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Ernie 'Fanboys' Cline rips off KING OF KONG and CHASING GHOSTS for THUNDERCADE? -- Bullshit! says Harry
Hey folks, Harry here... There's some jackasses on the net claiming that Ernest Cline - who just sold his script called THUNDERCADE to Lakeshore Entertainment - stole the story from the awesome documentaries THE KING OF KONG and CHASING GHOSTS.
Really?
Oddly - I read the script for this script months before either of those films premiered. Not only that, but Ernie registered the treatment with the Writer's Guild in 2006. Something, any reporter could look up.
But here's the bigger issue - is THUNDERCADE basically just KING OF KONG and CHASING GHOSTS? Um... no. This is a generational epic battle between real video gamers that grew up on PONG and Atari 2600 and ODYSSEY and COLECOVISION and all that... and these new young bastards with their A.D.D. crazed modern game systems that kill those old school systems in terms of graphics and sound... - The film is also about life long dreams, the honing of ones skills, trash talking and flat out funny stuff. There is a HIGH SCORE issue, but that's core to any Video Game orientated storyline... and was part of Ernie's original treatment submitted back in 2006.
I was going to hold off on this story till actors and the director began to be attached, but I kinda got a little pissed when folks that really had no clue what they were talking about began slagging on Ernie. He's about the purest geek I know... in fact when I went to Skywalker Ranch - I got his baby girl an EWOK shirt from the gift shop... and poor girl, Ernie makes her wear it. And the kid being of healthy good geek stock, loves it.
He's also been campaigning to make a documentary on me for the past 2 years - and I keep telling him to leave me alone. He may wear me down one of these days, but not likely.
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well is there?
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This talkback is one one that will seperate the men from the boys
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yeah great idea the space invaders movie... i can just see it now..da da duh duh da da duh duh in glorious quicktime...
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'it was time time of heroes..a time unlike any other. Life was quiet in little hymen, until one day little jimmy Scroggin noticed something in the sky.... DA DA DUH DUH
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Was one of those who implied this was a rip of "Kong of King," or something to that effect.
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co-starring the original GameBoy....
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some people speak before research.
thanks for setting the record straight.
go ahead, let him make the documentary.
it will be a blast. -
takes me way back... hunched over on my bed tissues in hand....
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minds drawn a blank there....
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in tintin and the case of the water retention
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you know bring it up to date... turn Driscoll into an itilian plumber and have kong lob barrels off the top of the empire state building.. just like printing your own money...
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Apr 10, 2008 6:50:00 PM CDT
HARRY IS A FAT SLUG WHO LIKES IT WHEN PEOPLE SUCK HIS DICK
by shakeythemohel
What's that you say? Harry Knowles coming to Ernie Cline's defense? Mixing business and personal relationships, Harry. Not proper. I love how this fat fuck comes to Ernie Cline’s rescue. What’s that you say? The guy that writes a Harry Knowles character into his movie and has “been campaigning to make a documentary” about him is defended by Harry Knowles himself? Who would have thought??!? Hey Harry, while you're at it go ahead and call CLOVERFIELD and CABIN FEVER the next coming again. Because I like it when you call mediocre and shitty movies AMAZING just so you can have filmmakers visit you in Texas because you're too fat to fly.
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Uh... don't you like it when people suck YOUR dick?
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That I do, i just choose not to give favors or preferential treatment in return.
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You have two blank articles that can't be clicked on the main page. Apparently they have spoilers in them. Is that why I can't click on them?
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To Harry's defense. This is his website. And its obvious his is at least friend with Ernie. And you forgot to include Hatchet in your list FYI.
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You make a good point.
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if you mean a good movie "about video games" or a good movie "based on a video game."
There have been some cool movies about video games, IMO... like THE LAST STARFIGHTER, THE WIZARD and obviously THE KING OF KONG.
But, most (or all) of the movies based on video games are... really bad (even if they are kind of fun to watch sometimes). These include SUPER MARIO BROS., STREET FIGHTER (sorry, Raul Julia), DOUBLE DRAGON, etc.
However, I liked the LARA CROFT films... but mostly because of Angelina Jolie's hot rack and ass. And, I didn't *hate* the first MORTAL KOMBAT film... but, I was only 14 when I saw it.
Plus, I didn't see any of the RESIDENT EVIL films, so I can't really comment there.
So, it just depends on what you like. -
And I gotta agree.
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just being a smartass.
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I'm a 35 year old gamer. I kick your asses everyday on Gears of War. I have more experience, more knowledge, more skill and amazing eye to hand coordination. So bring it on new skool!
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Who are lucky to call themselves a friend of Harry Knowles... Personally, I find it admirable and a true measure of someones character, when they come to the defense of their friends. Godd for you Harry, a very honorable thing you did.
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Jesus. It ain't wine. Put the fucker out.
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Apr 10, 2008 8:19:23 PM CDT
I still have my Atari, I boot it up about twice a month
by nomoredirtyjokespleaseweareyanks
Don't get me wrong, I love technology. I have both a Wii and 360 yet I stll find myself drawn to Yars Revenge, Asterix and Obelix, Pac-man, Space Invaders, and Moon Patrol. Then there's always my C64 with such classics as Defender of the Crown, Creatures, Gianna Sisters(Yeah I know it's just Mario but innocent girls who change to Rock n Roll Harlots is better than Mario), Test Drive etc. Finally after all this rambling I'm not sure if playing those old games made me better than new schoolers, but I've sure as hell had more fun being witness to the evolution.
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Because unlike the guys in these old skool gaming docs. I evolved with gaming. They still play the same games from 1983.
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With all due respect to the 2600, Odyssey, and Colecovision, no list of those early systems would be complete without the good ol' Intellivision, my system of choice. Everyone laughed at those little disc controllers with all the buttons, but isn't every major video controller these days pretty much a variation on that theme?It may just be generational, but the old blocky graphics interest me a lot more than the new stuff, which I mostly can't stand. The more "realistic" it gets, the more repulsively it becomes unlike the reality it's trying to imitate. It's like the difference between a primitive old synthesizer (old-school video games) and a modern, super-slick acoustic-instrument-simulating synthesizer (new video games). The new stuff's more advanced, yet repulsive to any discerning eye, while the old stuff has genuine character and ages well.To each their own, but make mine Mattel.
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While listening to trippy 80s techno music. It just never got better than that.
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Original Adventure. The Wumpus. Ah, they old text-adventure days. Now, that was gaming.
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...different movie: DODGEBALL.
No, it's not anywhere near like KoK or CHASING GHOSTS; it's just another movie about insane gamers and a video game competition straight out of THE WIZARD. But it IS almost a beat-for-beat rehash of DODGEBALL. Except not funny. I'm still a little bothered that this sold.
I found the only funny moments in the fact that there's a rehab for addicted gamers. That was entertaining. The rest is crap. Knowing now that it's by the guy who wrote FANBOYS...I won't be seeing FANBOYS. -
Apr 10, 2008 8:38:40 PM CDT
What about Supercars 1 & 2 on Amiga 500
by nomoredirtyjokespleaseweareyanks
those games rock.
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then there are the arcade classics like Strider, Golden Axe, Forest Wardner, Bionic Commando, 10 yard Fight, Chase HQ, Bad Dudes Vs Dragon Ninja, Hard Drivin', even Mortal Kombats and especially the Street fighters.
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Find Captain Funkaho's "My 2600", use for opening and closing credits of your film.
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Billy Mitchell has an ego sure, but he has a right too. The records speak for themselves, but honestly the movie doesn't show enough of the real Billy. Only in one scene. When he gives the late Doris Self a Q-bert machine. Did you know he helped pay her medical bills and for her funeral. Billy also gives to all kinds of charities. Last year he bought a PS3 for a child with cancer in the hospital and helped pay his medical bills. Billy Mitchell is not this evil monster. He's sure and confident of himself. That to some comes off as cocky and mean.
Lastly that one scene where Billy gives Doris a VHS tape at the airport and says, you can lose your luggage but don't lose this tape. That's not the tape with the DK score. It's a copy of the Superbowl. But the filmakers with their clever editing would have you think it is, to make the story more compelling. Much like reality TV does on a daily basis. Either way, it makes for a really good doc. Everyone should check it out. -
I'm very interested to see how Chasing Ghosts portrays Billy Mitchell. I fear though KOK beat a deadhorse to the ground, because Walter Day sounds like a broken record. He's obsessed with that Life magazine shoot. His whole life seems to revolve around it. I am most interested in seeing (SPOILER) the Life magazine reunion scene in Chasing Ghost.
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Has anyone heard any rumors of when Chasing Ghosts is going to hit DVD? Also, there may be another documentary coming out in a few years featuring the same folks. The guy who did BBS the Documentary was working on a film called Arcade around the same time KoK and Chasing Ghosts were being put together. He's currently set to release a documentary about text adventures so I'm not sure if Arcade is dead in the water or what. I hope not.
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It was bad ass...at the time. I had football and Pitfall and Space Armada. Fuck Yes.
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Apr 10, 2008 10:20:00 PM CDT
I still have some of the cartridges and the little slide in card
by underoos hero
that went on the controlers. Fuck Yes.
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It's like with Fanboys. South Park did a breaking in to Skywalker ranch style episode. Also there is a story on Trigger Street called " Keeping a Lid on the Jar Jar about Fanboys breaking into Skywalker ranch.
Some writers do come up with Similar ideas. It is possible with six billion people on earth.
Good luck Ernie. I liked the Wired article by the way.
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Harry would be a great subject. Yet I feel a documentary on the making of fanboys would be very, very interesting especially if half the rumours coming out of the production are true.
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I've known Ernie since before he was even an inkling of a produced screenwriter - I've known Ernie as a tech support man, a Poetry Slam God and just in line for Star Wars movies here in Austin. He is a friend - and I don't even begin to pretend to hide that. HOWEVER - when hack writers that don't even know that they're trying to say he ripped off THE KING OF KONG - and don't even get that title right - and didn't bother to check with the WGA on when this script and treatment were registered (a fairly easy process btw) - and I do know this was prior - and I can correct the story - whether its about a friend or not... I will correct it. As for praising CLOVERFIELD to meet JJ.... I still haven't met JJ - and he never came to Austin to screen diddily. He invited me to the STAR TREK set, but that honor should go to Merrick, he's the Trek junkie. As for CABIN FEVER - I like, but do not love that film. I do love both of the HOSTEL movies though - and Ernie isn't like Eli or JJ. He's not an established filmmaker. The sell of FANBOYS could have been a one shot thing. But his script for THUNDERCADE didn't get any hype or push from me - and it found a home on its own merits. And he has another script, that I bet you'll hear about getting set up, very soon, that is outside of his comfort zone of empowered geek fantasy. And from there you'll find Ernie getting jobs often. He's very talented - and just happens to be a friend of mine for around 10 years. And he did ask me to leave my wife and become his lifemate... - but man, Ernie just doesn't have the tits to lure me away.
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And I hate Harry's lack of proper punctuation (Get in touch, Harry. I'd love to proofread for the site.), but seriously- are you in the industry, Shakes? What the fuck do you do? What have you ever done creatively? Go crawl back into bed and beat off. Atleast Harry's getting ass in his chair.
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doesn't mean that it wasn't greenlit based solely on the success of those two films.
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....there's a gift shop...at the skywalker ranch??! I thought that was Lucas's house, does he actually try to sell merchandise to the friends that visit him?! /me confused
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Being gay is a choice.
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I remember reading years back about Ernie's old BUCKAROO BANZAI sequel fanscript that was making the internet rounds and how it supposedly was even optioned at one point. I finally read it and thought it was ok until it went spastic towards the end when BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA's Jack Burton and Doc Savage and his crew show up. What? The Super Friends and Endora from BEWITCHED too busy?
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Don't insult that guy at Chud just because you're too enamored with your friend to realize that the writer was fucking JOKING when he didn't get the name of the documentary right. And you know, maybe if you'd stop shamelessly promoting a movie which any intelligent person can tell is going to be fucking shitty, and which is getting panned by better critics than over and over again, there wouldn't be such a backlash against your little buddy.
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When I checked AICN at home on my Mac you could see articles in those empty spoiler boxes. Here at work on my PC, you can't. Done and done.
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Shakey pretty much admitted that he was in the wrong already. So leave SHAKEY alone! Anyways just reading that stuff that Harry put with registering your script and this and that with the WGA makes me realize that there is a steep learning curve in getting into the film industry. Its no wonder people don't make more in depth movies/books about how they got started.
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Cube was kind of like Berzerk, with out Evil Otto.
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on my Mac at home. The one above the Battle in Seattle article was about Fast and Furious 4. The spoiler was that it is about Paul Walker and Vin Diesel making sweet man love on the hood of a rice rocket.
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Robert, I must say that I can't wait to see you and Allison Krauss in concert in June. And to answer your questions, I have done things creatively and I do work in the industry. And as far as beating off, I do it out in the open because i like the feel of the cool air on my warm cock.
Harry,
I apologize for two things. One, the personal attacks. That was wrong and low of me. It was only done out of frustation. Two, this IS in fact your site and you can do whatever you want.
To be fair, I NEVER said that Ernie ripped off KONG. I was only making comments about your immediate and unrelenting defense of him. Nevertheless, I feel that even if Ernie wrote this long ago (which I will trust you on), at this point April 11,2008 THUNDERCADE has no reason to move forward as a project simply because KING OF KONG's existence. It's an AMAZING doc, as we can all atest to, and trust me the narrative feature version of KONG has a lot to live up to. It's a great mixture of emotion, gaming, and just a great underdog story. (and no i dont work for new line or contra film who is producing it). I have not read THUNDERCADE and will make a point of reading it this weekend, though i hear its the DODGEBALL version of video gaming. At the end of the day, instead of Hollywood churning out another DANTE'S PEAK/VOLCANO scenario, let's see if can find some original ideas. There are projects that I've worked on where suddenly a movie comes out or an announcement hits the trades and you have to go, SHIT, someone beat us to it. It sucks to waste months or even years of your life on something just to put it on a shelf, but it happens. It happens because someone beats you to the mountain top and there's a flag already there. That's my main point. If the flag has been planted, the mountain has been climbed, just find another one to climb and chalk everything up to experience. I read FANBOYS and rather liked it, though I read a later draft with revisions by Adam F. Goldberg, so not sure who contributed what. And I have seen an early cut of the film (a loooong time ago) and again I enjoyed moments of it. I hope FANBOYS sees the light of day and I hope that the cut does everyone involved justice. There, that's me. Apologizing, but also hopefully making my point sans vitirol. -
that sounds good. Though, Harry is better off doing "Celebrity fit club" or whatever because they have bigger budgets.
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It came out in 2007.
The documentary was talked about online since it was simple idea. Who you gonna trust... Email your treatment idea's to yourself people.... Protect your shit! Harry your wrong on this one bud. -
I think it was called BANG THE MACHINE, and the trailer was all kinds of great.
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In the past 2 weeks - diet and gym is a damn good match.
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In theaters and on dvd before we ever see Fanboys. Sad but true...fucking Hollywood bullshit. -
Harry, I am 150 pounds overweight and the most I have ever lost in a month period so far is 12 pounds. So I don't know how you lost twice as much as me, in the half the time.
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you never know... Still pissed that he stood up for someone who could have stood up for themselves... Seriously even if the guy reg'd it in 2006 he still was 2 years to late on the concept. and talking shit about CHUD and they're staff ain't cool. You can;t skirt around this one. The film took 3 years too make and information about it was leaked online ages before it was done. AintItCool and Chud will be around for a long, long time. You all shouldn't act like fucking pissy children cause you all have to live with each other for till your dead... So you should let your brave enough too fight his own battles friend stand up for himself and keep your nose out of it. This site talks shit like this at least 4.5 times a year. You can always expect someone to throw a hissy fit around here. It's so fucking juvenile. Leave the whining to the Backtalkers. Like me!
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but that's how all diets start. You lose weight fast the first month, but then as time goes by it gets slower and harder and you lose your enthusiam. Hope that doesn't happen to ya though. Good luck buddy.
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And I'm the target audience. Movies about people gaming suck. You guys can wax poetic all you want about The Wizard, but that movie blew chunks. The premise of this one sounds weak. Unless you've got Will Ferrel or Jack Black playing the older gamer, you're in deep shit with this one.
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I'd love to see that. And lose all that weight and become a pentathlete and shit to give it a happy ending. That would be one helluva story.
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where your on super armored motorbikes destroying armies n stuff like an overhead shooter
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Harry, you want--you dream--about your bio winding up on video (don't pretend you've discouraged the guy. I mean, really, your life wouldn't play like Hemingway. The camera would perpetually pan from your computer to the fridge--not exactly a quest nor an odyssey). But the credits could open with a 007-type of panache (think of the James Bond theme or "Live and Let Die" performed on a tuba). And there could be cameos contributed from anyone who overstays his/her welcome at fanboy conventions (Sid Haig would do it, ditto Gunnar Hansen. The guy who played the kid in CHILD'S PLAY would "cameo" for a six-pack).
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did I mention that I was at the skywalker ranch? because i was . . .
sorry. just feel like i've read in the lasts two posts harry's put up. -
The generation gaps continues with people who are the sort you would expect to understand these sort of things. Modern videogames can't hold up to classic? Classic has no place anymore? Bleh. Classic has a place because it has to. It was the first. To me modern videogames aren't about the competition. Yes stuff like Halo and Gears of War creates that view, but the future of videogames to me has ALWAYS been story and immersion. Sending you to a place you wouldn't normally be able to go. Games like Half-Life 2 and Bioshock combine both elements that I put these games above anything else put out on the market. Puzzle games are good fun, competitive Socom, CS, Halo are fun too. But nothing comes close to the experience that has found in the Metal Gear series, Shadow of the Colossus and others. To me it's like having fun watching Transformers then going and seeing Lord of the Rings.
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Just 'cause Eli Roth--the modern Bert I. Gordon--credits you with the concept or whatever. By comparison, THE SINFUL DWARD looks like a Welles masterpiece. And, by the way, this year's Lt. Elroy Carpenter award goes to Turd Fergeson (anyone who has seen a rerun of McHALE'S NAVY may appreciate the significance of this trophy).
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My bad.
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Funny how almost every story Harry posts somehow always comes back to himself. Seriously Harry you're practically a household name, relax and stop shoving your "achievments" down our throats. We get it, you're connected, not bad for a glorified internet mascot. Congrats, now leave the internet reporting to those that just was to report the intertainment news, and stop annoying us with your "look at me, look at me." antics.
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at my place. friends come over, they can buy coffee mugs with my logo etc. its nice.
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lifting weights is the answer man! its the key to living a lot longer. the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn (even when youre doing nothing). its fuckin great! remember - it takes 28 days to form a habit, once you are used to working out, youll never want to stop! make sure youre eating a heap of protein, 6 meals a day etc. too fuckin easy!
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That's a little too much too fast. Losing weight is good but losing it too fast can do more harm than good. Be careful and take it slow.
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if youve got a lot to lose.. that can happen when you start.. but yea, 2-3 pounds a week is ideal
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is high but not unusual. It's gonna slow down a lot tho, so don't be discouraged. You system was shocked by a drastic diet change I guess and the cardio...so good start, keep at it but...2-4 pounds a week SHOULD be your average.
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pounds in 2 weks. Improper management of you T2D will put your ass in an early grave! Your not adequately metabolizing your food when you don't take your insulin, and it goes right through you. Don't do what my grandfather did- don't guage your overall feelings too guess when you nneed your shots.. Take your sticks often, check your glucose levels, and use your insulin when your supposed to- you didn't lose all of this weight on exercise alone in 2 weeks time- absolutely impossible! I say this cause I care. I seen this disease kill someone I loved dearly...
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and not just cardio. otherwise ya never change the shape of your body.. you become a "skinny fat person"
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Tron anyone?
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Games in cassette. Those were the days.
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The movie sucks, but those babes make it good.
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I lost 24 lbs four years ago.
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