weight-loss / fitness software, fitday et al

I started looking around for diet & fitness software and found quite a
number of candidates. Checking them all out would be a bit of work so
I thought I'd see if some of the folks on these ngs might like to
contribute.

Here's my proposal: I'll create a little database of the more common
or popular fitness software offerings. I'll add fields for whatever
features people feel are relevant and important, such as price,
platform (Win, Mac, Palm, online), support, awards, units (English,
metric), and other features. I'll test as many of them as I can.
Anyone else who wants to test a product can submit reviews and I'll
try to summarize the information in the database.

I'll post the results periodically.

To get us started, here are the products I was able to find in a
couple of hours of searching. I limited myself to software costing
less than $100.



Fitday
http://www.fitday.com/

Fitess Assistant
http://www.x3msoftware.com/

Open Fitness
http://www.workoutware.com/

Diet Power
http://www.dietpower.com/

Health Engage Diet + Fitness
http://www.healthengage.com/healthen...etfitness.html

Natural Physiques
http://www.naturalphysiques.com/nutrition/

WeightMania Pro
http://www.weightmania.com/index.html

BeNutriFit
http://www.benutrifit.com/default.asp

Performance Diet Pro
http://www.health-runr.com/products/products.htm

BodyFitdb
http://www.bodyfitdb.com/

Diet Pro
http://www.dietpro.net/default.htm

Fit Body Pro

Weight by Date
http://www.weightbydate.com/index.html

Desktop Diet

CalorieKing Nutrition & Exercise Manager
http://www.calorieking.com/software/ckdietdiarywin.php



--

On Tue, 10 Oct 2006 10:14:38 -0700, LurfysMa
wrote:

I started looking around for diet & fitness software and found quite a
number of candidates. Checking them all out would be a bit of work so
I thought I'd see if some of the folks on these ngs might like to
contribute.

Here's my proposal: I'll create a little database of the more common
or popular fitness software offerings. I'll add fields for whatever
features people feel are relevant and important, such as price,
platform (Win, Mac, Palm, online), support, awards, units (English,
metric), and other features. I'll test as many of them as I can.
Anyone else who wants to test a product can submit reviews and I'll
try to summarize the information in the database.

I'll post the results periodically.

To get us started, here are the products I was able to find in a
couple of hours of searching. I limited myself to software costing
less than $100.

To get ths started, what are the features that a good software
application should include?

At least one of the ones I listed (Diet Power, I think), claimed to
calculate my metabolism over time so that it could better estimate
what it will take to achieve a goal.

Another feature I saw was weight & time goals. I would guess that they
all have this feature, but some may do it better.

One program claimed to keep track of deficits in nutrients throughout
the day and made recommendations from the user's list of favorite
foods as to which ones would provide the needed nutrients without
busting the calorie limits.

Does anyone know of a program that tracts obstacles, such as cravings?
Some days I have no trouble staying away from food. Other days I can't
get it out of my mind. If there is any correlation to the types of
foods recently consumed, it would be good to know what would make the
the cravings go away (carbs, protein, fat, ???). Maybe 100 calories of
fat would be more satisfying than 200 calories of carbs or vise versa.



--

That's a lot of work to do when you can just pop $20 to get an app. It may
be be the best, but it only needs to be good enough. I can name two that
are good enough based on proven user experience: fitday Online and Fitday
Desktop. One of those is free.

LurfysMa wrote:
:: I started looking around for diet & fitness software and found quite
:: a number of candidates. Checking them all out would be a bit of work
:: so I thought I'd see if some of the folks on these ngs might like to
:: contribute.
::
:: Here's my proposal: I'll create a little database of the more common
:: or popular fitness software offerings. I'll add fields for whatever
:: features people feel are relevant and important, such as price,
:: platform (Win, Mac, Palm, online), support, awards, units (English,
:: metric), and other features. I'll test as many of them as I can.
:: Anyone else who wants to test a product can submit reviews and I'll
:: try to summarize the information in the database.
::
:: I'll post the results periodically.
::
:: To get us started, here are the products I was able to find in a
:: couple of hours of searching. I limited myself to software costing
:: less than $100.
::
::
::
:: Fitday
:: http://www.fitday.com/
::
:: Fitess Assistant
:: http://www.x3msoftware.com/
::
:: Open Fitness
:: http://www.workoutware.com/
::
:: Diet Power
:: http://www.dietpower.com/
::
:: Health Engage Diet + Fitness
:: http://www.healthengage.com/healthen...etfitness.html
::
:: Natural Physiques
:: http://www.naturalphysiques.com/nutrition/
::
:: WeightMania Pro
:: http://www.weightmania.com/index.html
::
:: BeNutriFit
:: http://www.benutrifit.com/default.asp
::
:: Performance Diet Pro
:: http://www.health-runr.com/products/products.htm
::
:: BodyFitdb
:: http://www.bodyfitdb.com/
::
:: Diet Pro
:: http://www.dietpro.net/default.htm
::
:: Fit Body Pro
::
:: Weight by Date
:: http://www.weightbydate.com/index.html
::
:: Desktop Diet
::
:: CalorieKing Nutrition & Exercise Manager
:: http://www.calorieking.com/software/ckdietdiarywin.php
::
::
::
:: --

I use the Diet and Exercise Assistant (for desktops version)
from: http://www.keyoe.com/
At $10 it's a good deal.
--
LurfysMa wrote:
I started looking around for diet & fitness software and found quite a
number of candidates. Checking them all out would be a bit of work so
I thought I'd see if some of the folks on these ngs might like to
contribute.

Here's my proposal: I'll create a little database of the more common
or popular fitness software offerings. I'll add fields for whatever
features people feel are relevant and important, such as price,
platform (Win, Mac, Palm, online), support, awards, units (English,
metric), and other features. I'll test as many of them as I can.
Anyone else who wants to test a product can submit reviews and I'll
try to summarize the information in the database.

I'll post the results periodically.

To get us started, here are the products I was able to find in a
couple of hours of searching. I limited myself to software costing
less than $100.



Fitday
http://www.fitday.com/

Fitess Assistant
http://www.x3msoftware.com/

Open Fitness
http://www.workoutware.com/

Diet Power
http://www.dietpower.com/

Health Engage Diet + Fitness
http://www.healthengage.com/healthen...etfitness.html

Natural Physiques
http://www.naturalphysiques.com/nutrition/

WeightMania Pro
http://www.weightmania.com/index.html

BeNutriFit
http://www.benutrifit.com/default.asp

Performance Diet Pro
http://www.health-runr.com/products/products.htm

BodyFitdb
http://www.bodyfitdb.com/

Diet Pro
http://www.dietpro.net/default.htm

Fit Body Pro

Weight by Date
http://www.weightbydate.com/index.html

Desktop Diet

CalorieKing Nutrition & Exercise Manager
http://www.calorieking.com/software/ckdietdiarywin.php

On Tue, 10 Oct 2006 15:33:08 -0400, "Roger Zoul"
wrote:

That's a lot of work to do when you can just pop $20 to get an app. It may
be be the best, but it only needs to be good enough. I can name two that
are good enough based on proven user experience: fitday Online and Fitday
Desktop. One of those is free.

It's not that much work. Maybe a few hours here and there. It's a good
learning experience and maybe a way to give back a little to a lot of
good insight and information I have gleaned over the years reading
these and other ngs. Besides, I always overdo everything. Anything
worth doing is worth overdoing. ;-)

--

LurfysMa wrote:
:: On Tue, 10 Oct 2006 15:33:08 -0400, "Roger Zoul"
:: wrote:
::
::: That's a lot of work to do when you can just pop $20 to get an app.
::: It may be be the best, but it only needs to be good enough. I can
::: name two that are good enough based on proven user experience:
::: fitday Online and Fitday Desktop. One of those is free.
::
:: It's not that much work. Maybe a few hours here and there. It's a
:: good learning experience and maybe a way to give back a little to a
:: lot of good insight and information I have gleaned over the years
:: reading these and other ngs. Besides, I always overdo everything.
:: Anything worth doing is worth overdoing. ;-)

Well, if you do the work I'll read the results!

::
:: --

On Tue, 10 Oct 2006 21:32:40 -0400, "Roger Zoul"
wrote:

LurfysMa wrote:
:: On Tue, 10 Oct 2006 15:33:08 -0400, "Roger Zoul"
:: wrote:
::
::: That's a lot of work to do when you can just pop $20 to get an app.
::: It may be be the best, but it only needs to be good enough. I can
::: name two that are good enough based on proven user experience:
::: fitday Online and Fitday Desktop. One of those is free.
::
:: It's not that much work. Maybe a few hours here and there. It's a
:: good learning experience and maybe a way to give back a little to a
:: lot of good insight and information I have gleaned over the years
:: reading these and other ngs. Besides, I always overdo everything.
:: Anything worth doing is worth overdoing. ;-)

Well, if you do the work I'll read the results!

I'll do some of the work. If there's no response, I'll assume there's
little interest.

--

Forget about the software that claims to calculate your metabolism or the
ones that give you calories burned vs calories eaten information, it's just
a gimmick. It is basically impossible for software to accomplish this
because the nutrition content of food could vary a lot even if you are
eating the same things, also energy expenditure by exercise could vary a lot
based on many factors.


People that say that gimmicks like that work say that just because they are
watching what they eat and that is 90% of your success not the nonsense
numbers.

That's not true. These things can be made to work even if the numbers aren't
exact. And these numbers are simply a tool to help you achieve a goal. They
aren't what makes the goal.


Tim wrote:
:: Forget about the software that claims to calculate your metabolism
:: or the ones that give you calories burned vs calories eaten
:: information, it's just a gimmick. It is basically impossible for
:: software to accomplish this because the nutrition content of food
:: could vary a lot even if you are eating the same things, also energy
:: expenditure by exercise could vary a lot based on many factors.
::
::
:: People that say that gimmicks like that work say that just because
:: they are watching what they eat and that is 90% of your success not
:: the nonsense numbers.

On Thu, 12 Oct 2006 03:41:45 GMT, "Tim" wrote:

Forget about the software that claims to calculate your metabolism or the
ones that give you calories burned vs calories eaten information, it's just
a gimmick. It is basically impossible for software to accomplish this
because the nutrition content of food could vary a lot even if you are
eating the same things, also energy expenditure by exercise could vary a lot
based on many factors.

The values do vary, sometimes quite a lot, but that does not make it
impossible. There are powerful statistical tools that can, over time,
tease out amazing data from apparent chaos. Now, whether any of these
programs actually do that, is another matter.

People that say that gimmicks like that work say that just because they are
watching what they eat and that is 90% of your success not the nonsense
numbers.

Have you tested these products? If you have, I'd like to see your
impressions. I'll add them to my data base.

Otherwise, you are making a lot of attributions about products you
haven't tried and people you don't know. You may be right, but you may
be wrong.

Based on my limited study, I would say that simply keeping track (both
of what I eat and what exercise I do) is a huge factor.


--