# Eyes Bigger Than Your Stomach?



## LillyBBBW (May 12, 2007)

I can't stand being hungry. The only thing worse than feeling hungry is eating a meal that doesn't satisfy the hunger. I get pissed off when hunger is fierce and somebody hands me an apple. I can already feel the gas building in my stomach just looking at the little thing. It makes hunger often feel WORSE so that I'd rather not eat the apple. I'd rather wait till I can get to KFC and really do some damage.

the problem is sometimes I'm not really sure what I need and I tend to overdo it. Yesterday I bought lunch from the freezer section at CVS. It was a Digiorno frozen individual pizza. I looked at that thing and thought, "Hrumph," and threw another one in the basket. Single serving my foot. Yeah, if I were eight years old. It's Friday so I got two pizzas and some root beer. WOOPAH!

By the time I finished the food I was so stuffed it was slightly uncomfortable. Ordinarily I can put it away but sometimes I really can't. At the end of the day the office usually orders pizza and people grab slices before heading towards the elevator to go home. By then usually I'm game for a slice, not so yesterday. I was still full. I went to my mom's to bring her a little early Mother's day gift and as per usual she tried to offer me food. Still wasn't hungry, and was still full by the time I got home and finally turned in for bed. 

Then there are times where I will eat something and I am still not satisfied. I've gone to restaurants with people, ate a meal and was still hungry. I left my party only to go home and eat extra or stop off someplace and make up the difference. I feel guilty going back and getting more when I already ate what would seem to be enough yet my stomach is putting up a fight and I'm nearly delirious with unsatisfied hunger. 

Is anybody else like this or am I a freak? I tend to overdo things a lot simply because of hunger fears and it seems my needs change so often it's hard for me to know how much is enough beforehand. I HATE the feeling of hunger.


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## Blackjack (May 12, 2007)

I have had something like that happen to me- like, sometimes I can eat a whole sub and still be hungry, and sometimes I just can't finish more than half of one. Nothing different in what I eat on those days, too, which makes it even stranger.


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## Dr. Feelgood (May 12, 2007)

LillyBBBW said:


> I can't stand being hungry.
> I tend to overdo things a lot simply because of hunger fears and it seems my needs change so often it's hard for me to know how much is enough beforehand. I HATE the feeling of hunger.



Yup, sounds familiar. I would sometimes eat shortly before bedtime (not a good idea) for fear of waking up hungry, which I _really_ hate. However, I soon found this was courting gastric reflux, which is worse.
Fortunately, I realized that hunger pangs come in waves, about twenty minutes apart. If I wake up hungry, I can just ride it out until the pangs subside and I can go back to sleep. Of course, I will dream of food (and wind up with my pillow in my mouth), but that's a small price to pay.


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## Zandoz (May 12, 2007)

Chronic Eyes bigger than stomach syndrom...combined with Tastebuds say yes, but body says no syndrom


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## bigsexy920 (May 12, 2007)

This happens to me a lot. i'll get so much cause I'm not sure what I have a taste for then eat everything or at least some of everything, I get so full I get a pain in my sholder sometimes along with my stomach. 

Ofr me some things go down easy and others don't so I should be more careful than I am.


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## Waxwing (May 12, 2007)

bigsexy920 said:


> This happens to me a lot. i'll get so much cause I'm not sure what I have a taste for then eat everything or at least some of everything, I get so full I get a pain in my sholder sometimes along with my stomach.


 
Oh my god I thought I was the only person who got the shoulder pain! What the hell is that? 

Yes, I'm definitely this way. I don't mind being hungry, but when I do eat I tend to WAAAAYYY overdo it. Chronically.


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## bigsexy920 (May 12, 2007)

I think it might be gas. But who the hell knows. it only happens when I stuff myself, not just over eat but WAY over eat. 




Waxwing said:


> Oh my god I thought I was the only person who got the shoulder pain! What the hell is that?


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## Waxwing (May 12, 2007)

bigsexy920 said:


> I think it might be gas. But who the hell knows. it only happens when I stuff myself, not just over eat but WAY over eat.



Yeah, me too. I always wonder if I shoved a tendon out of place with all the food.


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## Blackjack (May 12, 2007)

So is this the thread where us FAs advertise our belly-rubbing skills?


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## Waxwing (May 12, 2007)

Blackjack said:


> So is this the thread where us FAs advertise our belly-rubbing skills?



Ha!

Probably.


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## TCUBOB (May 12, 2007)

Will rub bellies for.....well, for free. No payment necessary. How about that?


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## Waxwing (May 12, 2007)

TCUBOB said:


> Will rub bellies for.....well, for free. No payment necessary. How about that?



man, you're a crappy negotiator. You could have held out for like a buck or so.

I hate having my belly touched (freakish waxwing thing #400) but I understand that it's quite the thing for those in the know.


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## LillyBBBW (May 12, 2007)

You know, I'm not sure I've ever had a belly rub come to think of it. I'm trying to think, but I don't think so. Weird.


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## TCUBOB (May 12, 2007)

It's actually very nice when you have a full belly, having been on the receiving end. So despite the fact that (shock!) Waxy has a hangup about it, the belly rub is a solid give or receive. 

And yeah....I'm eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasy......easy like a Sunday morning........

I'm a great mediator, but yes, terrible negotiator.:doh: 

And I'm pretty sure that we're above #400 in freaky Waxy things! But it's why we love you.....:kiss2: 



Waxwing said:


> man, you're a crappy negotiator. You could have held out for like a buck or so.
> 
> I hate having my belly touched (freakish waxwing thing #400) but I understand that it's quite the thing for those in the know.


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## ZainTheInsane (May 12, 2007)

I have to eat every half an hour...but within one sitting, unless I'm starving, I can only eat a small amount. It is very weird...I fill up fast, but empty out fast. My metabolism kicks my ass.


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## kerrypop (May 12, 2007)

Ugh, this is like, my pet peeve with myself. I get annoyed when I'm not satisfied with a meal. I hate it when I go to a restaraunt and I order something and it's tiny, but I spent like 10$ on it. I can not allow myself to go to a buffet, I feel like i'm wasting my money if I don't get full. :/ weird. I hate being too full though, it's uncomfortable and lame also. I think my problem is that I can't look at a plate and judge whether or not I will be satisfied. I have found, though, that if something is spicy I am much more easily satisfied. Spicy ftw!


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## Chimpi (May 12, 2007)

I can usually assume whether I am going to be full from a meal or not, simply because even if I eat a huge meal and am full after the feast, I will still eat something else within a half an hours time. I'm not sure what that is all about, but it's just something I do. I can eat a Subway sub, eat a bag of chips, and then eat another Subway sub a half an hour later. All though, I do sometimes fall under the feeling of being too full very often, I'm trying to cut back on feeling like THAT. My problem is that if there's food, I'll eat it. Not only do I not like to waste food, but if it's good, I want more, even if I'm full. I hate putting food in the refridgerator.

My eyes are never bigger than my stomach, per se. Whatever I buy, I eat. Though I usually have a pre-determined idea of what I want when I go to a restaurant or a fast food chain (which, I don't eat fast food at all anymore). 

But no, you're not the only one, Lilly.



bigsexy920 said:


> I get so full I get a pain in my sholder sometimes along with my stomach.





Waxwing said:


> Oh my god I thought I was the only person who got the shoulder pain! What the hell is that?



I'm not sure if this has _anything at all_ to do with what either of you are experiencing, but Erin has bursitis, and she has told me before that when she eats really greasy food (such as McDonald's fries), the pain inflames in her shoulder. I looked up bursitis, and it says that causes are "overuse, stress or a pre-existing injury to that joint". Who knows. *Shrugs* It might (_might_) be something you might think about telling your/a doctor, but it's up to you. *Shrugs*


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## Fuzzy (May 12, 2007)

I also get annoyed when I've paid $$$ and it doesn't hit the spot. And I'm also one who will stuff myself at a buffet to get that feeling like I got my money's worth.

But I don't like to overeat in front of clients. I'll get the "normal" size lunch, while promising my belly that I'll get something else filling later. While it hasn't happened yet, I wonder what would happen if I ran into a client who was also getting more lunch.  

On occasion, I like the overly-stuffed beached-whale feeling, when you need to sit back, unbutton the pants, and relax. And belly rub.


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## Ho Ho Tai (May 12, 2007)

" Eyes Bigger Than Your Stomach?"

Used to be, but I think my stomach's caught up.


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## ZainTheInsane (May 12, 2007)

:shocked: <--with eyes like this it might take a while for my stomach to be bigger than my eyes


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## NancyGirl74 (May 12, 2007)

If I go food shopping when I'm hungry I get everything on my list plus some donuts, ice cream, potato chips and dip, a sub sandwich for later, and whatever strikes my fancy for "now" (which is to say the two minute ride home). If I go to the store having already eaten I get only what is on my list and those items are generally more healthy and reasonable. The difference between hungry-nancy and non-hungry-nancy is quite dramatic. Knowing this you'd think I wouldn't go to food shopping hungry any more...nope. That rarely happens and as a result I'm usually never without ice cream. One of these days I will learn.


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## Green Eyed Fairy (May 13, 2007)

Oh my..... here I go again..... talking about my compulsive over-eating :doh: 

After years on that roller coaster, I REALLY REALLY like it when I ACTUALLY get REALLY hungry- as in I EFFING KNOW MY BODY WANTS THE FOOD AND NOT MY DAMN MIND *phew*

Sometimes I just don't want to eat. Not that this happens often, but when it does, I love it. Why? Because I feel free and I'm able to forget food. I don't always know why I eat and I don't always make myself think about it. (Actually not thinking about it seems to be a really bad habit because I need to think about it to determine whether or not I'm actually hunger or upset/bothered by something) I honest-to-goodness can't tell the simple difference a lot of the time- and it's upsetting to me on some level to know/admit this again. :blush: 

Oh sh*t, this is getting my mind wound up so I'm going to stop now. Maybe I will think about this and post more about it later- but it really is a can of worms for me 


Btw, I HATE food- why? because like a good addict, I love it too damn much
Sometimes, when I think about how people "need" to eat, it's such a weird notion to me........


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## LillyBBBW (May 13, 2007)

Bleh! I hate that this has opened up something unpleasant for you.  You don't have to go through all of this if you don't want to. I don't want you beating yourself up.




Green Eyed Fairy said:


> Oh my..... here I go again..... talking about my compulsive over-eating :doh:
> 
> After years on that roller coaster, I REALLY REALLY like it when I ACTUALLY get REALLY hungry- as in I EFFING KNOW MY BODY WANTS THE FOOD AND NOT MY DAMN MIND *phew*
> 
> ...


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## Green Eyed Fairy (May 13, 2007)

LillyBBBW said:


> Bleh! I hate that this has opened up something unpleasant for you.  You don't have to go through all of this if you don't want to. I don't want you beating yourself up.



Nah, it's cool Lilly 
It's not your fault- and working it out is good for me. Avoidance is the whole issue after all, isn't it? 

If you don't mind, I will come back to this thread later because we never know if others like me are reading this. I have had these issues the majority of my lifetime- and have just taken up dealing with them over the past five years. If anyone else is like me but doesn't understand it, then perhaps I can show them it's not "lack of willpower" but a real issue they need to address, too.


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## LillyBBBW (May 13, 2007)

Green Eyed Fairy said:


> Nah, it's cool Lilly
> It's not your fault- and working it out is good for me. Avoidance is the whole issue after all, isn't it?
> 
> If you don't mind, I will come back to this thread later because we never know if others like me are reading this. I have had these issues the majority of my lifetime- and have just taken up dealing with them over the past five years. If anyone else is like me but doesn't understand it, then perhaps I can show them it's not "lack of willpower" but a real issue they need to address, too.



I don't mind at all. I was just worried that this thread would be twisting a dagger in your back and I felt badly about it, but as long as you're okay than I'm okay with it too.


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## Brenda (May 13, 2007)

I am often surprised how satisfied I feel when served a smaller portion than I think I want. If it is in front of me I will try to eat it and get myself ill. I don't mind the calories as much as I do feeling uncomfortably full. I avoid buffets because I feel I have to get my moneys worth and when I go to a restaurant that serves huge portions I will split with a friend to avoid that yuck feeling.

Brenda


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## NancyGirl74 (May 13, 2007)

Green Eyed Fairy said:


> Btw, I HATE food- why? because like a good addict, I love it too damn much
> Sometimes, when I think about how people "need" to eat, it's such a weird notion to me........



GreenEyedFairy, I can relate. I too feel like food is my addiction. I love food...especially certain favorites (mmm...ice cream and chocolate). I also love to feel satisfied after eating. The only problem is that more than half the time I take it too far and stuff myself to the point of near sickness...For me food and eating is not always about gaining or losing weight. For me its about making healthy choices. This is where my "food addiction" hurts me most. Making the right food/eating choice for myself in a moment of hunger is my biggest challenge. The saying 'My eyes are bigger than my stomach' pretty much sums it up.

Which leads me too...



Brenda said:


> I avoid buffets because I feel I have to get my moneys worth



Brenda, I sooo feel the same way when I go to a buffet! No matter how much I've eaten and how stuffed I'm feeling I still feel like I could have consumed more to make is more worth my money. :doh:


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## collegeguy2514 (May 13, 2007)

when i was a kid i'd do this all the time, especially when mom cooked something good. 

now, i think my stomach has caught up with my eyes. its rare that i get full.


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## olly5764 (May 13, 2007)

A tesco take away for four, and a sixteen inch pizza is normally just enough to stuff me, if not, I hit the doughnuts.


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## Green Eyed Fairy (May 13, 2007)

I'm back- You know Lilly- on the days/times I am SURE I am not compulsively eating, I notice that my appetite had up and down days. I really think it's hormonal simply because I notice birth control pills do a number on my appetite and the times I want to eat/more less always seem to be in the same time frame during my cycle. 
I have also heard some other women talk about hormones making them eat more at certain times.


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## Tad (May 14, 2007)

LillyBBBW said:


> I can't stand being hungry. The only thing worse than feeling hungry is eating a meal that doesn't satisfy the hunger.
> 
> ......
> 
> ...



Lilly;

Thank you so much for writing this, you described the experience so well! Maybe I don't get all that as strongly as you, but certainly all that you described I hit regularly....hating being hungry, hunger driving me to eat more than I really need so that I end up uncomfortably full, eating and not being satisfied, and overdoing eating to avoid hunger. Check, check, check, and check!

The one thing that I'd add is that often I'll eat a meal and feel unsatisfied "It wasn't what I wanted" I'll say, without knowing what I do want. If I don't reign it in I'm then capable of grazing on various things, looking for what it is that I want, until I'm physically uncomfortable from all that I've eaten--but still be wanting something.

To avoid the chance of hunger I will sometimes eat pre-emptively, that is eating something when I'm not hungry, because I think that otherwise I might end up being hungry later. 

I try not to let all of this run too out of control. Without it I'm sure I would less fat. If this was more powerful doubtless I'd be more fat. It freaks me out sometimes because it seems to be something that at best I can fight to a draw most of the time, but I can't actually control it, and I dislike not being able to control myself more thoroughly.

Thanks again for bringing this up. It is good to see that I'm not alone in this.

Regards;

-Ed


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## ChubbyBlackSista (Jun 5, 2007)

Sometimes not eating all day can make you not have enough food when you do eat a lot of food and ppl don't understand this they don't see why we are still hungry ya know but some ppl don't even understand simple things that aren't too complex for them. But yeah some people do eat more food than they can hold I know I do sometimes when I'm at family functions I'll get a lot of food that I knew I was not going to eat when I put it on my plate.


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## PickleAteIt (Jun 5, 2007)

GEF, I really look forward to your ruminations on food addiction. I, too, have an addiction to food. I love it and hate it. I need it and abhor it. I obsess after it and evade it. Sometimes I feel it is killing me, this desire... and this equally horrific anti-desire. 

Lilly, thank you for opening this thread. I shall watch it with due interest.


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## Green Eyed Fairy (Jun 5, 2007)

Pickle, it's pretty much the same as any addiction. I'm sure the alcoholic that is in love with a bottle of gin hates it just as much for all the control it seems to have over his life. 

I'm sure any day where an addict feels like they are "in control" or simply getting by in a way where they don't need the addiction of choice is a good day. 

Only thing is with the food, the alcoholic can pour that gin down the drain. I, however, still have to eat. It's the reasons why I'm eating that I have to think about- and I can still evade the conscious thoughts and eat for the wrong reasons sometimes. Overall, though, the recognition of the problem and understanding why and when of overeating compulsions goes a long way towards recovery. However, it's like being an alcoholic again- once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic. You just achieve levels of control/sobriety because you find other ways to deal with your emotions/problems.


Overeaters Anonymous, and any other addiction group meetings, uses the same book to read from as AA. It's all the same 12 step program- you just "insert addiction of choice" into the slot where the word alcoholic goes. I remember being at a meeting and someone reading a part out of that book about the havoc that alcoholics can wreak on the lives of their loved ones and friends. I sat on my pedestal for a bit, so glad that I'm not an alcoholic --- until it occurred to me that I must have wreaked my own brand of havoc at some point. I don't drunk drive from too many Big Macs yet certainly my body and health have suffered and that must have an impact on those around me. Also, the craziness that possesses me over food sometimes is sure to negatively impact others in some way. That was one realization that hit hard- but needed to be acknowledged.
However, the hardest realization I made was that I was a co-dependent. UGLY word when you realize it applies to yourself. I now realize how easily I fall into co-dependent relationships with alcoholics- they don't give me shit about the food. Why? So they can drink, of course......


I one time told my counselor about how I hear people talking about "needing to eat". They talk about it in such a "normal" way- as if the food is for sustaining life. For many years, it seemed so absurd to me. IT IS FOOD- you don't eat to live with it......... instead you use it for comfort, to forget, to make excuses, to abuse yourself and a reason to hate yourself. At least, that's how I used to see it. 
My counselor easily pointed out how I can't perceive food as a physical need because I have used it for everything but..... how true.


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## persimmon (Jun 6, 2007)

Lilly and Ed, my husband seems to have but two settings: hungry and overfull, and they aren't even mutually exclusive. Not hungry but also not overfull is this elusive transient state, so the result is that most nights he eats more than is comfortable and then has to lie down and digest.

Perv that I am, it's sexy as hell for me to watch (and hard for me not to enable) but I feel pretty bad about getting off on it. I try and space out his servings so he can at least try and approach not-hungriness asymptotically.

I don't think it's a compulsion thing for him. He describes it as really physically feeling hungry, and apparently he was fighting it the whole time he was thinner. Since we got together he's much heavier but his weight seems to have stabilised.

persimmon


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## PickleAteIt (Jun 6, 2007)

GEF, what you said is SO right on with my own perceptions. My own feelings. _And failings._ I have oft wondered "what the heck is wrong with me", and "am I the only one who does this to myself?" I hate to say it, but it is good to know that there *is* at least one other human on the face of this Earth who shares some of my "issues".

I thank you for your honesty and candour.


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## GrowingBoy (Jun 6, 2007)

LillyBBBW said:


> Is anybody else like this or am I a freak? I tend to overdo things a lot simply because of hunger fears and it seems my needs change so often it's hard for me to know how much is enough beforehand. I HATE the feeling of hunger.



One of the things I've learned is that I need to eat *before* I get hungry, since by the time that happens I'm on a downward slide. Typically this means letting no more than 2-3 hours go between meals. BTW, the same thing appears to be true of thirst for me -- by the time I get thirsty I'm quite likely to be dehydrated, with other symptoms (e.g. headaches, dizziness, tiredness) on the way.


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## PickleAteIt (Jun 6, 2007)

GrowingBoy said:


> Typically this means letting no more than 2-3 hours go between meals.



I do this as well. Try to eat _*before*_ the problems begin. The unfortunate result of that is everyone just sees me eating all the time, which only lends more credence to the "Oh look at the fat chick! She's always eating!" opines. :doh:


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## Green Eyed Fairy (Jun 6, 2007)

about the eating before you actually get hungry, one of the books I read about compulsive overeating called it "prophylactic eating"- as in you eat to prevent yourself from getting hungry


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## lizzy (Jun 10, 2007)

I should never go to the supermarket hungry(hadn't eaten all day)....sure a lot of us have done that. So, I buy all the wonderful things I haven't had in awhile. 

So, last night I figure: I'm really hungry, my first real meal of the day. As a result, I ate for 2 hours because I was so hungry: 9oz stuffed tortillini, 1/2 loaf ciabatta bread, few glasses of wine, 1 liter of water, seafood salad and a 1/2 of choc cream pie. Needless to say, I was beyond stuffed.


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## LillyBBBW (Jun 10, 2007)

Green Eyed Fairy said:


> about the eating before you actually get hungry, one of the books I read about compulsive overeating called it "prophylactic eating"- as in you eat to prevent yourself from getting hungry



I've been searching for foods that count. I try to make sure whatever it is that I eat is something that will stick with me for a good while. I hate pithy food that you eat it and then 40 minutes later you're hungry again. Prophylactic eating, Magnum brand. 

(This conversation could go bad pretty easily)


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