Okay, I've kinda sucked at this the past few days! Not horribly, I mean, I didn't eat junk food or anything, but I didn't really keep track and you can see where I immediately stall in the weight loss. I tend to do this a lot and it's really the part I'm trying to get past. I can say that each day, I was still eating off of the last casserole that I ate and that was low carb. I wasn't worrying about my portions too much, but I wasn't really over-doing it either. I did go a little crazy last night with some bean dip and tortilla chips. Again, i totally blame a student for bringing the food in!!! Notice a pattern???? When it's there, it's sooooo hard to resist.
Well, with all of the out of the way, I tried to stay aware of how I was eating today and I did much better. I stuck with an Adkins vanilla shake this morning. They really aren't bad and only 1 net carb. I decided to start using these for breakfast more often so I don't use up my carbs early in the day. Seems logical, we'll see....
For lunch, I had some left over Alice Springs Chicken that I got off the Linda's low carb menu and recipes site. I changed it a bit to go with what I had in the kitchen but this is how it broke down:
I baked a pack of thighs - I think there were 6(bone in, but the recipe called for boneless )
breasts). Once they were done, I moved them to a dry casserole dish and got rid of the skin and extra liquid. I poured a 4oz can of mushrooms that I had sauteed with garlic over them and added about 8 pieces of bacon I'd cooked and crumbled. I poured 2 c. of shredded cheese over the top and baked this for about 10 min. So easy and YUM! The mushrooms are only 1 carb for the whole can, and the cheese is a total of 8....a total of less than 2 carbs per serving.
I'm having another serving of this for dinner in a few minutes and that brings my grand total for the day to a whopping 5 carbs! Yes, I'm a bit tired but such is life:)
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Day 5 - Too late for weight!
Okay, so I didn't weigh this morning. I've already had a soda and been snacking as I cook so I'm just gonna skip it today. I haven't eaten anything bad but I never trust my scale if I didn't do it first thing!
I've been cooking this morning to have some stuff to eat on today without counting. To be honest, I've just had my first week back to school, been doing paperwork and thinking.....I'm just not in the mood for thinking any more today!
I started off with a batch of guacamole. I used 3 avacados and a packet of McCormick's Produce Partners, Great Guacamole! It calls for 2 avocados but again, I thought I'd stretch it! You have to look near the fresh avacados sometimes because I overlook it everytime and think I'm going to find it with the other seasonings. It has 1 carb per serving, but you have to take note of the fact that the packet is supposed to be 16 servings. Who makes up this stuff??? Haven't these people ever sat down and eaten the bowl? Each avacado has about 3.5 net carbs according to Adkins http://www.atkins.com/Program/FourPhases/CarbCounter/Details13/Fruits.aspx. They actually have about 12 carbs but over 8 grams of fiber so they're great for a low carb diet. This comes out to about 26 carbs for the whole bowl of guac. SO....I don't get to eat the whole bowl. BUT, I can't keep going back for a bite:) So what am I dipping? Tortilla chips are not going to cut it unless I want my entire carb "allowance" to be taken up by 11am. Instead, I use pork rinds. I know, they seem so country and uncultured, but they crunch nicely! They don't have much flavor to be honest, but since really what I want to taste is the dip, they work perfectly. I just get the plain ones (traditional) made by Baken-ets....no desire for the spicy, but you might like them...The best part is...0 carbs:) You can also throw some on a plate and cover with shredded cheese. Microwave for a good nacho substitute:)
I'm also cooking a casserole this morning to snack on throughout the day. Again, I know I can't eat the whole thing, but if I set aside the max I can have, I know I won't go over but I won't feel like I'm counting every bite.
This is another recipe from Linda's that I changed a bit:
1 pound ground beef, pork or turkey (ground beef but I used almost 3 pounds - 2- 1 1/2 pound packs)
1/2 medium onion, chopped, 2 ounces (doubled)
8 ounce cream cheese, softened (doubled)
10 ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well-drained (kept this amount)
1/3 cup sour cream (doubled)
2 teaspoons Seasoning for Tacos (doubled)
10 ounce can Ro-tel tomatoes, drained (diced tomatoes with green chiles) (kept amount)
1/4 cup canned sliced pickled jalapeños (kept amount)
2 roasted red bell peppers, coarsely chopped (didn't use)
4 ounces mozzarella or Monterey Jack cheese, shredded ( I used monterey jack)
Salt and pepper, to taste
Brown the meat and onion; drain the fat. Blend in the cream cheese until completely incorporated. Put everything in a greased casserole and mix well. Bake at 350º for about 40 minutes or until bubbly and browned on top
Her version comes out to 7 net carbs per serving x 6 servings. So 42 carbs for the whole batch.
Mine would be more....but again I'm not looking to count today:) I think to keep it safe, I can set aside about 1/4 of the dish and make sure not to eat more than that. It really does make a big batch so I think that's plenty. We'll see.
I've been cooking this morning to have some stuff to eat on today without counting. To be honest, I've just had my first week back to school, been doing paperwork and thinking.....I'm just not in the mood for thinking any more today!
I started off with a batch of guacamole. I used 3 avacados and a packet of McCormick's Produce Partners, Great Guacamole! It calls for 2 avocados but again, I thought I'd stretch it! You have to look near the fresh avacados sometimes because I overlook it everytime and think I'm going to find it with the other seasonings. It has 1 carb per serving, but you have to take note of the fact that the packet is supposed to be 16 servings. Who makes up this stuff??? Haven't these people ever sat down and eaten the bowl? Each avacado has about 3.5 net carbs according to Adkins http://www.atkins.com/Program/FourPhases/CarbCounter/Details13/Fruits.aspx. They actually have about 12 carbs but over 8 grams of fiber so they're great for a low carb diet. This comes out to about 26 carbs for the whole bowl of guac. SO....I don't get to eat the whole bowl. BUT, I can't keep going back for a bite:) So what am I dipping? Tortilla chips are not going to cut it unless I want my entire carb "allowance" to be taken up by 11am. Instead, I use pork rinds. I know, they seem so country and uncultured, but they crunch nicely! They don't have much flavor to be honest, but since really what I want to taste is the dip, they work perfectly. I just get the plain ones (traditional) made by Baken-ets....no desire for the spicy, but you might like them...The best part is...0 carbs:) You can also throw some on a plate and cover with shredded cheese. Microwave for a good nacho substitute:)
I'm also cooking a casserole this morning to snack on throughout the day. Again, I know I can't eat the whole thing, but if I set aside the max I can have, I know I won't go over but I won't feel like I'm counting every bite.
This is another recipe from Linda's that I changed a bit:
1 pound ground beef, pork or turkey (ground beef but I used almost 3 pounds - 2- 1 1/2 pound packs)
1/2 medium onion, chopped, 2 ounces (doubled)
8 ounce cream cheese, softened (doubled)
10 ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well-drained (kept this amount)
1/3 cup sour cream (doubled)
2 teaspoons Seasoning for Tacos (doubled)
10 ounce can Ro-tel tomatoes, drained (diced tomatoes with green chiles) (kept amount)
1/4 cup canned sliced pickled jalapeños (kept amount)
2 roasted red bell peppers, coarsely chopped (didn't use)
4 ounces mozzarella or Monterey Jack cheese, shredded ( I used monterey jack)
Salt and pepper, to taste
Brown the meat and onion; drain the fat. Blend in the cream cheese until completely incorporated. Put everything in a greased casserole and mix well. Bake at 350º for about 40 minutes or until bubbly and browned on top
Her version comes out to 7 net carbs per serving x 6 servings. So 42 carbs for the whole batch.
Mine would be more....but again I'm not looking to count today:) I think to keep it safe, I can set aside about 1/4 of the dish and make sure not to eat more than that. It really does make a big batch so I think that's plenty. We'll see.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Day 3 - 169.8 pounds
So far so good! I started off the day on the scale. I guess there are different ways to keep track but I weigh first thing in the morning without a stitch of clothing. I thought bra and underwear would be pretty much the same, but i tried it this morning and it made a difference of .2 pounds....not a huge difference but whatever it takes...naked it is! I have found that I will always be at my lowest when I first get up, but I don't think it matters as long as you're consistent. It doesn't matter what you weigh but how you've lost. As long as I pick the same time of day, I can see how much I've lost....
So today I started with a fried egg sandwich. Again, I like the Healthy Life High Fiber wheat bread (5 net carbs per slice). Of course the eggs and mayo are carb free. I've always liked these cooked this way so I don't feel like I'm dieting when I'm eating them. The only adjustment I've had to make is buying the more expensive, low carb bread. Since I've never met a bread I didn't like, this is only a monetary sacrifice because it does taste good.
I did my cooking for today, last night. I found another recipe on Linda's Low Carb Menu's and Recipes at http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/eldorado_casserole. I cut the recipe in half but left the same amount of onion and used 3tsp of the taco seasoning. It added up to about 20 carbs total for me with it making about 5 cups--this comes out to 4 carbs per cup. I have a pretty big appetite but 2 cups was plenty for lunch. This was QUITE yummy. I do admit I could have eaten 2 more cups but I think that's just me. I think I eat more than most women I know. You know those pasta dishes at places like Ruby Tuesdays? Well, I might stuff myself, but I almost ALWAYS finish them. Most of my girlfriends eat just a little over half and are stuffed. Many of them are also smaller than me.....hmmmm...something else to think about--just not too hard:)
Dinner was the typical soccer mom scenario with a 40 minute trip in the minivan with a 16, 3, and 1 year old. Actually she is not quite 16 which explains why I'm still making the drive... Anyway, 40 minutes each way with 1 1/2 hours of soccer...me trying to entertain the babies. This spells dinner at McDonalds!
I love the mushroom and swiss angus burger which comes with just 1 slice of swiss cheese, some sauteed mushrooms (I think canned) and mayo. Everything is do-able except for the bun. They do look at you a little funny sometimes, but you can order it without the bun. They just put it in a plastic container instead of the typical paper box. McDonald's has this great feature on their website when you look up the nutritional info. It lets you subtract specific things (such as the mayo, or bun in my case) and then it recalulates the nutritional info. The bun for the Angus burger is actually over 50 carbs! Taking if off made the sandwich only 8 total carbs minus 1 gram of fiber for a net total of 7 carbs! I just found this out while I was looking it up tonight and you don't know HOW excited I am at this moment!!!! I love that burger:)
So my total is....10 carbs for breakfast, 8 for lunch and 7 for dinner--25 for the day. This is a few carbs higher than what I want, but I do have to admit, this is way lower than a typical day LAST week and I don't feel deprived in the least. The lack of a bun at McDonald's actually kept me from that usual feeling of having eaten too much too fast and wishing I hadn't. Full but not stuffed.
So today I started with a fried egg sandwich. Again, I like the Healthy Life High Fiber wheat bread (5 net carbs per slice). Of course the eggs and mayo are carb free. I've always liked these cooked this way so I don't feel like I'm dieting when I'm eating them. The only adjustment I've had to make is buying the more expensive, low carb bread. Since I've never met a bread I didn't like, this is only a monetary sacrifice because it does taste good.
I did my cooking for today, last night. I found another recipe on Linda's Low Carb Menu's and Recipes at http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/eldorado_casserole. I cut the recipe in half but left the same amount of onion and used 3tsp of the taco seasoning. It added up to about 20 carbs total for me with it making about 5 cups--this comes out to 4 carbs per cup. I have a pretty big appetite but 2 cups was plenty for lunch. This was QUITE yummy. I do admit I could have eaten 2 more cups but I think that's just me. I think I eat more than most women I know. You know those pasta dishes at places like Ruby Tuesdays? Well, I might stuff myself, but I almost ALWAYS finish them. Most of my girlfriends eat just a little over half and are stuffed. Many of them are also smaller than me.....hmmmm...something else to think about--just not too hard:)
Dinner was the typical soccer mom scenario with a 40 minute trip in the minivan with a 16, 3, and 1 year old. Actually she is not quite 16 which explains why I'm still making the drive... Anyway, 40 minutes each way with 1 1/2 hours of soccer...me trying to entertain the babies. This spells dinner at McDonalds!
I love the mushroom and swiss angus burger which comes with just 1 slice of swiss cheese, some sauteed mushrooms (I think canned) and mayo. Everything is do-able except for the bun. They do look at you a little funny sometimes, but you can order it without the bun. They just put it in a plastic container instead of the typical paper box. McDonald's has this great feature on their website when you look up the nutritional info. It lets you subtract specific things (such as the mayo, or bun in my case) and then it recalulates the nutritional info. The bun for the Angus burger is actually over 50 carbs! Taking if off made the sandwich only 8 total carbs minus 1 gram of fiber for a net total of 7 carbs! I just found this out while I was looking it up tonight and you don't know HOW excited I am at this moment!!!! I love that burger:)
So my total is....10 carbs for breakfast, 8 for lunch and 7 for dinner--25 for the day. This is a few carbs higher than what I want, but I do have to admit, this is way lower than a typical day LAST week and I don't feel deprived in the least. The lack of a bun at McDonald's actually kept me from that usual feeling of having eaten too much too fast and wishing I hadn't. Full but not stuffed.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Day 2 - 171.2 lbs.
Okay, don't know how I did it, but I'm down 3 pounds. Woohoo! The best thing about starting to go low carb is that you do see movement on the scale right away. I know it will slow down in a couple of days, but it still gives me that initial motivation to keep going.
So, the biscuits were WAY worse than I expected yesterday, even though I could only estimate their carb count...which was through the roof! I guess because it was the first day, it was still lower than what I had been eating on a regular basis. I started planning for this 2 days ago by going through recipes and checking out which ingredients I still needed to pick up. I know if I'm not prepared when I get home from work, there is no way I'll have the energy to start from scratch at that point.
I started off the day with a couple of boiled eggs. I was feeling a bit lazy and didn't really have anything I wanted to eat. These come to a whopping zero carbs so they were a good choice. I continued to drink Lipton diet green tea today...i like the citrus flavored one. I still managed a diet Dr. Pepper or two, but all of these are carb free so I'm still safe. I just feel like the tea may at least have a little bit of good to add to my system, so I'm trying to take it easier on the soda. I couldn't pass up the 32 oz one at Arby's this morning though, because nothing else gets me going quite like it! I'm a pepper! hehe
For lunch, i had some left over chicken I'd made in the slow cooker a few days ago. I put a can of cream of mushroom soup and some onions but I really didn't have any sauce left on the left over chicken. Since a whole can of the soup is only about 17 carbs, I'll round up to maybe 5 carbs for that, just in case. There were about 4 pieces of chicken.
I got lucky at dinner because my husband beat me home and he was starving! He's doing the diet with me and he had skipped lunch (bad idea) so he went ahead and made some basic hamburgers with just meat and seasonings. I picked up some low carb bread -- I like Healthy Life High Fiber wheat bread (5 net carb). There is a white variety that is 6 net carbs, but I figure with 2 slices, 2 carbs is 2 carbs--why waste them! I was able to fit 2 burgers onto my "sandwich" so I could get the most out of my two slices of bread with mayo which is a freebie and it was pretty filling.
At the end of the day, I've got my recipe picked out and even have started to prepare for tomorrow. I've got it in the oven now and will use this to get us both through lunch tomorrow. I may try to make something else in the morning to prepare for dinner. This is the hardest part for me because cooking is a MUST and I have to do it whenever I have the time! I leave for work by 7am and don't get home until about 4:30. I have about 30 min. before I have to head out on the hour drive to soccer which gets me home at about 8:30....definitely too late for dinner.
My carb count today is about 5 for the chicken (maybe) and 10 for the two slices of bread. 15 is way better than yesterday and is the reason I feel so drained right now. In a couple of days, the sluggishness will go away.
If you're not sure how to find "net" carbs, here is a basic explanation. Look at the number of carbs per serving and subtract the amount of fiber. For example, If it is 5 carbs but has 2 grams of fiber, you only count it as 3 carbs. Occasionally, you can find things (usually sweets) that have "sugar alcohols" listed. You can subtract this like you do fiber, but since they are sweets, I try to avoid them unless I just really need a fix. Sugar Free Oreos are one product where you can find an example of this....of course I'm not sure HOW I know that;)
So, the biscuits were WAY worse than I expected yesterday, even though I could only estimate their carb count...which was through the roof! I guess because it was the first day, it was still lower than what I had been eating on a regular basis. I started planning for this 2 days ago by going through recipes and checking out which ingredients I still needed to pick up. I know if I'm not prepared when I get home from work, there is no way I'll have the energy to start from scratch at that point.
I started off the day with a couple of boiled eggs. I was feeling a bit lazy and didn't really have anything I wanted to eat. These come to a whopping zero carbs so they were a good choice. I continued to drink Lipton diet green tea today...i like the citrus flavored one. I still managed a diet Dr. Pepper or two, but all of these are carb free so I'm still safe. I just feel like the tea may at least have a little bit of good to add to my system, so I'm trying to take it easier on the soda. I couldn't pass up the 32 oz one at Arby's this morning though, because nothing else gets me going quite like it! I'm a pepper! hehe
For lunch, i had some left over chicken I'd made in the slow cooker a few days ago. I put a can of cream of mushroom soup and some onions but I really didn't have any sauce left on the left over chicken. Since a whole can of the soup is only about 17 carbs, I'll round up to maybe 5 carbs for that, just in case. There were about 4 pieces of chicken.
I got lucky at dinner because my husband beat me home and he was starving! He's doing the diet with me and he had skipped lunch (bad idea) so he went ahead and made some basic hamburgers with just meat and seasonings. I picked up some low carb bread -- I like Healthy Life High Fiber wheat bread (5 net carb). There is a white variety that is 6 net carbs, but I figure with 2 slices, 2 carbs is 2 carbs--why waste them! I was able to fit 2 burgers onto my "sandwich" so I could get the most out of my two slices of bread with mayo which is a freebie and it was pretty filling.
At the end of the day, I've got my recipe picked out and even have started to prepare for tomorrow. I've got it in the oven now and will use this to get us both through lunch tomorrow. I may try to make something else in the morning to prepare for dinner. This is the hardest part for me because cooking is a MUST and I have to do it whenever I have the time! I leave for work by 7am and don't get home until about 4:30. I have about 30 min. before I have to head out on the hour drive to soccer which gets me home at about 8:30....definitely too late for dinner.
My carb count today is about 5 for the chicken (maybe) and 10 for the two slices of bread. 15 is way better than yesterday and is the reason I feel so drained right now. In a couple of days, the sluggishness will go away.
If you're not sure how to find "net" carbs, here is a basic explanation. Look at the number of carbs per serving and subtract the amount of fiber. For example, If it is 5 carbs but has 2 grams of fiber, you only count it as 3 carbs. Occasionally, you can find things (usually sweets) that have "sugar alcohols" listed. You can subtract this like you do fiber, but since they are sweets, I try to avoid them unless I just really need a fix. Sugar Free Oreos are one product where you can find an example of this....of course I'm not sure HOW I know that;)
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Day 1 - 174.2 lbs.
Okay, I've started this diet again and again. The problem is, I know how to eat low carb and I know it works, but I get bored. In the past, I've tried to avoid having to think too hard and have stuck mostly to meat. I know how to bake, broil, boil, but it's still just meat! Plain chicken, plain pork chops, whatever, it's just plain! I do enjoy a good steak somewhere like Outback, but I can't afford $20-$25 several times a week just to be able to eat a good steak. I also can't resist the other scrumptious side dishes they offer....and the bread, OH THE BREAD....I digress--
So what I've learned is that I need to approach this differently. With the summer off, I tried out some low carb recipes I found on the internet. I still have to put a little effort into planning ahead...I do admit, low carb is not as snack-friendly, but I can do it without getting as bored.
I started out this morning by cooking for the day, because I knew I was gonna be out of the house for 14 hours. I found a recipe on Linda's Low Carb Menus called Cjack1's Like Velveeta Ro-tel Main dish.
It's as follows:
2 pounds ground beef (I used one to save a bit of money)
1tsp salt (I didn't measure)
1/2 tsp pepper (still didn't measure)
10 oz. can Ro-tel tomatoes (these add just enough spice)
16 oz cabbage, finely shredded, about 1/2 a medium cabbage (I just bought a bag of coleslaw mix...just had a couple pieces of carrots thrown in, but made it so much easier)
8 oz. Deluxe American cheese, diced (not cheese food) (I had an open pack of sliced cheese (7) so just added what I had.
Cook the ground beef with salt and pepper, drain the fat and add the tomatoes (undrained) and cabbage. I cooked that for 15 min. The recipe said to do it uncovered, but I covered it and it was fine. I just stirred every few minutes. When it seemed ready by cabbage being the desired tenderness, I added the broken up pieces of cheese slices and mixed.
I got 6 cups out of this which breaks down to:
7 slices x 1carb each for cheese = 7 carbs
Cabbage is 5 carbs-2 grams of fiber = 3 carbs per serving x 4.5 servings (in 1 bag) = 13.5 carbs
Ro-tel tomatoes are 4 carbs - 1 gram of fiber = 3 carbs x 2.5 servings = 7.5 carbs
This adds up to 28 carbs for the whole dish divided by 6 c. = 4.5 carbs per cup
I had a 1c. serving for breakfast, 2c. for lunch and another 2c. when I got home late = roughly 22 carbs.
This would have been a great deal...sounds boring, but it's really good so that was fine...the problem is, my Ethiopian student brought food to class! I would love to say that's a bad thing, but his wife is a great cook and I admit...I had about 1/2 c. of rice and 4 biscuit like things. I estimate that to be about 16 carbs each for the biscuits. I don't really know what they were made with so I tried to guess (unfortunately, after the fact) by using the carb counter at http://www.atkins.com/Program/FourPhases/CarbCounter.aspx and just using buttermilk biscuits...OOPS! I guess I'll have to learn to pass them up! The rice had a bit of vegetables in it, but I'm just counting the rice, I'm probably up to another 20 carbs according to that same carb counter.
I'm going to bed a bit hungry, so I'm hoping my amount of food will balance out my choices a bit and can only work with the fact that tomorrow is another day.
So what I've learned is that I need to approach this differently. With the summer off, I tried out some low carb recipes I found on the internet. I still have to put a little effort into planning ahead...I do admit, low carb is not as snack-friendly, but I can do it without getting as bored.
I started out this morning by cooking for the day, because I knew I was gonna be out of the house for 14 hours. I found a recipe on Linda's Low Carb Menus called Cjack1's Like Velveeta Ro-tel Main dish.
It's as follows:
2 pounds ground beef (I used one to save a bit of money)
1tsp salt (I didn't measure)
1/2 tsp pepper (still didn't measure)
10 oz. can Ro-tel tomatoes (these add just enough spice)
16 oz cabbage, finely shredded, about 1/2 a medium cabbage (I just bought a bag of coleslaw mix...just had a couple pieces of carrots thrown in, but made it so much easier)
8 oz. Deluxe American cheese, diced (not cheese food) (I had an open pack of sliced cheese (7) so just added what I had.
Cook the ground beef with salt and pepper, drain the fat and add the tomatoes (undrained) and cabbage. I cooked that for 15 min. The recipe said to do it uncovered, but I covered it and it was fine. I just stirred every few minutes. When it seemed ready by cabbage being the desired tenderness, I added the broken up pieces of cheese slices and mixed.
I got 6 cups out of this which breaks down to:
7 slices x 1carb each for cheese = 7 carbs
Cabbage is 5 carbs-2 grams of fiber = 3 carbs per serving x 4.5 servings (in 1 bag) = 13.5 carbs
Ro-tel tomatoes are 4 carbs - 1 gram of fiber = 3 carbs x 2.5 servings = 7.5 carbs
This adds up to 28 carbs for the whole dish divided by 6 c. = 4.5 carbs per cup
I had a 1c. serving for breakfast, 2c. for lunch and another 2c. when I got home late = roughly 22 carbs.
This would have been a great deal...sounds boring, but it's really good so that was fine...the problem is, my Ethiopian student brought food to class! I would love to say that's a bad thing, but his wife is a great cook and I admit...I had about 1/2 c. of rice and 4 biscuit like things. I estimate that to be about 16 carbs each for the biscuits. I don't really know what they were made with so I tried to guess (unfortunately, after the fact) by using the carb counter at http://www.atkins.com/Program/FourPhases/CarbCounter.aspx and just using buttermilk biscuits...OOPS! I guess I'll have to learn to pass them up! The rice had a bit of vegetables in it, but I'm just counting the rice, I'm probably up to another 20 carbs according to that same carb counter.
I'm going to bed a bit hungry, so I'm hoping my amount of food will balance out my choices a bit and can only work with the fact that tomorrow is another day.
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