MTG Salvation

Quote from DJ Troll

This is the year I finally got off my fat ass and am going to lose some weight. Right now, I am only doing cardio on the treadmill and I read that intervals is the best way to lose weight. Here's what I am doing:

time speed incline
1-5 3 3
5-10 4 4
10-11 5 5
11-13 4 4
13-14 6 5
14-16 4 4
16-17 7 5
17-19 4 4
19-20 6 5
20-22 4 4
22-23 5 5
23-25 4 4
25-26 5 5
26-28 4 4
28-29 6 5
29-31 4 4
31-32 7 5
32-34 4 4
34-35 6 5
35-37 4 4
37-38 5 5
38-40 4 4
40-45 3 3

First of all, congrats for deciding to lose weight, and more importantly, doing something about it.

Is this an optimal workout. I usually burn right around 500 cals doing it like this. Is this a good foundation to build upon as my staminia and endurance build up?

The 'best way' to lose weight is the 'way' that you stick with week after week. Everyone is different and responds differently to nutrition and exercise. The differences between an 'optimal' workout and sub-optimal workout are for the most part irrelevant to a beginner. Any non-idiotic plan will be effective, as long as you keep it up.

In order to lose weight, you have to burn more energy per day than you acquire. You can do this by eating less or exercising more (or both). Use the scale as your guide. Weigh yourself once a week at the same time of day, wearing the same clothing (or lack thereof) to track your progress. If you are losing weight, then you are in a calorie deficit and your program is working. Keep on doing what you're doing.

Also, you did not specify in your opening post, but I assume when you said 'lose weight' you were referring to bodyfat. If that is the case, I would highly recommended that you consider adding resistance training (weight lifting) as part of your program. When you are in a calorie deficit, your body will lose both fat and muscle. Adding resistance training shifts this balance to minimize muscle loss and maximize fatloss.

Bell assuming he plays (full practice participation Wednesday is a good sign) and Kaepernick.

Quote from Killer Of Giants

And he's still gonna kick my arse.

Hindsight is 20/20. I don't really think any of those choices are questionable except maybe Donald Brown over Ben Tate. I've been focusing solely on daily fantasy football this year, and this is my only team that hasn't suffered. Better lucky than good =)

You can always run both =)

I'm expecting Edelman to get a lot of receptions, but the Jets have a pretty solid defense and I think Ridley will benefit most from the Patriot's situation, particularly in the red zone. Also as you noted, Edelman will be targeted by the defense. I wouldn't be surprised if Thompkins is the highest fantasy scoring Pats receiver tonight.

Dez was pretty miserable the first half of last year fantasy-wise before he started producing at an elite level, and it's entirely possible he starts slow for the first several games. Common consensus would favor Dez as a no-brainer, but ultimately you should pick the one that you think will have a better game. I personally would only chose Edelman in PPR if my roster wanted a high floor player, and Dez in all other cases.

I heard that the PS4 is set to retail at $399, which will probably sway me Sony's direction this generation. They were also kind enough to post a video tutorial detailing the process of sharing used games on their new system.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWSIFh8ICaA

If you really want 'healthy' you should avoid commercial processed cereals. I usually stick with oats: rolled, steel cut, oatmeal. If oats aren't your thing though, I'm also a big fan of Organic Puffed Kamut.

The Most Interesting Man In the World drinks Dos Equis.... I'll take The Old Spice Guy.

I got to the store about two hours before they opened and a line had already begun forming. They only had 20 boxes to sell, but fortunately I was just close enough to the front of the line to get a voucher ticket and secured a box. I am looking forward to trying this beer.

Starving yourself to lose bodyfat will not work. Humans have a survival mechanism known as the starvation response which is the body's reaction to an extreme shortage of calories.

1. The fewer calories that you consume, the slower your metabolism will become.

2. In order to lower your metabolism, your body will begin looking for ways to decrease energy expenditure. Muscle is metabolically active tissue. Your body will start breaking down your muscle into glucose for energy.

3. Your body will produce more Lipoprotein Lipase, which is a fat storing enzyme.

You will lose weight initially, however this will include significant muscle loss along with the fatloss. Additionally, your weight loss will slow as your metabolism slows. You will have stronger and stronger cravings for food until eventually you start eating again. Your calorie intake will return to previous levels (or possibly greater), however your now diminished metabolism will cause weight gain whereas before it was your maintenance level. Additionally, you've permanently lost muscle and everything you gain back will be bodyfat. Essentially you'll end up at the same weight but fatter.

If you want to lose bodyfat the healthy way, you should eat enough calories to create a slight deficit below your maintenance level, and increase your amount of exercise.

I don't believe that you were consuming 2400-2600 calories at >230 lbs while on an exercise plan and still gaining weight. I suspect that your estimated calorie consumption was off and you were eating more calories than you realized. One of the more difficult parts of constructing your own diet is accurately counting the calories. I would recommend that you create your own menu for a week and accurately measure the calories of everything you eat for each meal. Set a reasonable target for a calorie deficit like 2300 calories a day. This is a reliable (albeit tedious) method as opposed to guesstimating. If you don't mind repetition, you can plan out your meals for a single day, ensuring that they reach 2300 calories, and then eat that same menu each day for a week.

The easiest deck to pick up and learn is Wish-less Belcher. The only decision that you really have to make each game is whether or not to mulligan. 'Do I have a Goblin Charbelcher or Empty the Warrens in my hand? If so, Keep. If not, mulligan.' Then you play your mana and win condition and see if they have an answer.

Since the deck is extremely quick and non-interactive, it is easy to learn because you can play through many sample hands in a short amount of time and you don't need a playtest partner.

Then again, your friend might not enjoy it or consider it a real game of magic. Additionally, the deck isn't very good, and often loses to its own inconsistency in addition to an opponent holding an answer. For reference, here's a sample decklist that T8'd SCG Columbus about two weeks ago.

For movie/series, I would recommend the anime series Last Exile which probably falls under the genre of steampunk. The airships in the series use a lighter-than-air technology rather than steam-power to fly, but it has all of the other elements of the genre. Plus it has a really good soundtrack.

For books, I would recommend Peshawar Lancers by Stephen H Silver which is an alternate history novel about the British empire which would also probably classify as steampunk.

For games, depending on the type of games that you like, Rise of Legends is a fun steampunk RTS spinoff of the game Rise of Nations.

It might be worth running Intuition over Cunning Wish as it allows you to run the full set of Shoals maindeck and it can still serve many of the same functions as Cunning Wish to find a pitch card or counter on the fly. Also I can't imagine that Impulse is better than Brainstorm if you're running shuffle effects.

Sweet, this looks like a fun deck to play!

Quote from kensanity

Here's a list I just put together. I want to put some Force of wills in here, that is why I opt for 4 x Progenitus and Reaper King (to satisfy alternate casting cost). But I dont know what to move, if anything. maybe the vector asps? or maybe i should get some blighted agents in? slower than asps and elves, but their evade is good.

I think that if you are running B/G, you should rely on pure speed to win games, which means sticking an attacker turn 1 via Glistener Elf, Vector Asp, Inkmoth Nexus and Crop Rotation.

Summoner's Pact tutors for Reaper King, Progenitus, and Elvish Spirit Guide (Daze insurance). This also let's you run Force of Will more reliably as Pact can act as a blue card in a pinch. You can also run Misdirection or maybe Unmask is better. I also think that a utility land or two to tutor for will help you get better value out of Crop Rotation, something like Sejiri Steppe and Smoldering Spires to help get your creature into the red zone.

I think that something like this is a good baseline to start from, though I suspect the list wants more ways of finding Blazing Shoal.

Quote from Duke_Shambles

Surgical Extraction is an amazing card...

...in the wishboard of my UWr Landstill deck as a one of.

If you're looking for a Cunning Wish target against Dredge, try Ravenous Trap. This card is terrible in Legacy (as is Extirpate).