How an engineer loses weight

We’re constantly bombarded with ads offering the latest scientific way to lose weight – usually when you add the word ’science’ in your claim then you know there’s going to be money involved. Wired.com has a fantastic article on how to lose weight mathematically . . .

Want to drop 10 pounds in two months? All you have to do is the math, says Autodesk founder and Hacker’s Diet author John Walker. Here’s the skinny:

1. Multiply the pounds you want to lose by the number of calories in a pound of fat: 10 x 3,500 = 35,000.
2. Divide the total by the days you’ll diet: 35,000 ÷ 60 = 583.
3. Calculate your Basal Metabolic Rate 100 calories per ten pounds of body weight
4. Calculate your calories expenditure from exercize
5. Then use the formula (BMR+Exercise)-diet=total allowed calories

Or stated more simply: if you can eliminate 100 calories per day, that can add up to about 11 pounds a year, says Dr. Brian Wansink, author of Mindless Eating. 100 calories – that’s less than the calories in a can of Coke! Substitute one glass of water for one can of soda a day, and you’re well on your way to permanent weight loss.

Obviously exercise can help but eating less also makes sense. And how do you know if you’re over-eating?

One night, eat only half the amount of food on your plate. Wait 30 minutes, assess your feelings of satiation, and then wait 90. If you’re still not hungry, you’ve probably been overeating. Most people grossly overestimate the amount of food they need to feel full, says Dr. David Kessler, author of The End of Overeating

You can read more of this article at wired.com

A great knife for that teen chef

We love good design at the Spirit House and the you know design is good if some love it and others hate it – so when it comes to knives we think this is pretty neat:

Give one of these to a teenager and you’re going to get some help in the kitchen. The blood stain is permanently set on to the blade and the evidence tag is a nice touch. And at $20Aus or so, it’s quite a bargain. You can buy it online at Neatorama’s shop.

World’s best street food

Concierge.com have a great listing of the world’s best street food. Food plays such a big part in a country’s culture and street food should be top of your list of things to see and do in any country.

I know a traveler’s main concern is getting sick, but sometimes it’s worth running the risk.While in India I saw people flocking around a Lassi vendor – I lined up (which doesn’t help in India) then shoved my way to the front and was handed a terracotta cup with chilled foamy liquid. My friends looked in shock as I took my first tentative sip – which tasted like heaven. Drinking the rest of the lassi I gave my ‘covermore insurance card’ to my companions (who wouldn’t even try it) and said if anything happens to me tomorrow they could call the number on the card and get me to a hospital.

What was more surprising to my cowardly traveling companions was the next day I was absolutely fine – sure, we all saw the Taj, explored the ruins of Fate Puhr Sikri but my lassi was the highlight of the trip.

Car-Baked Chocolate Chip Cookies

Parking in the sun can be a real pain when you get back to your car – steering wheel too hot to touch, seats that burn and sauna-like conditions while you wait for the aircon to do its job. If you have to park in the sun for a few hours, why not bake some cookies on your dashboard?

No need for air freshener as your car will smell like fresh baked cookies… find the recipe and instructions at Car-Baked Chocolate Chip Cookies, step by step | Baking Bites

Best burger recipes

Chef Jeffrey Starr ran a competition where people send in their best burger recipes… here are some of the best recipes for better, tastier & juicier burgers

Your Recipe Book

Your Recipe Book is a great example of those on-demand photo books that allows your friends and families to submit recipes and messages via email to yourrecipebook website. You set up a template and the recipes and messages are automatically set up ready to print.

Once you get enough recipes and pay £99.00 you’ll receive a lusciously bound hardcover, full colour, shiny cookbook with a bunch of personal stuff in it, custom made for you. A great gift idea and sure to hit Australia soon.

Your Recipe Book the ideal personalised gift for a wedding birthday or anniversary

Edible picture to lay on your cake

This is fantastic… Sugarcraft will print your pictures on a frosting paper with edible inks so you can put them on cookies or cakes etc.

You can even add your own text in your own font. The site is a mess but you can see the possibilities and, what’s more, if you want to get into the edible picture business they can supply you with all the gear to set up your own business.

Prawn peeling machine

This is so cool… a neat video showing you how a prawn peeling and deveining machine makes light work out of something so time consuming and messy. I’d love to see the prototypes for this cool machine and see the napkins on which the design would have been sketched out on. See the video here: Jonsson Shrimp Peeling Systems – How Jonsson Peeling Works

Sandwich Art

Really cool sandwiches that your kids will love but are too cool to eat:

See more at: Sandwich Art
thanks neatorama

Great history of chocolate

The national association of manufacturers have great videos on how stuff is made. Their video on chocolate making is fascinating… from beans to bars… lots of history as well: In Aztec days. how many coco beans was a rabbit worth? 10… there’s one for your trivial pursuit nights.
This whole website is worth visiting and browsing for its many interesting videos.
via make blog