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This is a journal to help me learn LC tactics and to record LC success as 2007 draws to an end and 2008 looms large and hopeful ahead of me.

Wish me luck! Luck?

Ah, luck is the residue of design.

Found that in a fortune cookie, ages ago.

Fits into the LC mantra about how failing to plan is planning to fail. So my plans start out each day with a hot slosh of WPP+cocoa+espresso+VCO so that I start off feeling like a LC success. Yay, me!
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Reality ~ as in scales, weighing...AGH!!!

Posted 02-03-2008 at 09:30 AM by Zer
Just ordered scales as a way of admitting that I am COMPETENT to manage a weight-loss program by facing facts daily. Yes, I've been talking about buying scales someday, like when I hit 199#. But fact is that at 64 I am easily twice that weight, give or take a stone (14#) or two. I'll find out for sure in a few days, when my talking scale arrives. Happy b'day to me!

I'm near tears with gratitude for the support LC lists offer. I think I am not at all used to such support and it is taking me time to adapt to what is available in online support. Thank you, all of you who offer your weight info - both the gains and the victories great and small in whittling away at weight that is persistent.

I so appreciate the boost that got me online to order scales today. With scales for a reality check daily, I can maybe learn to care more about myself as I accept support online and report my actual numbers as I fight to build healthy LC habits into my unstructured life.

Nothing but time on my hands. I can find a way to exercise SOME, to walk just a LITTLE, to manage my food so I am better prepared to nourish my cells several times a day. I can!

Clearly, I am deficient in offering myself good support. Like, no scales. Sigh. Denial is not just a river in Egypt! Scales are a tool. I can learn to use this tool. I can learn. I can. I hope so.

I feel so sad about my failure to weigh, to admit I need to weigh. I can feel how right it is, to own scales and to truly "own" my body's weight. I'm taking steps today to change how I manage my LC program. Yay, me! Yay, Dr.Atkins! Yay, all of us who struggle together!

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Comments

Old
You're doing fine, Zer. You are learning as you go, which is what it is all about. You will see Threedom very soon. Stay focused... visualize yourself being there and before you know it, that's exactly where you'll be!
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Posted 05-10-2008 at 09:01 AM by tokenyanke tokenyanke is offline
Old
So hard to visualize myself sylphing along to THREEdom when I am heaving myself to my feet and shuffling slowly with cane to get from Point B (for bed) to Point L (for loo) and back again, trying to avoid falling over my own big feet in the process. Lift feet? Ah, easier said than done. They shuffle. Easier to visualize myself sylphing as I watch Audrey Hepburn cavort in fun films, lightly touching down on earth as she dances with Fred Astaire and William Holden. What a life, eh? So slim and so agile. Was I ever so agile? Must have been, at some point. Just do not recall it now.

That said, today is off to a good start. Got my hot slosh in, with 40g protein and 500calories. Lots of VCO to help me burn off my own body fat. Plenty of LC salads in fridge for later on. The day is laid out and secure, as LC days go!
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Posted 05-11-2008 at 08:31 AM by Zer Zer is offline
Old
Zer
You're making great progress!!! It's so good to see you making good, steady progress. This is a learning process. We are not perfect but we have to keep trying.

I'm just now coming out of my winter funk and ready to tackle my lc world once again.

You are inspiring me!!!
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Posted 05-11-2008 at 03:47 PM by Zuleikaa Zuleikaa is offline
Old
Wow...Girl you are sooooo awesome!!! You chip away at this weight loss journey so methodically and (seemingly) without any of the 'poor lil ole me' garbage I get myself stuck on. I look at a croissant and feel so sorry for myself. You stick your nose to the grindstone...and look what happens! I'm very proud of you Zer!

I have to admit to laughing myself silly about your scale. Maybe if you gave it a sleeping pill it wouldn't wake you up at 1 AM! LOL!

How've you been?
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Posted 05-11-2008 at 07:10 PM by kuukuu kuukuu is offline
Old
How've I been? Better since my scale quit talking on its own! Just a few times, far as I know, and starting on my dear dead daddy's b'day, which I take as an omen, a sign. Why not? I'll take encouragement wherEVER it can be found! Thanks for your kind words. Here's to more laughter in our lives!
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Posted 05-11-2008 at 07:32 PM by Zer Zer is offline
Old
405.4...hopefully on a downward trend that will prove to be a rewarding exit from 4's and a joyful entree to THREEdom. With 4# being a scant 1% of my total weight, it is not a big deal to this body to show a gain or loss of that amount overnight. Hard to let go of the fond hope that such a swing downward means that a handful of fat is Gone Forever.

I'm trying to remember that my scale delivers simple data, and that a trend is more meaningful than a sudden surprise - up or down. Same as the perfidious stock market, where one learns to ride out abrupt spikes in either direction without giving too much weight to spilt milk or to vicissitudes of Fortune.

The important thing is to stay the course, adjusting a bit for rough weather but not losing sight of the Nature of Things. Normal life pulse is up-down, as on a cardiac monitor. Flat line is not natural. Rhythm of life is up-down-up ... down-up...down-up...so goes my weight loss.
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Stats: 5'10"; 64; 508.7/405.4/199
WOE: Atkins+ALGittleman
432.4(2/8); 426.2(3/8); 413.2(4/8) 402.4(5/8)
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Posted 05-21-2008 at 07:37 AM by Zer Zer is offline
Updated 05-21-2008 at 07:40 AM by Zer
Old
Gotta keep on keepin' on! I know the up-down-up-down stuff is frustrating. Every time I think I'm on a roll (downwards), it jumps back up again. All we can do is our best and sooner or later we'll reap the rewards.
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Posted 05-21-2008 at 05:18 PM by tokenyanke tokenyanke is offline
Old
It's not gonna be long now, Zer. I'll be here for the party. There'll be dancing, right?
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Posted 05-21-2008 at 09:33 PM by kuukuu kuukuu is offline
Old
Not long now? Oh, kuukuu, let's hope we'll all have cause to celebrate my reaching THREEdom at long last. It's been a long dilly-dally at or about this threshold, hovering on the brink of THREEdom. Dancing? I wish! Foot-tapping, at the very least, for this largish body. I'm not as agile as I'd like to be, but I welcome all dancing from my LCFriends who are helping me to let go of the old STUFF that I formerly stuffed down with food. I'm sure all this adipose is just FEELINGS that got stuffed down and that I'm writing about and having flashbacks (EEEK!) about now that I'm eating less and nourishing myself more - nourishing in all ways, more than cellular nourishing. Thanks for helping me find my way to a healthier lifestyle, my good LCFriend!

With any luck - and with diligence in pursuing a LC plan - I shall see THREEdom as soon as I can let go of 6# or so of wobbly fat. That's what it will take to show me 399# on my talking scale. Then, of course, there will be bounces (agh!) if I am not rigorous in applying what I've learned about this program: eating up to my BMR:2423cals, getting my protein (150g) and slurping up all my water (128oz) daily - no matter what! So challenging, to stay on top of all that!
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Stats: 5'10"; 64; 508.7/405.4/199
WOE: Atkins+ALGittleman
432.4(2/8); 426.2(3/8); 413.2(4/8) 402.4(5/8)
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Posted 05-22-2008 at 05:28 AM by Zer Zer is offline
Updated 05-22-2008 at 05:30 AM by Zer
Old

It's just data, my scale weight, but...

403.8 on 5/23/08...slowly seeing results from eating more food, encouraged by a truly inspired thread that advises eating up to my BMR:2423cals - no matter what! Also targeting 150g protein as a daily goal to shoot for by eating fish and eggs as a primary protein source - and to keep my carbs from soaring out of sight. My morning slurp of WPP for 20g protein is kind of carby for Atkins' plan, so I'm often showing more than the 5%carb ratio that Atkins advises.

Still aiming for 128oz water daily as a way to flush out toxins as I press onward - ounce by ounce - for THREEdom. Hopeful, more hopeful than ever!

Having solid numbers to shoot for makes a world of difference in helping me to make better choices about what and when to eat.

Any day now I shall be seeing a 399 on my scale as it flitters and plays with me while I teeter on it in anticipation of a miracle! An amazing array of numbers flashes by as I try to stand still to catch a lower number. If the numbers flash too fast, the scale says ERROR and I get to start over again. Get off. Tap the scale. WAIT. Then get on quick when the scale tells me it's ready to weigh me. Eight seconds is all the time I get to climb aboard, which is not a lot of time for someone who is not steady on any foot. I've chosen a spot between two washbasins, so I can balance with my hands as I step up the inch or so that the scale stands "high" - and then I let go and start watching numbers flash by in 2/10 increments: up down up.

Having a scale has really helped me get feedback on how well I'm managing to fuel my body. I figure today's weight is a measure of how well I ate a week ago when I was struggling to make myself eat more than I wanted, to get up to BMR:2423cals - and now I see what it takes. Not brain surgery!
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Posted 05-23-2008 at 10:47 AM by Zer Zer is offline
Updated 05-23-2008 at 11:10 AM by Zer
Old
Woo hoo! Getting closer! Inch by inch, pound by pound! Way to go!
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Posted 05-24-2008 at 06:57 AM by tokenyanke tokenyanke is offline
Old
403.4 on 5/24/08...just 6oz less than on 5/23/08...and I'll take the loss...gratefully...as a sign that I am learning more about how my body works. Clearly my body appreciates my efforts to reach target goals each day:
Quote:
BMR:2423cals
Protein: 182g (+/- 18g)
Water: 128oz
I'm still stunned at how much effort it takes to reach such calorie and protein goals. I do not eat nearly enough if left to my own devices. I've been under-eating for a long time, which has probably cost me strength as well as stalling weight loss through damaging my metabolism. I am hopeful that feeding/fueling up to my target numbers will awaken a sluggish - or possibly a too efficient? - metabolism that has had to make do with not nearly enough protein (and often way too many carbs) as I eat mindlessly and graze on casual carby temptations. Now that I have some formulas that I understand, I shall be a better LC planner and a more effective weight-loss machine.

Here's to having a plan and to having scales that confirm when I'm on plan and when I'm in need of a better plan!
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Stats: 5'10"; 64; 508.7/403.4/199
WOE: Atkins+ALG; BMR:2423g; 181gProtein; 128ozWater
432.4(2/8); 426.2(3/8); 413.2(4/8) 402.4(5/8)
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Posted 05-24-2008 at 11:00 AM by Zer Zer is offline
Old
I lived totally scale-free for decades. I decided to gift myself with a talking scale on my 64th b'day. My scale delivers data that I mark on my datebook and my food log as a reminder to help me stay on focus as I work my LC plan in the midst of folks who are doing low-fat foods and who are wading hip-deep in carby food that lies about, tempting me. It's available. It's loaded with sugar.

Being Aspie and inclined to lose focus - oh, look, a sparkly! oh, look, a rainbow from my suncatcher! - I need a lot of reminders to keep me from stuffing random carbs into my mouth. My scale is a tool that works for me, helps to keep me aware of my intent to weigh less, much less, in the near future.

[color=fuchsia]Feb -5#[/color] 432.4(2/8) ... [color=aqua]March -13# [/color] ... [color=purple]April -5.8#[/color] ... [color=blue]May -6#[/color] ... [color=red]June:[/color] 402.8(6/1)
What a difference owning a scale has made, providing me with accurate data - even bOunCing from day to day as my body waxes/wanes as much as 1% (4#) of my weight daily. Is it a tidal effect, as the moon affects all bodies of water on the planet? Maybe so! We humans are mostly water, I gather. Something to think about, eh?

I know the numbers are just data, as the numbers in my brokerage account are just data - fluctuating wildly from day to day. It's the trend that matters. The fluctuating data is just a sign of life, as the up-down data delivered by a heart monitor is healthier than a straight line that indicates...a lack of life. So, my scale is a sign of my healthier life!
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Stats: 5'10"; 64; 508.7/402.8/199
WOE: Atkins+ALG; BMR:2423cals; 182gProtein; 128ozWater
432.4(2/8); 426.2(3/8); 413.2(4/8) 402.4(5/8)
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Posted 06-01-2008 at 11:32 AM by Zer Zer is offline
Old
401.2 today - with a brief glimpse of 399# as numbers flashed and I teetered on my talking scale - wooHOO! I'm here to say that eating to my BMR:2423cals, no matter what! works better than cutting back on calories to fuel my metabolism and to nurture my cellular function. Yay, BMR!!!

[color=fuchsia]Feb -5#[/color] 432.4(2/8) ... [color=aqua]March -13# [/color] ... [color=purple]April -5.8#[/color] ... [color=blue]May -6#[/color] ... [color=red]June:[/color] 402.8(6/1)
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Stats: 5'10"; 64; 508.7/401.2/199
WOE: Atkins+ALG; BMR:2423cals; 182gProtein; 128ozWater
432.4(2/8); 426.2(3/8); 413.2(4/8) 402.4(5/8)
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Posted 06-02-2008 at 12:17 PM by Zer Zer is offline
Old
401.2? Yep, got it from my scale today. Hooray and all that stuff, did a small HaPpYdance on my way to report the new low weight to my friends at LCFriends. Thanks for the support that kept me from drifting into carby wilderness as life tests my resolve to pare down, become a healthier and more agile person in my 60s. Less of me to heft around!

I'll likely see some bounces before my 6/8 weigh day - the 8th marking 4mos of owning scales that I gifted myself with for my 64th b'day in Feb.2008. I sincerely believe that having a scale to weigh myself, to collect accurate data, has made it possible for me to find my way to THREEdom - after years hovering above THREEdom as I lose and gain and lose and regain the same pounds. What a waste, eh?

So I'll record the bOunCes as they happen, as the moon causes flux in all water masses on earth, as my fluids ebb and flow. Just a 1% shift gives me a 4# jump in weight, so my bOunCes are distressing and exciting - and probably not as significant as the trend line that is slowly moving down toward my goal of 199# and ONEderLand.

Bouncing weight is natural. It's part of being human! I'm hopeful that my scale weigh day on the 8th will show me to be well into THREEdom, at last, with a final farewell to 400's that I intend to revisit never again, god willing!
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Posted 06-02-2008 at 02:13 PM by Zer Zer is offline
Old
Good for you! I'll do a happy dance right along with you!
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Posted 06-05-2008 at 05:01 PM by tokenyanke tokenyanke is offline
Old
402.2 at my 4th month of owning a scale to collect accurate data - and I can see that I am bOunCing up, alas, and may have to white-knuckle it today to keep from any WhatTheHeck carbing. I'm still paying for Friday's 6/6 indulgence of strawberries, I guess.

More important to focus on fish&eggs today, as I watch carbs and push harder to get closer to my 182gProtein target while I accomplish my target BMR:2423cals.

It's just data. It's just data. It's just data.
I need and want accurate data.

But I liked my scale a lot more the other day, when it flashed a fast 399# at me while choosing the data to give me as a weight reading for the day. Sigh.
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Posted 06-08-2008 at 08:24 AM by Zer Zer is offline
Old
401.8 today...at midweek peek...
401.8 is not my lowest weight for June - that was 401.0 (6/5) - or highest - that was 406.8 (6/18), just a week ago.

I'm hanging in there, wondering if bOunCing will show me 399# by end of June. Surely by 7/8, my 5th month of weighing since I gifted myself with a talking scale in Feb.2008. Surely, by then, I hope to see/hear a report saying 399#! Then I can set my goal for 390# and work toward my wishful goal of 299# by Feb.2009 - more wishful than hopeful, as clearly I am not moving fat as fast as I'd like to move it! The bOunCing must be water weight, coming and going, in flux!

I still feel a burst of pride as I weigh and collect data and write it LARGE on my food diary and BIG AND RED in my datebook. I'm collecting data on how well I am discerning what my body wants, what my body needs, what my body will tolerate as I fumble with finding my way to a successful LC/Atkins plan.

As I weighed today, two friends asked if they too might try the scales. Both did - weighing 134 and 128 and not nearly as tickled with those weights as we all might be. I live with some very trim women, women who grew up walking and working hard and who are now in USA battling the pudge that comes with a car and driving instead of walking everywhere, that and the changes that age brings to any woman as our metabolism slows down. It was nice to share the experience, as they confirmed their own data. Nice.

Went ahead and fixed my WPP hot slosh this morning, a coolish morning in SoCal, looking kind of overcast as a hot spell comes to an end. Whew! Glad to have some cooler days. Those hot days are wicked for an obese person. Not easy for slim people, but wicked like a furnace for fat folks like me!

Hope your day is a successful LC day, with more good choices than bad ones!
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432.4#(2/8/08)... [color=fuchsia]Feb -5#[/color] ... [color=aqua]March -13# [/color] ... [color=purple]April -5.8#[/color] ... [color=blue]May -6#[/color]
[color=red]June:[/color] 402.8(6/1) 401.2(6/2) 401.6(6/7) 402.2(6/8) 401.8(6/14) 402.2(6/21) 401.8(6/25)
Interim goals: [color=gray]432.4 430 420 410[/color] 399 390 380 370 360 350 340 330 320
310 [color=fuchsia]299(2/5/09)[/color] 290 280 270 260 250 240 230 220 210 199

5'10"; 64yrs...and so much still to learn!!!
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Posted 06-25-2008 at 10:18 AM by Zer Zer is offline
Old
Facing facts about my 1% 'bOunCe zone', 4# that comes and goes!
I've been playing with about 5# that come and go as I lurk on the border of THREEdom and have good and bad days while I wish for better data from my scale. The heat is a factor in my lassitude about fixing food, eating food that sits inside me and makes me wish I had not eaten at all. Heat is a challenge for obese people, as it's harder to manage fixing and even digestion seems to be a challenge. So I can relate to the frustration of anyone who works as hard as Alaska works and still sees a bOunCe that denies crossing into ONEderLand. You are so close!
Quote:
Originally Posted by alaskanlaughter
...im frustrated because no matter how hard i try, i always dont lose any more weight...i've been maintaining between 200-205 for TWO MONTHS now and no matter how much i watch my calories, it just stays the same....of course, i'm grateful that i'm not gaining....
My conclusion? That my bOunCe zone just above 400# is about water/fluid and not about fat at all - and that means that I must adjust activity upward or carbs/calories downward (while eating up to my BMR, no matter what) to inspire my body to burn fat calories!

I'm not sure what I'll do. Maybe some upper body reps to help build strength? Maybe some Pilates midsection work to build up core torso strength? Abs? There are things that even a bed-bound person can do, with motivation to act as if burning calories is an important ACTIVITY for my daily diary. What say?
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Stats: 5'10"; 64; 508.7/401.8/199
WOE: Atkins+ALG; BMR:2423cals; 182gProtein; 128ozWater
432.4(2/8) 426.2(3/8) 413.2(4/8) 402.2(6/8)
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432.4#(2/8/08)... [color=fuchsia]Feb -5#[/color] ... [color=aqua]March -13# [/color] ... [color=purple]April -5.8#[/color] ... [color=blue]May -6#[/color]
[color=red]June:[/color] 402.8(6/1) 401.2(6/2) 401.6(6/7) 402.2(6/8) 401.8(6/14) 402.2(6/21) 401.8(6/25)
Interim goals: [color=gray]432.4 430 420 410[/color] 399 390 380 370 360 350 340 330 320
310 [color=fuchsia]299(2/5/09)[/color] 290 280 270 260 250 240 230 220 210 199
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Posted 06-26-2008 at 12:32 PM by Zer Zer is offline
Old
388.8 is a great weight for a date like 8/8/08.
So I'm claiming 388.8 ... even as I admit I'm 5.4# over!

All right, I'm showing 388.8+5.4=394.2, the weight that my scale reports today ...but I *WAS* 391.0 on 8/1 and I *COULD* have made 388.8 if I had stuck to fish & eggs for a week instead of going offplan, confusing myself and challenging my metabolism. I just hate to let such a significant date pass without giving myself credit for a dream - a sweet dream that I did not make a serious goal and treat right by making better LC choices.

Dreams are important.
This one deserves mention.
Let's honor our dreams!

Oh, I'm not totally delusional.
I know that I have 5.4# to go,
to reach 388.8 for real.

But I need to capture the dream that flitted through my fancy on 8/1, a dream of owning a weight of 388.8 on 8/8/08. By playing with numbers, I can escape being disappointed in how poorly I honored myself by digressing into casual carby eating to 'celebrate' seeing 391.0 on my scale on 8/1. It's an Aspie tweak on life, I think, to twist the kaleidoscope of my mind to find an image that gives me pleasure.

I get pleasure from seeing a weight of 388.8 on 8/8/08, a date that marks 6mos of owning a talking scale that has helped me work my way down ounce by ounce (with upward bOunCes pound by pound, it seems!).

I am grateful for gifting myself with a scale for my 64th b'day.
I am mindful that I shall be 65 in 6mos - and I can weigh less
on that day, but only if I eat mindfully, make good LC choices
day by day, bite by bite. HOW LOW CAN I GO? I wonder!

I am so grateful for the support and assistance from my LCFriends!!!
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Stats: 5'10"; 64; 508.7/394.2/199
WOE: Atkins: <5%Carb; BMR:2423cals; 182gProt; 128ozH2O
432.4(2/8) 413.2(4/8) 402.2(6/8) 8/8/08:388.8+5.6
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432.4#(2/8/08; I got a talking scale)
[color=fuchsia]Feb -5#[/color] [color=aqua]March -13# [/color] [color=purple]April -5.8#[/color] [color=blue]May -6#[/color] [color=red]June -6#[/color] [color=lime]July -5.8#[/color]
[color=orangered]August: [/color]391.0(8/1) 8/8/08: 388.8(+5.4=394.2)
[color=firebrick]Sept:[/color] 9/1
Interim goals: [color=gray]432.4 430 420 410 399 [/color]390 380 370 360 350 340 330 320
310 [color=magenta]299(2/5/09)[/color] 290 280 270 260 250 240 230 220 210 199

5'10"; 64yrs; Your feedback is welcome at my blog
Tango, anyone?
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Posted 08-08-2008 at 11:24 AM by Zer Zer is offline
Updated 08-08-2008 at 11:25 AM by Zer
 

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