: Oops.

And that evening they run from Kenshin with Sasuke bride carry MC and his son on his shoulder. Imagine they have poker face and MC laughing the whole street and Kenshin slashing few shop boards here and there.

5. Kennyo

Kennyo's son looks like MC, but he have a black hair and brown eyes. Even though his father is someone who is reserved he always brings out the love in him no matter what. To Kennyo, he is another MC who soften his heart.

Son: Father..! Please carry me.

Kennyo: ____, you have to learn to walk on your own. There are times I can't be there to carry you all the time.

Son: Hm? Is it because father is getting old?

Kennyo: No, it wasn't that. It's-

Son: Ah..! Father is tired..?? T-then- I got it! I will be patient and walk on my own...!

Kennyo: No, what I mean is..

Son: *walk walk -BAM- fell because he tripped on a stone* Mmf- *holds back his tears and stand up again*

Kennyo:.....____- Come he-

MC: *hold onto Kennyo's arms* No, let him be.

Kennyo: But.. MC...

MC: He is a determined one. Hehehe isn't he an angel ❤?

Kennyo:....Big angel. *trembling from holding back upcoming tears*

MC: Anata.. That's the 6th time this week (*´˘`*)♡ *pat pat* I know you want him to be independent but you are torturing yourself. Pfft-

Kennyo: Don't laugh.. *bury his head on MC's neck*

MC: Then you want me to let go (✿❛◡❛)?

Kennyo: ...No. *sniff*

Hope you guys like it ❤❤❤❤❤

[th3magicstore]

Best 10 Apps Android Brain Games 2020

While you might think that staring at your phone would numb your brain, a number of apps can actually help to keep your mind fighting fit. The brain training apps include various forms of mini-games that put a range of mental skills to the test, including long and short term memory, maths skills, and focus. Best 10 Apps Android Brain Games

10. Alphabear

best 10 apps android brain games There’s nothing more adorable than a vocabulary game mixed with bears, No, we’re not talking about their other game that involves cute ninjas slicing evil demons, we’re talking about a puzzle game that involves a smart way to learn simple syntax. Developer Spry Fox and their love for bears resents this puzzle game that requires no complicated feature, Just try to come up with the best word you could find in its tile-based gameplay and score the highest points to take over the leaderboards, Utilize the presence of their bears and amass the biggest multiplier with the biggest bear. Earn power-ups, extend the game’s timer, and come up with the best word without opening a dictionary! It’s bear-y fun and it’s free on the PlayStore. Heh. It has a PlayScore of 8.71.  

9. You Must Build A Boat

best 10 apps android brain games Why would you build a boat? What’s the point? These are but the few questions asked when you play EightyEight Games’ sequel to the popular 1,000,000, It’s a ridiculous way of blending a match-three gameplay with dungeon crawling mechanics, It’s both an RPG and a Puzzle Game, And as the title implies, the main setting of the game is mostly on a boat. You’re gonna need a bigger one as you start off slow. Travel to creepy dungeons and bully-off monsters during a silly match-three combat Attack, stave off, and eliminate your threat by matching the correct tiles, Pretty odd, huh? Well that’s what makes the game amazing in the process. The goal is simple, build a boat large enough to survive your journey. Expand from various rooms and meet new people as it grows bigger and bigger. So sail away with your ship and you must build a boat! Just recently, EigthyEight Games has teased its upcoming game. So keep yourself updated! You Must Build A Boat has a PlayScore of 8.72.  

Best Free Movie Apps For iPhone 2020

  8.Blendoku 2

  best 10 apps android brain games Android hasn't seen a lot of original ideas for a while, but the developers at Lonely Few sought to change that, With Blendoku they created a game that marries two of the most unlikely concepts: Sudoku and Colors, Use your wits to arrange the colors into a seamless gradient of tint hues and shade, While a little daunting for the neophyte colorist, the game's intuitive controls make it a little less so giving you the confidence to conquer the game's 500 levels, It's a simple game that challenges the mind, and becomes an addicting diversion As a sequel, it improves on the original with a collection of brand new features Zoom in and out unlock new stages and play on two different modes to play with friends and paint like famous artists. It has a PlayScore of 8.84.

7.LIMBO

best 10 apps android brain games PlayDead’s critically acclaimed puzzle-platformer makes a debut to the Android This multi-award winning game transcends the boundaries of the conventional platformer with a deep and engaging story coupled with complex physics-based puzzles, Play as a young boy as he tries to escape in a bleak and gloomy world of LIMBO This monochromatic side-scrolling platformer doesn’t dazzle you much with its dark colors, but it captures you with an eerie atmosphere with huge spiders, gory deaths and anti-gravity levels. As somber as the game develops itself, it’s one of the most intriguing games of its time. Their follow-up game, INSIDE, has also dominated the Gaming Charts but it’s only a matter of time before it hits Mobile soon! This game has a PlayScore of 8.86  

Top 10 Mobile Games With High Graphics

  6. Cut the Rope: Magic

best 10 apps android brain games One of the pioneers of Android puzzle gaming returns with a magical twist on their tested formula In Cut the Rope: Magic, ZeptoLab takes the adorable Om Nom on a quest against an evil wizard taking all the precious candy Thankfully Om nom has the power of transformation on his side, 6 of them to be exact Use them to solve the puzzles that lie before you in every stage, Turn into a bird and fly over traps and obstacles, or into baby form to squeeze into tight spaces, Despite the daunting tasks that await, the game remains as cute and addicting as ever. Refined, polished, and challenging. With 960 million downloads overall, it's one of Cut the Rope's most successful games yet. It has a PlayScore of 8.87.  

5. Lara Croft GO

best 10 apps android brain games Square Enix’s GO titles are a minimalistic surprise that usually deviates from their original gameplays Hitman and Deus EX GO’s gameplay, revolves around turn-based Diorama-looking set pieces in a playing field Players must maneuver their character and complete a set of objectives Just like most GO Games, Lara Croft GO shares the same style Control Lara in her pre-Reboot look and, finds the mysterious Queen of Venom treasure, Avoid deadly traps, find hidden treasures, and discover a long-lost history relic. The game is a success It’s awarded for being the best mobile game in its time due to its lush visuals and clever puzzle designs, It has over 101 puzzles and 6 chapters for the adventure-seekers, If the game gets too monotonous, enjoy the game’s soundtrack and unlock Lara’s popular skins From the days of old to the modern times It has a PlayScore of 8.90.    

5 Best Kiss Avatar Maker Apps in Android & IOS

4. Mini Metro

best 10 apps android brain games Easy to manipulate, difficult to master Dinosaur Polo Club’s minimalistic game tends to eliminate the perils of mass transit while injecting fluid and simplistic polygons for ease of access, But this kind of gameplay revolves around building the most efficient transportation system in the world, Connect subway routes from all over the world and make people’s lives easier, Subway Lines come in multiple shapes and colors for easier User Interaction Adapt to the situation quickly as the whole system is constantly growing, How long can you last before the lines halt? It’s an award-winning game due to its minimalist themes and unique gameplay, It’s available on Steam, PC, and Ubuntu. It has a PlayScore of 8.93

3.Threes! Free

best 10 apps android brain games If you’re familiar with 2048, then this is the game it drew inspiration from Instead of multiples of 2 you’ll have to pair off multiples of...you guessed it, threes! And, in lieu of 2048’s minimalist brown and oranges, you get a surprisingly adorable design, complete with bright colors and wacky faces the higher you go In addition to its cute visuals, it also comes with an enchanting soundtrack that makes your mathematical adventure an endlessly delightful, one It’s no wonder that the game won an award for Excellence in Design Match numbers to combine them and create higher numbers, and grow, grow, grow. You’re gonna need that strategic mind to stop yourself from getting stuck in a claustrophobic mess of numbers It’s incredibly simple and sneakily complex While it’s not a free game, you’ll be safe from dreadful in-app purchases once you buy it It has a PlayScore of 8.93.  

2.Monument Valley

best 10 apps android brain games If you wanna talk about beautiful and mesmerizing games, we have to talk about Monument Valley, It’s one of Android’s critically acclaimed puzzle games with a mix of beauty, elegance and minimalist architecture, Take on a surreal adventure with the game’s silent protagonist, Ida as she travels between complex architectures with mind-boggling geometry, Guide her through monuments and dispel the game’s illusion of movement Outsmart the game’s enemies by just twisting and dragging the world around you, Critics have praised the game’s brilliant world design and smart audio cues for that immersive experience The game just released its new addition called Ida’s ream which adds new chapters for a longer dream-like experience, Of course, it’s not free This game has a PlayScore of 9.05  

10 Best Avatar Maker Apps

1.The Sequence

best 10 apps android brain games A unique puzzle game that tangles you in a digital world filled with binary cells and special modules. Try to solve the puzzles in its over 70 levels. It has a PlayScore of 8.6612. Read the full article

[monvoyagepathologique]

Go Johnny Go Go !

Sapporo : Mar. 19 Nov. 2019

Ambiance sonore : une compilation de Coldplay dans le lobby...

Non, je n’ai pas rejoué au Go, mais alors que la journée avait commencé normalement, je suis devenu John. 

Levé à 5h00 du mat’ !

Je prends le thé avec Rachelle, une compatriote des DOM/TOM qui vient d’une île presque aussi cool que la Guadeloupe (la Réunion) et qui me branche rapidement sur les jeux de société. On réalise alors qu’on galère vachement beaucoup à citer les noms des jeux auxquels on joue. Heureusement je trouve une photo la ludothèque de Jérôme... XD 

L’heure avance et je me mets en route vers la gare, direction Yoichi pour revisiter la distillerie de Whisky Nikka. Il est possible de rejoindre Yoichi en bus, mais je me souviens du train qui longe l’océan en passant par Otaru. 

           En train vers Yoichi...

Pour accompagner mes biscuits anglais, je décide de prendre du jus de pomme dans un distributeur (je reviendrai à ceux-ci dans un prochain post). Surprise : ce qui ressort est chaud ! Et c’est du thé à la pomme ! Pas mal.

La vue par la fenêtre est superbe, de la végétation qui peuple les flancs aux vues sur l’océan avec les vagues qui viennent presque nous chatouiller les pieds. Nous sommes fin novembre, dans le nord japonais, l’eau a l’air de franchement être froide, mais une groupe d’une dizaine de surfers est quand même à l’eau ! Je me demande s’ils savaient qu’il allait neiger 2 heures après...

J’arrive finalement à Yoichi, l’entrée de la distillerie est à la sortie de la gare. Des premiers flocons font leur apparition... L’entrée est gratuite (ça change des musées canadiens...), on visite assez librement les différents bâtiments liés aux différentes étapes de la fabrication du whisky. 

On peut aussi visiter une partie de la reconstitution de la maison du fondateur, Masataka Taketsuru, qui a fait ses armes en Ecosse, puis est tombé amoureux de sa femme Rita (née Jessie Roberta Cowan) qui l’a accompagné au Japon ensuite. Elle jouait du piano, lui jouait au Go (un “skilfull 5d”), ils buvaient du whisky : tout ce que j’aime. 

            Et paf ! Ca fait du whisky épique !

La chute de neige s’intensifie et devient tempête, Fubuki est dans la place ! Je passe de bâtiments en bâtiments et m’arrête au bar à dégustations. Je souris en voyant que le “Woody and vanillic” existe toujours, alors qu’il existe de moins en moins dans mes étagères... 

Je souris moins en découvrant que le bâtiment qui vendait des bouteilles en gros n’existe plus. Il n’est plus possible d’acheter que quelques bouteilles à la boutique de souvenirs générale, avec un choix amplement moins grand que cinq ans auparavant. Je fais une petite recherche sur internet et découvre qu’une bouteille que j’ai achetée il y a 5 ans n’est plus en fabrication, et que son prix est entre 10 et 15 fois supérieur aujourd’hui... ...si j’avais su je ne l’aurais pas ouverte, et j’en aurais acheté 5 il y a 5 ans... @.@ 

Certaines choses changent, d’autres se terminent, c’est normal mais ça pique parfois un peu. 

Je vais consoler ma peine à la dégustation (gratuite toujours !!) de whisky qui est organisée dans une cantine de la distillerie. On goûte à trois doses plus qu’honnêtes de “Apple cider Nikka”, “Super Nikka” et “Single malt Yoichi”. Je ressors pompette dans la tempête (...ok je vais composer un rap avec ce titre) et marche rapidement vers le train qui doit me ramener vers Sapporo, sous peine d’attendre une heure de plus. 

Tous les usagers sont fascinés par les flocons, c’est la foire aux photos, mais aucune ne donnera aussi bien que la scène qui est offerte à nos petits yeux tous nus. 

Sur le retour, les vagues se lèvent, la neige persiste, les surfers aussi !

Je rentre tranquillement vers l’hôtel où je me pose à boire du thé vert, cuvant le whisky et me remettant du mini-deuil de la distillerie. 

Nous allons manger de l’agneau, l’une des spécialités d’Hokkaido. Je laisse mon sac à dos devant mes jambes sous le bar, endroit prévu spécialement à cet effet, très pratique. Différentes parties de la bête nous sont servies, notamment de la langue, dont je ne mangerai plus jamais de ma vie. Le reste était délicieux !

Direction un premier bar dont nous nous enfuyons après que l’une des maid nous explique le fonctionnement sibyllin de l’établissement (qui allait chiffrer à 85 Eur pour une heure). On atterrit dans un bar beaucoup plus sympa où l’ambiance est bonne, la bière aussi, et où un billard nous attend ! Après une première partie perdue, deux garçons nous rejoignent, ils parlent japonais mais disent être thaïlandais d’origine. Ils jouent avec des règles très différentes de ce qui existe officiellement, mais ça n’a aucune importance. 

“Noon” se fige un instant, me pointe du doigt et m’appelle John Lennon. Il lui manque une enzyme alors il passera la soirée à plonger de plus en plus dans l’ivresse, à hurler “John” à chaque fois que c’est à mon tour de jouer (ou pas) et enchaîne clopes sur clopes avec son ami “Phon” (il se présente en imitant un téléphone à l’oreille). C’est perturbant, venant d’Europe, d’être dans un établissement où on peut fumer à l’intérieur. J’écris ces lignes le 22 novembres, et mes vêtements s’en souviennent toujours !

On passe un excellent moment, les bières et les parties s’enchaînent, puis je sens sérieusement les 5h00 du matin se rapprocher. 

Noon a l’air triste de notre départ, je lui propose de lui envoyer les photos par e-mail mais il explique (je crois) que ça le rendrait trop triste, que c’était un bon moment comme ça. 

Fair enough... 

Il est tard, et la journée suivante risque de ne pas être très constructive : ça tombe bien, le lendemain c’est lessive !

...merde ! Mon sac !

[dangan-millie-madness]

NDRV3 Dangan Salmon Mode Theory

⚠!STOP RIGHT THERE!⚠

This DanganMillie Madness post has spoilers for New Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony's bonus game Dangan Salmon Mode, spoilers for New Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony's anthology chapter 1, and New Danganronpa V3 Killing Harmony character spoilers (aka I mention the mastermind and I spoiled some character deaths). Please proceed with caution if you haven't played through the game!

Hello everyone! I'm DanganMillie, and welcome to a small fan theory that I've recently created after playing through NDRV3's bonus games and rereading the NDRV3 anthology. It isn't a conspiracy or anything like that, just something I noticed and made connections to.

In one of NDRV3's bonus games, Dangan Salmon Mode, you can play through everyone's free time events, unlock their skills, go on dates with them, and then get a graduation ending with them. Well, everyone except for Shuichi since you're playing as him, though you can get 2 free time events with Shuichi if you spend your Chapter 1 free time events with Shuichi when you're still playing as Kaede.

I had just finished getting my affection level all the way up with Miss Mastermind Tsumugi. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed her free time events, and her graduation ending was actually very cool because you get to see two of Tsumugi's mastermind sprites in it and Shuichi's internal dialogue states how he sees the light leave her eyes for a small moment. Tsumugi also mentions something about how Shuichi's Katana cosplay will be even better than her current cosplay, which Shuichi responds to with a question about what she means. I actually have a theory about that that I'll post soon after this one!

But anyways!

I had just finished all of that up with Tsumugi, and I had reread some of the NDRV3 anthology in between.

I decided to get my affection level with Kirumi all the way up next because she's one of my top waifus in the entire series along with Kaedead, Card Captor Sakura, and the Nom Nom Queen Ibuki. When I finally found her, I noticed that she was nearby Gonta, and made a mental note to get my affection level with Gonta all the way up after I did so with Kirumi. But then, I noticed where they both were, in the courtyard near the dormitory where Shuichi, Maki, and Kaito did their training before Kaito upped and fucking died (I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT KAITO IS FUCKING DEAD #overused vine) all while making Monokuma pissed in the process like the G he is.

Right then, I recalled something that I had just reread in the NDRV3 anthology. It was one of the mini stories inside of the first chapter where Kirumi spends the day buying things from the MonoMono machine with Rantaro to see if any of the items trigger his memories of his Ultimate Talent. At the very start though, it shows Kirumi searching around the courtyard for bugs with Gonta. Rantaro shows up and sees this and asks what she's doing, which is when she explains that she's searching for bugs with Gonta. Since he asks this right around noon, Kirumi tells Gonta that she's going to help someone else because she agreed to help him until noon. Gonta cheerfully says goodbye and thanks her for helping him look with that adorable smile and blush that we all love.

My theory is that Kirumi is helping Gonta look for bugs in the Dangan Salmon Mode bonus game since the setting is all too similar to that of the previously mentioned mini story in the first chapter of the NDRV3 anthology chapter. An additional support to this fact is that when you approach Gonta and talk to him, he sometimes is already looking for bugs. And this might just be due to the way he speaks, but it sounds like he's already looking with someone when he asks Shuichi to help him look. Again, that part could just be from the way he speaks, but it could also be a supporting fact.

That's about as far as my mini theory on this goes! Please feel free to comment and tell me your thoughts on it and perhaps share a theory of your own!

[crimsonblackrose]

I’ve spent a lot of time waffling this year back and forth between traveling or not. On the one hand I’m heading home in March and I should be saving my money to help get me through until I find a job and have health insurance and try to figure out what it means to be an adult in America. (I’ve realized I’ve spent most of my independent adult life in South Korea and as well as most of my adult job experience in South Korea and it’s going to be a weird transition which I’ll discuss in some later post.)

A lot of that really concerns me, I’m leaving what is essentially financial stability and all these other things to go home to great unknowns and the idea of just staying in Korea and saving my money for a rainy day seems like the smart move. I also need to pack. I have 5 years worth of my adult life in South Korea that I need to go through. But maybe first I should watch “Tidying up with Marie Kondo?” (ah that’s procrastination at its finest right there)

But on the other hand I don’t know when I’ll be able to travel again after I’m in the States. It feels like I’m jumping feet first into cement and I’m not sure when I’ll be able to break free. I’m sure I’ll be able to travel within the continental United States, but branching outwards again seems like it’ll take awhile to work up to. And that’s what made me decide to go. The next step was where. I wanted to go to Hong Kong or New Zealand but both places seemed like it wasn’t the best time to go. And surprisingly France was fairly cheap for around when I could take vacation days. So I decided for the first time since moving to South Korea to leave Asia for a vacation and go, not to the States, but to Europe. I double checked a couple times that there weren’t any travel warnings and there were month old notices about the strikes but it seemed no one had updated those to say that things were unsafe. I downloaded Citymapper, purchased some travel wifi, and the Paris Pass, and prepped my plans which I then sent to my parents. Here’s the plan, edited a bit from what I sent my parents to be more accurately reflect my trip: Paris 2020.

A lot of my friends in South Korea are in a similar boat as me. A lot of them are planning to go home soon or are in the midst of moving, so many many of them are staying home this winter, or they’ve already made plans. I figured if I was going to go I had to go on my own.

I’ve traveled alone before. I’ve traveled all over Korea on my own, as well as Japan, Thailand, and Taiwan. I knew that one of my professors that took us to Prague would be in Paris around the same time so I made plans to meet up with her, but that was it. The other person I thought I knew in Paris actually wasn’t in Paris or even France at all. So I read some blogs and figured, as long as I looked like I knew what I’m doing, stayed busy, booked a hotel in a good area then I should’ve been fine. I also figured it’d be a good test run for moving back to the Chicago area. In Korea I can just leave my phone on a table and it’ll be there when I get back. There aren’t really pick pockets, so you can walk around with your bag open and more often than not be fine. There’s CCTV everywhere so if something happens you just have to pull footage, it deters a lot.

Even though it was technically going to be a 6 day trip it was actually only 3 full days in Paris. The cheapest trip I had an option for that I felt comfortable doing had an overnight layover in Osaka and I’d loose a day on my way back from Paris. So I tried to cram as much into those 3 days as possible. A lot changed from my original plan due to the days places were open, the changes in hours due to the strikes and my limited amount of time. I originally planned to spend my last day at Disney, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I tried finding all the unique Parisian Disney things online to get myself hyped up and make a list of goals, only to find almost nothing that didn’t require a reservation months in advance. I couldn’t find blog posts or Instagram posts raving the unique Disney Parisian foods or snacks or souvenirs like they do for Tokyo Disney and Disney Sea. So I scrapped my plans to go. Which with how exhausted I was by the time Monday rolled around was probably for the best.

I was in Paris in early January while the strikes were happening. This will probably get posted several months later at which point I hope they’ve been resolved. Public transportation was still accessible however it was very limited. Depending on the train, the services were drastically cut or not running at all. This meant buses were crammed pack full of people, especially during rush hour times in the morning and evening.

 It made getting around really difficult but not impossible. A lot of people I talked to mentioned how due to the strikes; Uber and taxi’s had hiked up their prices. I didn’t use Uber or taxi’s to get around and instead relied heavily on the app: Citymapper. I tried using Google maps only once to try and get to Versailles and it suggested I take a metro line that wasn’t working that day, which I only realized after buying the tickets and making my way to an empty platform. 

The one thing I would note about Citymapper is to double check everything. If you can, look up the address then copy and paste it into the search, or make sure the name of the place is correct and in French. Because in English we called Versailles the “Palace of Versailles”, but when I typed that into my map it sent me to the wrong place around Viroflay. It suggested I take the big out of town train down to Viroflay, transfer on a mini little local tram, and then walk the rest of the way to a green looking area that was not in-fact Versailles. (Which is what led me to Google mapping it and end up with tickets going for a line that wasn’t running.)

The little grey you-are-here symbol on the left with the clock is the actual Palace of Versailles known in French as Château de Versailles while the other one to the upper right is where Citymapper originally tried to send me. They’re a good 40 minutes away from each other, 50 minutes if you try to walk it. Thankfully I could take the bus but I wasn’t sure if I needed exact change, which I didn’t have. The machines only took coins or a card so I was concerned the bus would be the same. Which meant I also had to hike around to find somewhere where I could break a bill and get 1.90 euros in change to pay for the bus to Versailles. I did eventually make it but it was frustrating how much time I lost.

It was however, the only time Citymapper let me down. It was pretty accurate the rest of the time, though the bus back to the airport did not come nearly as often as it said it would but I can’t hardly fault the app for that one. I was in the right spot and I was very early so I wasn’t too upset.

Generally getting around you can get a train pass. They have card passes like most cities that you can tap to get into the station or on the bus. Or you can get a little paper card that you feed into the reader every time you get on or go up to a turnstile.

Sortie means exit. Follow the signs to get out of train stations or anywhere else you might be.

 Because I paid for 3 days of the Paris Pass it meant that I got 3 days of public transit access between zones 1-3 which sadly did not include Versailles. It is possible, but expensive, to get a pass that includes more zones.  It included practically everything else in downtown Paris that was working. For everything else I bought on board (the bus generally) with exact change. For the airport Roissy bus I purchased my ticket down to Opera at the information center in the airport and back to the airport from Opera directly from the bus driver at the bus stop. It was about 13.90 euros which is more than Citymapper quoted, but it might be cheaper if you have a pass.

For every other bus it was about 1.90 in coins which I always made sure I had exact, then would take the ticket they gave me and fed it into the feeder. No one scanned to get out or used the readers to leave the buses or trains so I now I just have a large pile of tickets.

In case the reader doesn’t work you have to show the ticket you are using to the bus driver. Because this occasionally happens you need to write your name on the pass and the dates it’ll be used.

Nom: last name prénom: first name

Other popular ways of getting around which Citymapper included locations of were scooters and bikes. It was really nice to see the Strike safe options as well as what my options were.

Usually what I did was a combination of a bus and walking, a lot of walking.

Citymapper also have some fun Easter eggs.

Depending on the location I could play a mini game where I tried to slingshot myself (not actually myself) to the destination. And there was a Cheshire cat that tended to move around the map.

Before I left for Paris I tried to look up ways to stay safe. A lot of them reassured that you could in fact, as a woman travel safely in Paris on your own you just needed to look like you knew where you were going, be careful of pick pockets and be extra careful at night. A lot of touristy and not so touristy places also warned to be aware of pick pockets, even a small English friendly cafe I went to had signs up everywhere warning people of pick pockets.

There are a couple scams I read up about. One was people trying who ask if you dropped a piece of jewelry and someone else will root around in your bag while you talk to the first person. Or they will try to sell you the jewelry. Another similar one is to hand you something or start drawing your picture or try to give you something and then demand money.

I didn’t run into any of these. Instead I ran into “Petition Pick Pocket” a lot. Usually someone would ask me

“Do you speak English?” and then would go into a spiel about how they were collecting signatures to help some cause or another. It was usually handicapped people. To which the first time this happened as I was walking away from the Eiffel Tower I responded: “I don’t live here.”

To which the woman responded that it was an international thing. To which I said again, “I don’t live here.” and quickly walked across the street with one of the men  who was a vendor selling Eiffel Tower souvenirs near the area who had thankfully called out to me that I could cross since there wasn’t a sign. Super grateful to him for giving me an out to the situation.

This is a common scam that gets used a lot in different countries. I’ve run into it in Seoul, near the church in Myeongdong, I just hadn’t realized what it was at the time. In that case it sort of made sense due to the location as the woman wanted to gather signatures to do something about abortions. But again, it’s really strange that she’d pick a non-Korean person to gather a signature from. Just like the one’s in Paris it doesn’t make sense.

Why only ask English speakers? If you want change made for your petition and for any governmental official to actually care it has to be done by locals. Almost no government or political thing I know of is totally chill with you coming up with a list of signatures from random people who don’t live in the area and who aren’t citizens.

If you just need random signatures that aren’t locals you could just do it yourself with random different names and trying to write differently. You don’t actually need to petition. But the whole point of petitioning is to get support from locals, not tourists/visitors.

They don’t explain fully what it’s for. The idea though is for it to be something that you’d be a horrible person to turn away from. Helping poor babies or children who need assistance. Usually something that will earn you all the dirty looks if you refuse. But how do I know exactly how it would help? If it’s not explained well but in a rush of words how can I be sure I’m not being tricked like people commonly are when people suggest ending women’s suffrage (their right to vote but it sounds like they’re suffering so sometimes people get tricked). If you run into other organizations then they’re more than happy to talk your ear off if you’ll stand still long enough to listen. But these don’t.

So how is it a scam and not just things that don’t make sense logically? Generally there’s about two ways it can go. But the beginning will be the same. A person with a clipboard (in all cases I ran into it was a woman) will ask “Do you speak English?” and then ask for you to sign a petition of some kind. Either when they manage to foist the clipboard and pen into your hands to sign they’ll take the time to root around in your purse or bag while you can’t see it because you’re attention has been directed to the clipboard, or they’ll ask for a donation and try to shame you into giving something because it’s for a good cause.  Either way if you run into them it’s best not to converse and just walk away as fast as you can or pop into a shop.

I’m super grateful for the guy near the Eiffel Tower who I got to walk with. But the absolutely worst time I had with them was waiting for the Roissy airport bus. I waited for maybe 20 minutes with a growing amount of people around me also waiting for the bus and they came in droves every couple of minutes. Because I looked like I was alone they came up to me at least 5 times within that twenty minute period specifically and stopped. Most of the time if I just shook my head and didn’t look at them they’d go away, but I had one who gave me the dirtiest look when I refused to talk to her after she’d tapped my shoulder. I couldn’t go anywhere, I needed to take the bus to the airport. So I just held my stuff close and tried to make sure nothing was accessible. They finally left me alone when another actual tourist asked me if I spoke English and was going to the airport and started telling me the awful time she’d had trying to find the airport bus.

It seemed like they were only targeting women who were on their own.

This of course doesn’t mean don’t talk to strangers who ask if you speak English. It does mean to have your guard up though, especially if they’ve got a clipboard. In my case outside of the bus stop waiting for the airport more often then not people were lost and needing directions. But because people are use to the “do you speak English” being a lead to getting pick pocketed a lot of people weren’t getting helped. One guy near the Eiffel Tower asked if I knew anywhere to buy a jacket nearby because on the coldest windiest morning he was out as if he’d packed for a business meeting somewhere tropical rather than France in winter, and we both realized there was nothing nearby except one tourist spot selling sweaters. Also due to the strikes a lot of Parisans would ask me about when the bus was coming but due to my lack of French I’d lead with a sorry? Which usually they’d re-ask in English except one guy who went “sorry? Sorry?! Sorry!” as if he’d never heard such a ridiculous thing before in his life before leaving in a huff. And then there was the Puerto Rican mother who had had the worst luck with finding her way around because no one would answer her or stop to help her when she asked for help and who became my airport travel buddy. Thankfully after a lot of asking she did eventually get help but it was after finding non-Parisians who could speak Spanish or English. Sometimes I’d also just have concerned people with tourist maps walk up to me and show me the map and I’d confirm on my phone and point them in the right direction or in cafes when people realized there was no wifi and thus they couldn’t look up their directions as they had hoped.

Anyway just be very careful and make sure all your stuff is zipped up and you’re guarding it well and avoid people with clipboards asking if you speak English trying to collect your signature.

I don’t always write about how my flights to places went. I’ve had awful flight experiences and great experiences. There’s airlines I love and airlines I hate. And generally an airline named after the country it’s from are pretty decent. There is one that’s pretty awful that I hope I never fly again, but that’s besides the point. I took a couple different airlines to and from Paris. I took Korean air to Osaka, and KLM to Amsterdam and then out of Amsterdam. But my Air France trip from Osaka to Paris was magical.

I sat in a row with two women, one Japanese who spoke fluent English, and one Korean who was doing her best. I tried to help with small things like soup and snacks with the words I knew and the woman was delighted I knew some Korean. Lo and behold after some chatting she lives in the same city I live in in Korea and was flying with her daughter who spoke more English but was seated in a different row. On my left side was a French family of four with two small children. The small eldest boy kept getting lost in his wanderings of the aisle so I’d put out my hand and would point towards his row, to the point whenever he’d toddle over he’d first look up at me, confirm it was me, and then head into his row to his seat. It was quite cute. It was also a pretty stressed family since they had two small children who did not want to sit for a 10 hour+ flight and at least one of which kept jumping off to go into the aisle, where he nearly got crushed by the flight attendant with a trolley. (I awkwardly had to put my hand on the guys back because I didn’t know any other fast way to stop him from crushing the kid, but thankfully this was greatly appreciated since he hadn’t seen the child playing in the aisle.)

But the magic of the trip wasn’t just the strange community I felt in my area with small children in the aisle or being walked back and forth down the aisle followed by their parents, as a little girl did followed by her super tall multi-lingual French dad.

The magic resided near the bathrooms and in the fact no one seemed to care if you were up and out of your seat. On most flights there seems to be some annoyance to if you’re up and about. You’re constantly in someones way or in their bubble of space if you’re up. It’s only acceptable if you’re out of the way and waiting for the bathroom. But this Air France flight I was on did not care. No one batted an eye, no one complained, no flight attendant told anyone to remain in their seats or to go back, unless there was turbulence and it was unsafe. In fact the area around the bathrooms was made into what felt like, as a young Japanese boy said to us, a party.

Rather than go up and down the aisles multiple times offering water and snacks they set it up near the bathrooms as a self serve area, which some people knew and others didn’t. It took me awhile to get use to the idea. People stood around helping themselves to water, juice and soda and chatting with the people around them. Organically moving to adjust for new people or to let others pass or the flight attendants access their supplies. But there was never any pressure to return to our seats, something I doubted the Japanese boy ever did since every time I came back he was still there, chatting with someone new. About part way through the flight snacks were brought out and at first I thought it was the attendant preparing to walk them down the aisles and returned to my seat only to realize it was self serve. So what had been a big box of sandwiches and momiji manju, when I returned with my seat neighbor and her daughter was now just mars chocolates and ice cream. There was also self serve packets of soup and hot chocolate.

I really greatly enjoyed that flight. I liked getting to chat with other people on the flight who were extremely friendly. The family to my left even gave me a Japanese rolled up cookie part way through the flight. I’m sure to some people having the kids in the aisle and unable to sit still was annoying, especially for the people in front of them and behind them but sitting off to the side was totally fine and I had a very peaceful and fun flight and I hope to one day get to enjoy the magic of that self serve snack and drink section again.

When I was in junior high school and high school we had two options for languages. Spanish and French. Before we decided on one we had to take both for a 1/3rd of a semester. The majority of my grade took Spanish, but on the very first day I was determined that I would not take Spanish. Not because of a lack of interest in the language or a true love of French but because the teacher spoke in monotone without any inflection whatsoever and I feared I’d fall asleep in his class and fail. So I took French and I took it for the entirety of high school, becoming one of the few kids in Independent French which was like self-study where we read and translated books. You would think because I was in French club and in such high levels of French classes that I’d drop into Paris without any concern for the language. But I’ve been in South Korea for 5 years. And in college rather than continuing French I dabbled in other languages like Japanese and a short stint in ASL. All of this has made my French super rusty to the point I sat on the flight shaking my mental language piggy bank for the French I remembered. Bonjour (hello/good morning), Excusez-moi (excuse me), s’il vous plâit (please), au revoir (goodbye), ça va? (It’s okay?), Je m’appelle Lauren. (My name is Lauren) Je suis américaine. (I am an American) Parlez voux anglais? (Do you speak English?) merci beaucoup (thank you very much).

It was better than I feared. But still, on my flight there was a mini French course and I threw myself into that in the hopes of jogging my memory. I remembered more than I had expected when confronted with the games and quizzes. The little song we did for the months of the year was still there and I remembered about half of the days of the week. But when confronted with actual sentences while I did well with the tests and quizzes they didn’t stick. Which meant most of my interactions started with a French greeting,  and then delved into my request in English or stumbling to read what it was I wanted to order, and then ending in a French thank you. Which is kind of disappointing. It makes me wonder how I would’ve fared if I’d gone on the French trip in high school. (

Though no one else signed up for the French trip while I was in high school so I don’t think it would’ve happened anyway.) But like most major cities there was a lot of English around and people who spoke English.

Reading blogs made it sound like you needed to announce loudly to every single person you saw Bonjour! or they’d instantly shut off and treat you with disdain. I found as long as I said bonjour first before stating what I wanted I was usually fine. I didn’t have to say bonjour to every staffer I possibly saw which was what one blog I read suggested, after all usually they were busy. I did however say it to the front desk of my hotel every morning and tried to remember to switch to Bonsoir whenever evening rolled around. But I also had wifi that worked 90% of my trip so I didn’t get lost and usually was in touristy areas so I could ask an information desk for help with whatever I was lost with. The only time I ran into “rude” Parisians was when they were super busy and I didn’t find it that rude. It was just more of a bored or quick tone. But I do agree with saying hello or good evening in French and a nice merci in there to help show some respect to the country you’re visiting.

I’m actually really glad I went to Paris this January. I had a really good, though exhausting time.

A Solo Trip to Paris I've spent a lot of time waffling this year back and forth between traveling or not. On the one hand I'm heading home in March and I should be saving my money to help get me through until I find a job and have health insurance and try to figure out what it means to be an adult in America.

[madeitloveitpaleo]

I have been following a Keto lifestyle since January 2018 and over that time I have lost a total of 88 pounds and learned a lot about what types of recipes and meals help me stick with this low carb life without sacrificing my grocery budget or a ton of extra time in the kitchen.

I consider this our family’s VIP list of keto meals.

Easy to prepare….check. Not too many ingredients….check. Tastes amazing….check.

There are a ton of low carb recipes out there, but I’ve narrowed down the list to the ones we make repeatedly and remain on a regular rotation.

When you find yourself making a recipe all the time, that’s a sure sign that it not only tastes really good, but is easy to make. 

Check out this post for more details about why I started a keto lifestyle and how we also save money doing it!

One of my biggest keys to maintaining a keto lifestyle is picking a handful of go-to meals that you love and are easy to make. There are so many great keto meals out there to choose from.

I recommend finding recipes that require very little shopping for additional ingredients and can be made fairly quickly.

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1. Taco Bowls

Taco Tuesday doesn’t have to end when you cut the carbs. One of my favorite things about tacos is everyone can make them exactly how they want them. It’s a perfect meal if not everyone in your family is eating keto.

I make the ground beef and season it the way we all like and then everyone makes their own tacos the way they prefer.

I love making taco bowls with seasoned ground beef, sour cream and scooping everything up with cheese chips.

Making crispy cheese chips could not be easier! Just microwave a slice of cheese for a minute and let cool. Once it’s cooled you can break it into crispy cheese chips. 

Taco tip: Skip that seasoning packet, it contains a ton of carbs! We season ours ourselves and eyeball the amounts. We typically use salt, pepper, oregano, chili powder, chipotle powder, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika.

2. Bunless Burgers

It would be pretty hard to find an easier meal than a bunless burger. In the summer, we love to grill them and in the cooler months, we use the air fryer.

You can be as simple or as creative as you want with your bunless burger.

Most of the time, I enjoy my burger with a slice of Muenster cheese, yellow mustard and a sprinkle of Everything but the Bagel seasoning.

The options are endless to get more creative. Use different cheeses, try it with pickles or top yours with avocado slices.

Don’t forget about bunless hot dogs!

3. Chicken Thighs

I have never been a fan of chicken breast. I can never seem to cook it well without drying it out. That is never the case with chicken thighs. They are basically foolproof and always juicy.

Did I mention that chicken thighs are way cheaper than breasts? We pick up a family pack of chicken thighs when we go shopping and when we get home we separate them into dinner size portions.

If you’re a Costco shopper, definitely check out the organic packs of chicken thighs that are a steal and you can easily make 3-4 family dinners out of them.

Here are our favorite chicken thigh recipes that we use again and again:

Cracklin Chicken from Nom Nom Paleo

Chicken Thighs with Creamy Basil Bacon Mushroom Thyme Sauce from Julia’s Album

No Mess Crispy Chicken Thighs from Jennifer Banz

Asian Chicken Thighs from Nom Nom Paleo

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I'll be posting a recipe roundup #ontheblog tomorrow of my favorite #paleo recipes with 5 ingredients or less. We had one of these quick, simple dinners tonight, Cracklin Chicken from @nomnompaleo. This recipe is crazy good and all you need is chicken thighs (skin on, bone out), ghee and some salt and pepper (or magic mushroom powder 😍) and you're good to go. Check out the full post tomorrow! #michelletamismymarthastewart #chicken #nomnompaleo #5ingredientsorless #organic #eatclean #foodstagram #recipe #paleorecipes #paleolifestyle #whole30 #whole30alumni #whole30recipes #whole30homies #protein #simple #love #magicmushroompowder

A post shared by Dawn @ MadeItLoveitPaleo (@madeitloveitpaleo) on Jul 21, 2015 at 5:38pm PDT

4. Sausage, Carrot & Zucchini Casserole from MadeItLoveItPaleo

I’m all about a great casserole and this one is my favorite.

Everything goes into a casserole dish and gets sliced into individual servings for the week. This casserole is full of veggies and is so satisfying.

→ Recipe: Sausage, Carrot & Zucchini Casserole

If you want to try another variation of a yummy casserole, check out this version using peppers and chorizo!

5. Chicken Wings

We love chicken wings at our house! They are affordable and so easy to make. We usually get the wing sections and we don’t even bother to separate them. No need to take the extra step unless you are really particular about eating them as flats and drums.

Here is a roundup of all of our favorite Keto Chicken Wing recipes that we make again and again.

→Keto Chicken Wing Recipe Roundup

  6. Crispy Fried Eggs over Greens

I could eat crispy fried eggs over greens every day and never get tired of it. If you’re into creamy, dreamy yolk, then you know what I’m talking about.  

I heat butter in a pan over medium-high heat and once it’s nice and hot, I add my eggs.  I let them cook until the edges are nice and crispy and the white on top is cooked. 

→ No recipe needed!

7. Leafy Greens with leftover meat, grass-fed hot dogs or chicken sausage

This is just an extra way of saying “salad”. Yep, salads are a clutch move when eating low carb.

Greens + Meat + Dressing and you have one easy meal on your hands.

→ No recipe needed!

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8. Broccoli & Cheese Soup from Wholesome Yum

I eat this soup all the time and literally never get tired of it. This soup is crazy easy and only requires a few ingredients to make. 

I make it even easier by using a big bag of frozen broccoli. I only change up one thing in this recipe and that is to add 1/2 cup finely chopped onion, because I think it makes the flavor even better. I also love to add a little crispy bacon on top!

This recipe makes enough for almost two weeks worth of lunch. I freeze it in individual servings using silicone muffin tins.

→ Recipe: Broccoli Cheese Soup from Wholesome Yum

9. Kale & Salmon Cakes from MadeItLoveItPaleo

When we’re cleaning out the pantry, I always make these simple cakes using cans of boneless, wild-caught salmon that I like to keep on hand from Trader Joe’s.

They reheat really well and I love having them for lunch.

→ Recipe: Kale & Salmon Cakes

10. Kalua Pig from Nom Nom Paleo

If you haven’t made Kalua Pig from Nom Nom Paleo yet, you are missing out on one of the best recipes ever – low carb or not. This pulled pork is juicy, tender and you can use the leftovers in so many ways.

I regularly add this to soup and salads, but my favorite way to use it is to add it to a hot pan, get it nice and crispy and serve it with fried eggs and greens.

→ Recipe: Kalua Pig from Nom Nom Paleo

11. Chaffles

I finally jumped on the chaffle train a few months ago and it’s opened up a whole wide world of meal possibilities. If you haven’t already heard of chaffles, it’s a waffle made from cheese and egg.

No recipe required here kids – 1/2 cup of whatever shredded cheese you want to use mixed with one egg will make two mini chaffles.

Mini waffle makers are everywhere these days, but this is ours and it works like a champ. You can get it at Target and Amazon.

Here is what I like to do with my chaffles:

Taco Chaffles: Ground beef, a dollop of sour cream and cilantro

Barbecue Chaffles: Brisket + sugar-free barbecue sauce (check out this brand, their sauces are amazing!!!)

Open-Face Egg Chaffles: Fried Eggs + a sausage patty

Chaffle Toast: Smear your chaffle with cream cheese and maybe even a sprinkle of Everything but the Bagel seasoning

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  12. Breakfast for Dinner

Breakfast foods are my favorite. Eggs and bacon specifically are my jam, so I looooove having breakfast for dinner.

Scrambled eggs, fried eggs or an omelette paired with bacon or sausage is a yummy way to change up your regular dinner routine. 

I also love to take leftovers and use them to make an omelette. In the picture below, I added my leftovers from a local Mexican restaurant – carnitas, cheese and cilantro – and it made for an AMAZING dinner!

→ No recipe needed!

13. Egg Roll in a Bowl

The concept is simple, it’s the insides of an eggroll (with a few tweaks), minus the crunchy wrapper, enjoyed in a bowl.

This recipe is completely and ridiculously easy and it’s now on the menu weekly.  It’s delicious, filling and reheats beautifully for leftovers. 

Did I mention this is a one-pot meal?  That’s right, one pot = one dish to clean.  That’s what I’m talking about! 

→ Recipe: Egg Roll in a Bowl from MadeItLoveItPaleo

14. Pork Chops

Pork chops are not only delicious, but also really budget friendly. Our favorites are thick, bone-in pork chops. They give the most flavor and are pretty much foolproof when it comes to cooking.

Similar to dark meat chicken – thicker, bone-in pork chops are harder to overcook and are juicier than the thinner, boneless version. 

→ Recipe: Oven Baked Pork Chops from Cooking LSL

15. Snacky Meal

I love a quick and easy “snacky meal”. Whenever I’m short on time or low on options, I put together a quick meal of low carb goodies. Almonds, cheese, lunch meat and pickles are my favorites that I almost always have on hand.

Just grab a serving of a few of your favorite low carb foods and make a snack plate. It really doesn’t get much easier than that!

I hope you found this list of my go-to keto meals helpful!

When you have several go-to meals that you enjoy time and time again it makes following this low carb lifestyle so much easier.

We save so much time meal planning and grocery shopping, because we rotate some variation of these meals over and over. 

If you’re wondering what we eat on the side, it’s always one of two things: Roasted vegetables or leafy greens (spinach or spring mix), sometimes both.

We love serving meals over a bed of greens to make sure we’re getting plenty of veggies. Just grab a handful of greens, throw them on a plate and serve your food on top.

Roasted vegetables are almost as easy. If your favorite veggies take longer to prep, try prepping them over the weekend and cutting them up into bite sized, ready to roast pieces.

We usually go for zucchini, mushrooms, kale chips, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and radishes.

Roasting is a time saver, because all you need to do is throw your cut up vegetables on a large baking sheet, toss with some oil, salt & pepper and into the oven they go. They are cooking themselves while you prep the rest of your meal.

We usually roast everything at 375 for 20-30 minutes (except kale chips which take a fraction of that time). I wait until everything is deeply browned before I take it out.

Check out these recipes for some simple and easy roasted veggie side dishes:

Foolproof Kale Chips

Easy Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Smoky Roasted Mushrooms

The 15 Go-To Keto Meals that helped me lose 85 pounds! - I consider this our family's VIP list of keto meals. Easy to prepare....check. Not too many ingredients....check. Tastes amazing....check. #keto #ketoaf #ketorecipes I have been following a Keto lifestyle since January 2018 and over that time I have lost a total of 88 pounds and learned a lot about what types of recipes and meals help me stick with this low carb life without sacrificing my grocery budget or a ton of extra time in the kitchen.

[ruthellisneda]

Losing “The Last 20 Pounds” – 7 Lessons Learned While Still Eating Carbs

The past 7 months have been really eye-opening for me.

In May of 2018, after spending the past 33 years of my life trying to get bigger…

I decided to go in the other direction:

I was going to make a concerted effort to get as lean as possible while still having a life.

After 6 weeks of very focused effort (counting calories) and seeing NO progress, I made a few key adjustments.

Since then, I’ve lost 22 pounds AND hit strength training personal bests:

Sure, we’ve featured success stories from people in our community who have lost 100+ pounds in a year, 50+ pounds in a year, and other amazing transformations.

So, who wants to hear about an in-shape guy who got more in shape?

BORING!

However, I want to share my story for a few reasons.

For starters, I want to show that 15+ years later, I still practice what I preach and I’m still learning every day.

Next, I want to share the things I did that might seem counterintuitive:

I still ate carbs while losing weight: rice, potatoes, and oats.

I did ZERO hours of “cardio,” and zero “ab” exercises.

I got stronger, setting numerous personal bests in the gym.

I never felt like this was unsustainable.

Whether you have those final stubborn 10-15 pounds to lose, or you have 80+ pounds to lose, I promise the lessons I share here can help you level up.

Note: We all have our challenges, and we all find certain things easy and other things brutally difficult.

As you read, you’re NOT allowed to say the following:

“Must be nice, Steve.”

“This won’t work for me because…”

“I will never get there because…”

And instead, you’re ONLY allowed to say:

“How can I make this lesson work for me in my situation?”

Deal? Deal.

Here are the 7 biggest lessons I learned while losing 21 pounds and leveling up my workouts…

#1) WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT? ALL CALORIES COUNT.

If you are trying to lose weight, calorie restriction is King (or Queen).

In order to lose weight consistently, my body needed to be in a “caloric deficit”: burning more calories than I ate, consistently.

Most people attempt to do this by out-exercising a bad diet.

I instead put 95% of my effort into fine-tuning my nutrition.

Specifically, I ate more calories on training days (to help rebuild muscle), and fewer calories on non-training days (to force my body to pull from fat stores).

However, the average between the two was low enough to force my body to start burning stored fat which led to overall weight loss.

As a 6 foot tall, 190 pound male who trains 4x a week, here’s how I ate:

Skip breakfast every day – eat all calories between noon and 8pm

2,600 calories on strength training days.

2,100 calories on rest days.

I followed the above calorie strategy with a 90%+ compliance rate. In other words, I did not let perfect be the enemy of the good. (Calculate your own caloric intake estimates here.)

I knew one bad day wouldn’t screw up any progress – it’s total calories consumed over many weeks and months, so as long as my average day was good, I would get results.

I’ll get into what those calories were composed of and how I trained below. But my strategy allowed me to build strength and minimize muscle loss despite the deficit (yes, you can lose weight and build muscle at the same time).

LESSON: Start with calories – know how many you eat daily, and adjust the number down. You can vary your calorie count for training days or rest days – as long as your total average number is low enough to induce weight loss.

Tracking calories and not getting results? Check your tracking – see #4 below.

#2) STRENGTH TRAINING IS CRUCIAL FOR BODY FAT LOSS.

I strength trained 4 days per week for about 60 minutes each workout without fail.

This is something I truly prioritized in my life. I can count on 1 hand the number of times I did not hit the gym 4 days in a week.

Each day composed of a heavy barbell lift:

Front squats

Deadlifts

Incline bench press

Bent over rows.

I also did lots of body weight training and gymnastic ring work:

Push-ups, pull-ups, bodyweight rows.

Gymnastic holds including handstands.

Muscle-ups on my rings. So many muscle-ups.

So, despite the fact that I was losing weight and eating a caloric deficit, judging by the pictures and my measurements I was able to maintain most of my muscle, and even build strength strategically.

I got stronger at a lot of lifts throughout this experience.

I hit a personal best deadlift of 420 pounds – a 30 pound record, at a weight of 172 pounds.

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A post shared by Steve Kamb (@stevekamb) on Nov 21, 2018 at 10:43am PST

By lifting VERY HEAVY weights while also eating a caloric deficit, my body was forced to adapt.

It diverted as many resources as possible to “rebuild muscle stronger to prepare for the next weight training session,” which didn’t leave many calories for “store as fat.”

I cover this extensively in both “Why can’t I lose weight?” and “Can you build muscle and burn fat at the same time?”

Not only that, but because I was in a deficit my body started pulling from the “store as fat” pile to fuel myself and my workouts.

So this strategy really crushed it for me:

Heavy strength training.

Protein prioritization and caloric deficit

Consistency and sleep.

LESSON: Most people go about weight loss by creating a calorie deficit and doing a bunch of cardio – this means their body will burn both fat and muscle for extra energy: they lose both body fat AND muscle.

If your goal is to build a muscular, lean physique, you need to teach your body to preserve as much muscle as possible – and you do that by training heavy!

#3) BATCH COOKING CHANGED MY DEFAULT BEHAVIOR.

For the past 6 months, I’ve been batch cooking up a storm.

1-2 times per week, I batch cook trays of chicken breast, potatoes, brussel sprouts, broccoli, and/or cauliflower.

Most days, my dinner looks like this:

And most weeks, my fridge looks like this:

To answer your next question: That’s SodaStream sparkling water (much cheaper than buying bottles or cans), and homemade cold brew coffee. Yes, I’m a weirdo who drinks cold brew in the dead of winter!)

By batch cooking just once a week, aka making ONE big effort just once, it essentially changed my default behavior for the rest of the week and set me up to succeed.

I had developed this nasty habit of ordering delivery multiple nights per week – which practically everybody does in Manhattan.

Here’s why: compared to cooking a meal, it was just easier to a hit button on my phone and have food show up 30 minutes later.

However, once I started batch cooking, the “lazy” option WAS the healthy (and far less expensive) option.

Every evening, I could either:

Spend money and then wait 30 minutes for a unhealthy meal to show up.

Put food in microwave for 2 minutes and nom nom nom.

Here’s what I batch cooked:

Chicken (which I cover in this article), covered in “Everything but the Bagel” seasoning.

Mini potatoes: cut in quarters, toss in olive oil, sprinkle with salt, put on tray, stick in over for 30 min at 350 degrees.

Brussel sprouts: cut in quarters, toss in olive oil, sprinkle with salt, put on tray, stick in over for 30 min at 350 degrees.

Pre-cut Broccoli and cauliflower: toss in olive oil, sprinkle with salt, put on tray, stick in over for 30 min at 350 degrees.

Once a week or so, I’d go out to dinner with friends or family and eat whatever the hell I wanted. I’d also drink whiskey (neat). I went on multiple trips and vacations

I knew the more diligent I was with my weekly behavior, the more ‘fun’ I could have with my ‘occasional’ behavior and still not get derailed.

The most important part of this: by eating the same foods each day, I knew exact portion sizes without having to calculate or figure out much. I just did the same stuff over and over.

That is…once I figured out how much I needed to eat!

LESSON: Your default behavior is the reason you are where you are right now with your health. So change your default. Consider batch cooking to make the easy, lazy, default option the healthiest.

I used to be VERY intimidated by the kitchen. So learn to cook 1 thing. Literally one thing. And then expand from there once you build up some confidence!

#4) MY METABOLISM WASN’T BROKEN. MY TRACKING WAS.

For the first 6 weeks of my weight loss journey, the scale didn’t budge.

I couldn’t figure out what the heck was going wrong.

If you’ve ever tried to lose weight and the scale didn’t go down, it’s easy to assume, “my metabolism is broken” or “it’s because I’m eating carbs” or “my body is unique and different. Damn my parent’s genetics”

I was counting calories accurately (or so I thought), and the scale didn’t move which made my head hurt.

Clearly I was broken, right?

All those years of ‘bulking’ had ruined my body and I was no longer able to lose weight.

Welp, as a firm believer in things like “science” and “logic,” I decided to test my assumption that I was actually eating the amount of food I thought I was eating.

So I bought a cheap ass $10 food scale.

And it rocked my world.

EYE OPENING EXAMPLE: I eat 3 servings of oats each day, blended into my post workout and post dinner smoothies. A serving of oats is described as “½ cup or 40 grams.” So I used a ½ cup measuring cup and thought that was pretty close to accurate.

I then WEIGHED half a cup of oats, and it came out to 60 grams!

Which means that for 6 weeks, I consumed an extra 225 calories without realizing it.

The same thing happened with my lunch from Chipotle: I weighed out the portion of rice in the serving, and compared it against the weight that Chipotle says is a serving, again I was overeating by 50%.

Realizing that I was overeating my carb portions by 50% multiple times per day, NO WONDER I wasn’t losing weight.

I was accidentally eating hundreds of calories without even realizing it.

So I adjusted my food intake accordingly.

And for the next 5-6 months, my weight steadily declined.

Part of me was frustrated, embarrassed, and angry that I didn’t realize I was overeating with every meal of every day.

The other part of me is SO THANKFUL I was tracking everything and dug deeper when I wasn’t getting the results that I should have.

For starters, I stepped on the scale every morning at the same time of day.

I kept a rolling 7-day average to make sure the trend was moving in the right direction, but didn’t sweat variations from day to day. After all, water weight, sodium, one unhealthy meal – can really make the day swing.

I’m very thankful I educated myself on the exact macronutrient breakdown of the foods I ate regularly.

I also took weekly pictures from the front and side. Week to week I couldn’t see changes.

But month to month, especially with the scale moving down, I started to see differences and was encouraged with the progress.

LESSON: Educate yourself on the food you’re eating, and how much. Every online calorie calculator will give you a different answer, and should be considered just a starting point.

And then start tracking your progress! Take photos. Take measurements. Write down the number on the scale. And then make small adjustments based on the results you’re seeing. Adjust your calorie intake down or up.

Not getting the results you’re expecting? Consider tracking your food more closely to educate yourself even further!

#5) ABS AREN’T MADE IN THE GYM.

Want to know my favorite ab exercises that allowed me to get a 6 pack (with those final 2 abs poking through?)

Squats

Deadlifts

Pull-ups

Push-ups

I actually didn’t do any cardio or ab exercises over the past 7 months.

Another note: I also didn’t do any bootcamp or “muscle confusion” or any of that stuff.

And yet here I am with 8-pack abs and healthy and happy.

What gives? Why didn’t I do those things? Because I hate ab exercises, I hate bootcamps, and I hate cardio.

You also can’t spot reduce fat, and a flat stomach comes from a low body fat percentage (aka – how you eat!)

Sure, I went for walks, often long ones through the city. Sometimes through the course of a day I would walk 5+ miles.

But I never went for a run, or got on a treadmill, or did the elliptical.

Instead, I just focused on getting stronger, eating a caloric deficit, eating enough protein, and getting enough sleep.

I trained my body to think: “I better build muscle, because I know I’m gonna need it again soon.” My body then diverted as many resources to muscle building as possible, pulling from fat stores for energy, and helped me lean out while staying strong.   

Abs aren’t made in the gym, as they say – they’re made in the kitchen.

Everybody has ab muscles, they’re just hidden under layers of fat.

So to get my abs to ‘pop’ it simply required me to cut my body fat percentage low enough to remove the fat on top of them.

LESSON: Everybody has abs, they’re just hiding under layers of fat. Cardio isn’t a prerequisite for weight loss. To build a certain type of physique, you need to eat and train in a certain way.

If you want to lose some weight and feel better: focus on calorie restriction and do any type of exercise – including cardio – that you enjoy.

If you want to build a superhero physique: strength train heavy, eat enough protein, and follow a caloric deficit.

#6) CARBS AREN’T EVIL. BUT EATER, BEWARE.

These days, it’s easy to assume carbs are evil.

Paleo says “booo” to carbs, while Keto says “GTFO” to all nearly all carbs.

So what’s the real deal?

Is the choice REALLY:

Cut out these foods to lose weight, but be miserable.

Eat these foods, be happy, and be fat.

Nope. Thermodynamics still apply. I do 100% agree that certain people are affected differently by..

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[neilmillerne]

Losing “The Last 20 Pounds” – 7 Lessons Learned While Still Eating Carbs

The past 7 months have been really eye-opening for me.

In May of 2018, after spending the past 33 years of my life trying to get bigger…

I decided to go in the other direction:

I was going to make a concerted effort to get as lean as possible while still having a life.

After 6 weeks of very focused effort (counting calories) and seeing NO progress, I made a few key adjustments.

Since then, I’ve lost 22 pounds AND hit strength training personal bests:

Sure, we’ve featured success stories from people in our community who have lost 100+ pounds in a year, 50+ pounds in a year, and other amazing transformations.

So, who wants to hear about an in-shape guy who got more in shape?

BORING!

However, I want to share my story for a few reasons.

For starters, I want to show that 15+ years later, I still practice what I preach and I’m still learning every day.

Next, I want to share the things I did that might seem counterintuitive:

I still ate carbs while losing weight: rice, potatoes, and oats.

I did ZERO hours of “cardio,” and zero “ab” exercises.

I got stronger, setting numerous personal bests in the gym.

I never felt like this was unsustainable.

Whether you have those final stubborn 10-15 pounds to lose, or you have 80+ pounds to lose, I promise the lessons I share here can help you level up.

Note: We all have our challenges, and we all find certain things easy and other things brutally difficult.

As you read, you’re NOT allowed to say the following:

“Must be nice, Steve.”

“This won’t work for me because…”

“I will never get there because…”

And instead, you’re ONLY allowed to say:

“How can I make this lesson work for me in my situation?”

Deal? Deal.

Here are the 7 biggest lessons I learned while losing 21 pounds and leveling up my workouts…

#1) WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT? ALL CALORIES COUNT.

If you are trying to lose weight, calorie restriction is King (or Queen).

In order to lose weight consistently, my body needed to be in a “caloric deficit”: burning more calories than I ate, consistently.

Most people attempt to do this by out-exercising a bad diet.

I instead put 95% of my effort into fine-tuning my nutrition.

Specifically, I ate more calories on training days (to help rebuild muscle), and fewer calories on non-training days (to force my body to pull from fat stores).

However, the average between the two was low enough to force my body to start burning stored fat which led to overall weight loss.

As a 6 foot tall, 190 pound male who trains 4x a week, here’s how I ate:

Skip breakfast every day – eat all calories between noon and 8pm

2,600 calories on strength training days.

2,100 calories on rest days.

I followed the above calorie strategy with a 90%+ compliance rate. In other words, I did not let perfect be the enemy of the good. (Calculate your own caloric intake estimates here.)

I knew one bad day wouldn’t screw up any progress – it’s total calories consumed over many weeks and months, so as long as my average day was good, I would get results.

I’ll get into what those calories were composed of and how I trained below. But my strategy allowed me to build strength and minimize muscle loss despite the deficit (yes, you can lose weight and build muscle at the same time).

LESSON: Start with calories – know how many you eat daily, and adjust the number down. You can vary your calorie count for training days or rest days – as long as your total average number is low enough to induce weight loss.

Tracking calories and not getting results? Check your tracking – see #4 below.

#2) STRENGTH TRAINING IS CRUCIAL FOR BODY FAT LOSS.

I strength trained 4 days per week for about 60 minutes each workout without fail.

This is something I truly prioritized in my life. I can count on 1 hand the number of times I did not hit the gym 4 days in a week.

Each day composed of a heavy barbell lift:

Front squats

Deadlifts

Incline bench press

Bent over rows.

I also did lots of body weight training and gymnastic ring work:

Push-ups, pull-ups, bodyweight rows.

Gymnastic holds including handstands.

Muscle-ups on my rings. So many muscle-ups.

So, despite the fact that I was losing weight and eating a caloric deficit, judging by the pictures and my measurements I was able to maintain most of my muscle, and even build strength strategically.

I got stronger at a lot of lifts throughout this experience.

I hit a personal best deadlift of 420 pounds – a 30 pound record, at a weight of 172 pounds.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Steve Kamb (@stevekamb) on Nov 21, 2018 at 10:43am PST

By lifting VERY HEAVY weights while also eating a caloric deficit, my body was forced to adapt.

It diverted as many resources as possible to “rebuild muscle stronger to prepare for the next weight training session,” which didn’t leave many calories for “store as fat.”

I cover this extensively in both “Why can’t I lose weight?” and “Can you build muscle and burn fat at the same time?”

Not only that, but because I was in a deficit my body started pulling from the “store as fat” pile to fuel myself and my workouts.

So this strategy really crushed it for me:

Heavy strength training.

Protein prioritization and caloric deficit

Consistency and sleep.

LESSON: Most people go about weight loss by creating a calorie deficit and doing a bunch of cardio – this means their body will burn both fat and muscle for extra energy: they lose both body fat AND muscle.

If your goal is to build a muscular, lean physique, you need to teach your body to preserve as much muscle as possible – and you do that by training heavy!

#3) BATCH COOKING CHANGED MY DEFAULT BEHAVIOR.

For the past 6 months, I’ve been batch cooking up a storm.

1-2 times per week, I batch cook trays of chicken breast, potatoes, brussel sprouts, broccoli, and/or cauliflower.

Most days, my dinner looks like this:

And most weeks, my fridge looks like this:

To answer your next question: That’s SodaStream sparkling water (much cheaper than buying bottles or cans), and homemade cold brew coffee. Yes, I’m a weirdo who drinks cold brew in the dead of winter!)

By batch cooking just once a week, aka making ONE big effort just once, it essentially changed my default behavior for the rest of the week and set me up to succeed.

I had developed this nasty habit of ordering delivery multiple nights per week – which practically everybody does in Manhattan.

Here’s why: compared to cooking a meal, it was just easier to a hit button on my phone and have food show up 30 minutes later.

However, once I started batch cooking, the “lazy” option WAS the healthy (and far less expensive) option.

Every evening, I could either:

Spend money and then wait 30 minutes for a unhealthy meal to show up.

Put food in microwave for 2 minutes and nom nom nom.

Here’s what I batch cooked:

Chicken (which I cover in this article), covered in “Everything but the Bagel” seasoning.

Mini potatoes: cut in quarters, toss in olive oil, sprinkle with salt, put on tray, stick in over for 30 min at 350 degrees.

Brussel sprouts: cut in quarters, toss in olive oil, sprinkle with salt, put on tray, stick in over for 30 min at 350 degrees.

Pre-cut Broccoli and cauliflower: toss in olive oil, sprinkle with salt, put on tray, stick in over for 30 min at 350 degrees.

Once a week or so, I’d go out to dinner with friends or family and eat whatever the hell I wanted. I’d also drink whiskey (neat). I went on multiple trips and vacations

I knew the more diligent I was with my weekly behavior, the more ‘fun’ I could have with my ‘occasional’ behavior and still not get derailed.

The most important part of this: by eating the same foods each day, I knew exact portion sizes without having to calculate or figure out much. I just did the same stuff over and over.

That is…once I figured out how much I needed to eat!

LESSON: Your default behavior is the reason you are where you are right now with your health. So change your default. Consider batch cooking to make the easy, lazy, default option the healthiest.

I used to be VERY intimidated by the kitchen. So learn to cook 1 thing. Literally one thing. And then expand from there once you build up some confidence!

#4) MY METABOLISM WASN’T BROKEN. MY TRACKING WAS.

For the first 6 weeks of my weight loss journey, the scale didn’t budge.

I couldn’t figure out what the heck was going wrong.

If you’ve ever tried to lose weight and the scale didn’t go down, it’s easy to assume, “my metabolism is broken” or “it’s because I’m eating carbs” or “my body is unique and different. Damn my parent’s genetics”

I was counting calories accurately (or so I thought), and the scale didn’t move which made my head hurt.

Clearly I was broken, right?

All those years of ‘bulking’ had ruined my body and I was no longer able to lose weight.

Welp, as a firm believer in things like “science” and “logic,” I decided to test my assumption that I was actually eating the amount of food I thought I was eating.

So I bought a cheap ass $10 food scale.

And it rocked my world.

EYE OPENING EXAMPLE: I eat 3 servings of oats each day, blended into my post workout and post dinner smoothies. A serving of oats is described as “½ cup or 40 grams.” So I used a ½ cup measuring cup and thought that was pretty close to accurate.

I then WEIGHED half a cup of oats, and it came out to 60 grams!

Which means that for 6 weeks, I consumed an extra 225 calories without realizing it.

The same thing happened with my lunch from Chipotle: I weighed out the portion of rice in the serving, and compared it against the weight that Chipotle says is a serving, again I was overeating by 50%.

Realizing that I was overeating my carb portions by 50% multiple times per day, NO WONDER I wasn’t losing weight.

I was accidentally eating hundreds of calories without even realizing it.

So I adjusted my food intake accordingly.

And for the next 5-6 months, my weight steadily declined.

Part of me was frustrated, embarrassed, and angry that I didn’t realize I was overeating with every meal of every day.

The other part of me is SO THANKFUL I was tracking everything and dug deeper when I wasn’t getting the results that I should have.

For starters, I stepped on the scale every morning at the same time of day.

I kept a rolling 7-day average to make sure the trend was moving in the right direction, but didn’t sweat variations from day to day. After all, water weight, sodium, one unhealthy meal – can really make the day swing.

I’m very thankful I educated myself on the exact macronutrient breakdown of the foods I ate regularly.

I also took weekly pictures from the front and side. Week to week I couldn’t see changes.

But month to month, especially with the scale moving down, I started to see differences and was encouraged with the progress.

LESSON: Educate yourself on the food you’re eating, and how much. Every online calorie calculator will give you a different answer, and should be considered just a starting point.

And then start tracking your progress! Take photos. Take measurements. Write down the number on the scale. And then make small adjustments based on the results you’re seeing. Adjust your calorie intake down or up.

Not getting the results you’re expecting? Consider tracking your food more closely to educate yourself even further!

#5) ABS AREN’T MADE IN THE GYM.

Want to know my favorite ab exercises that allowed me to get a 6 pack (with those final 2 abs poking through?)

Squats

Deadlifts

Pull-ups

Push-ups

I actually didn’t do any cardio or ab exercises over the past 7 months.

Another note: I also didn’t do any bootcamp or “muscle confusion” or any of that stuff.

And yet here I am with 8-pack abs and healthy and happy.

What gives? Why didn’t I do those things? Because I hate ab exercises, I hate bootcamps, and I hate cardio.

You also can’t spot reduce fat, and a flat stomach comes from a low body fat percentage (aka – how you eat!)

Sure, I went for walks, often long ones through the city. Sometimes through the course of a day I would walk 5+ miles.

But I never went for a run, or got on a treadmill, or did the elliptical.

Instead, I just focused on getting stronger, eating a caloric deficit, eating enough protein, and getting enough sleep.

I trained my body to think: “I better build muscle, because I know I’m gonna need it again soon.” My body then diverted as many resources to muscle building as possible, pulling from fat stores for energy, and helped me lean out while staying strong.   

Abs aren’t made in the gym, as they say – they’re made in the kitchen.

Everybody has ab muscles, they’re just hidden under layers of fat.

So to get my abs to ‘pop’ it simply required me to cut my body fat percentage low enough to remove the fat on top of them.

LESSON: Everybody has abs, they’re just hiding under layers of fat. Cardio isn’t a prerequisite for weight loss. To build a certain type of physique, you need to eat and train in a certain way.

If you want to lose some weight and feel better: focus on calorie restriction and do any type of exercise – including cardio – that you enjoy.

If you want to build a superhero physique: strength train heavy, eat enough protein, and follow a caloric deficit.

#6) CARBS AREN’T EVIL. BUT EATER, BEWARE.

These days, it’s easy to assume carbs are evil.

Paleo says “booo” to carbs, while Keto says “GTFO” to all nearly all carbs.

So what’s the real deal?

Is the choice REALLY:

Cut out these foods to lose weight, but be miserable.

Eat these foods, be happy, and be fat.

Nope. Thermodynamics still apply. I do 100% agree that certain people are affected differently by..

https://ift.tt/2BSiLzm

[johnclapperne]

Losing “The Last 20 Pounds” – 7 Lessons Learned While Still Eating Carbs

The past 7 months have been really eye-opening for me.

In May of 2018, after spending the past 33 years of my life trying to get bigger…

I decided to go in the other direction:

I was going to make a concerted effort to get as lean as possible while still having a life.

After 6 weeks of very focused effort (counting calories) and seeing NO progress, I made a few key adjustments.

Since then, I’ve lost 22 pounds AND hit strength training personal bests:

Sure, we’ve featured success stories from people in our community who have lost 100+ pounds in a year, 50+ pounds in a year, and other amazing transformations.

So, who wants to hear about an in-shape guy who got more in shape?

BORING!

However, I want to share my story for a few reasons.

For starters, I want to show that 15+ years later, I still practice what I preach and I’m still learning every day.

Next, I want to share the things I did that might seem counterintuitive:

I still ate carbs while losing weight: rice, potatoes, and oats.

I did ZERO hours of “cardio,” and zero “ab” exercises.

I got stronger, setting numerous personal bests in the gym.

I never felt like this was unsustainable.

Whether you have those final stubborn 10-15 pounds to lose, or you have 80+ pounds to lose, I promise the lessons I share here can help you level up.

Note: We all have our challenges, and we all find certain things easy and other things brutally difficult.

As you read, you’re NOT allowed to say the following:

“Must be nice, Steve.”

“This won’t work for me because…”

“I will never get there because…”

And instead, you’re ONLY allowed to say:

“How can I make this lesson work for me in my situation?”

Deal? Deal.

Here are the 7 biggest lessons I learned while losing 21 pounds and leveling up my workouts…

#1) WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT? ALL CALORIES COUNT.

If you are trying to lose weight, calorie restriction is King (or Queen).

In order to lose weight consistently, my body needed to be in a “caloric deficit”: burning more calories than I ate, consistently.

Most people attempt to do this by out-exercising a bad diet.

I instead put 95% of my effort into fine-tuning my nutrition.

Specifically, I ate more calories on training days (to help rebuild muscle), and fewer calories on non-training days (to force my body to pull from fat stores).

However, the average between the two was low enough to force my body to start burning stored fat which led to overall weight loss.

As a 6 foot tall, 190 pound male who trains 4x a week, here’s how I ate:

Skip breakfast every day – eat all calories between noon and 8pm

2,600 calories on strength training days.

2,100 calories on rest days.

I followed the above calorie strategy with a 90%+ compliance rate. In other words, I did not let perfect be the enemy of the good. (Calculate your own caloric intake estimates here.)

I knew one bad day wouldn’t screw up any progress – it’s total calories consumed over many weeks and months, so as long as my average day was good, I would get results.

I’ll get into what those calories were composed of and how I trained below. But my strategy allowed me to build strength and minimize muscle loss despite the deficit (yes, you can lose weight and build muscle at the same time).

LESSON: Start with calories – know how many you eat daily, and adjust the number down. You can vary your calorie count for training days or rest days – as long as your total average number is low enough to induce weight loss.

Tracking calories and not getting results? Check your tracking – see #4 below.

#2) STRENGTH TRAINING IS CRUCIAL FOR BODY FAT LOSS.

I strength trained 4 days per week for about 60 minutes each workout without fail.

This is something I truly prioritized in my life. I can count on 1 hand the number of times I did not hit the gym 4 days in a week.

Each day composed of a heavy barbell lift:

Front squats

Deadlifts

Incline bench press

Bent over rows.

I also did lots of body weight training and gymnastic ring work:

Push-ups, pull-ups, bodyweight rows.

Gymnastic holds including handstands.

Muscle-ups on my rings. So many muscle-ups.

So, despite the fact that I was losing weight and eating a caloric deficit, judging by the pictures and my measurements I was able to maintain most of my muscle, and even build strength strategically.

I got stronger at a lot of lifts throughout this experience.

I hit a personal best deadlift of 420 pounds – a 30 pound record, at a weight of 172 pounds.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Steve Kamb (@stevekamb) on Nov 21, 2018 at 10:43am PST

By lifting VERY HEAVY weights while also eating a caloric deficit, my body was forced to adapt.

It diverted as many resources as possible to “rebuild muscle stronger to prepare for the next weight training session,” which didn’t leave many calories for “store as fat.”

I cover this extensively in both “Why can’t I lose weight?” and “Can you build muscle and burn fat at the same time?”

Not only that, but because I was in a deficit my body started pulling from the “store as fat” pile to fuel myself and my workouts.

So this strategy really crushed it for me:

Heavy strength training.

Protein prioritization and caloric deficit

Consistency and sleep.

LESSON: Most people go about weight loss by creating a calorie deficit and doing a bunch of cardio – this means their body will burn both fat and muscle for extra energy: they lose both body fat AND muscle.

If your goal is to build a muscular, lean physique, you need to teach your body to preserve as much muscle as possible – and you do that by training heavy!

#3) BATCH COOKING CHANGED MY DEFAULT BEHAVIOR.

For the past 6 months, I’ve been batch cooking up a storm.

1-2 times per week, I batch cook trays of chicken breast, potatoes, brussel sprouts, broccoli, and/or cauliflower.

Most days, my dinner looks like this:

And most weeks, my fridge looks like this:

To answer your next question: That’s SodaStream sparkling water (much cheaper than buying bottles or cans), and homemade cold brew coffee. Yes, I’m a weirdo who drinks cold brew in the dead of winter!)

By batch cooking just once a week, aka making ONE big effort just once, it essentially changed my default behavior for the rest of the week and set me up to succeed.

I had developed this nasty habit of ordering delivery multiple nights per week – which practically everybody does in Manhattan.

Here’s why: compared to cooking a meal, it was just easier to a hit button on my phone and have food show up 30 minutes later.

However, once I started batch cooking, the “lazy” option WAS the healthy (and far less expensive) option.

Every evening, I could either:

Spend money and then wait 30 minutes for a unhealthy meal to show up.

Put food in microwave for 2 minutes and nom nom nom.

Here’s what I batch cooked:

Chicken (which I cover in this article), covered in “Everything but the Bagel” seasoning.

Mini potatoes: cut in quarters, toss in olive oil, sprinkle with salt, put on tray, stick in over for 30 min at 350 degrees.

Brussel sprouts: cut in quarters, toss in olive oil, sprinkle with salt, put on tray, stick in over for 30 min at 350 degrees.

Pre-cut Broccoli and cauliflower: toss in olive oil, sprinkle with salt, put on tray, stick in over for 30 min at 350 degrees.

Once a week or so, I’d go out to dinner with friends or family and eat whatever the hell I wanted. I’d also drink whiskey (neat). I went on multiple trips and vacations

I knew the more diligent I was with my weekly behavior, the more ‘fun’ I could have with my ‘occasional’ behavior and still not get derailed.

The most important part of this: by eating the same foods each day, I knew exact portion sizes without having to calculate or figure out much. I just did the same stuff over and over.

That is…once I figured out how much I needed to eat!

LESSON: Your default behavior is the reason you are where you are right now with your health. So change your default. Consider batch cooking to make the easy, lazy, default option the healthiest.

I used to be VERY intimidated by the kitchen. So learn to cook 1 thing. Literally one thing. And then expand from there once you build up some confidence!

#4) MY METABOLISM WASN’T BROKEN. MY TRACKING WAS.

For the first 6 weeks of my weight loss journey, the scale didn’t budge.

I couldn’t figure out what the heck was going wrong.

If you’ve ever tried to lose weight and the scale didn’t go down, it’s easy to assume, “my metabolism is broken” or “it’s because I’m eating carbs” or “my body is unique and different. Damn my parent’s genetics”

I was counting calories accurately (or so I thought), and the scale didn’t move which made my head hurt.

Clearly I was broken, right?

All those years of ‘bulking’ had ruined my body and I was no longer able to lose weight.

Welp, as a firm believer in things like “science” and “logic,” I decided to test my assumption that I was actually eating the amount of food I thought I was eating.

So I bought a cheap ass $10 food scale.

And it rocked my world.

EYE OPENING EXAMPLE: I eat 3 servings of oats each day, blended into my post workout and post dinner smoothies. A serving of oats is described as “½ cup or 40 grams.” So I used a ½ cup measuring cup and thought that was pretty close to accurate.

I then WEIGHED half a cup of oats, and it came out to 60 grams!

Which means that for 6 weeks, I consumed an extra 225 calories without realizing it.

The same thing happened with my lunch from Chipotle: I weighed out the portion of rice in the serving, and compared it against the weight that Chipotle says is a serving, again I was overeating by 50%.

Realizing that I was overeating my carb portions by 50% multiple times per day, NO WONDER I wasn’t losing weight.

I was accidentally eating hundreds of calories without even realizing it.

So I adjusted my food intake accordingly.

And for the next 5-6 months, my weight steadily declined.

Part of me was frustrated, embarrassed, and angry that I didn’t realize I was overeating with every meal of every day.

The other part of me is SO THANKFUL I was tracking everything and dug deeper when I wasn’t getting the results that I should have.

For starters, I stepped on the scale every morning at the same time of day.

I kept a rolling 7-day average to make sure the trend was moving in the right direction, but didn’t sweat variations from day to day. After all, water weight, sodium, one unhealthy meal – can really make the day swing.

I’m very thankful I educated myself on the exact macronutrient breakdown of the foods I ate regularly.

I also took weekly pictures from the front and side. Week to week I couldn’t see changes.

But month to month, especially with the scale moving down, I started to see differences and was encouraged with the progress.

LESSON: Educate yourself on the food you’re eating, and how much. Every online calorie calculator will give you a different answer, and should be considered just a starting point.

And then start tracking your progress! Take photos. Take measurements. Write down the number on the scale. And then make small adjustments based on the results you’re seeing. Adjust your calorie intake down or up.

Not getting the results you’re expecting? Consider tracking your food more closely to educate yourself even further!

#5) ABS AREN’T MADE IN THE GYM.

Want to know my favorite ab exercises that allowed me to get a 6 pack (with those final 2 abs poking through?)

Squats

Deadlifts

Pull-ups

Push-ups

I actually didn’t do any cardio or ab exercises over the past 7 months.

Another note: I also didn’t do any bootcamp or “muscle confusion” or any of that stuff.

And yet here I am with 8-pack abs and healthy and happy.

What gives? Why didn’t I do those things? Because I hate ab exercises, I hate bootcamps, and I hate cardio.

You also can’t spot reduce fat, and a flat stomach comes from a low body fat percentage (aka – how you eat!)

Sure, I went for walks, often long ones through the city. Sometimes through the course of a day I would walk 5+ miles.

But I never went for a run, or got on a treadmill, or did the elliptical.

Instead, I just focused on getting stronger, eating a caloric deficit, eating enough protein, and getting enough sleep.

I trained my body to think: “I better build muscle, because I know I’m gonna need it again soon.” My body then diverted as many resources to muscle building as possible, pulling from fat stores for energy, and helped me lean out while staying strong.   

Abs aren’t made in the gym, as they say – they’re made in the kitchen.

Everybody has ab muscles, they’re just hidden under layers of fat.

So to get my abs to ‘pop’ it simply required me to cut my body fat percentage low enough to remove the fat on top of them.

LESSON: Everybody has abs, they’re just hiding under layers of fat. Cardio isn’t a prerequisite for weight loss. To build a certain type of physique, you need to eat and train in a certain way.

If you want to lose some weight and feel better: focus on calorie restriction and do any type of exercise – including cardio – that you enjoy.

If you want to build a superhero physique: strength train heavy, eat enough protein, and follow a caloric deficit.

#6) CARBS AREN’T EVIL. BUT EATER, BEWARE.

These days, it’s easy to assume carbs are evil.

Paleo says “booo” to carbs, while Keto says “GTFO” to all nearly all carbs.

So what’s the real deal?

Is the choice REALLY:

Cut out these foods to lose weight, but be miserable.

Eat these foods, be happy, and be fat.

Nope. Thermodynamics still apply. I do 100% agree that certain people are affected differently by..

https://ift.tt/2BSiLzm