ElusivePete Member

I'm having a bit of an unconventional bachelor party next weekend, and it'll probably be largely alcohol-free. Me and a few of my friends are massive geeks, so the party's going to be a "Lord of the Rings" movie marathon (all 3 fully extended editions, obviously!). It'll be in our local church hall with an awesomely huge…

Lately, my chocolate habit has been my major challenge. I never thought of myself as a big chocolate eater until I started logging my food, and then I realised just how much I regularly consume (and how scarily many calories it contains!). I never intend to cut it out entirely, but I've certainly been working to reduce my…

Yes, definitely. I cook my meals in large batches as much as a week in advance, and incorporate a lot of vegetables. It's amazing how filling and satisfying a 300 calorie meal can be if it's crammed with tasty veggies.

I'm a gamer too (PC / console / board). Also a professional computer geek. :) Anyone's welcome to add me.

Mine seems to underestimate the steps a bit. I've had similar problems with other pedometer-type devices though. I think it may be because I've got unusually short legs!

I tried cooking with kale for the first time tonight. I made a risotto with chicken, bacon, finely chopped broccoli, and shredded curly kale. I'm not a big fan of it to be honest, but it's something I'll probably use occasionally to add some more greenery into a meal. Might try it in a vegetable soup sometime.

Don't trust the database for sodium values. The majority of entries I see are incorrect, often because people seem to enter the salt value instead, not realising it's different from sodium. You need to divide the salt value by roughly 2.5 to get sodium. For example, if something contains 500mg of salt, then it really only…

I use the Map My Walk/Fitness sites, and had serious problems getting them to sync with MFP. Some workouts wouldn't sync at all, and others would create duplicates. Like many other people, I reported the problem, but no progress ever seemed to be made. I eventually gave up and now I just manually enter my walks/workouts in…

My favourite one I heard recently: Female lifters can avoid getting bulky by using a narrow grip.

I'm living just outside Hull these days (although I'm originally a Scot).

Try searching for "generic [something]"; e.g. "generic apples", or "generic carrots", and so on.

I prefer the science of Half Foods. Cut your food in half before you eat, and it is scientifically proven that (if cut correctly) it will only have half the calories. That means you can eat twice as much! :)

Parsnips are usually my favourite. I loooooove spicy parsnip soup, but I would happily just eat it all day every day if given a chance, so I have to restrain myself! I'm also partial to butternut squash in some forms. It's fabulous if it's roasted with paprika, then blended into a soup. Again though, I have to be careful…

I've never had a panic attack following exercise, but have certainly ended up feeling sick and dizzy, seeing weird blurry lights, and generally been on the brink of passing out. That was back when I first started doing karate, and was a sign that I'd severely overdone it. I was very overweight, and very new to exercise, so…

My fiance and I looooooove this fantastic recipe for gluten free Choc Chip Chickpea Blondies: http://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/2013/04/flourless-chocolate-chip-chickpea-blondies-with-sea-salt-vegan-gluten-free-healthy/ Delicious and cakey and moist. Can't beat it. :)

When I started on MFP, it took 3 weeks before I saw any loss at all, and then suddenly a few pounds seem to come off all at once. I'd say give it another couple of weeks to see what happens.

I really struggle to tell the difference as well. Even if I know it's fake hunger, I'll often give in anyway, so it's important to tackle the problem from other angles too. One of my battles has been trying to avoid or mitigate the triggers. For example, I know that feeling stressed makes me want to eat. Instead of trying…

My gym is surrounded by playing fields, a university campus, and some residential buildings. The gym's windows are all heavily tinted though, so you can't really see any of it.

I'm getting married next July (2015), although I'm the groom rather than the bride. :) I'm hoping to be hitting my ideal weight by the end of this year or thereabouts, so that I've got plenty of margin for error (and plenty of time to get measured for my kilt etc. without worrying about changing size). I think my only tip…

The resistance level of your cross trainer, the speed you maintain, and your weight will all affect your actual calorie burn. Unfortunately, the estimates on MFP don't (or can't) take any of that into account, and for some reason always end up being ridiculously high. To give you an idea, I've been using cross trainers for…

In my experience, you have to use energy to have energy. :) When I feel lethargic or lacking energy, I typically find that it's just my mind playing tricks on me. What's really going on is usually a lack of motivation or determination. If I force myself to hit the gym or the dojo despite how I feel, I rarely have a problem…

I tried eating a vegetarian once, but he was too stringy.

I lose a few pounds whenever I trim my beard. I always seem to gain it all back again within a few months though. :(

I've lost 35 pounds in the last 4-5 months, but people I see regularly don't seem to say anything unless it comes up in conversation. Even then, it's only a handful of people that I'm close to, and who already know I'm making an effort to get healthy. I think the problem is that most people don't feel comfortable saying…

I think I started noticing my heartrate slowing a little within about 3 or 4 months of doing regular cardio (2-3 moderately intense hours per week, plus some walking and other light stuff). It wasn't a big change at first though. I started at around 80-90 bpm, and it's taken me about a year and a half to get it down to ~60…

I go over on sugar all the time. It doesn't really matter though if you're not diabetic or whatever. Sticking within your calories is the most important thing. Personally, I changed my diary settings to track saturated fat instead of sugar, as that seems much more significant from a long-term health perspective.

I kicked a major Pepsi Max habit recently, and I think the lack of caffeine has been really good for me. My day-to-day blood pressure is lower, and I sleep a lot better. Other than that, I don't think there's much difference between Diet Pepsi and (sugar-free) flavoured sparkling water. They tend to contain a lot of the…

I'd been trying to get healthy for a few years. I'd been steadily increasing my activity levels until I was hitting the gym and doing karate several times a week. I'd improved some of my eating habits a little, but the bottom line is that I was still overeating so I wasn't losing any weight. The real "moment" came when I…

Plain tinned vegetables aren't unhealthy in the slightest. Obviously fresh tends to be a little more nutritious, but there's certainly nothing unhealthy about most tinned ones in my experience. You can always check the label to make sure.