This is gonna be kinda long but I hope you can take the time to read it. This is for anyone currently going through this, anyone who already went through it and is still struggling.
Quick summary of my story: I met this “girl” on an app called wizz, we went over to kik and that’s when I sent the pictures. “She” asked for my instagram which I gave her but my account was private so they didn’t request to follow me. “She” didn’t have any of my followers so “she” couldn’t blackmail me with that. I sent a pic of my you know what and my face. After that is when the threats came. Just like everyone else I freaked out, I sent maybe $100 and then I blocked her.
Some of you might have the exact same story, some of yours might be a little different. Now for the advice.

1. Block them
2. the best option is just to block them, they’ll just move on from you if they can’t contact you
   
3. Change your usernames, passwords, profile pics, and bios
   
4. I would tell you to deactivate your account but if you don’t want to do that, do the things I listed above. This makes your account less recognizable
   
5. Don’t pay them
   
6. I know everyone here says not to pay. If you pay, it just makes you more of a target. They’re more inclined to keep reaching out to you with separate accounts. If you paid, don’t freak out, it’s ok. Just block them. This doesn’t mean they’re more inclined to leak your photos
   
7. Do something you enjoy
   
8. when I was going through this, I found that doing something I enjoyed helped me forget about this for a few hours. If you’re constantly thinking about it, it’s gonna drain your mental health. So do something you enjoy. For me, drawing and listening to music helped me tremendously
   

This happened to me may of 2021. Almost 2 years later I have zero worries and have moved on entirely. I just live my life like I would normally before all this. I know that if you give it time, you’ll be able to do the same.
Rarely do they leak the photos so try not to worry. If they send you a screenshot of them sending it to someone you know, here’s what they do: they send it, take a screenshot, then delete it so 9/10 times they don’t even actually see it.
Do your best to not stress about it and move on. We’re all rooting for you and there’s amazing people here willing to help you. Good luck to all of you!

Hello, mga suki. 👋🏻 I hope 2023 is going smoothly as it can for you.
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Okay, guys. Lately, there has been an uptick in submissions that go against rules of the subreddit. Rules 1, 2, 3, and 4, in particular. Paalala lang po na basahin at intindihin ang rules. If your post is removed, read the AutoModerator's message as to why your post got removed. The details are there. Huwag tayong tamad magbasa at maging suwail, oki? The Moderation Team would like to ensure the quality of the sub and observing the rules is one way to do it.
Rule #1. Make your title a summary of your post. Make it descriptive.
The name of the sub is relationship_advicePH. We already know why you’re posting here because... you are seeking ADVICE. No need to mention that in your title. As a reader myself, I want to know beforehand what I’m about to read before clicking on your (mala-novela na) post. At para sa mala-novelang posts, include a TL;DR (Too Long; Didn't Read).
Below are examples of concise yet descriptive titles:
I (F22) am talking to this guy (M26) who follows a lot of girls on Instagram, and I don’t know if I should take it as a red flag from now and leave?
I (34m) am from a conservative family and i found out my dad (57m) is having an affair with another man
We're still dating pero I found out from him a couple of days ago na he (m28) met with his ex and I'm trying to invalidate my jealousy kasi nga 'dating' palang kami and I don't think I have the right to be jealous.
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Rule #2. Include a detailed description of your situation
Your post should have the ages, gender of everyone involved, how long you’ve been dating/married, and your general areas. Most importantly, we thrive on details so adding as much as you can while getting to the point will help other readers understand your dilemma.
​
Rule #3. Include a question or advice request. / Posts that do not fit the sub.
This is self-explanatory. Include your question or need for advice in your post. Posts not indicating their need for either will be removed. Rather, post them in OffMyChestPH, AlasFeels, the Random Discussion threads in Philippines, or other appropriate Philippine-related subreddits.
​
Rule #4. No name calling, insults, harassment, or threats
It may be tempting to cuss out the OP or reach through our screens and strangle them but let's remind ourselves that one day we, too, will be in the OP's shoes and need advice. And I'm sure ayaw niyo rin makabasa ng ganun klaseng comments kung kayo ang nag-post. And yes, you will be permanently banned for doing so. We can all make our thoughts known through civil, yet straightforward discourse without resorting to insults, etc.
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Salamat sa pag-basa. Humayo ka't mag-payo. Be kind to one another!

Setting by u/Bluefishcake, posting with permission.
Previous Chapters: https://www.reddit.com/Sexyspacebabes/wiki/index/in_for_a_penny
_________________________
Herala was currently trying—and failing—to not panic.
He’d been talking with Pelrinn, and she’d just come out and said what he’d started to suspect himself, deep down.
That the plan to get Morivey—and some semblance of security—wasn’t going to work.
He’d been absentmindedly eating, absorbed in coming to grips with it. Before he knew it, his hands were empty, the only thing that remained of the freshly baked pippiya was the mess it left on his grease-covered fingers.
Herala hadn’t even tasted the Goddess damned thing.
He’d quickly excused himself without thinking to go clean his hands so he could continue his meal without giving everything he touched a thin, oily coating.
That was his first mistake.
He had just left the hall and turned the corner, only to nearly run into a woman.
“What’s the big rush, cutie?” The woman said, the scar running cheek to cheek pulled strangely on her skin as she grinned down at him.
“I’m busy,” Herala replied flatly before trying to skirt around her.
She stepped in front of him, stopping him in his tracks. “Now just hold on a minute. Name’s A—”
“I’m not fucking interested. Get out of my way,” Herala cut her off contemptuously and ducked past her and into the men’s room.
He’d turned down pushy bitches hundreds of times before, and didn’t think anything more of it. His second mistake.
He quickly rinsed the oils and clinging debris off in the sinks using the rather lackluster soap provided. Herala decided that since he was here, he might as well relieve himself too. It didn’t take long, and he was back at the sink rewashing his hands while trying to avoid looking in the mirror.
What do I do now?
Herala was safe from errant transfers, but that would only last as long as the Admiral was still in the fleet guarding the planet. Sooner or later, she’d either leave, or he’d be officially deployed elsewhere and the nightmare could begin again.
He took a deep breath to collect himself. You’re not about to figure it out right here in the restroom.
Herala dried his hands and marched over to the door, stepping out before it had even finished opening and colliding with a solid wall of muscle. He rebounded so suddenly he nearly fell back, but the moment his brain wasn’t preoccupied with remaining upright to take in the cause, he forgot how to breathe.
“Hello again, little cutie.” She said with a smirk.
Scarface was back, and now she had friends.
He scrambled, closing the door between them as his heartbeat pounded sickeningly in his ears.
You can just wait them out, they’ll leave eventua—
Muffled through the door, he could clearly hear her taunting tone. “I guess you’re not done in there yet. No problem, we can wait. We’ve got all shel.”
Herala fled further inside, jumping into a toilet stall and locking the door with shaking hands. He felt nauseous as he broke out in a cold sweat.
Try to call MPs for help? No, they hadn’t actually done anything to him yet, and they might even side against him. You could call Morivey… A dark thought in the back of his mind whispered temptation, despite the all-consuming dread he felt. It would have been a perfect cliché opportunity, but she probably wasn’t even on base, at least according to Pelri-
That’s not real, you’re both just acting.
He wasn’t even sure if they were even doing that anymore, from their conversation just a few minutes ago...
Knock knock. The rapping of knuckles on the door to the hall echoed in the empty room. “Don’t keep us waiting too long now.” The mocking voice said through the doorway.
Herala’s hands burrowed into his pockets, searching for his small bottle of grinshaw spray. Using it in a confined space like this would inflict nearly as much agony upon himself as it did them, but it would probably stop them.
Or piss them off enough that they’d kill him. Either way, he wasn’t going to go quietly.
Where is it?! He thought as he searched his pockets, coming up empty again and again, and growing more desperate with each pocket found lacking. Where had he seen it last?
The image of the bottle sitting on his nightstand this morning flashed through his mind.
You stupid fucking idiot! Why had he not grabbed it? Herala was religious about keeping it with him, the only times he didn’t bring it in recent memory were when he was with—
THAT’S NOT REAL! It was getting hard to breathe now. Short, panicked gasps came at a steadily quickening pace.
Two more playful sounding knocks on the door sent his stomach into his throat.
Herala screwed his eyes up tight as he neared the point of hyperventilating, and almost dropped his omnipad as he clawed it from his pocket and frantically typed the two words.
Please come pleasecome pleasepleaseplease…
Each second that passed felt like an eternity as he huddled in that toilet stall. He prayed for a reply to his message, something, anything that would tell him help was coming.
If help was coming.
The sudden sound of stifled raised voices caught his ear, and Herala strained to listen. Whatever was said, it was over almost before he could even try to make out the words, and it was back to torturous stillness.
Then he heard the bathroom door open.
Herala choked down a scream, for all the good that would do. There was no other way out and there wasn’t anywhere else he could hide.
“Herala?!” Pelrinn’s voice cut through his fear like a razor.
She came? Herala’s voice escaped him as he unlocked the stall with shaking fingers. He peered out into the larger room to see Pelrinn standing in the open doorway.
“Are you okay?” Pelrinn’s concern was etched on her face as she stared back at him.
Herala meekly nodded.
She held out her hand to him, palm up. “Come on, we’re leaving.”
He darted forward and grabbed her hand, eager for the opportunity to escape. Herala felt like a child as she gently pulled him behind her and out into the hall.
It was filled with onlookers in both directions, most staring at the two of them though some were looking noticeably elsewhere. He followed their gazes to find his lead tormentor climbing to her feet with fury in her eyes, flanked by her two shadows looking equally impotent.
Pelrinn pulled him away from them and through the crowd that parted slightly to let them pass. He could see dozens of eyes on him, and felt dozens more as they made their way through, and he watched more than a few take a good look at him before turning to glare holes into the women behind him as the murmurs all around increased in volume.
When the two of them broke through the ring of bystanders, Herala finally found his voice. “Where are we going?” He asked, hand still engulfed by Pelrinn’s comforting grasp.
“I don’t know, somewhere not here? I didn’t really have a plan…” She trailed off as they kept walking. “Do you want to go back in the mess?”
“I don’t want to deal with any more crowded places right now…” Herala said before his stomach, sensing the danger had passed, decided to gurgle loudly. His face grew hot from the embarrassing noise, though his companion seemed unfazed, not even acknowledging it.
Pelrinn paused for a moment before turning back to look him in the eyes, and he felt the blush worsen.
“Then we'll go somewhere else.”
~~~
‘Somewhere else’ turned out to be the bases vehicle pool.
“What’s the big idea here, hmm?” Herala asked with crossed arms as Pelrinn signed out a transport.
“You wanted less crowded. Once you’re off-base, most of the Shil’vati district is a spirit pool, not a living soul in sight.” Pelrinn said as she finished up the signout procedure.
“That’s because there’s nothing out there to do,” Herala groaned.
“Have you been off base before?” Pelrinn’s head and eyebrow were cocked as she looked down at him.
“Well, no…” He awkwardly admitted.
“Then it’s time to go see what’s out there.”
Herala hmmph’d, but followed along after her and climbed up into the assigned transport.
Pelrinn seemed entirely relaxed as she fastened herself in and started the machine up, like she’d done it a thousand times before.
“Do you leave the base often? Like, for fun?” Herala asked to avoid silence settling in uncomfortably.
“Before you came, maybe once or twice a week?” Pelrinn kept her eyes on the road as she answered.
“To do what?”
“Visit Kendrick, and sometimes go into the Human city.”
“We’re not going outside the walls, r-right?” Herala asked with sudden nervousness. They tried to kill Morivey just a few short months ago, and he didn’t fancy his chances unarmed and unarmored with only Pelrinn to protect him.
“No,” Pelrinn’s answer let him breathe a sigh of relief for a moment before she continued. “Not today. Maybe some other time though, if you wanted, and we had a bigger group for security.”
Herala gulped. “If it's so dangerous, why go?”
“It’s not all danger. There’s fun to be had, good food to eat, and good people to meet. Ciltari met her…she met someone she visits for…” Pelrinn cleared her throat. “‘Stress relief’ when Kendrick took us axe throwing.”
Herala didn’t know what an ‘axe’ was or why you would want to throw them, but figuring it out took a distant second place on his list of priorities as Pelrinn took the transport off the main street and into a large building’s parking lot.
He affixed his most indignant visage into place as he turned to scowl at the woman driving. “And what do you think you're doing bringing me to a hotel?” He demanded as he glowered at her.
She seemed unconcerned to his protests, not even looking at him and completely missing his glaring as she shut the vehicle down. “There’s a lounge just inside we can eat at. It’s not free like the mess, but it’s not like we have much we can spend our money on here anyway. Come on, let's go.”
All he could do was gape ineffectually as she climbed down from the driver's seat.
Goddess, why are women so dense? Herala thought before he clamored down after her.
Luckily there was no new snowfall, so the cleared pavement was dry and grippy under his feet as he caught up to her, despite most things still being coated in a layer of snow and ice.
The large double doors opened as they got close, and the temperature around them immediately warmed as the blast of heat escaped the building and mixed with the cold air outside as they stepped inside.
The lobby was a large, beautiful room. The architecture was clean and sleek, with light tones and colors creating a high-class, elegant feeling.
“Wow…” escaped Herala’s lips as he looked around. Off to the left, the lobby opened into another spacious room, the border between the two denoted when the light tones of the lobby met with the darker, richer tones of the other space. Tables dotted the room, and a large bar dominated one side. “How did you know about this place?"
"Kendrick lives here, so we've been here a few times."
"Oh, right." He felt silly not thinking of that.
“That’s the lounge,” Pelrinn confirmed his earlier thought as she pointed. “Let’s take a seat.”
The lighting was dimmer in there, giving a more relaxed atmosphere as they picked whichever placement they wished. Only one other table was even occupied, the two women seated there hardly paid them any mind as the two of them sat down, though Pelrinn gave them a long glance before settling in.
“The uh, the menu is on the pads built into the surface. If you scan your ID, it can be paid for right from your military account.” She said a little awkwardly.
Herala activated his screen and saw the menu. This isn’t your everyday fare. The prices reflected it too, and he realized if the rooms were as nice as the decor and the food, a noble would probably be quite at home staying here. The thought of eating like a noble brought a childish smile to his face.
He noticed there were also some cheaper items he didn’t recognize at all, and he asked without thinking.
“What’s a ‘hamb-urger’?” The unknown word felt strange in his mouth.
“What? Where?” Pelrinn’s eyes narrowed in concentration as she hunched over her screen. It was obvious when she found it as her expression relaxed into something resembling confusion. “That’s a Human food, I think. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard it in English before.”
“Why would they be selling Human food at a Shil’vati hotel?” Herala wondered aloud.
“It’s probably way cheaper for them to get food locally. See how cheap it is compared to our food? The shipping costs to bring in food from out of system must be enormous.”
It made sense, but it didn’t solve his other main question.
“It has a picture, but how would we know how any of this tastes? It’s not like there’s a hostess to ask.” He said, sweeping his hand around the mostly empty room.
“We have someone though, Kendrick. Do you want me to ask him?” Pelrinn asked with her head canted.
Herala shook his head quickly. “No no, I know what I want to get.” It wasn’t going to be cheap, but he wasn't going to pass up being able to eat like a high-class gentleman, knowing he might never have the chance again.
“Let’s order.”
~~~
“So, that is the man you mentioned before?” Nineveh asked before taking a sip of her drink.
“Yes, that is him,” Grikel answered, picking at the remnants of her own meal.
Nineveh and her daughter had been enjoying lunch together, which had become a more frequent occurrence in the past few weeks. Preparing your house for the next generation took a lot of energy and planning, so taking the time to ready and make decisions now would pay dividends later on. Their visits weren’t all ‘business’ though, and it was a nice opportunity to reengage with her daughter.
“He doesn’t look like anything special. I think you snagged the cuter one.” Nineveh said quietly, her skill set allowing her to observe their topic of conversation discreetly.
“In her case, he seemed to snag her, and we can’t figure out his intent.”
“Sometimes men do things on a whim, they are much more difficult to profile than women, you know.” Nineveh said, giving Grikel’s plate a sidelong glance.”You hardly touched the steak.”
“It smells wrong,” Grikel’s nose wrinkled at the mention of it.
“Ah,” Nineveh straightened up a little and rolled some stiffness out of her shoulders before leaning back in her chair. “When you were still inside me, I couldn’t stand the smell or taste of most meats for months. I craved liver, fish and greens to the point I was driving the house insane wanting it all times of the day.” She smirked at the memories.
"You are swimming in a different current, we were talking about them." Grikel chastised her as she nodded subtly toward PFC Pelrinn and her date.
"Ah yes, of course. Since you are so eager to keep the topic on them, would you tell me why you think there is something more going on, under the surface?" It could be an interesting thought exercise to analyze whatever theory she presented.
"First of all, in our limited interactions, everything he has said or done has seemed inauthentic."
Nineveh almost chuckled. "My girl, you may be pregnant, but you are still very naive about how most men operate. They can adopt a new persona, wear a new mask for every person they meet."
"Even with the person they are purportedly dating?" Grikel countered.
"Especially with them."
Grikel put her utensils down and leaned back too, putting them back at eye level with each other. "If he is trying to please her, he is doing a terrible job. Pelrinn usually looks like she is walking on a knife's edge when they are together."
"Youthful inexperience. The girl's just nervous." Nineveh waved dismissively.
Grikel narrowed her eyes. "His story of when they began dating, the details do not make logical sense."
"Enlighten me."
"The day the rest of us met him, he claimed to have already been dating Pelrinn. From her reaction, that seemed to come as a surprise. When Pelrinn’s sister pressed for more details, he claimed they had met on a night that, while possible, would have been extremely unlikely for a romance to begin, given the circumstances surrounding that time."
"Explain." Nineveh prodded for more information.
"That night, all of us, including Kalari, had been visiting Kendrick. Pelrinn had still been pursuing a romantic relationship with the Human, and they spoke in private briefly before chaos ensued." Grikel replied.
"Chaos?" Now Nineveh was intrigued.
"There was suddenly broken glass, and a tearful, enraged Kendrick screaming for everyone to leave. Pelrinn basically shut down after that. She wouldn't speak or make eye contact, she would only shuffle along when guided back to the transport. Back at the base, I left to bring Kalari home, leaving Pelrinn with the others. She slipped away from them at some point during the winter storm, and only reappeared hours later."
"So they theoretically could have met during that window, as he claimed."
"Technically yes, but given that Pelrinn had been laser-focused on trying to win Kendrick over since the day they met, and she went back soon after to reconcile with him, it seems unlikely. As does the fact that she told no one of his existence until he introduced himself as her boyfriend."
"That does seem unlikely," Nineveh admitted.
"Now he avoids speaking with us, as if to evade further questions that may unravel the lies. That's not all," Grikel continued. "Though the rest is possibly unrelated, just...unusual."
"It may seem unrelated, but it could be the key if new information comes to light. Never choose ignorance willingly."
Grikel nodded and kept going. "It seems that that male, Herala is his name, was actually posted on-base months prior, working with Morivey no less."
"Morivey… that is the supply tech's name, the one the Human is with now, correct."
Grikel nodded. "According to what I've learned from Pelrinn and Kendrick, he was abruptly transferred up to the fleet.”
Nineveh frowned. “Many of my investigations begin with ‘sudden transfers’.”
“Exactly, so why was he transferred back down planetside, to the same base, to the same post, just a few months later?” Grikel poked at the table with each point for emphasis.
That is a very interesting question. Nineveh thought. Nobles and high-ranking officers had a tendency to surround themselves with as many men as they could leverage, and they weren’t like to let them go so easily or so quickly.
“Suppose you are correct, and he’s playing at something. What’s the motive?” Nineveh asked bluntly. “If he had gone after you, or some higher-ranked officer, it would make sense. Your friend is just a commoner and a low-ranking Marine at that, what does he gain?”
Grikel shrugged. “If he had been trying to get closer to me through her, I would think I was the true target. But as I said before, he seems to avoid contact with everyone but Pelrinn.”
“Hmm,” Nineveh nodded, stealing another look at the other table. The two seemed to be getting along well, quite unlike everything she had just heard described. What was the true state of things? There were a lot of unanswered questions.
And now Agent Nineveh wanted to know some answers.
~~~
Herala’s head lay on the pillow, and he pulled up his covers even tighter. He couldn’t sleep.
Shel was over, and it was back to the drudgery tomorrow. That he could handle, it was the muddled mess of his feelings that was keeping his mind awake.
He’d had fun—after the bathroom incident, of course—with Pelrinn, going to that hotel. He felt like a prince, eating expensive food in a beautiful place.
And then he found out about the pool! That gave him something to look forward to.
It wasn’t excitement keeping him awake though. What was he going to do about Morivey? Herala would see her again at work tomorrow morning, and he needed to have a plan ready before then. He still needed her if he wanted to have any chance of a secure future.
…Right?
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Little early and bigger than usual. Probably be normal/a little bit longer than usual for the next one.

I didnt want to make this post, I really didn’t. I hope someone reads this. I made a post at the end of last year about my carer lecturing me about me being lazy and that I should clean my own stuff (I’m disabled, have chronic pain and currently 3 chronically painful limbs, one broken leg). She was paid to come and clean for me. So after a lot of encouragement (thank you again!) I complained to the boss and got another one. The second carer came once, cleaned with a wet tissue, left HER USED tissues on my table and also she was an anti vaxxer (ofc she was). So I waited til Friday two weeks ago and finally they send me a new carer. She seemed nice enough, drove me to get my brace for my broken leg and tidied up a bit (driving took a long time). She was supposed to come last Monday and then just ghosted me, didn’t answer, didn’t pick up the phone and I stood here with wet laundry. Had to leave it in the machine and wash again two days later bc I had no strenght anymore. She apologized and said she was in hospital to see her grandma. That’s no excuse though bc she could’ve just texted me and all good but she didn’t AND she ignored me for 3 hours before she told me she wouldn’t come. Then last Friday she was supposed to come. She didn’t but at least she texted bc she apparently spilled hot water on her hand (she send me pictures of her red hand and later of the bandage. So today she was supposed to get important prescriptions from two doctors, one of which closes at 4:30pm so we agreed she’d start at 4. At 5 I asked her if she got it all. No reply. At 5:30 I asked where she is. No reply. I called her 5 times. Two of those with my number hidden. No reply. It is currently 6:30pm. I left a voicemail for the boss and asked they call me back. I also told them on the voicemail what happened, that this was the third time in a row and that I’m furious. Last time I asked for a call back only and no one ever called back. I’ll call them tomorrow until they answer me but I feel sick to my stomach. Before you say I should get a new carer company, this can take many months since they’re all full. The person I had before all of this quit bc of school but she did a good job and was nice. Idk what I did that she seems to hate me and be this disrespectful. I just don’t know. The wash is almost done and I have zero strenght to hang it up. I’m in so much pain both physically and mentally. I think about ending things daily but I’m scared. I don’t know what’s so horrible about me that people who get PAID to help me threat me like this. I didn’t do anything to anyone and I just can’t do it anymore. I have no person in my life. On top of that I might not get rent and bills paid coming next month bc the city themselves send me a document that takes up to 6 months to be processed by them a single month in advance. I don’t know why I can’t just go to sleep forever because I can’t take all this anymore. I’m sorry for the wall of text, I think I’m gonna drink until I can fall asleep. Why are people like this? Please help me

It’s one of my dreams to see Southeast Asia and the only thing holding me back is fear that I won’t be able to eat anything. I love Asian food, but always order it at a zero spice level because for whatever reason, I have absolutely no tolerance for spicy food. It makes the whole eating experience miserable and painful for me if food is even a little hot. Is it easier than I imagine to get zero-spice food when you’re actually in SE Asia? Are there some countries where this will be easier than others? Or any thoughts/ideas for me?
Thanks in advance and please don’t make fun of me, I know I’m pathetic but I’ve tried fruitlessly for years to improve my tolerance and it just doesn’t happen 😭

Hello INFJs,
I’ll try to be brief because I know we can be draining at times!
I recently learned that I am an ENxP (MB said ENTP but I self-rated ENFP in the questionnaire after, whatever that means). I have been talking to a girl who is absolutely amazing and she is an INFJ.
I feel like I’m normally charismatic and have a certain energy that people like, but with her I feel like a total dork— like I’m unable to be even the least bit smooth. She seems to like it though — I have no idea why. I’m mortified every time I send a text and think surely she will be over it. She always replies in a sweet way that makes me bubble over.
I also struggle a bit because I know that INFJs are a bit more reserved with info they give out… but I’m like a dude in a desert trying to find something to drink. So I end up in this weird spot where I really want to learn more about her, but I don’t want to be too pushy, but I also don’t want to dominate the conversation.
I’ve spent the last few days reading up on INFJs, ENxPs, and their relationships together. I’ve scoured the internet trying to find out how I can make her as happy as possible. I’ve gotten a lot of great info (the best, I think, was the understanding that she will need ample downtime to recharge and that it isn’t something to read in to — which I normally would).
Honestly, reading about her personality and recognizing her in it just makes me feel totally unworthy to talk to her let alone date her. I have zero idea why someone like that would choose “a fun person with hobbies” — as if those two personalities end up being equally cool.
Honestly, a part of me was sort of humorously jealous reading about her — it was like getting a list of all the things I wish were more matured traits of mine… like reading a description of what you’d imagine Jesus (or a similar figure) was like.
I wanted to reach out and respectfully request that you all give me whatever info you’re down to give on how to both make her as happy as possible (can’t explain it, but I find myself compelled to do just that) and also how to set up anything that happens for success.
Any failures from ENxPs you’ve become aware of that I should know. Any INFJ tidbits you wish others were aware of. Honestly, anything really. I’m parched.
I truly appreciate you guys reading this all. I know it’s a lot.
-ENxP

I'm doing this again. Though now I have Half-Pipes to work with. I will also be including base 8DX tracks that could use Half-pipes. Unlikely till they inevitably remake 8DX again.
Mario Kart Stadium: I feel the U-Turn before the glider could use Half-Pipes.
Wii U Mario Circuit: I feel half-pipes for the 2 big turns could spice things up.
Twisted Mansion: The turn before the water corridor could use half-pipes.
Mount Wario: The turns in lap 3 could use half-pipes. The last turn before lap 3 could also use them.
Cloudtop Cruise: The Airship could use Half-pipes in the tight corners.
Wii U Bowser's Castle: the section after, the spiked ball, but before Mecha Stone Bowser could use half-pipes. Honestly really feel it should have them.
GBA Mario Circuit: Some of the turns could use half-pipes.
3DS DK Jungle: The tight turn in the Banana Temple needs a half-pipe.
DS Wario Stadium: Half-pipe before the first booster panel, half-pipes for the turn after the first boost panel, half-pipes for the turn after the mud area, this course just needs half-pipes.
N64 Yoshi Valley: Tour has half-pipes for it. So should 8.
DS Tick-Tock Clock: Half-pipe for the final U-Turn (the one with the final clock shortcut.)
GCN Yoshi Circuit: Half-pipe for the turn before the waterfall cut, and a half-pipe for the turn after the piranha plants.
Dragon Driftway: This course just needs half-pipes. Half-pipe after the tunnel, half-pipe after the grass cut (not the gap cut), and a half-pipe after the anti-gravity boosters.
F-Zero Mute City: A half-pipe for the first turn could work, but that's debatable.
DS Wario's Gold Mine: RE-ADD THE HALF-PIPES. ENOUGH SAID.
SNES Rainbow Road: Not happening till the game gets remade, but change laps 2 and 3 to be the RMX variants.
Ice-Ice Outpost: Some half-pipes after the cave, but before the glider could work.
The Legend of Zelda Hyrule Circuit: Half-pipe for the turn after the first ramp, but before the glider could work, but this is another debatable one.
GCN Baby Park: Add Half-Pipes to the turns, and boom. Done.
GBA Cheese Land: Half-Pipe for the turn after the Cheese Hole Shortcut, as well as for the turn after the ramp leading to anti-gravity.
3DS Neo-Bowser City/Koopa City: Maybe a half-pipe for the anti-gravity section, but I feel very iffy about that one. I put it in case someone likes it, but I personally don't.
GBA Ribbon Road: Another iffy one. A half-pipe could work for the turn before the green ribbon, but I don't know.
F-Zero Big Blue: Half-pipes could work in multiple spots for this track. Most notably lap 3.
3DS Toad Circuit: Half-pipe for the final turn before the lap ends.
N64 Choco Mountain: Anti-gravity for the cave. I know it's relatively flat, but you can't see the outside while in the cave until the turn, and it does have a slight curve. It also has a mystical vibe to it, and Wario's Gold Mine has flat, anti-gravity sections, so I think it could work.
Wii Coconut Mall: Replace the Shy Guys with Miis. Just kidding (though that would be nice). In actuality, the blue road sections need half-pipes.
Tour Tokyo Blur: Some half-pipes for the bridge in lap 3 would be nice.
GBA Sky Garden: Add antigravity after the mushroom until the glider. Also, put a half-pipe for the U-Turn before the glider.
Ninja Hideaway: Another debatable one, but you could put anti-gravity for the roofs.
SNES Mario Circuit 3: Change it so laps 2 and 3 are its RMX Vaiant. Just kidding, it doesn't one. But if it does get one, then change it.
DS Waluigi Pinball: ADD A SPECIAL REMIX FOR IT INSTEAD OF BEING LAZY. HECK JUST IMPORT THE 7 VERSION OR TOUR VERSION. Also, the green area needs to be anti-gravity, and there are a lot of good half-pipe opportunities. Also re-add the game-over effect at the end.
Tour Sydney Sprint: A half-pipe after the first glider would be nice.
GBA Snow Land: The U-turn after the Ice Lake should be Anti-Gravity, and also have a half-pipe.
Wii Mushroom Gorge: Maybe a half-pipe after the first non-shortcut mushroom, and the first turn in the cave. You could also add anti-gravity in the cave, but someone said that could ruin the area, so it's debatable. Also, RE-ADD THE MUSHROOM GORGE BOUNCING SOUND EFFECT. DON'T JUST BE LAZY AND USE THE CLOUDTOP CRUISE ONE.
Tour London Loop: There are multiple turns that could use half-pipes.
GBA Boo Lake: Re-add the gimmick of where hitting the blocks forming the wall makes them disappear. Except for the ones that can be tricked off of. Those can stay.
Wii Maple Treeway: I don't see why you can't have the glider AND the bridge. It's a literal safety net, so it could still be useful.
Tour Berlin Byways: MAKE GETTING INTO THE TRAIN EASIER IT'S RIDICULOUS! Also, there are some possible half-pipe spots.
DS Peach Gardens: I suppose there could be some half-pipes on the castle that could work. I don't know.
3DS Rainbow Road: I don't know why they would not make the last turn anti-gravity at its angle.
Wii DK Summit: The second abyss for the canyon turns has an absurdly long time before Lakitu picks you up. I don't know why.
Yoshi's Island: The cloud section should be anti-gravity. It's high-up, and it's pretty much the same for the anti-gravity section for Sunshine Airport, so what gives?
Tour Bangkok Rush: FIX THE STUPID TOP ROUTE FOR LAPS 1 AND 3.
DS Mario Circuit: Some half-pipes for the turns at the end could work.
GCN Waluigi Stadium: Bring back the dancing signs.
Tour Singapore Speedway: Add Antigravity for the conveyor belt part as well as the rooftop pool part (that one is more debatable.)

What if oldfriends deliberately wrote their reddit posts for an imagined newfriend audience?
My guess is that this would help with recruitment, retention, and fun. As a relative newfriend myself, I always appreciate it when posts on this subreddit help me learn more about the world and its history, or the game and its mechanics. And I find it frustrating when I bump into posts that seem to be indecipherable unless you already know all the jargon and history of the Civ genre.
The basic idea:
Before you hit "submit", imagine that you are a newfriend, visiting the subreddit in order to learn about what's going on in the world you have just joined; or a prospective first-time player, visiting the sub in order to learn more about the Civ genre. Re-read your post from that perspective. Would you find your post engaging? helpful? confusing? alienating? Re-write accordingly.
Some specific suggestions:
1. Try to describe events from an in-world rather than a meta perspective, with a journalistic tone, and as little jargon as possible.
Example:
Instead of

RS shitters Gremlin69er and MorlockAficonado showed up in full prot

try

Gremlin69er and MorlockAficionado, two notorious raiders from the neighbouring Republic of Seniledementia, were spotted crossing the border in heavy armour.

2. Jargon-y terms are of course sometimes unavoidable. But when used, they can also be explained.
Example:

KingJingJang and his goons proceeded to "obby-bomb" Yew Nork (covering many builds in layers of stone-reinforced obsidian).

3. CivWiki already has a helpful glossary of jargon terms. Where too many explanatory notes would make a text clunky, posters can simply hyperlink to the relevant section of that CivWiki page.
Example:

Avocado Alliance forces attacked with a standard [skybridge](https://civwiki.org/wiki/Jargon#Skybridge)

4. Historical references should also be explained for the benefit of less familiar readers.
Example:
Instead of

pigsgristle, still butthurt about the Nickelback Wars,

try

pigsgristle has borne a grudge against former members of Whatsituya ever since the Nickelback Wars (when a group of Whatsituyan terrorists systematically dismantled pigsgristle's Pigsnot Empire because of his eccentric taste in music).

The RLCS 22-23 Winter Major is upcoming, so it's time to flair up for the big occasion!
If you want to change your user flair (those team logos beside usernames), here are the emoji codes for the teams competing at this year's Winter Major.
​

Group A	Group B
:FaZe_Clan:	:Karmine_Corp:
:G2:	:Vitality:
:KRU:	:Falcons:
:G1:	:Dignitas:
Group C	Group D
:TeamSecret:	:GenG:
:Team_Liquid:	:Oxygen:
:Ground_Zero:	:Complexity:
:GaiminGladiators:	:Pioneers:

​
How do I get a user flair(s)?
Well, Taylor, I'm glad you asked. Take a look at our multiple flairs guide. If you just want a single flair, then check out the instructions on our wiki page here!
​
What if I have custom text?
If you are one of our prediction contest winners, changing your flair by yourself will erase any custom text you have. If you are one of these people, feel free to send us a modmail and we will manually edit it for you.
this also applies to Verified users
​
Are there more flairs to choose from?
Yes! A lot actually. Every team to get top 16 in an NA or EU regional, top 4 in an OCE, SAM or MENA regional, or top 2 in an APAC or SSA regional has had their flairs added over the course of the season, along with every active organization in the in-game esports shop, plus some legacy flairs from teams of years gone by. You can find a full list here.
​
I have questions about the flairs/emojis!
Check out our wiki page here to learn everything about flairs/emojis on this subreddit!

https://i.redd.it/6a1p4oo8kroa1.jpg
https://www.reddit.com/WhitePeopleTwittecomments/11vpp4p/why_doesnt_he_identify_with_what_he_was_born_as/

Long the subject of rhetoric, migrants have now become props in political theater

BY JAMES BARRAGÁN SEPT. 22, 2022
A long-reliable political playbook of highlighting immigration in election season has been escalated by Govs. Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis.
For five months, Gov. Greg Abbott bused migrants to Democrat-led cities to draw attention to the number of people arriving at the Texas border.
He began with Washington, D.C., then expanded the busing to New York and Chicago. At least 11,000 migrants have been removed from the state, by all accounts voluntarily.

But an attempt by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to deploy the same tactics last week took the issue to another level, when the state flew planes to Texas, allegedly lured migrants onto the flights by promising jobs, housing and services and a free trip to Boston, and then left those migrants in Martha’s Vineyard, an island resort town about 100 miles away. Three of those migrants have now sued DeSantis in federal court.

In one way, Abbott and DeSantis are following a familiar playbook: Find ways to put immigration front and center in election season to take advantage of populist backlash. But some say the transports have brought the country’s political discourse to a new low by using migrants as props in political theater, and not merely subjects of rhetorical attack.

“To me, this is just really crass manipulation of people. It does speak to our values,” said Jim Harrington, the retired founder of the Texas Civil Rights Project who has worked on immigration issues since 1973. “The idea that you could play with people in the way he did.”

Abbott’s office said Texas played no role in the flying of migrants to Massachusetts. But it has caught similar backlash for its recent push to send migrants in buses to Vice President Kamala Harris’ home in Washington — a stunt that Harris is unlikely ever to have seen, given that the vice president’s residence is within an 80-acre scientific and military compound, the Naval Observatory.
“She’s the border czar, and we felt that if she won’t come down to see the border, if President Biden will not come down and see the border, we will make sure they see it firsthand,” Abbott said. “There’s more where that came from.”
In November, Abbott is seeking a third term, and DeSantis a second. Politicians have frequently used immigrants around election time. In 1994, California Gov. Pete Wilson ran ads depicting migrants crossing the border during his reelection campaign. More recently, Donald Trump’s successful presidential run in 2016 began with his denouncing Mexican immigrants as “criminals,” “drug dealers” and “rapists.” Abbott himself ramped up his attacks on “sanctuary cities” in 2017, the year before his first reelection campaign.

But while those efforts depicted and discussed the immigrants, the use of actual migrants themselves has disturbed scholars and observers who see it as just the latest in a series of collapsing norms that are eroding American democracy.

Donald F. Kettl, professor emeritus and former dean at the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, said the latest transports represent a “dramatic escalation in the use of immigrants as a political tool and a political symbol.

“One of the things that’s happened for sure is that immigrants as human beings — the notion that they have needs or problems they’re trying to escape and their aspirations to create a new home in the U.S. — has been pushed aside by the idea to create a mega symbol and use them as pawns that are being moved,” Kettl said.

“It’s a truly awful way to treat human beings and it’s an effort for sure to push the needs of human beings aside to try to score political points.”

Jennifer Mercieca, a Texas A&M professor who researches political rhetoric, said the transfer of migrants to a political opponent’s jurisdiction follows a rhetorical tactic called “reification” where people are treated as physical objects whose feelings don’t count.

“There’s no concern in the plan for the migrants and their well-being and their welfare,” she said. “It’s, ‘how can I use these migrants to score a political point against my opponent?’”

Abbott and DeSantis have said that they want to force Democratic officials, starting with President Joe Biden, to take action. But Mercieca said that is belied by the execution of the programs without any proposed solutions.

“These aren’t about policy solutions,

but instead they are about generating political spectacle. They are about creating dramatic events or ‘pseudo events’ that have to be covered,” she said. “They gotta stick it to the other side. They gotta show that they’re tough. They gotta have victory.”

Those “pseudo events” are aimed at controlling the narrative as both governors seek reelection and an opportunity to grow their name recognition, possibly in anticipation of a 2024 presidential run, Kettl said.
The polls show why that might be advantageous for Abbott. Over the summer, much of the political discourse in Texas focused on the school shooting in Uvalde and the overturning of Roe v. Wade. A recent University of Texas/Texas Politics Project poll found that more Texans trust Abbott’s 2022 challenger Beto O’Rourke on abortion issues — and they are evenly split on the issue of gun violence. On border security and immigration, on the other hand, Abbott holds a 12-percentage-point advantage.
But Mercieca also noted a change in how far politicians are willing to go to get their point across and how much the public is willing to tolerate.
“A stunt like what Abbott or DeSantis has done would have made zero sense 10 years ago, 15 years ago and 20 years ago,” she said. “That wouldn’t have resonated with a more general audience. But today’s audience loves that.”
That’s partially because cable news has become hyperpartisan, pressuring politicians to take dramatic and even extreme action to get attention.

“It’s a vicious cycle,” she said. “They’ve radicalized the audience that has in turn radicalized them.”

The movement of migrants has also drawn comparisons to painful parts of U.S. history. As news of the Florida flights spread across Massachusetts, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library published a tweet comparing the effort to the “reverse Freedom Rides” of the 1960s.
“To embarrass Northern liberals and humiliate Black people, southern White Citizens Councils started their so-called ‘Reverse Freedom Rides,’ giving Black people one-way tickets to northern cities with false promises of jobs, housing, and better lives,” the library’s account tweeted.
But those jobs and opportunities did not exist and instead left the Black travelers stranded away from their homes.
This week, PBS broadcast the documentary filmmaker Ken Burns’ latest project, “The U.S. and the Holocaust,” which chronicles America’s refusal to change restrictive immigration quotas to help refugees, even as millions of people fled Europe before and during the Holocaust.
Harrington said the use of migrants to score political points shows a new “callousness” in how Texans view immigrants. Just 21 years ago, a Republican-led Texas Legislature approved a law to allow undocumented youth who grew up in the state to pay in-state tuition at public universities. Following the escalation of the migrant movements this month, no Republican elected official has spoken out, nor have major business or civil leaders.
“A lot of people are sitting around talking about this and bemoaning it, but where is the leadership that helped shape and form our humane response as a democracy? Where is it?” he said. “We are so fractured right now.”
https://www.texastribune.org/2022/09/22/migrant-busing-abbott-desantis/

Girl let’s be SOOO honest rn. You have a paid caregiver to do allll of those things for you and have been doing for you since Noah dipped off to rehab. I don’t know what job you’re talking about except making onlyfans content with Noah or trying to find sponsorships. Noah’s recovery has actually ZERO to do with going to the NICU. Honestly, I’d say he’s safer in recovery at the NICU than the nightclub you took him to? This is such bullshit and Alex KNOWS it. At least she knows her fans will absolutely eat it up.

Hopefully this doesn't cross rule 8, it doesn't fit any of homelabsales tags. Just an FYI for anyone looking for a NAS chassis/server, U-NAS has just re-stocked. For those keeping track, it's been almost a year since they've had anything.
I ran the NSC-410 for a while, solid chassis, good for those interested in SFF labs. I'm still running an NS-402 for onsite backups, also solid (and good for those with a 2.5 gigabit network).
I have zero affiliation with them. When I started a lab, space was a concern, so I was drawn to them with the SFF offerings. And until Jonsbo with the N1/N2 relatively recently, U-NAS was the only purpose built SFF I could find.

Been playing a ton of 200pl 6 card of late, and I struggle with playing AA OOP (say from the blinds) when 100bb deep.
3betting - ofcourse if they’re good aces, I’m 3betting a ton. Obviously nobody folds pre in position, I whiff 80-90% of flops and am forced to check/fold.
Just calling - the mediocre to garbage aces, I just call. Same situation postflop where the in-position player relentlessly fires postflop, and I can’t really continue unless I have top set or some big wrap/NFD.
Basically, the in-position player can have any 6 cards vs my AAxxxx in this game, and pound me to death postflop when I don’t flop huge.
And no, I’m not block cbetting postflop because nobody folds 6 hole cards to 0.33p cbets.
Should I just start folding most of the AAxxxx OOP and 3b only the absolutely premium AA, and have a zero calling range?
P.S. No “don’t play PLO6” please… it’s not bingo and still highly profitable if you table select and nut peddle vs newbies.

My friends weren’t exactly enthusiastic about meeting me at a place called the “Death Ridge Lodge,” even after I told them that “Dethritch” was just the name of the shepherd who used to own the land. Truth was, I was more than a little nervous myself. I’d been out of the country for five years; there had been calls and letters, but my friends and I hadn’t seen each other in all that time…would we still have the connection that we once did?
Some of the changes that time had wrought were surprising; others, less so. We’d all expected my stubborn, brilliant friend Jennifer to be an attorney like her father–but in a story straight out of a cheesy Hallmark movie, she’d married a guy from a tiny town in Kentucky and had two kids. Meanwhile, Ned–a loudmouthed, extroverted redhead–had somehow ended up working from a lonely home office as a computer programmer.
And then there was Zoe.
She’d been my crush since our sophomore year of college. It wasn’t just her auburn hair or piercing green eyes; it was the care and honesty she showed in everything she did. Before her, I’d never met someone who really listened, who really cared about other people without working their own angle. We’d all expected great things for her…but in the end, she’d wound up like me. Back in our hometown. Unsure about the future.
But now that so much time had passed, would we even have anything in common anymore?
As it turned out, I needn’t have worried. Not even the wailing winter storm and unexpected power outages could dampen our good time. Ned, Zoe, Jennifer, and I gathered around a roaring flagstone fireplace, sharing our favorite scary stories and urban legends. It didn’t matter that the howling wind made going outside deadly, or that snow had cut off the forest road to the outside world: we had warmth, food, booze–and our rediscovered friendship. We also had Lee.
When we arrived, Lee explained to us that he was the off-season caretaker of Dethritch Lodge and the surrounding cabins. During tourist season in summer, the place swarmed with hospitality workers, but from fall to spring Lee mostly had the place to himself. When the blizzard hit, he made a point of checking in on us.
“Temperature's goin’ down out there,” he warned us that fateful night. “Visibility Is almost zero. You kids wouldn’t wanna get lost out there tonight…or any other night.”
“Don’t worry,” Zoe smiled. “We have no intention of going outside in that.” She pointed to the wind-driven snow that was rattling against the window panes.
“It can’t be that easy to get lost though, can it?” Ned–always the contrarian–asked. “I mean, we’re on the side of a mountain. To go one way you just go down, and to go the other way you just go back up, right?”
“Not that simple.” Lee grunted, pulling up a stool. “We’re a hundred miles from civilization out here, and if you can’t recognize any landmarks, all them pine trees out there look the same. Even if you think you know where you’re goin,’ this mountain likes to play tricks. The gentle slope you walk down in fall might be dangerously steep in spring; boulders tumble, streams change course, and paths disappear from one season to the next. There’s dozens of trails criss-crossin’ this ol’ mountain: 1800’s logging roads, game trails, other paths so old it’s impossible to tell who made’em. Trust me, you lose your way out there, all you’re gonna get is more an’ more lost..and then you’ll start to panic. An’ at that point, if hypothermia an’ hunger an’ the bears don’t getcha, ol’ man Dethritch and his dogs will.”
“Dethritch?” “Dogs?” Zoe and Jennifer asked at once.
“Just how much do you four know about Dethritch Lodge?”
“Not much,” I admitted. “I was looking for a place where my old friends and I could meet up over the holidays, the place looked cozy, had hiking and skiing and good reviews…besides, back then, the weather forecast said we’d have a clear weekend...”
Lee nodded, as if that was about what he expected. “It’s an odd place…with an odd history. Just after the Revolutionary War, a man named Jebediah Dethritch showed up here and started construction on a cabin. He said that the mountain had called to him, that he’d seen it in a dream, an’ that Patrick Henry had gifted him the entire mountainside in exchange for services rendered during the war. There was plenty of land back then, and grants were being handed out like candy, so no one called him on it. Besides, folks wanted farmland, not the slope of a damn mountain. They all thought Jeb Dethritch was crazy, but he carved a life outta these hills, swearing that he and the land were one flesh. Jeb and his sons felled forests, dragged out the stumps, and planted orchards; they set up secret garden patches back in the woods; raised chickens, cows, and a flock of sheep. For a while, things were good.” The old man stared into the fire. “If you young people get bored with all this history, just say so…”
“Well, it’s not like we’ve got anything better to do, do we?” Ned scoffed.
“No, please go on. It’s interesting.” Zoe reassured Lee; Ned rolled his eyes.
“Well, the years rolled by. Jeb died and passed his land on to his son and grandson, who went on livin’ the same way he had. Meanwhile, towns were buildin’ up around the mountain. The more they expanded, the more folks demanded proof that the mountain really belonged to the Dethritches. By the end of the Civil War–that’s to say, Jeb’s great-grandson’s time–nobody cared about yellowed papers and ancient claims. Folks wanted the mountain developed, and kept suin’ ‘til they found a judge who agreed with’em. Amos Dethritch got a few acres and the rest went to minin’ and loggin’ companies. But takin’ advantage of the Dethritchs’ land was no easy task. See, the Dethritches refused to accept the court’s decision. They kept livin’ in their hidden shacks on the mountainside, and made life hell for the companies who, from their point of view, were trespassing’ on their property. Every day there were downed trees on the road, supplies burnt, animals missin’...it went on for decades, all the way into the 1900’s. And while nobody had been hurt in Amos Dethritch’s little guerrilla war, it was costin’ those companies more than the mountain was worth. They had to put a stop to it. The first sign of trouble was when Alice Dethritch–Amos’ wife from back east–stopped comin’ into town to sell her honey an’ fruit preserves.. A few days later, Amos was found in the middle of a dirt loggin’ road, surrounded by his three mastiffs. They’d all been shot to pieces. Ten years later, some trappers found Alice and the kids in a shallow grave. They said it looked like they’d died…badly.”
“So who did it?” Jennifer asked.
“Well, nobody can prove nothin’ about nothin,’ but a group of flashy out-of-towners rode in on the last train from Chicago that night, an’ left in the mornin.’ Folks in town said they saw lantern lights goin’ up the loggin’ road, and gunfire in the hollers…” Lee stared thoughtfully into the fireplace. “In a way, though, I guess you could say the Dethritches won out in the end. The mountain never yielded enough timber or coal to justify the expense. The companies that had fought so hard over the mountain–and even killed to keep it–all went bankrupt a few years later. This place was practically abandoned ‘til the national parks craze took off in the 1950’s. Some clever investors bought it off the bank for pennies…they built the cabins and lodge that we’re sittin’ in today.”
“But what does all that have to do with ‘old man Dethritch’ and his ‘dogs’?”
“Well, the mountain wasn’t completely left alone after all them companies closed down. The local men came up here to hunt, grandmothers collected fruit from the Dethritchs’ woodland orchards, and the teenagers…well, they came up here to do what teenagers do. But over the years, rumors began to trickle down about strange sightings in these woods. Some folks got to thinkin’ that maybe Amos Dethritch wasn’t really dead…or if he was, he was still around somehow.”
“You mean like a ghost?” I ventured.
“You call it what you want!” Lee prodded the dying embers. “I’m just tellin’ it how I heard it–and you wouldn’t believe some’a the tales the folks in town have about this mountain. Like ol’ Bruce Higgins, who came back from deer huntin’ all bitten an’ tore up, with his rifle missin.’ He said he’d been chased down the mountain by three snarlin’ shepherd dogs…just like those huge mastiffs found shot to death beside Amos. Miss Nellie Price said she saw the ol’ man himself, stalkin’ through the trees with a hundred-year-old hunting rifle an’ a sack of dead rabbits slung over his shoulder…” Lee rambled on; Jennifer tried to hide a smile.
“I’m sorry…” she chuckled. “It’s just…my dad was a hunter, and he used to see things in the woods too. Usually after his fifth beer. And my Great-Aunt Mildred was convinced she was hearing whispers in her walls…until my mother got rid of the bird’s nest in her chimney. The birdsong had been echoing in the pipes–it sounded like real human voices. My point is, there’s a snowball effect with stories like these. They live rent-free in the back of people’s minds, and when they see something they can’t explain, they just keep adding to them…”
“I’m not sayin’ you're wrong,” Lee grumbled. “I’ve never seen ol’ man Amos myself, an’ I’ve lived up here all my life. But I will say that there’s somethin’ off about this mountain. Maybe it goes all the way back to Jeb Dethritch, or even before that. Otherwise, how can you account for all the disappearances? Like the four high schoolers who went camping up here on a dare back in the 1970’s. Nothin’ was left of them but a trampled down tent an’ the soggy ashes of their fire…”
“Wasn’t there an investigation?” Zoe asked.
“Oh, sure there was. The police concluded that the girls had run away from home. Then when Terry Bannister an’ his nine-year-old son didn’t come back from their hikin’ trip, they blamed wolves. When a local artist’s car was found along a loggin’ road with spikes in the tires and the driver’s-side door hanging off of its hinges, they called it an ‘abandoned vehicle.’ They jus’ towed it back into town an’ didn’t even look for her. Don’tcha see where I’m goin’ with this? Ever since the loggin’ and minin’ dried up, tourism is the only thing keepin’ those little towns afloat. ‘The Ghost of Amos Dethritch and his Three Hell-Hounds’ makes for a fine local legend, but if the summer crowd ever found out about the real, horrible crimes that happen up on this mountain every year…it’d be the death of the whole industry.”
“I call bullshit!” Ned laughed. “This sounds an awful lot like a scary story that locals use to scare us wide-eyed out-of-towners with, am I right?”
“Call it what you want.” Lee shrugged again. “But I wouldn’t go outside ‘til the storm passes, if I were you.” He pulled on his boots and wrapped himself in his winter gear, so weathered and worn that it was all the same uniform tone of grayish-brown. “You kids got everything you need?” We nodded; he waved to us as he trudged out the door.
“Stay safe out there!” I called out too late. The only response was the rattling of the screen door and the howling of the wind–if it was the wind. I thought of the savage jaws of enormous mastiffs and shuddered.
We all slept beside the fireplace that night. Everyone had their own excuse: Ned claimed the rooms were too cold; Zoe said she wanted to have a slumber party; Jennifer had already fallen asleep in her chair. But I knew our real reason for keeping close to each other was that Lee’s tale had unnerved all of us more than we would have liked to admit. We craved the primal comforts of fire, warmth, and companionship. Before going to sleep, I dared to take a look out the frozen window, but all I could see was blackness. Too cold even for a ghost, I told myself with a chuckle, before stirring the fire and curling up in one of the lodge’s thick blankets. My dreams were haunted by worm-eaten faces in shallow graves and shadowy figures on desolate mountain paths; I woke before anyone else in the morning.
I’d always loved the peace of being awake while others slept; I took my time making my coffee and examining what the storm had done to the mountainside. The trees were bent, icy spikes stabbing into an ominous gray sky; at least a foot of snow covered the lodge patio. Frigid air blasted my face as I heaved open the sliding glass door and stepped out into the winter wonderland. Beautiful as it was, something more than the cold was bothering me; it took me a moment to fully realize what it was:
There were no footprints leading to the cabin where Lee was staying.
True, maybe the snow had filled them in–but no smoke rose from the chimney, either. Where had Lee gone? I was leaning out over the railing for a better view when I heard a low growl behind me.
I wasn’t alone on the patio.
Half-frozen drool hung from the mastiff’s gaping jaws; its hazel eyes burned with fury. Another, identical dog growled behind me–they were trying to cut off my escape! I bolted for the door and slid it shut just before a mouth as large as my face smashed into the glass, cracking it. The enormous dog lunged again, widening the spiderweb pattern on the glass. Barks and howls chilled my blood; my friends were waking, but not fast enough:
"Just a few more minutes…" Zoe mumbled while I shook her.
"Holy shit!" Ned screamed, pointing at the mastiff slamming itself into the glass.
"Get to the kitchen!" Jennifer grabbed the fire poker and waved us through before slamming the kitchen’s heavy wooden door. From outside, barks, snarls, shattering glass–
Heavy canine steps across the hardwood.
A long, mournful howl echoed through the cabin…and three sets of paws began scratching at the door. I wondered if the enormous dogs outside were calling to their master.
"Oh my god, oh my god…what the fuck is going on?!" Ned jabbed his finger at my chest like all this was all my fault.
"Is this some kind of sick joke?" Jennifer demanded.
“How should I know?!” I shouted back at Ned.
“I know what’s going on…” Zoe murmured. “Amos Dethritch. We’re on his mountain…and those are his dogs, just how Lee described them…”
“Ghost dogs?!” Ned rolled his eyes, “come on.”
“That mastiff out there just smashed its head against a sliding glass door until it broke! Would you call that ‘normal’ dog behavior?! Listen!” Jennifer put her ear to the wooden door as it shook beneath the dogs’ attack. “They’re not just scratching the door…they’re gnawing on it. Those aren’t ordinary dogs. And speaking of Lee–where is he?”
“I…I don’t think he made it back last night.” I thought of the smokeless chimney and the untrammeled snow. The kindly old caretaker was probably lying beneath it with his throat ripped out. Amos had come for him at last. The door rattled on its hinges.
“We gotta find a way out of here. That door’s not gonna last much longer…” Jennifer whispered, unlatching the small window above the sink.
“Oh, sure! Great plan!” Ned rolled his eyes. “Let’s run through the woods in subzero temperatures in our pajamas! What could possibly go wrong?”
“What do you suggest, then?” Jennifer challenged. As much as I hated to admit it, Ned was right. Last night’s fire was dead, and its warmth was fading fast. If Amos and his dogs didn’t kill us, the cold would. Zoe was already struggling to keep herself from trembling. While the rest of us argued, she had been scrounging for supplies. She’d found a few cobwebby soup cans, three dull kitchen knives, an almost-empty box of matches…and a trapdoor.
It took all our strength to heave it open, and even then the light didn’t reach whatever waited at the bottom. One thing, however, was clear: we were running out of time. The timbers of the kitchen door splintered, treating us to a view of slobbering fangs. The rusty window frame screeched as Jennifer flung it open. I looked down at her bare feet.
“Jen, going out there is suicide!”
“I WILL NOT wait to die in some dark…fucking…HOLE! We gotta make a run for it!” Of course, I suddenly remembered, Jennifer had claustrophobia. That cellar must’ve looked like her worst nightmare.
“I know you’re scared–we all are! But–”
“But NOTHING! I’m going!” Jennifer wiped away her tears with her pajama sleeve and leapt down into the snow. Behind us, the dogs had almost broken through. Ned, Zoe, and I sprinted for the trapdoor and slammed it shut behind us. The mastiffs sniffed around and dug at the floor over our heads–
But only for a moment. A horrifically human whistle split the silent winter air outside, followed by a cruel command–
“SIC HER, BOYS!”
First came barks, then snarls–and Jennifer began to scream.
Maybe it was a blessing that we couldn’t see what was happening out among the frozen trees, but just hearing it was bad enough. I pressed my fists against my ears and shut my eyes tight against the awful ripping and gnawing, barely audible over Jennifer’s screams. When it was finally over, the chattering of our teeth felt like the only noise left in the world. I had forgotten how much the cold could physically hurt. With trembling fingers, Zoe struck a match.
We were in a low-ceilinged dirt cellar. Decades of cobwebs hung like hideous curtains above us, and generations of junk had been scattered carelessly across the uneven ground. We rummaged through it by matchlight, looking for something, anything, that we could use.
“Paydirt!” Ned shouted. He’d found a canvas sack full of moth-eaten wool blankets, leather boots, and parkas beneath a heap of snowshoes. We bundled up immediately, grateful for the warmth, but there was little else of value in the heaped rubbish around us…and we were running out of matches.
“This is weird…” Zoe nudged me. She’d found an old wooden chest full of century-old dresses, leather bags and belts, and a tiny silver locket. The cellar ceiling groaned with heavy footsteps; Zoe instinctively pocketed the locket and grabbed my arm.
“Now where’d the rest of you run off to…?” The voice above us was the same one that had sicced the mastiffs on Jennifer. There was something antiquated, gravelly, and wild about it–something that made me think of the unsettling tale of the Dethritch clan.
“Amos…” Zoe mouthed, pointing to the far side of the cellar. The crumbling stone wall faded into blackness, but as I crawled silently closer I could see what lay above: a coal chute. An escape. The footsteps overhead left the kitchen–I imagined they were heading upstairs to check the bedrooms. We had shoes and a way of keeping warm–even if they were filthy and fit badly. If we were going to try to slip out through the coal chute, it was now or never. Ned’s hand shot out and grabbed my wrist as I struggled to push open the rusted chute cover.
“Are you crazy?!” he hissed. “Did you not hear what happened to Jen out there?!”
“Jen had a point, too…” I whispered. “Whoever…or whatever…is up there is bound to check down here eventually. Do you wanna be down here when that happens?”
“I’ll take my fucking chances!” Ned had found an ice ax in the heaps of junk, and held it with a white-knuckle grip. I realized that my loud-mouthed childhood friend was even more frightened than Zoe and I. To my surprise, Zoe’s cold hand slid into mine.
“Are you ready?” she asked. I nodded. “Come on, Ned…come with us. There won’t be another chance!”
“No way. I’m staying right here!” Ned shook his head. The last I saw of him was his pale, stunned face watching us scramble out into the winter sun. Zoe and I trudged through the snow, afraid to look back…afraid of what might be following. We kept our eyes away from the red patches in the white where Jennifer had met her end, aiming instead for a suspicious trail of footprints that led from the woods up to Dethritch Lodge: one large human and three dogs.
“Ghosts don’t leave footprints, do they?” Zoe murmured. I shook my head, wondering where this insane day would lead us. Zoe and I had barely entered the silence of the pine forest when we heard the gunshot: the BOOM of a shotgun blast.
Ned had been found.
Zoe grabbed my arm; I could feel her warmth through our improvised blanket-coats. It was what I’d dreamed of when I’d planned this vacation: alone with Zoe, holding her close in the winter woods…but my dream had turned into a nightmare. The triumphant baying of the dogs and a man’s maniac laughter carried to us by the wind confirmed what we already feared: our friend was dead. For a long minute we just held each other, listening to our thundering heartbeats: a reminder that we were still alive.
But for how long? The footprints in the snow seemed to follow a sort of game trail…just like the ones Lee said the Dethritches had used. A small creek ran alongside it. My feet were exhausted from slogging through the high snow, but we had to put more distance between us and pursuit. Right around the time I lost sensation in my feet, we rounded a corner and saw a slumped-over hut up ahead.
The footprints we’d been following seemed to originate there. I swallowed hard and looked back at the boulder-strewn mountainside behind us.
“Hide up there.” I told Zoe. “I’ll see if it’s safe.”
“I’ll come with you, this is no time to be a he–” she began.
“Listen. If it’s not safe, we’re both dead. This way, at least one of us makes it.”
“Are…are you sure?”
“If we don’t find warmth, food, and shelter, we’re dead anyway. I’ve got to see what’s in there, and if you–” Zoe shut me up with a strong hug.
“Let me go instead. I want you to keep watch for me.”
I didn’t like the idea at all, but I could see in Zoe’s eyes that her mind was made up. She left me with an extra blanket and the other supplies she’d dug out of the cellar; I set up a vantage point behind a boulder where I could see without being seen…or so I hoped. Now that the sun was setting and my sweat began to cool, I found myself rethinking what I’d said to Zoe. I’d intentionally exaggerated when I’d told her we’d die without shelter–or at least I’d thought so at the time. But as the pine tree shadows reached out for us like long fingers and the temperature dropped, I wasn’t so sure. I wondered if covering ourselves with dirt would keep us warm enough, or if I’d even be able to light a fire with my shaking hands. I fiddled nervously with the first thing I grabbed out of Zoe’s blanket: that weird silver locket. I realized it had a clasp: it was probably one of those necklaces that held pictures inside…
Down below, Zoe was a tiny black shape on the sagging steps of the hut. She pushed open the creaking door–
I was so concerned about what might come out of it that I’d forgotten to pay attention to the path below. I suddenly sensed a presence just a few feet away.
“You alright, son?” A voice muttered behind me. I nearly jumped out of my skin before I recognized it: Lee! I could have laughed for joy. If anyone knew a safe way off of this mountain, it was him.
“We were attacked!” I gasped. “I know it sounds crazy, but I think Amos and his three dogs–”
“Shhh!” Lee rasped. “I seen’em on my way down here, but don’t you worry. Everythin’s gonna be alright now. Where’s the girl? Is she…?”
“You mean Zoe? She’s down there by the hut.”
“Good.” Lee whistled...and his voice changed. “SIC HER, BOYS!”
Three huge mastiffs bounded down the path toward the hut, barking loudly, and Lee stepped backward. He held an ancient shotgun in his hands. Only then did I look down at the open heart-shaped locket I held in my hands. The black-and-white photo on the right showed a kindly-looking woman named ALICE DETHRITCH, but the photo on the left was captioned AMOS DETHRITCH…and the face it showed was a familiar one indeed. It was staring back at me from behind the barrel of a gun.
“Amos…?” I gasped. The dogs circled the hut below, howling. Any minute now, they’d corner Zoe…
“Don’t tell me you believe in ghosts? I thought you city folk were supposed to be smart. Try this on for size: maybe Alice Dethritch survived the awful things those flashy out-of-towners did to her. Maybe she had a baby a few months later, a feral kid who raised himself after she died from her lingering injuries ten years later. Otherwise, who woulda buried her for those trappers to find? And maybe later, that kid grew up and decided he didn’t want the family name to die with him. Maybe he kidnapped one’a them high school girls who came up here in the 1970’s and used to her get himself an heir. Maybe that heir is standin’ here right now, pointin’ ol’ Amos’ rifle in the face of yet another trespasser…”
I lifted my hands slowly.
“Just…just don’t hurt Zoe…”
“Hurt her? No, I need her. I'm gonna breed myself an heir, the same way my father did, and raise him to carry on the fight 'til this mountain is ours again. After you four go missin,' even the tourism people won't be able to cover it up anymore–"
Lee Dethritch’s speech was cut short by the half rotten log that slammed into the side of his head. Zoe hit him two or three more times, but I doubt the blows were necessary. Lee Dethritch had met the fate of his ancestors, but I could hear his dogs baying below…from inside the hut.
“You alright?” Zoe asked.
“How did you–?” I wondered.
“That hut must be where he’s been living. It was dim…and filthy…but I saw a pile of rope right around the time I heard those dogs charging down the trail. I tied it to the front door knob and left it open just a crack, while I stood by the back door and waited for my moment. When those dogs charged in, I tugged the front door shut and slipped out the back. Dethritch’s dogs are trapped in there…for now.”
I remembered how quickly the three mastiffs had gnawed their way through the lodge’s kitchen door and shuddered. But would they even pursue us without Lee Dethritch urging them on?
We didn’t wait around to find out.
Night had fallen by the time we reached Dethritch Lodge; it felt like years had passed since we had fled the cellar that morning. Too emotionally and physically exhausted to talk much, Zoe and I distracted ourselves with simple tasks of survival: building a fire, heating water, gathering blankets, reinforcing the doors in case the dogs (or anything else) came back. It had been the longest day of my life, and I ended it curled up with Zoe in front of the Dethritch lodge fireplace.
By morning, the snow had melted; the unpaved, switchbacking road off of the Dethritchs’ mountain seemed just barely passable. Once we started driving, I realized just how much danger we were in: the back of my Corolla fishtailed around every turn, and twice the tires stuck in slushy mud and began to slide…toward the cliffs beside us.
When Zoe got out of the car to help me free it, I saw something that I still can’t explain. Maybe it was just a hallucination brought on by stress, but…
I’d swear I saw another Amos Dethritch look-alike watching us from the woods.
Was the mountain really haunted? Even worse, did Lee Dethritch have a brother?
When I looked again, they were gone.
I didn’t have any answer then, and I still don’t.
But I suggest you stay away from Dethritch Lodge.
X

Hello dear Reddit users.
I briefly would like to explain my background then ask your opinion about my next big career move.
I’m a 28 years old Turkish national and I’ve been residing in The UK, London since 2016. I’ve been running my small business in digital marketing and I survive, pay my tax, rent and bills. Sometimes getting support from my family from Istanbul when needed.(covid and brexit hit me hard sadly). I need to emphasise that I’m not happy with the work I do and I need a change.
Everyone in my big family are business owners. From my uncles to grandparents, aunts to my own parents. I’ve grown up seeing them doing their own works, managing their own shops, showrooms etc. I’ve also done my own work in digital marketing and e commerce services in the Uk but it was more of an obligation for me as I’ve lived in the Uk with Turkish businessperson visa which did not allow me to work for a company. I’ve done my masters in finance in a Russel group university and always educated myself(coding and testing). Have waited this time for years and now I have ILR. Basically free to do any work. No more Home Office or immigration control.
I’ve been applying for entry level jobs. Though, it’s so tough and the situation is desperate for me. For such small amounts -not overlooking the salaries, just based on what I make currently and checking my expenses, and comparing wages to what my dad makes-, companies reject my applications. For example, I can’t pass interviews for a job pays £30k PA before tax. The problem here is possibly me because I’ve never ever had a corporate experience or took an interview before. I always convinced my own customers for projects. And another bad part of me is, having almost zero knowledge about corporate life English. I believe that my English is more than ok, about IELTS 7 level, however, I also believe that the corporate English skills of mine won’t get any better.
This whole situation makes me feel slightly depressed and overwhelmed in the last few months. The reality is, even if everything goes 10/10, within 5-8 years my salary will be £70-90k in fintech, and I’ll be making anywhere between £4-5k per month after tax. Taking account that I live with my sister and we rent two bedrooms in zone 2, the rent including bill is about £3k, this wage seem so low to me. Remember this is the best scenario and I’d be able to reach these figures at least in a few years.
I’ve been thinking of other work alternatives and seriously considering being a small shop owner in central london focusing on selling silver jewelleries. From age 12 to 18, I spent my summer holidays in grand bazaar, old town Istanbul and worked for jewellers sometimes in showrooms and sometimes in ateliers. I don’t say I know the industry well because I was a kid during all those times, but I feel quite close to the idea as I’m familiar with most of the things and dynamics. I believe that I have developed my interpersonal skills exceptionally at those times, and I benefited that quite a lot in the UK. I was told at that I’ve got a charming side and good at convincing people.
As well as all these, my dad, he’s a car dealer and showroom runner with my uncle, has also have a business partnership with an atelier and they import fine jewelleries to few countries in Europe and Middle East. Because of his connection and my good relation with the atelier guy, he’s ok to do any favour for me for the new idea, like supplying for my shop or finding the best suppliers, he says.
Apart from all these, my dad supports me for this idea more than anything I did in my entire life because he always wanted me to be a proper businessman. He always politely judged me wanting to be in corporate life, now when I go to him with the idea, he opens the doors, encourages and supports me either financially or thru his contacts in grand bazaar. However, because of my relationship with my parents, I’ve always hesitated to make a mistake until today and never been a risk taking person. I’ve always been conservative with my life. It’s an issue of a therapy in my opinion and the idea of failing with this business after all those supports(potentially over £100k), makes me feel sick. He and my uncle tell me don’t start doing anything with such pessimistic ideas or you’ll surely fail. They’re probably right. I guess I need to sort out my own mind issues before everything. Though I’m closer to the idea and being brave to move more than a month ago after having hours of conversations with my dad, mum and uncle.
So I kindly would like to ask you what should I do and how should I move.
They tell me if you’re going for it, go for the best one. We’ve got an idiom. If you’ll die, die in the biggest sea. Therefore I’m considering a shop in west end. More particularly Covent Garden, nearby seven dials market. I’d like to focus on modern and trendy looking silver made jewelleries which will make the prices affordable for almost any women either local or tourist.
Some roughly estimated figures about the idea.
-Annual rent of the shop will be at least £50k and could go to anywhere nearby £70-80k. Other costs related to rent? I’ve got no idea. I’ll start talking to agencies this week as I’m abroad at the moment.
-cost of goods... 0.72$ is the price for a gram of silver. Any piece from ear rings to bracelets may vary from 2 gram to 20-30gram. Labour will be about 4$ per gram for me. No idea how much inventory stocks I have to have.
-other small things like interior design including the display, other inventory stocks apart from goods etc. I see these are going to £15-20k. Though I’ve got no real idea and this range is just my guess.
Overall, I can clearly see about £100k going for a business like this very quickly but I can’t estimate the potential sales and turnovers. It’s so difficult to spot this for me. There are 4-5 main competitors in the area, there’s no need to mention their names. This gives me some hopes but again, no proper estimation or forecast…
Looking forward to hearing back from like minded people and open for suggestions. Desperately need feedbacks from people.
Thank you!

so idk what to do from here so i thought i’d ask my peers for advice. i’m an online student thru GSU: Perimeter College and i’m having some problems with a professor. i’m really anxious about this since i’m still fairly new to college so idk how to go about this, especially online.
my US history professor gave me zeroes for 5 chapter quizzes i did, i emailed her asking about it with a screenshot of my grade book on the software we use and it took her several days to respond. when she did respond, she basically told me i’m not earning credit for it because i’m probably not doing it on time. which i am, the screenshot i sent her is of my score from those quizzes, when they were due, and when i finished them by so it’s as if she didn’t even look at it. she also told me she’d double, triple check grades after midterms & finals. but on top of that, i also sent her an extra credit essay for the midterm that i’m not seeing anything for in the grade book. its been about a month of this and two weeks since midterms and she hasn’t responded to my emails. i’ve been giving her the benefit of the doubt and giving her time to catch up but so much time has passed, and now that we’re back from spring break i want this fixed ASAP. i was intending on emailing her again this week, but i’m not very hopeful that it’ll be productive. i’m thinking of going to the department head if this keeps persisting but i’m not sure how to even get in contact with them. like do i contact my academic advisor first? i just don’t know how to go about this and i’ve been SO anxious about my grades in this class for about a month now. i get teachers take their time with grading but it’s disheartening when i can’t even get an actual email back about my grades, but if i have a question about the course work or extra credit i can get a response. i just feel like this is very unprofessional and i’ve never had a professor do something like this. what should i do from here? have i waited long enough to do something about it, or should i just email her and give her more time to put everything in the grade book? sorry for the wall of text, but i appreciate any feedback i can get.

Is today is your Day 1?

​Welcome to Loseit!
​So you aren’t sure of how to start? Don’t worry! “How do I get started?” is our most asked question. Loseit has helped our users lose over 1,000,000 recorded pounds and these are the steps that we’ve found most useful for getting started.

Why You’re Overweight

Our bodies are amazing (yes, yours too!). In order to survive before supermarkets, we had to be able to store energy to get us through lean times, we store this energy as adipose fat tissue. If you put more energy into your body than it needs, it stores it, for (potential) later use. When you put in less than it needs, it uses the stored energy. The more energy you have stored, the more overweight you are. The trick is to get your body to use the stored energy, which can only be done if you give it less energy than it needs, consistently.

Before You Start

The very first step is calculating your calorie needs. You can do that HERE. This will give you an approximation of your calorie needs for the day. The next step is to figure how quickly you want to lose the fat. One pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories. So to lose 1 pound of fat per week you will need to consume 500 calories less than your TDEE (daily calorie needs from the link above). 750 calories less will result in 1.5 pounds and 1000 calories is an aggressive 2 pounds per week.

Tracking

Here is where it begins to resemble work. The most efficient way to lose the weight you desire is to track your calorie intake. This has gotten much simpler over the years and today it can be done right from your smartphone or computer. loseit recommends (unaffiliated) apps like MyFitnessPal, Loseit or Cronometer. Create an account and be honest with it about your current stats, activities, and goals. This is your tracker and no one else needs to see it so don’t cheat the numbers. You’ll find large user created databases that make logging and tracking your food and drinks easy with just the tap of the screen or the push of a button. We also highly recommend the use of a digital kitchen scale for accuracy. Knowing how much of what you're eating is more important than what you're eating. Why? This may explain it.

Creating Your Deficit

How do you create a deficit? This is up to you. loseit has a few recommendations but ultimately that decision is yours. There is no perfect diet for everyone. There is a perfect diet for you and you can create it. You can eat less of exactly what you eat now. If you like pizza you can have pizza. Have 2 slices instead of 4. You can try lower calorie replacements for calorie dense foods. Some of the communities favorites are cauliflower rice, zucchini noodles, spaghetti squash in place of their more calorie rich cousins. If it appeals to you an entire dietary change like Keto, Paleo, Vegetarian.
The most important thing to remember is that this selection of foods works for you. Sustainability is the key to long term weight management success. If you hate what you’re eating you won’t stick to it.

Exercise

...is NOT mandatory. You can lose fat and create a deficit through diet alone. There is no requirement of exercise to lose weight.
It has it’s own benefits though. You will burn extra calories. Exercise is shown to be beneficial to mental health and creates an endorphin rush as well. It makes people feel *awesome* and has been linked to higher rates of long term success when physical activity is included in lifestyle changes.

Crawl, Walk, Run

It can seem like one needs to make a 180 degree course correction to find success. That isn’t necessarily true. Many of our users find that creating small initial changes that build a foundation allows them to progress forward in even, sustained, increments.

Acceptance

You will struggle. We have all struggled. This is natural. There is no tip or trick to get through this though. We encourage you to recognize why you are struggling and forgive yourself for whatever reason that may be. If you overindulged at your last meal that is ok. You can resolve to make the next meal better.
Do not let the pursuit of perfect get in the way of progress. We don’t need perfect. We just want better.

Additional resources

Now you’re ready to do this. Here are more details, that may help you refine your plan.

• Quick Start Guide - Build your foundation!
• Lose It Compendium - Frame it out!
• FAQ - Answers to our most Frequently Asked Questions!

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