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AAAI-ISMA “One World” Cape Cod Conference

20 Aug

I initially was going to go to this conference last year. But with my new job and school, I had to post-pone the event. The AAAI-ISMA “One World” Conference offers a variety of certifications ranging from personal training, to yoga, to even a wellness coach.

I set my alarm for 4:45am. It was a two hour drive and I wanted to just have time to avoid traffic or parking finding issues. I started my early morning with “faux apple pie” made muffin top style. Strange thing is I am realizing I can’t stomach bananas very early anymore. No clue why?Let’s rewind a bit to yesterday evening. I wanted to bring snacks, just in case. There were six classes I was going to have to take and I was sure to be hungry before lunch, since I ate breakfast early. My mid morning snack was an apple and then early lunch was a Sweet N’ Salty Odwalla Almond bar w/ almonds and string cheese.Then for a second lunch/ early dinner and snack, I went to the market and picked up greens (on sale due to expiring in two days), chicken, grapes and a Chobani (on sale too). I ending up making a grilled chicken salad, topped it with some almonds and grape halves. I only spent around $5.00 for this. Awesome!I got to the conference a bit early, so I was hanging in the bathroom charging my phone. Once it got started, I signed in, got my papers and headed to learn with Mike Rickett! There were six classes that I had to take in total in order to be prepared for the exam.There is a booklet you can order before hand to study, but I opted to do my own studying.
We did a lot of learning about coaching, different techniques to use with clients, what types of tools to use for your business, and overall how to succeed in coaching and life! We also did a stress reduction/ mediation segment with Nora Anderson (Co-Founder of AAAI-ISMA). I felt very empowered and ready to take on the world and help people to realize their true potential, whether in weight loss, nutrition or overall health.Once the classes were done (oh and you could shop around too and get shirts, workout DVDs, and such) it was time for the exam. I was pretty nervous, but I think I did well. I will know in two weeks and explain things a bit more in detail if I pass. After the conference, I was starving! I knew there was a Whole Foods somewhere around, so I turned on the GPS and found the one I went to with Allan near Nantasket.I had chicken, brown rice, broccoli and baked plantain. My tummy gobbled it up, but I did manage to snap my little dessert. This really is purely decadent. When I finally got home, I went straight to pack for work and then plopped on the bed. I wasn’t physically tired, just mentally drained. I had an amazing time and I feel like I learned a ton and my eyes have been open to a whole new light!

Question: Have you ever gone to a conference (and which one)? How did you feel after?

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Posted by on August 20, 2012 in All About Sabrina, Meal Ideas Made Simple, Snacks For Munching

 

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April Fools’ Joke? Not Here!

01 Apr

I just realized that I posted the mini GIVEAWAY on April Fools’ Day. I hope you guys don’t think it’s a joke. It’s not, go enter lol! I really never see it as April Fools’ Day because it’s actually my parents anniversary. Funny right? My mom always tells me that they “fooled” themselves into falling in love. They are quite charming in there own special way. Twenty-five years of charm on this date to be exact!

My mom wanted to contribute to the giveaway. She, unlike me, loves chocolate during any season. She felt that the giveaway needed some chocolate, which is why she threw in this SkinnyCow Candy. I really want to try the dark chocolate one but she said the milk was really delicious! She said it tasted like chocolate covered rice crispies. This morning my good friend from work invited me to go to Planet Fitness with her. I haven’t been to an actual gym since last December. I was so excited when she told me she was allowed to bring a guest. I woke up bright and early, had a “faux” apple pie for breakfast, did some work and headed out the door.I walked to her house (12 minutes) and them walked over to Planet Fitness (another 8 minutes).  When I first entered I saw this! Look at these purple “hand” chairs. No comment what so ever! I wonder why is Planet Fitness so purple. Does anyone know?It was pretty huge and they had a TON of machines. I was pretty impressed by the amount of cardio machines they had and their weight training machine variety. I showed my friend basically the workout routine I was doing at the gym when I was losing weight.I warmed up on the elliptical for 20 minutes on level 3 and every two minutes I would change directions. I then did the treadmill for another 20 minutes. On the treadmill I alternated 8 incline at 3.5 mph and 2 incline at 4.5 mph every two minutes as well. I threw in a little running when I felt the mojo kick in. My goal is to get up to 6.0 mph. I’m up to 5.7 mph right now. I can do it!

We worked out for a total of an hour and a half! That is seriously the longest time I have spent in the gym since I went a few years ago with my dad. My dad liked to stay for an hour and half to two hours. Good times! After the gym, we walked back and I had my pre-packed post workout snack; banana and cashews.I’m catching up on some more work now, baking cupcakes, and cleaning. Mr. Herc seems to have no problem relaxing in my face while I try to be productive. Cats will be cats! April has started out amazing and I hope the rest of the month (and the year for that matter) keeps going like this. I like happy and productive days.

Question: What does your ideal productive day look like?

Mines includes a work out, cooking meals for the week, reading for school, cleaning and working on the blog. Sounds exactly like today, yay!

 
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Posted by on April 1, 2012 in All About Sabrina

 

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Peace, Cupcakes and Tofu?

21 Mar

Yesterday was such a beautiful today. Today, not so much. I can’t believe tomorrow is going to be almost 80 degrees! It was nice to relax on the green at my school during my break between classes. Peace and serenity.During my lab class, I found Manganese in my unknown solution. It was pretty much the only fun I had in lab. Seeing this cool purple color appear and identifying an element in an unknown solution was a blast.This morning I wanted a “muffin top” but I also was craving Chocolate Covered Katie’s Hot Apple Pie Pancakes. I ended up combining both ideas and added the apples into the “muffin top.” Basically it was my “faux” apple pie blended together. It was delicious, but the “faux” apple pie definitely has a taste of its own.After breakfast, I did the ab segment from the 15 Minutes Solution Yoga DVD and then headed off to help my mom out with her Science Fair. I made about 90 cupcakes for her sale and they smelled amazing.It was so hard not to just gobble them up, although the kiddies helped me out in that department. They were all gone within a few hours! I even was all dressed for the part. Don’t I look cute with a lab coat?When I got back from helping my mom, I was in the mood to make “Mojo” chicken. I remembered I bought a new tofu package. Why not use the tofu to replace the chicken?I made sure to press the tofu of excess water and poured the marinade over the tofu and some sweet peas. I then let it marinate for about two hours and then cooked in on a pan drizzled with olive oil. The result? I was surprised that the taste was pretty darn close to chicken.

I will definitely make this again and now that’s one less meat recipe I won’t miss. It’s funny because I still have the pepperoni pizza in the freezer that I designated as my “March meat.” And do you know what? I really don’t care for it and I’m not craving it like mad. Amazing huh?

Question: What brings you peace? Warm weather? A lovely yoga practice? Hanging out with a loved one?

For me, if all three were combined that would be peace perfection!

 
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Posted by on March 21, 2012 in All About Sabrina, Meal Ideas Made Simple

 

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“Food-Out”

11 Mar

Yesterday was a crazy day at work. Today was a crazy day at school. Well not really, I just think it’s crazy to be in the same class for six hours. Yuck.

Today I had the oh so delicious Chobani’s Apple Cinnamon Greek Yogurt. I am actually trying to my my own version of it. I made “baked” apple topping and layered it with cinnamon and Chobani plain greek yogurt. I’m going to let it sit for a day or two to see if it tastes similar. That way I’ll only have to buy a big tub of plain Chobani, some apples and save money.

Speaking of trying new things, I tried the Blue Diamond Vanilla Unsweetened Almond Breeze with Coconut. The result? It tasted exactly the same as the original! I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Even Victoria at Confession of a College Vegan, didn’t care too much for it. I didn’t taste any coconut. Maybe if I got the sweetened one it might have tasted like coconut? Who knows.

The only pro I have to say it that the sodium is reduced from 180 mg to 130 mg. I’m all about low sodium things, especially if I am going to mix it into something that already has a higher sodium content. But I think I’ll just stick to Silk Soy Milk or So Delicious Coconut Milk.

For some reason, I am quite “food-out.” I didn’t know what I wanted to eat for lunch today, so I just had a little bit of everything. I just realized I had a lot of cinnamon. I love cinnamon. It’s my favorite spice!

Here are my meals for today. Only nine more days left for the challenge. I knew for dinner I wanted to use that spinach from the other day. With black beans, tostones, quinoa, oh my!

Allan also spoiled me today with delicious Brazilian coconut candy called beihinjo, meaning little kiss in Portuguese. Here is a picture of what it’s suppose to look like. I ate them all… there were about 10 little balls… each around 50-60 calories each. You do the math lol.What can I say? I’m a sucker for coconut! The real kind, that is.

Day Nineteen:

  • Breakfast: Cinna-Crunch “Muffin Top” & Banana
  • Lunch: Chobani’s Apple Cinnamon Greek Yogurt, String Cheese, Apple & Kettle Cooked Chips
  • Snack: Clif Kid’s Honey Graham Bar & Almonds
  • Dinner: Quinoa w/ Black Beans & Spinach
  • Dessert: Brazilian Coconut Candy

Question: Do you ever get “food-out?” If so, how do you recover? Trying a new recipe? Buying new foods?

 
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Posted by on March 11, 2012 in Snacks For Munching

 

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Hot Apple Pie Pancakes à la CCKt

06 Mar

I have never had such an issue getting bananas to ripen. This is my second day without having a banana. The thought of eating a non-ripe banana just makes me squirm.

Even Mr. Herc is freaked my banana-less-ness. I think I going to lose my mind! Okay, maybe not literally but having a banana would be like someone having their morning coffee. You just have to have it!

Grr… I had to settle for an apple today. But then I remembered I had bookmarked Chocolate Covered Katie’s Hot Apple Pie Pancakes. The reason was because I wanted to have a pancake recipe I could make without eggs. I’m always using so many eggs and I love protein pancakes, but I hate whipping out the blender every single time.

The result? This vegan pancake was delicious and totally hit the spot. It kept me full for quite sometime. Here are the slight changes I made; I used 1/4 cup of Bisquick Gluten-Free (and didn’t add the salt or baking powder). I used 1/4 cup of rolled oats and added 1/2 cup of milk.

Instead of adding the apple to the batter, I sliced them, drizzled them with maple syrup and sprinkled with cinnamon. I then microwaved them for two minutes and pressed some onto the pancake after I poured the batter into the pan. I then used the remaining slices as topping and drizzled with a little more maple syrup.

Perhaps it was meant to be that I had no banana ready because who knows when I would have tried out this recipe. I’m definitely going to be using it and adding it to my rotation for sure. See? Exactly what I said I wanted to do yesterday.

I also made something quite interesting for one of my meals this week. It’s an old recipe made a little new. All you need to know for now is tofu is involved in a way to disguise that it’s there. I know, it makes no sense. Don’t worry, I’ll explain it tomorrow.

Here is today’s meal recap for the challenge. Check out dessert! Another serving of CCK’s vanilla ice milk, but I decided to go for the peanut butter one. I used soy nut butter instead and for the sweetener I added 1 tsp of pure maple syrup. All I can say is I had a delicious end to my day.

Oh and my mom did too. I made her dessert tonight and she loved it! She approves highly of the Chocolate Chocolate-Chip “Ice Cream.” And she is oh so hard to please. That says a lot!

Day Fifteen:

  • Breakfast: Hot Apple Pie Pancakes w/ Maple Syrup Drizzle & Apple Slices
  • Lunch: “Kale Chickpea Tofu Burger” w/ Kettle Cooked Chips & Greek Yogurt
  • Snack: Clif Blueberry Crisp Bar, Almonds & Clementine
  • Dinner: Veg Time’s Vegan Chili (Minus the Spicy Factor) w/ Rice and Baked Plantains (Using Only ONE Boca Burger for “Meat”)
  • Dessert: Chocolate Covered Katie’s “PB” Vanilla Ice Milk

Question: Do you have any favorite vegan recipes?

 
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Posted by on March 6, 2012 in Meal Ideas Made Simple

 

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Oh Science Courses, How I Despise Thee!

28 Feb

I had a quiz today for Chemistry. I also have an Anatomy test this week, a Chemistry test next week and a lab test the following week. Oh. My. Gosh. Tough few weeks ahead I tell you. Even Mr. Hercules is getting tired of the constant studying.Gee Sabrina, hurry up! Me want to sleep, now! I think I may have to agree with him just this once.On a more happy note, my brother passed his driver’s test today, yay! I’ve been helping him practice a bit and he has been using my car. I think I… okay, okay and my car, are good luck charms. First with one of my friends from college, Allan and now my brother.

We ended up going to TGI Friday’s for dinner (aka his favorite place) to celebrate and I saw they had tomato basil soup on the menu. You know I had to get it. I also ordered a Cesar Salad on the side, sans dressing, and I ended up using my own Sami’s Bakery millet & flax croutons. Soup and salad = delicious combo!Look at this strawberry shortcake monster my brother got to celebrate. He only ate a third and took the rest home to eat for tomorrow. Although he doesn’t know my dad just snuck into the freezer and ate it all!My dessert? Of course some delicious Vanilla Ice Milk blended with a dark chocolate square. This is seriously yummy and I love that I’m just basically having milk with some chocolate. I feel no guilt at all. As you can tell, I do like my “ice cream” more liquidy.Why yes, I almost forgot! The challenge for this week. I haven’t tried the kale yet but I did get this new vanilla yogurt to try by siggi’s. It is an Icelandic style non-fat yogurt. It was on sale, so I thought what the heck?Eh. I didn’t like it at all! It kind of reminded me of a super thick Greek yogurt. And I thought there couldn’t possibly be anything thicker than Greek yogurt. I guess I was very wrong. At least I tried it, right? I should get some bonus points.

Here is an update on the Veg Time’s 28-day challenge. It’s already the end of day seven! I can’t believe a week past. I’m thinking I am going to have to do one of these days DAMY style for you guys. That should be fun!

My lunch for day seven is always something portable because I have a very long day on Tuesdays (and Saturdays) and I never know when I am hungry. It is easier to keep portable eats on these long days. Enjoy!

– Day Six -

Breakfast: Cinna-Crunch “Muffin Top” w/ Maple Syrup Drizzle & Banana
Lunch: Tomato Basil Soup w/Basil & Mozzarella Flatbread & An Apple
Snack: Blue Diamond Nut-Thins & Laughing Cow Swiss Wedge
Dinner: Veg Time’s Black Bean Burger, Roasted Red Potatoes & Sugar Snap Peas (I subbed Chopped Cauliflower for Quinoa & Added 2 Tbsps Flour)Dessert: 1/2 Serving of Chocolate Mousse & 1/2 Serving of Vanilla Ice Milk

- Day Seven -

Breakfast: “Faux” Apple Pie w/ Maple Syrup Drizzle
Lunch: Fruit & Cheese Platter w/ Grapes, Laughing Cow Swiss Wedge, Blue Diamond Nut-Thins & a Luna BarSnack: Almonds & Red Delicious Apple
Dinner: TGI Friday’s Tomato Basil Soup & Cesar Salad (Sans Dressing)
Dessert: 1 Serving of “Chocolate Chip”Vanilla Ice Milk

Question: Do you have a current favorite food or recipe that your hooked on? I know I’m hooked on tomato basil soup and vanilla ice milk!

 
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Posted by on February 28, 2012 in All About Sabrina, Meal Ideas Made Simple

 

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Mommy To The Rescue!

10 Dec

Friday:

It was my last day of work! It went well, pretty slow but I can’t complain. One of my co-workers gave me a little gift. I am going to miss her so much. She was definitely like my mom away from my mom.

For breakfast, I had my last set of protein pancakes topped with some cinnamon toasted almonds, granola and coconut. I also brought a yogurt to have with the pancakes. Early rising  plus work means “need LOTS of protein…” well for me anyway.

Lunch was another broccoli and basil pesto pizza which I had with some kettle cooked chips on the side. Less is really more in this case when spreading the pesto sauce. It tasted way better!

For my other snacks throughout the day I had a banana, a McIntosh apple, and a light string cheese.

Dinner was pesto pasta with some ground meat mixed it. I didn’t take a picture because I was distracted by my hunger and how delicious it tasted. It’s going to be a new addition to my dinner rotation. Dessert…well the Trader Joe’s dark chocolate was gone too before the camera came out. I’m just that much of a dark-chocoholic.

Saturday:

Today my mom came to help take some stuff home. She will be here for a couple of days to get in some last minute exploring. I am also taking her to Vermont tomorrow Sunday! I get to go visit my alma mater…The University of Vermont.

Breakfast today is another “faux” apple pie, since I wanted to go to the gym and it’s pretty light and gives me tons of energy, but before the gym, Allan and I did a lot of cleaning and packing.

It took us almost three hours to organize, dismantle and throw away tons of things.

Everything looks so empty!

I had to refuel with a McIntosh and string cheese.

While I was getting ready for the gym, Mr. Hercules looked so tired. From watching us pack? I suppose.

When I came back from the gym, I was starving! Lunch was a chicken and broccoli pizza and some yogurt on the side.

I also made my mom my famous quesadillas, which she loves so much. It’s always her request when she visits me but now that I will be moving back home, she will surely have it more often.

We then went around and did a little shopping. It’s always fun to go shopping when you have a partner. I brought a cheddar Babybel to munch on while shopping. Keep healthy handy!

For dinner, my mom and I split a ceasar salad and I also had more pesto pizza. I just can’t get enough of it!

To end the night we are now watching Henry’s Crime and I just had some Vanilla Bean Brulée dark chocolate. Delish!

What’s your “famous” dish that everyone loves you to whip up?

 

 
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Posted by on December 10, 2011 in Meal Ideas Made Simple, Snacks For Munching

 

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Beans and Cheese = My Meat Alternative

15 Nov

Happy Tuesday! Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend and are ready to tackle a new week. It’s my last week of Bikini Body, so I am kicking it into high gear. Yesterday before I went to the gym I had my “faux” apple pie. It gave me good energy for the gym, whoo-hoo!

When I came back from the gym, I was pretty hungry but not too hungry for a meal. I had some turkey roll-ups with cheese and crackers. I also had a natural applesauce. Yum!

The walk to the gym is 12 minutes each way so I get to use that as a warm up and a cool down when I head back home. I did some studying before I went to work too. Chemistry is no joke!

For lunch, I had a black bean, carrots, spinach and cheese wrap with a McIntosh apple sliced up.

For my snack later on I had a chocolate chip Cliff kids bar. Sometimes I can’t find the s’mores one so this one taste similar to it.

When I got home from work last night, I made a barley, black bean, carrot and sugar snap peas bowl with a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese. This was pretty good. I could have done without the cheese, but next time!

Yesterday was pretty bean-y and cheese-y and it was also vegetarian too! I’ve been doing a lot of vegetarian meals. I’ve only had meat twice for dinner in the past 7 days and I feel awesome! I don’t feel as heavy and weighed down. I’ve only ever done no meat for 2 weeks. Maybe I’ll try the 28 Day Vegetarian Times challenge for real one day?

What’s your take on eating meat, whether for health or moral reasons?

 

 
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Posted by on November 15, 2011 in All About Sabrina

 

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Almonds and Coconut All Around

09 Nov

Sorry that it has been a few days. I’ve been mega busy! It was nice to go to the gym the other day. I hadn’t been to a real gym since May 2010, so it was nice to have that experience again. I did the elliptical and some weight machines for an hour. I did go to the gym again today and before I went, breakfast was another delicious faux “apple pie” slice. Boo there is only one more slice left!

When I came back, I sliced up an apple since I was pretty hungry but I wanted to take a shower and prepare for school first.

For lunch I just threw a bunch of things together from the freezer. I had grilled chicken, red beans, barley, rice and sugar snap peas.

Okay, so I couldn’t resist. I had the almond and coconut Kind bar. It was not as good as the apricots and almond one but it was still okay. So far in the Kind bar family it’s just the apricots and almond on my list.

Before heading to school, Allan and I went to the movie to see In Time. It was very interesting and makes you think about the way our society functions and what living in a time like ours really means. We went to AMC theater this time instead of downtown Salem. It reminded me of downtown Disney!

You know the gluten-free pizza crust by Bob’s Red Mill? I had bought some a little while ago and I wanted to make some more pizzas to put in the freezer but I also wanted to make something different.

I decided to make  a grilled chicken flatbread for dinner. I used some olive oil, garlic, butter and basil for the base. Then I added some chopped spinach and chicken on top. And for the final touch a sprinkle of mozzarella and parmesan. I should probably put up some form of recipe, right?

It was totally delicious and I will really be making this again. I made some plain crusts just that way I can make more at some other time. This week is going to be hectic since I do have to study for my test, which is next week. It’s going to kick me in the butt! Wish me luck and hope everyone is enjoying their week!

 

 
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Posted by on November 9, 2011 in Meal Ideas Made Simple

 

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Snow In October?

01 Nov

I forgot to show you what surprised me this past Sunday in the morning, snow! Can’t you believe it? Snow in October? Like most people are saying here is Massachusetts, summer went straight into winter this year. I even had to buy gloves last week!Yesterday, I did this “Bye Bye Inner Thighs, Bikini Bod Bootcamp” and oh my gosh when I woke up my thighs sore beyond belief! I guess that means it worked and I really did enjoy the workout. No pain no game right? Breakfast was another “faux” apple pie slice. I made four slices remember? You know I had to add the ice cream this morning. Come on its Halloween!I had it with some Purely Decadent in vanilla. It has 5 grams of fiber per serving and is dairy and corn free, yay! Lunch was Allan’s “mojo chicken,” which he makes with mojo marinade. I had it with red beans, sweet peas and barley.

Look at the new addition to my apartment and what I at my lunch on. This pretty table was given to me by my uncle when he came up to visit me a couple of weeks ago. We still have two chairs that need to be put up though, but isn’t it awesome? Yeah, yeah I know, I’m a sucker for household things.

Since I had to go to work today, I didn’t really get to dress up so for today I was a Hufflepuff student! Had the glasses, owl earings and my Hufflepuff scarf from my birthday. I just love Harry Potter.

Before work, I headed to Godiva since I had a little extra time. I never got my free piece for the month of October and I wanted to treat myself for Halloween. This one is chocolate soufflé and was really yummy! It tasted like chocolate mousse.As 3:00pm rolled around, I got the snack munchies. I had half of a Spiced Pumpkin Pie Cliff Bar. These bad boys are really good.Dinner was just one of my homemade pizzas with a Stonyfield yogurt. After heading home from work on this chilly night, I needed something to warm me up. I made some homemade hot chocolate. I never have to buy hot chocolate mix again seriously. You can even make a few servings of the dry ingredients and stick them into a container, which is what I did. Just need to take out about 3 Tbsp per serving if you make a huge batch.

With the hot chocolate, I had some chocolates that Allan bought me for Halloween. More Godiva! What could be better?

What were you for Halloween?

 

 
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Posted by on November 1, 2011 in All About Sabrina, Snacks For Munching, Sweets and Treats

 

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