A calorie is a calorie. Just the same as a watt is a watt or a volt is a volt. Consume more than you burn and you will gain weight. This is an undisputed truth, and I’m ok with it. I can live with not eating mac and cheese all day because when I do… Read More

In 1770, Johann Georg Schröpfer made a floating ghost appear to a room full of people. Using skulls, incense, crucifixes, and holy water as part of his ritual, everyone believed the ghosts were real. In reality, the apparitions were the result of nothing but a lantern and some moveable glass slides. The trick later referred… Read More

When selling a diet book, telling the truth is fairly far down the list of the typical marketing strategy. No one wants to hear that eating too much is what led them to poke new notches in their belt. I’m yet to see the day that titles such as “your fat is your fault”, or… Read More

Once, while sitting in the cinema, I watched a man in the row in front open a Tupperware box and proceed to eat its contents. I remember initially feeling admiration for that amount of dedication to meal prep. Then the smell, like microwaved cat food hit me, and my feelings toward him quickly changed. Making… Read More

In 1965, a 27-year-old morbidly obese man weighing a terrifying 207kg walked into the royal infirmary in Dundee and told the doctors he was going to starve himself in a bid to lose weight. As you might imagine, the doctors advised against this rather extreme cause of action, but the man was not interested. Whatever… Read More

I’ve always been a big James Bond fan and one of my favourites is Goldfinger. Despite having a great plot, a legendary set of characters with some outstanding names (Pussy Galore anyone), it has some genuinely cool scenes. One that stands out is when 007 has to stop a nuclear bomb from going off. On… Read More

I find it hard to pick my all-time favourite pizza, but if the mood takes me I do love the smooch destroying combination of anchovies, capers, garlic, and black olives. I ate such a pizza in the middle of a diet a couple of years ago. Because I’d set calories across the week to allow… Read More

Maybe I’m a weirdo, but I think starting a diet can be fun. I know, I know, if you’re trying to lose weight you can’t wolf down pastries with your previous level of gay abandon. You certainly can’t quaff quite the same number of pornstar martinis on a Friday, and the second bacon sandwich of… Read More

I like a natter. I think it’s the northerner in me that’s used to standing with a cup of tea chatting away with anyone who would pop up at the kitchen door for a chinwag when I was growing up. It’s fairly natural then, for me to want to talk to the people I work… Read More

When I’m in an airport, as I am now, I can’t help wondering about the lives of the people I briefly encounter. I ponder where they’re going, if there’s anyone waiting for them there, or missing them while they’re away. Mostly, like me, people sit quietly scrolling on their phones while they wait for their… Read More