What are tips for weight loss?

Geoffrey Verity Schofield

Coach at Verityfit.com (2021–present)

What are tips for weight loss?

You may be delusional. Here are some cold, hard, brutal facts about fat loss which most people — including other coaches — are too nice to tell you.

1. Weight training burns a humorously low number of calories. Or a really sad number of calories, based on how sick your sense of humor is.
   
   
   It’s unlikely you are burning more than 400 calories during a weight training session, and most people are probably closer to 100–200. On your phone half the session? Maybe 50.
2. Some foods, particularly those high in fat, can contain an astonishing number of calories, because they are calorically dense. A handful of nuts could easily be several hundred calories. Know what you are eating.
3. Whether a food is “healthy” or not has very little to do with if it will help you lose fat. Nuts, avocado, seeds, olive oil…it’ll still end up on your ass. Doesn’t matter how something is marketed, just how your body uses it.
4. Sleep enough. Sleep well.
5. If you are not weighing your food, you are not counting calories. That simple. Your “scoop” of peanut butter is probably two.
6. If you eat at a restaurant, you are not counting calories that day. Restaurant food probably has 50–100% more calories than you would expect. They load it up with butter, fat, lard, grease because they are not idiots and want it to taste GOOD.
7. Even cardio doesn’t burn all that many calories. If you have the work capacity to burn thousands of calories with cardio, you probably don’t have a fat loss problem anyway.
8. If you have a big appetite, one cheat meal can ruin a week of dieting. That 3k deficit you thought you created was actually half that due to counting errors, and now it’s zero. Or worse.
9. The scale can lie. Weight loss is rarely linear. But it’s still the best information you have. Those that say you shouldn’t weigh yourself on your fat loss journey are selling you a lie. It’s invaluable. Do it often.
10. Sugar isn’t going to make you fatter than other calories, but it might be easier to eat a lot of it.
11. Insulin isn’t the problem. It’s the shitty diet that releases it that’s the issue. Focus on what you can control. Excess calories make people fat, not insulin. Shredded bodybuilders literally inject insulin, and some quack doctors convince people that it’s causing the obesity crisis? Get the fuck out of here.
12. If your goal is to lose fat, that will almost certainly include losing weight. You can come up with some scenario where the muscle you gain from weight training offsets the fat you lost (recomping) but in reality fat loss should be SO much faster than muscle gain that if your primary goal is fat loss, that scale SHOULD be going down.
13. Some people can be obese and healthy, but statistically they are oddities and shouldn’t be used as justification for being obese. Furthermore, obesity is an independent risk factor for a whole host of issues including death, so it’s just not a good idea. Plus, those “fit but fat” people would be healthier if they were a lower body fat percentage.
14. If you have delicious food in the house, it will get eaten. By you. Probably all at once. Don’t keep that shit in the house. Reduce the need for willpower, don’t make things hard for yourself.
15. Never shop when hungry.
16. Eat more fiber and protein, ~1.6g/kg+ for the latter.
17. Drink more water. 2L minimum, 3L is better. I’ll be damn close to 6–8L in the summer. I’ve put away 10L before.
18. Most fat loss products are shit. Not all. Most. This is on YOU to do, not a product.
19. Keep a food log. Just the act of writing it down will make you think about it more.
20. If you are eating, eat. If you are doing something else, don’t eat. Computer/social media/TV plus food=disaster.
21. Don’t snack. This might be controversial, but I’ve seen it VERY correlated with poor body composition (600+ client questionnaires). Only exception is if you are lean already and very active, OR if you want to gain weight. If you want to lose weight, it’s likely a bad idea, especially if sedentary. Exception would be protein. That’s not most snacks.
    
    
    Learn to go more than a few hours without food. Your body WILL adapt, and part of that adaptation is actually, you know…using body fat, not those pringles you’re scarfing between meals.
22. Know your family history of illness. If you have diabetes hiding in the leaves of both sides of your family tree, that should light a fucking fire under your ass to take care of yourself.
23. Get a coach. Knowledge, accountability, support, feedback…some clients send me every meal they eat. Or have a coworker/spouse/friend/family member hold you accountable. Or, hold yourself accountable.
24. If married or partnered up or whatever, your significant other had better be 100% on board. If they are also overweight, they should probably be losing weight as well. Only one side of a row boat rowing…just goes in circles.
25. You don’t have to lose the weight all at once. It can be done in phases.
26. Walk more.
27. You will be hungry at times. That’s not weird. It’s normal. It doesn’t mean you are dying. Just dieting.
28. Most people will fail. 90%, 95%, the exact percentage varies based on the study or source, but it’s certainly the vast majority. This can be depressing or motivating based on your perspective.
    
    
    “Most people will fail, I’ll definitely fail”
    vs
    “I’m going to be one of the few that succeeds”
29. Apps are great. Calorie trackers and gadgets are great. Technology is great. It doesn’t change the fundamentals of fat loss, you still need to be in a caloric deficit. Also, most overestimate caloric burn.
30. Don’t underestimate your body fat percentage. You probably have more fat to lose than you think.

For example, I asked people to guess the difference in bodyweight between these two pics — admittedly different lighting, which is part of it. Most said 1–3kg. Some said zero weight loss at all, due to muscle growth. Nope…

About 9-10kg weight loss. Particularly if you want to get LEAN, you’re probably carrying around more fat than you think.

You can do this. It won’t be easy, but it’s certainly possible.

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10 things that I tell myself whenever I am feeling demotivated or scared

Shah Faisal Shah

These are the 10 things that I tell myself whenever I am feeling demotivated or scared: 🔥 🔥 🔥 

1-"In this world, you either take control or be controlled."

2-"Fear is the fuel that drives the engine of success."

3-"Power doesn't apologize, and neither do I."

4-"Keep your friends close, your enemies closer, and your secrets closest."

5-"The world is cruel; it's up to you to be just as ruthless."

6-"If you want to be the king, you must first learn how to play the game."

7-"I don't believe in luck; I believe in hard work and determination."

8-"The more dangerous the game, the sweeter the reward."

9-"In this life, we all wear masks, but it's how you wear them that defines you."

10-"The only loyalty that matters is the one you have to yourself." 💪👑

Women’s March for equality and justice

Fr. Shay Cullen

10 March 2023

Women have been longing for equality with men for thousands of years and began campaigning and marching only two hundred years ago for their rights and dignity to be respected. Throughout history, they have suffered discrimination and oppression and were considered property and were sold for sex to old men. Men ruled the world, so-called “honor killings” happen frequently in Pakistan where in 2021, according to the Human Rights Commission, as many as 470 girls were killed in 2021 but human rights workers say the number could reach a staggering 1,000 a year.  

Around the world, women resisted and gradually fought for their rights. On 17 September 1937, Philippine women won the right to vote and many rights have been won since then. It could take three hundred years to achieve equality for all women, according to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. We celebrated International Women's Day last March 8 and Women’s Month this month in the Philippines. The theme this year is Accelerating Equality and Empowerment for Women.

Throughout history, males dominated, abused, and enslaved women and children to have sex at any time and could rape with impunity. Even children were raped as they are today. Although in the last 40 years a great awaking on girls’ rights has changed apathy into action to defend the victims of sexual abuse.

There is a misogynistic attitude of hatred and contempt for women and girls present in society and institutions where empowered women are a threat to male historical patriarchy. Violence and exploitation of women is growing as seen on social media allegedly led by the likes of men such as Andrew Tate and his brother. They are allegedly women- haters and blame women for rape.

They are presently arrested and detained in Romania on human trafficking charges, woman abuse and exploitation. Tate was banned on Twitter but recently allowed back on by Elon Musk, the new owner. BBC researchers found that Tate’s following on Twitter shot up from 150,000 in November 2022 to a present astounding five million followers. Most of them are young men that share his views and desires to control and dominate women.

There are the brave and courageous young women that fight back against their rapists. Now almost 19, Angel (not her real name) told her story as a survivor of childhood incest and multiple rape. She addressed a gathering at the Preda Foundation 49th anniversary recently where two ambassadors, Ambassador David Hartman of Canada and Ambassador William Carlos of Ireland, Governor Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. Of Zambales, distinguished officials and international observers listened to her story.

She told the silent and intent gathering that when she was six years old she lived in fear after her father raped her one night. She was afraid to tell anyone and buried the memory and pain and hurt. She pretended nothing happened. When she was eight years old, it happened again. Angel tried to escape but he caught her and she was raped again. “Why did you do it, Papa?” she asked him later. “Because I love you, tell no one, or your mother will be hurt,” he answered. She asked, “Is this love?”

Again, like thousands of victims of incest and sex abuse, Angel buried the memory, afraid to tell others. Then, her brother molested her, and a neighbor-friend of the family came and raped her also. Then, her father and brother raped her again several times. They had made her a dis-empowered frightened sex slave. She feared being killed if she told anyone. Somehow when 16, she found the courage and told her mother and begged her to get them to stop. She was not believed. In despair, she thought of suicide but could not do it.

She told the audience that one day she got out of the house, met a kindly woman and told her what she endured. She was rescued by social workers and brought to the Preda Foundation home. There, after a year of affirmation, friendship and Emotional Release Therapy, she recovered, was empowered and filed her legal complaint against her abusers.

Her father and brother were prosecuted in the Olongapo City Family Court by Fiscal Bernadine Santos and after two long trials, they were found guilty and sentenced to life in prison by Judge Gemma Theresa B. Hilario-Logronio. Justice was finally done and now Princess is a strong empowered young woman going to school and living independently while starting life again helped by Preda. The audience applauded with admiration for her courage.

Woman and child abuse is a centuries-old evil. With the coming of Jesus of Nazareth and his progressive teaching on the rights and dignity of women and children, there was little change. Institutional religions ignored that teaching and focused on obscure theologizing and fighting bloody wars over their abstruse theologies.

The man from Nazareth treated women with dignity, respect, understanding and declared them as having dignity and equality. He said children are more important than the elders, scribes, teachers and adults (Matthew 18:1-5). He shocked the patriarchal society when he tried to overturn the unjust, unequal repressive system that degraded women and children as if they were non-persons.  A male dominated society crucified him for his audacious teaching that all were equal as "Children of God,” his father. The elite killed him as they do human and women’s rights activists today. What the Man from Nazareth that overcame death taught is so simple, “Love one another as I loved you.” He said to respect every human person especially women and children equally. Love your neighbor as yourself, believe that goodness, truth, action for justice and love of neighbor will overcome evil. That is the basic values of Christianity.

Recognizing the equal rights of women and ridding the church of abusive clerics is the great challenge facing the institutional Church today. A woman from God is needed to right this terrible wrong. The church hierarchy is against such a leader. So we rely on Pope Francis who is following the advice of three women appointed as his consultants to the influential Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In the Philippine Church, women have little influence or status due to a conservative hierarchy. Several congregations of religious sisters are empowered, independent-minded and serve the people with great dedication but other diocesan orders have been made servants of the bishops and priests.

In society, women have demanded respect, recognition of their abilities, achievements and intelligence. They have a more important status in a society that respects their dignity and intelligence. Today, women make up 28 percent of the congress. More has to be done to make it 50 percent. Yet they have over the years, by sheer determination and persistence, strengthened those positions and influence and passed laws to bring greater freedom and equality and protection to women and children. There are at least 10 laws protecting women rights and 37 protecting children.

What is needed is not only belief in the rights of women and children but action for a change of mind and heart among men and women to respect their dignity and acknowledge the rights of women and children and implement the laws protecting them. Belief without action is dead.

www.preda.org

Will China Invade The Philippines?

Lance Chambers

Is the Philippines going to war with China? If so, will China invade the Philippines

Why would China attack an ally?

Two years ago China though that all the ASEAN and nations that surround the South China Sea could come together to create the world largest free-trade zone. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

Here is a map of members.

and here is a list.

You will note that the Philippine is a member. Given the China is the defacto leader of RCEP I suspect that China and the Philippines are on good terms because if they weren’t then the Philippines would NOT be a member.

If you look at the list of names you will find that most of the members are, supposedly, anti-China - nation such as Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, The Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Yet here they all are willing and able to work in a confederation of nations that will happily work together.

RCEP is expected to control 30% of the worlds economy in the near future and if you go through the list of members a large number of under-developed or developing. That suggest that’s the rich nations will, for a while, be carrying the largest load until those poorer nations are given everything they need to develop at a far faster rate than they have been which could see the 30% control of the worlds economy could rise far higher.

All the anti-China rhetoric from the US and her Western allies is bull-shit and the bull-shit is because the Western nations and the US are terrified that they are going to be far less relevant in the future than they are today.

Emirio Syauqi Pratama

Born and currently living in Jakarta, Indonesia

Will China invade Philippines?

I assume you're asking this because of the Spratly Islands dispute.

In my opinion. this is an unlikely scenario because of 3 reasons.

1) China and the Philippines need each other economically. They rely on each other heavily for trade.

2) The USA. If China does invade the Philippines, the US is obligated to help the latter due to their strong alliance, and no military in the world is stronger than the US military.

3) NATO. Technically, the archipelago isn't a NATO member due to its location in the world, but since they gained major non-NATO ally status in 2003, they will have access to the US military aid.

Hope this helped.)

What are some amazing facts of Leonardo da Vinci?

Sangram Sagar

1 – Da Vinci was the first person to explain why the sky is blue, you know?

2 – The guy was so genius that he could write with one hand while drawing with the other!

3 – In 1508, he was the first person to have the idea of ​​what we know today as contact lenses;

4 – Bill Gates bought the Codex Hammer, which is a compilation of texts and drawings made by Da Vinci, in 1994, for US$ 30 million. Some of its pages were used as Windows 95 screen savers;

5 – His studies on river erosion convinced him that the Earth was older than the Bible claimed to be;

6 – A facial recognition software found that Mona Lisa is 83% happy, 9% annoyed, 6% scared and 2% angry;

7 – Da Vinci is a famous left-hander, besides him we have Napoleon, Michelangelo, Einstein, Newton, Bill Gates, Oprah and Jimi Hendrix.

Pablo Picasso - The Painter

Erik Painter

Studied Comparative History of Ideas (CHID) at University of Washington

As Picasso never painted or drew realistically in a way we can verify the work as his and his alone, would you agree in the absence of proof we dismiss the claims that he did?

The starting clause of this question is quite incorrect. Picasso did many years of realistic art. All his early work is realistic. The basic lack of knowledge of art history is something I find amazing here on Quora. There is also a group of people who write and comment here who have a naive idea that extreme realism is a mark of a “great artist”. This concept is simply from a lack of education.

Further, it is extremely easy to verify much of his artwork. He did not live centuries ago. He died in 1973. He lived his whole life in the age of photography and film. We have information from gallery owners, letters, friends, and journalists. We even have films of him painting.

It is not just that Picasso could “sort of draw” or “paint a little bit”, he was a prodigy. His father was an art instructor. He was accepted by La Llotja, the Escuela de Bellas Artes in Barcelona when he was 14. He was accepted because he was so good at realist art.

This is a study he did when at his father’s school he was about 12 or 13. It is a drawing of a plaster cast by Charles Bargue.

This painting is also from that time period. He was the age of a middle school student.

Here, he painted his sister when he was 13. It is clearly realist.

Here is his pastel of his mother dated 1896 when Picasso was 15, his mother was 41.

A self portrait at age 15

At age 16

“Science and Charity”, 1897

At age 19

“The Fairground Stall”

Here is his “Blue Period” in Paris when he was 22.

La Vie, 1903

The Soup

Here is from when he was 24.

1905, Garçon à la pipe,

His very famous portrait of Gertrude Stein the next year. The style where here face is mask-like was not a lack of skill. It was an expression of how he saw Stein’s inner being.

A self portrait at age 25.

Here he is painting at 26. He has started to play with cubism. However, it would be a childish error to think this style is related to a lack of skill. This is extremely hard to do.

At 29

Then in his 30s he returned to realism is a new manner. Here is at age 37.

Here is a drawing when he was 46

Here is when he was 50. He leaves realism again but his line is even more sure.

The Dream

This one was when he was 55

Mere et enfant (Marie-Therese Walter emmitouffle Maya) 1936

He was 65 when he drew this

Portrait de Françoise

1946

Here is a dove from when he was 68

Here is a drawing when he was 72

Portrait de Sylvette David 01

This was made at age 73. It is of his last girlfriend.

And this one was painted when he was 83. It is of the same woman, Jacqueline Roque

Jacqueline assise avec son chat

1964

As you can see he could and did work realistically when he wanted to throughout his life. However, that was not always his interest.

As for any other doubt you might have, he did not live so very long ago, we have photos, film, and written accounts of him painting.

Here is a discussion of his ever evolving ideas of how to see things in new ways, challenge viewers, innovate, and represent reality and ideas and myth.