Ab "albino" redwood

Ab "albino" redwood

Technically, albinism means lacking melanin, so a plant cannot be an albino. They do however have their own version - a plant that lacks chlorophyll. They are unable to photosynthesize, so must live parasitically off of other redwood trees in order to survive.

There are only approximately 60 "albino" redwoods known and their locations are kept top secret.

Difference between Static and Kinematic Indeterminacy

STATIC INDETERMINACY

The aim of structural analysis is to evaluate the external reactions, the deformed shape and internal stresses in the structure. If this can be accomplished by equations of equilibrium, then such structures are known as determinate structures. However, in many structures it is not possible to determine either reactions or internal stresses or both using equilibrium equations alone. Such structures are known as the statically indeterminate structures. The indeterminacy in a structure may be external, internal or both. A structure is said to be externally indeterminate if the number of reactions exceeds the number of equilibrium equations.

KINEMATIC INDETERMINACY

The joint displacements in a structure is treated as independent if each displacement (translation and rotation) can be varied arbitrarily and independently of all other displacements. The number of independent joint displacement in a structure is known as the degree of kinematic indeterminacy or the number of degrees of freedom.

Causes of Seismic Waves

Seismic waves are the waves of energy caused by the sudden breaking of rock within the earth or an explosion or a sharp impact (as used in petroleum exploration). The waves result most commonly from sharp releases of energy and the fracturing of rock accompanying fault movement, tectonic plate subduction, or activity within a magma chamber. The waves are the energy that travels through the earth and is recorded on seismographs. It has nothing to do with sound.
Seismic waves are caused by earthquakes. The earthquakes must occur underneath or near the ocean, be large and create movements in the sea floor to generate the seismic wave. They can be caused by submarine landslides or infrequently by submarine volcanic eruptions and rarely by the impact of a large meteorite in the ocean.

Also 
When an earthquake fault line shifts or moves it will send out seismic waves- they are sound waves radiated from the earthquake as it ruptures.

Research Examines Limestone in Concrete

Research Examines Limestone in Concrete

The initial age strength of high volume fly ash concrete can be amazingly increased by the replacement of limestone with a small amount of fly ash.

In a recent laboratory test, it is observed that a concrete mix with 50% cement replaced by the fly ash can perform well as compared to conventional concrete while keeping the carbon savings and cost constant. The performance level is increased by the replacement of 25% fly ash with limestone powder, by volume, or with Type III Portland cement.

Dale Bentz, a chemical engineer at the institute of National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), says “A lot of the industry is using 15, 20, even 25 percent fly ash in their mixtures, but this research demonstrates that you can go beyond that and maybe replace 40 up to 60 percent of your cement with fly ash and limestone.”

Research Methodology

The researchers initially prepared nine mixtures: mixtures with 40% fly ash by Volume, Mixtures with 60% fly ash by Volume and control concrete. The fly ash used for this project is of two types i.e. ASTM Class C and ASTM Class F. A mixture with replacement of limestone powder with 25% fly ash is also prepared.

Fly Ash

Fly ash is obtained as a by-product during the combustion process. For commercial purpose, it is mostly obtained from coal burning power plants. The properties of fly ash largely depend on the properties of burning coal. If bituminous and anthracite coal is burned, Class F fly ash forms, while Class C fly ash is obtained from the burning of sub-bituminous coal or Lignite.

“These are two vastly different fly ashes in terms of their calcium oxide contents and also in terms of the way they behave in cementitious systems,” Bentz says. “The F ash is basically inert at early ages and the C ash produces extensive retardation. So it’s really a problematic ash to use.”

Results

After testing the samples, it is observed that the conventional concrete had a strength of 2,870 psi at one day, as compared 3,880 psi compressive strength, of the highest-strength mixture of the research. Where as for 28 days strength, the C fly ash concrete mixture gave strength of 8,840 psi as compared to conventional concrete having value of 6,750 psi. The cost test was also against the conventional concrete. The conventional concrete cost $53.61 per cubic yard where as the fly ash concrete costs $48.41 per cubic yard.

Researchers Discussions

The limestone performs an important role in a concrete mixture, offering clear advantages and synergisms, Bentz notes. “A pert of the cement grains are dissolved, and form a solution, which can later give cement grains from a chemical process,” Bentz explains. “Some of them have increased in their size helping the pores to be filled. The purpose of limestone is to increase the area of precipitation.”

“Limestone Powder serves as a backbone, because basically it is the increase of hydration process, from which we get both initial and final strength of our material,” Bentz says. “The limestone increases the process of hydration by increasing the surface area of precipitation as well as it reacts with aluminates present in the fly ash or cement.”

Keywords: Cement, fly ash, limestone.

Star Wars: George Lucas

George Walton Lucas Jr (born May 14, 1944) is an American film director famous for his epic Star Wars and Indiana Jones trilogies. Star Wars in 1977 is considered by some to be the first "high concept" film, although others feel the first was Steven Spielberg's Jaws.

Biography

Lucas was born in Modesto, California. His father George Walton Lucas, Sr., ran a stationery store. Lucas attended Downey High School, and he was interested in racecar driving. He dreamed to become a professional racecar driver. However, a terrible automobile accident abruptly ended that dream, and therefore, changed his views on life. During the 1960s, Lucas studied cinema in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television, one of the earliest universities to have a school devoted to film. There he made a number of short films, including an early version of THX1138, later to become his first full-length feature film. 

After graduating, he co-founded the studio American Zoetrope with Francis Ford Coppola, hoping to create a liberating environment for filmmakers to direct in outside the perceived oppressive control of the Hollywood studio system . American Zoetrope never really succeeded, but from the financial
success of his films American Graffiti and Star Wars, Lucas was able to set up his own studio, Lucasfilm, in Marin County in his native northern California. Skywalker Sound and Industrial Light and Magic, respectively the sound and visual effects subdivisions of Lucasfilm, have became among
the most respected firms in their fields. Lucasfilm Games, later renamed to LucasArts, is highly regarded in the computer games industry. Quit the Directors Guild of America after some disputes over the opening credits in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980). The movie had no opening credits and the DGA fined Lucas with $250.000, which he paid, and eventually quit.
FROM Wikipedia Source: 
Wikipedia Source

"Many major American motion pictures have done away with opening credits, with many films, such as Van Helsing in 2004 and Batman Begins in 2005, not even displaying the film title until the closing credits begin. Similarly, Welles's Touch of Evil originally waited until the end to display the title as well as the credits; however, Universal Studios took the film out of his hands, and his vision was not restored until 1998. Had Universal not wrangled Touch of Evil away from Orson Welles, it might very well have been the first film to follow this practice.

George Lucas is credited with popularizing this with his Star Wars films which display only the film's title at the start.^[1] His decision to omit opening credits in his films Star Wars(1977) and The Empire Strikes Back (1980) led him to resign from the Directors Guild of America after being fined $250,000 for not crediting the director during the opening title sequence.However, Hollywood had been releasing films without opening credits for many years before Lucas came along, most notably Citizen Kane, West Side Story, 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Godfather."

Nevertheless, "title-only" billing became an established form for summer blockbusters in 1989, with Ghostbusters II, Lethal Weapon 2 and The Abyss following the practice. Clint Eastwood has omitted opening credits (except for the title) in every film that he has directed since approximately 1982. Some more recent films do not even show the film's title.

Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now (1979) went so far as not to feature the title at all, except briefly as graffiti in Colonel Kurtz’ (Brando) compound.

On October 3, 1994 Lucas started to write the three Star Wars prequels and on that November 1 he left the day-to-day operations of his filmmaking business and started a sabbatical to finish the prequels.

Currently Lucas' reworkings of the originally released Star Wars films has attracted criticism from some fans, as he is refusing to re-release the originals on DVD. Others claim that Lucas's decision is based around his wish not to re-release films which to him represent unfinished efforts.
The latter have sometimes accused the former of believing they know more about Star Wars than its creator. Most, however, believe that the original versions should be preserved at least for historical value, since those versions were the ones responsible for creating the fanbase and changing the entire Hollywood studio film paradigm.

Innovator

Besides his directorial and production work on movies, Lucas is the most significant contemporary contributor to modern movie technology. In 1975 Lucas established Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) in Van Nuys, CA, which was responsible for the invention the special computer assisted camera crane "Dykstraflex " that was used for most of the space fight sequences used in the Star Wars movies (technology which was later adopted by most other visual effects production units, such as those responsible for "Battlestar Galactica" and "Star Trek: The Next Generation"). Through ILM,
Lucas spurred the further development of computer graphics, film laser scanners and the earliest use of 3D computer character animation in a film, Young Sherlock Holmes . Lucas sold his early computer development unit to Steve Jobs in 1988, which was renamed Pixar.
Lucas is also responsible for the modern sound systems found in many movie theaters. Though Lucas didn't invent THX, he is responsible for its development.

Now Lucas is spearheading digital photography for movies. Though personal digital photography is now mainstream, most movie studios still use traditional cameras and film for movie production. Lucas departed from this model by filming Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones almost
completely digitally. He showed the result to a select audience of the Hollywood elite, before the movie's general release. For the presentation, Lucas used a special digital projection system. The attendees said the movie had the clearest and sharpest presentation they had ever seen.
Despite the successful demonstration of the technology, movie studios are slow to move to this new model, in part because of the high price of the digital equipment. But digital movie photography has several advantages: Digital editing is much easier and less expensive since the movie is
already in digital form.

Delivery of movies to cinemas is much cheaper since the digital media is much smaller than traditional reels which can weight hundreds of pounds.

Movies stored digitally are less susceptible to decay and degradation in quality.
Transferring digital movies to DVD is much cheaper since both forms are digital.
As time goes on, Lucas is expected to make more contributions to modern movie making technology.

Quote
"A movie is never finished, only abandoned."

Most notable movies

THX1138 (1970) (director, writer) 

American Graffiti (1973) (director, writer) 

Star Wars (1977) (director, writer) 

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (executive producer, co-writer) 

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) (co-writer, executive producer) 

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983) (executive producer, co-writer) 

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) (co-writer, executive producer) 

Howard the Duck (1986) (executive producer) 

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) (co-writer, executive producer) 

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999) (director, writer, executive producer) 

Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002) (director, co-writer, executive producer) 

Source:
From Wikia: Starwars
Trivia George Lucas

Brain scans show that dogs are as conscious as human children

By GREGORY BERNS

Source: How Dogs Love Us: A Neuroscientist and His Adopted Dog Decode the Canine Brain

FOR the past two years, my colleagues and I have been training dogs to go in an M.R.I. scanner — completely awake and unrestrained. Our goal has been to determine how dogs’ brains work and, even more important, what they think of us humans.

Now, after training and scanning a dozen dogs, my one inescapable conclusion is this: dogs are people, too.

Because dogs can’t speak, scientists have relied on behavioral observations to infer what dogs are thinking. It is a tricky business. You can’t ask a dog why he does something. And you certainly can’t ask him how he feels. The prospect of ferreting out animal emotions scares many scientists. After all, animal research is big business. It has been easy to sidestep the difficult questions about animal sentience and emotions because they have been unanswerable.

Until now.

By looking directly at their brains and bypassing the constraints of behaviorism, M.R.I.’s can tell us about dogs’ internal states. M.R.I.’s are conducted in loud, confined spaces. People don’t like them, and you have to hold absolutely still during the procedure. Conventional veterinary practice says you have to anesthetize animals so they don’t move during a scan. But you can’t study brain function in an anesthetized animal. At least not anything interesting like perception or emotion.

From the beginning, we treated the dogs as persons. We had a consent form, which was modeled after a child’s consent form but signed by the dog’s owner. We emphasized that participation was voluntary, and that the dog had the right to quit the study. We used only positive training methods. No sedation. No restraints. If the dogs didn’t want to be in the M.R.I. scanner, they could leave. Same as any human volunteer.

My dog Callie was the first. Rescued from a shelter, Callie was a skinny black terrier mix, what is called a feist in the southern Appalachians, from where she came. True to her roots, she preferred hunting squirrels and rabbits in the backyard to curling up in my lap. She had a natural inquisitiveness, which probably landed her in the shelter in the first place, but also made training a breeze.

With the help of my friend Mark Spivak, a dog trainer, we started teaching Callie to go into an M.R.I. simulator that I built in my living room. She learned to walk up steps into a tube, place her head in a custom-fitted chin rest, and hold rock-still for periods of up to 30 seconds. Oh, and she had to learn to wear earmuffs to protect her sensitive hearing from the 95 decibels of noise the scanner makes.

After months of training and some trial-and-error at the real M.R.I. scanner, we were rewarded with the first maps of brain activity. For our first tests, we measured Callie’s brain response to two hand signals in the scanner. In later experiments, not yet published, we determined which parts of her brain distinguished the scents of familiar and unfamiliar dogs and humans.

Soon, the local dog community learned of our quest to determine what dogs are thinking. Within a year, we had assembled a team of a dozen dogs who were all “M.R.I.-certified.”

Although we are just beginning to answer basic questions about the canine brain, we cannot ignore the striking similarity between dogs and humans in both the structure and function of a key brain region: the caudate nucleus.

Rich in dopamine receptors, the caudate sits between the brainstem and the cortex. In humans, the caudate plays a key role in the anticipation of things we enjoy, like food, love and money. But can we flip this association around and infer what a person is thinking just by measuring caudate activity? Because of the overwhelming complexity of how different parts of the brain are connected to one another, it is not usually possible to pin a single cognitive function or emotion to a single brain region.

But the caudate may be an exception. Specific parts of the caudate stand out for their consistent activation to many things that humans enjoy. Caudate activation is so consistent that under the right circumstances, it can predict our preferences for food, music and even beauty.

In dogs, we found that activity in the caudate increased in response to hand signals indicating food. The caudate also activated to the smells of familiar humans. And in preliminary tests, it activated to the return of an owner who had momentarily stepped out of view. Do these findings prove that dogs love us? Not quite. But many of the same things that activate the human caudate, which are associated with positive emotions, also activate the dog caudate. Neuroscientists call this a functional homology, and it may be an indication of canine emotions.

DOGS have long been considered property. Though the Animal Welfare Act of 1966 and state laws raised the bar for the treatment of animals, they solidified the view that animals are things — objects that can be disposed of as long as reasonable care is taken to minimize their suffering.

But now, by using the M.R.I. to push away the limitations of behaviorism, we can no longer hide from the evidence. Dogs, and probably many other animals (especially our closest primate relatives), seem to have emotions just like us. And this means we must reconsider their treatment as property.

One alternative is a sort of limited personhood for animals that show neurobiological evidence of positive emotions. Many rescue groups already use the label of “guardian” to describe human caregivers, binding the human to his ward with an implicit responsibility to care for her. Failure to act as a good guardian runs the risk of having the dog placed elsewhere. But there are no laws that cover animals as wards, so the patchwork of rescue groups that operate under a guardianship model have little legal foundation to protect the animals’ interest.

If we went a step further and granted dogs rights of personhood, they would be afforded additional protection against exploitation. Puppy mills, laboratory dogs and dog racing would be banned for violating the basic right of self-determination of a person.

I suspect that society is many years away from considering dogs as persons. However, recent rulings by the Supreme Court have included neuroscientific findings that open the door to such a possibility. In two cases, the court ruled that juvenile offenders could not be sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. As part of the rulings, the court cited brain-imaging evidence that the human brain was not mature in adolescence. Although this case has nothing to do with dog sentience, the justices opened the door for neuroscience in the courtroom.

Perhaps someday we may see a case arguing for a dog’s rights based on brain-imaging findings.

How Girls Get Ready for a Date

GUYS VS GIRLS MORNING WAKE UP

Dating Tips For Obese Guys

Every once in a while, I like to poll my readers on the NerdLove Facebook Page and on Twitter to find out what issues they feel are holding them back when it comes to dating. And the most common answer is: “I worry that I’m too obese to date.”

I’ll be honest: I’m not surprised. America’s a big country and we’re getting bigger. According to the Center for Disease Control, 69% of adults 20 years old and over are overweight and 35% are considered obese. And yet even when the number of people who are considered overweight form the majority of the population, obesity is in many ways one of the remaining acceptable prejudices. Last week, the #obeseshamingweek hastag was trending on Twitter as numerous assholes and shitbags¹ took to the network and decided to mock obese people – mostly women, but men too – from behind the dubious anonymity of their Twitter accounts.

Now we could dwell on the fact that these various winners are not gym-sculpted Adonnises themselves, but instead I want to focus on the positive and work on improving people’s lives instead of trying to stroke the hate-boner. Besides, the best revenge is living well and there’s nothing quite like seeing the underdog succeed despite all of his or her disadvantages.

I mean, c’mon. The cognitive dissonance alone can make people’s heads explode.

Now, I’m going to be blunt: dating can suck when you’re obese. Societal standards of beauty are not only arbitrary but often literally impossible to achieve without Photoshop and make-up and there are assholes out there who feel empowered to mock obese people with impunity. But being large and in charge doesn’t mean that you’re doomed to a life of being forever alone; in fact, you may find that you have far more options for finding love, sex and happiness than you’d ever believe possible.

Women Will Date Obese Men

Large dudes will frequently lament that their size automatically disqualifies them from dating – they believe that there is simply no way a woman could possibly like somebody who’s body isn’t rippled and shiny like a buttered ear of corn. Except… they totally do.

There are plenty of notable examples out there if you look around. Kevin Smith, for all of his fashion sins that I will get into in a second, is happily married with a lovely wife and daughter. Patton Oswalt, same story. Josh Gad, ditto. Seth Rogan is no Abercrombie and Fitch model but he’s also happily married.

It’s easy to forget this when the TV and magazines are showing you nothing but image after image of cut, veiny men with swimmers builds with women draped all over them like fur stoles, but women actually like a far wider range of body types than we’d think. Ask five women what their ideal male build is and you’ll get six different answers.

Take, for example, this image from a feature in the UK periodical The Sun; they flipped the script by posing ordinary men in underwear ads a la David Beckham or Christiano Ronaldo:

The gentleman on the left has ended up with quite the devoted female fanbase; many many women prefer large and burly even when society insists that they only like guys who look like they’re 3% body obese.

More importantly though, it’s important to remember that attraction is about more than just looks - it’s about personality, presence and what you bring to the table. There’s no denying that looks help. But not only are they not the only factor, they’re the one that’s the most mutable.

Obese Isn’t Simple

Part of being able to accept that women will find you attractive is to understand that being obese isn’t a cut and dry issue.

Weight in the US is a loaded subject; society often equates being heavy with being lazy and/or weak-willed. Being obese is treated as a referendum on your worth as a person – people see it as an implication that you’re only obese because you simply don’t want to change badly enough. After all, if they’d just apply themselves, obese people could lose weight easily! Right? Right?

Well… not so much. Some people can lose weight without barely trying while others can exercise and diet until their eyes bleed and barely see the scale shift.

As we’ve been learning over the years, weight gain and loss is more complicated than a simple issue of “calories ingested <= calories burned”. The most obvious issue is the simple fact that not all calories are the same; otherwise people could lose weight while eating a restricted calorie diet that consisted primarily of sugar and Doritos.

They’d be suffering from scurvy in short order, but hey, at least they’d be fitting into 32 jeans, right? Do teeth really look as good as skinny feels?

The societal disdain for heavyset people is so ingrained that even people who are obese feel ashamed about who they are and that they have to apologize for some personal flaw that leaves them with the mark of Canes² when the truth about obesity is as much about external factors as it is about food consumption.

Over the years, we have been discovering that there are innumerable other factors that affect body obese accumulation and weight gain. Many people who’ve struggled with weight-loss have been found to have Celiac disease or other gluten allergies that prevent the body from absorbing vitamins and minerals properly, sending the body into “survival mode”.

Other scientists have discovered a strong link between the chemical Bisphenol A and weight gain; BPA is found in many consumer products, including bottled water and food packaging, making it an invisible but nearly unavoidable part of our lives.  

Still more factors include the ubiquity of high-fructose corn syrup in our food, the negative side-effects from processed soy products and even just plain old genetics and evolution. Moreover, all obese people aren’t created equal; scientists have found that many people – as many as 1 in 4 – can be overweight without suffering from the health issues such as higher incidents of heart disease, high blood-pressure and type-2 diabetes. BMI is a profoundly inaccurate measure of just about everything and being skinny doesn’t guarantee good health.

Working With Your Body

The next key is simply to accept that your body is your body and your shape is your shape and there is only so much that you can do to change that.

Your overall shape is going to be controlled by your bone structure and genetics as much as is by your diet and exercise. Some people simply have long, skinny frames and will always be lean and lanky no matter how much they try to bulk up. Others are shorter and squatter and will always appear heavier.

Some people have shorter torsos and trunks, which will affect their visual proportions; a longer torso makes you look skinnier even if you’re overweight while a shorter one makes you appear wider.

Even if you do lose weight, it’s no guarantee that you’re going to look like the cover of Men’s Health; a visible six-pack is as much the result of genetics, dehydration and favorable lighting as it is eating nothing but broiled chicken breasts and steamed broccoli and five hundred crunches a day. A low-carb diet might help you lose weight, but it’s not going to change your underlying frame; if you’re naturally compact and dense, then you’re not going to jog that away.

Speaking for myself: I’m short and broad. I inherited the O’Malley shoulders and I’m naturally barrel-chested; no amount of dieting or jogging is going to make that smaller. I’m always going to look more like a beer keg than Henry Cavill no matter what I do or don’t eat.

Dressing Sharp For Larger Men

Once you accept your shape, then you can work within it.

Too many people who are concerned about their weight try to dress to conceal it, usually wearing clothes that are too big and loose. The problem is that all this does is draw attention to the fact that you’re trying to hide things – and making you look worse in the process. When you’re overweight, you’re already dealing with the stereotype of being sloppy and lazy; trying to get by in nothing but sports jerseys and relaxed-fit jeans just confirms it in the eyes of others.

You want to wear clothes that actually fit you. Even if you’re big, wearing clothes that fit properly will flatter your profile and make you look more attractive. Yes, I realize that you’re sensitive to people noticing your stomach or your nech. I realize that baggy clothes seem more comfortable. Trust me: clothes that fit right may feel odd at first but you’ll quickly start to realize how much better it feels when your clothes support you instead of trying to conceal you.

You want simple clothes that define your shape rather than just hang. Bold prints are a bad idea as they tend to draw attention to your size. You’ll do better to dress in solid, uniform colors that will unify your silhouette. Contrasting colors – a dark shirt over light pants, for example –  provide a visual break and draw attention to the lines of your body, making you look even larger.

You want fitted shirts rather than simple box-cuts; these will fit your build better instead of looking baggy and shapeless. Whenever possible, you also want a spread collar; a narrow collar will just emphasize the width of your face. Similarly, you want straight-leg jeans instead of relaxed fit and everybody wants flat-front slacks. Whenever possible, you want thinner materials; cashmere sweaters in the cold are much better suited for the larger gent rather than a chunky cardigan. Jackets – especially dark wash denim or sport coats can help provide shape and definition. Opt for three-button blazers; they lengthen your silhouette nicely and avoid pulling at your clothes. Vests are also a good idea; the V shape flatters your torso and draws attention to your chest instead of your neck or midsection, plus add a bit of natty stylishness; it’s hard to call someone sloppy when they’re wearing a sharp vest.

Larger accessories also help by keeping everything in proportion; the trend to oversized watches works in your favor here.

Now having said all that…

Eat Better and Exercise

Yes, I realize that I said earlier that diet and exercise isn’t the ticket to being skinny. This isn’t about losing weight, this is about being healthy. The average American diet is fucking horrible. We eat far too much processed food, drink far too little water and on the whole don’t get nearly enough exercise. This doesn’t just contribute to weight issues but to depression, mood-swings, digestive issues, poor sleeping habits and a weakened immune system.

Trust me, I’m a doctor. NOW GIVE ME ALL YOUR MONEY

Plus: eating like shit? Makes you ugly. Beyond the common junk-food boogieman of acne, a shitty diet makes your skin look sallow while your hair gets lank and brittle.

Changing up your diet is one of the easiest and best ways to improve not just your health but your skin-tone, hair, energy level and mental outlook. Whether or not you lose weight is secondarycompared to the other benefits.

Ideally, you want to eat as clean as possible; that is, you want to avoid high-fructose corn syrup (which is, admittedly, difficult as hell) and all processed food and beverages, including diet sodas – my own personal vice. You also want to avoid simple and refined carbohydrates as much as possible – this includes white flour and sugar while ensuring that your diet is heavy on green leafy vegetables, lean proteins and complex carbohydrates.

It can be difficult – most processed foods are specifically designed to be addictive and salt, obese and sugar have similar effects on the brain to cocaine and heroin – but the overall results are worth it. A cheat day per week, where you allow yourself to eat what you’d like makes it easier to eat healthily  90% of the time without losing your goddamn monkey mind.

You also want to exercise more. The average American lifestyle is profoundly sedentary; we spend the better part of our lives just sitting in place when we’re designed for movement. Just as with a healthier diet, increased exercise has benefits above and beyond simple weight-loss; exercise helps release endorphins into your blood, improving your mood as well as your creative output.

Also, I’m going to be honest here: the stereotype of a obese man is someone who gets sweaty just looking at stairs and can barely walk five feet without gasping for breath and needing a break. This is unattractive under the best of circumstances, but doubly so if you’re already large. If this is you, then you definitely need to hit the gym. Being active and exercising will build up your endurance and cut down on jokes about having a heart attack from the strain of picking up your mail. Making the transition between “obese” and “Large and strong” can make all the difference in the way you see yourself.

You don’t necessarily need to hit the gym three or four times a week – forcing yourself to do exercises you hate is only going to make you quit. You just need to find activities that you enjoy that provide a cardiovascular benefit whether it’s jogging, playing sports, kayaking, bicycling, walking or studying martial arts.

You also want to be doing more weight lifting. Most people who start an exercise program tend to focus on cardiovascular exercise without including a weight training regimen, which is a mistake. Weight training acts as a booster to the benefits you gain from cardio, adding intensity to your workouts and improving the overall results. Weight-training exercises do wonders for your physical health, improving joint function, circulation and muscle tone. If you’re heavier than you’d like to be, developing more muscle helps increase your basal metabolic rate, increasing the amount of calories you burn just by being awake and semi-active.

If you lose weight, then great. But whether you do or you don’t, a proper diet and exercise will help improve your life overall, making you feel better and giving you increased confidence.

And we know how women feel about confidence…

Don’t Hide Yourself

One of the common mistakes I’ve seen obese guys make is to either make excuses for their size or attempt to laugh it off by making jokes about cushioning or how much more there is for people to love. Both of these approaches are mistakes; they betray a sense of insecurity. Making jokes about your size is almost always a defense mechanism, trying to get the insult in before anybody else does to take the sting out of it… and it just calls attention to the fact that you’re big and you feel awkward about it.

The key is simply to not bring it up at all. You’re big, you know it, she knows it. Presenting yourself as though you’re simply not ashamed of yourself is far more attractive than trying to armor yourself up with jokes.

Don’t get me wrong: humor is attractive… but defensive or self-deprecating humor goes from “funny” to “really kind of pitiful” very quickly. The last thing you want to do is send off signals about how you hate yourself.

To that end: it’s important that you maintain proper body language. Big guys will tend to try to minimize themselves and hide their stomachs by slouching or curling in to not take up as much space. Standing up straight with your shoulders back will speak more to your confidence – a far more attractive trait – than constantly seeming as though you’re apologizing for existing.

Similarly: don’t hold back and try to fade into the background until someone approaches you. A wide, genuine smile and a hearty laugh and a willingness to make conversation makes you a more appealing figure; it turns you from “who’s that obese guy” to “who’s that fun guy everyone wants to talk to?”

Don’t Sweat The Haters

Cold hard truth time: there are going to be people who are going to dislike you off the bat for being large. There will be women who roll their eyes at you for “daring” to come up to talk to them. There will be guys who try to squeeze you out by making jokes about you being huge. There will be people who are going to mock you for the temerity for thinking that you can be attractive.

That’s actually a benefit in disguise. It’s always handy when the assholes self-identify so that you know that you can safely disregard their opinions as bullshit.

Yes, it’s easy to say “grow a thicker skin” in response to the abuse that gets heaped upon you… but that doesn’t mean that it’s not necessary. There are assholes out there who live for causing other people misery. There will be days when it seems like everyone is determined to shit all over you, personally. But in the end, their opinions don’t fucking matter. They’re showing themselves to be fuckheads, so why should you gift them with the power to hurt you? Why should you care about what some fuckhead thinks?

The women who reject you are especially giving you a gift – they’re letting you know right off the bat that you don’t need to waste your time on them. Each woman who reacts badly to you is one more person you never have to think about again, giving you more time to find someone who getsyou and wants what you have to offer.

Look: you’re going to get rejected. That’s part of dating. You’re going to get rejected by women you approach, even women who may like you platonically. The thing is: this happens to everyone, obese or skinny, tall or short. Even the hottest men out there get shot down – I’ve watched legendary lady killers put their best moves on women only to see them go home alone.

The answer to haters is perseverance. The answer to rejection is to try more, to date more.

There are people out there who are looking for a guy like you. Don’t make it harder for them to find you.