.KEYWORD dietlog
.FLYINGHEAD PRODUCT REVIEW
.TITLE Improve your health with DietLog
.OTHER
.SUMMARY Dieting. The word itself strikes horror into our hearts. How can we enjoy oatmeal raisin cookies, pizza, and Snickers if we’re thinking about dieting? But there’s no escape. If you’re going to improve your health or lose weight, you may have to diet sometime. That said, there’s no reason you can’t have help managing the process. That’s where DietLog comes it — it helps you track what you eat. But reviewer Mark Smith doesn’t use DietLog to lose weight. He uses it for a much more important reason. He needs to track everything he eats to manage his Diabetes and stay healthy. So whether you just want to look particularly buff in that swimsuit or improve your overall health, you owe it to yourself to read this review.
.AUTHOR Mark J. Smith
The blinking red light on my answering machine suggested urgency. The doctor’s message to call him about my lab results suggested gravity. My Blood Glucose number of 487 and a diagnosis of Type II Diabetes created panic. I had to lose weight and get in better shape to control my illness.
I often look to the Web for help and this time I found just what I was looking for. DietLog (at http://www.dietlog.com) is software for the PalmPilot that creates nutrient targets and tracks your daily intake based on these targets. This means that each day you can log what you eat and track it against a target diet you have set up. Each day, all day, you can see exactly where you stand in relation to the targets you created to accomplish your goals. I found that knowing where I stood was both helpful and motivational.
.H1 Setting your targets
After you set up your profile, (age, height, weight, etc.) you tap the "Nutritional Targets" button to establish your nutrient targets. DietLog tracks the eight nutrients that are most important in health maintenance. These are the same nutrients found on the charts on food packaging. In my effort to control my blood sugar levels for the control of Diabetes, the ability to track these individual nutrients is very important.
You use the Calorie Target Calculator screen to calculate your weight loss goals in order to set your nutrient targets. You then use the Set Nutrient Targets screen, shown in Figure A, to set your targets. You have the flexibility to change any of the individual nutrient targets to meet your health goals based on a recommendation of a physician or dietitian. Once all are selected, you tap on the Set Targets button to make your selections your "Current Targets". These will be used daily in your food log.
.FIG A This is the Set Nutrient Targets screen.
.H1 Using DietLog
For the most part using DietLog couldn’t be easier. You select a meal and log what you eat by selecting items from the DietLog database.
The daily log screen, shown in Figure B, has the date and meal selector. You can tap the arrows on either end of the meal selector or select the date to get a calendar to change the date. You select a letter, B for Breakfast, S for Snack, L for lunch, and D for Dinner, or T for the day’s totals in the meal selector.
.FIG B This is the Daily Log screen.
After selecting the Find Food tool, (a magnifying glass on the bottom of the food log page), you get two ways to search the database. You can use the string search method to search for foods, menus, or recipes by writing in their name or type and tapping the find button shown in Figure C.
.FIG C This is the Search screen.
You can also search the database by using the three part hierarchical menus. You select a category of food from the first window, as shown in Figure D, then a name and then a type of food. You can save steps by turning the "Pop" selector button on before searching through the selection hierarchy. Then when you make a selection, the next menu appears dynamically.
.FIG D Select a category of food from the Food Categories screen.
Once you have selected a food to log, the Nutritional Facts page appears with the breakdown of the eight nutritional values of the selected food. These facts are based on a single serving. You can change this serving size by entering a new value in the Graffiti writing area. By selecting the serving size menu you can change the unit of measurement. You can then enter it in your log by selecting the Add to Log button.
At any time during the day, you can select an individual food you have already logged and get the Nutritional Facts. Perhaps you decided during the day to get honest and actually admit that you really had two servings of pretzels for your after-lunch snack instead of the one serving you had logged. Using the above method you can change the serving size. You can also change the default unit of measurement by selecting the arrow adjacent to the measurement. For example, you might want to add a teaspoon of non fat milk to your coffee and the default measurement for milk is a cup. Or, instead of a cup of milk with dinner, you had a ten ounce glass. Once you have made your changes, just select Revise Log Entry.
.H1 Menus and recipes
Using the Menus and Recipes search method is a real time saver. If for example you have a meal that consists of the same food on a regular basis, you can enter the individual foods together as a meal in the Menu list. For example you might have a four ounce glass of orange juice, a bowl of the same brand of cereal with a half cup of milk, half of a banana, and a slice of toast most days for breakfast. By entering this combination into the database once and saving it as a Menu, you’ll be able to quickly log future breakfasts. The same goes for Recipes. Entering an omelet, the way you like to make one, as a Recipe turns it into one search item.
.H1 The database
I said above that, for the most part, using DietLog couldn’t be easier. Well the database is the one area I first thought could use some improvement. I still do, but I guess the size of the database is a tradeoff for the amount of space needed to hold it. Also, as I get better acquainted with it and how it is structured, the database has become easier to use. Sure, it would be nice if every time I ate something I could find that specific item in the database. But, of course, if wishes were horses beggars would ride (an old family expression).
However, DietLog doesn’t leave you in the lurch. You can easily add food items to the existing database. Just remember to copy the nutritional information from the food package before you throw it out.
There are also many web sites with nutritional information available. Entering new food information is a snap. Select the Find Food Icon (the magnifying glass) and select the New Food button. Next use the Graffiti writing area to enter the nutritional information for the food in the Add New Food dialog page. Don’t forget the serving size information. If you do forget an item the program will remind you when you attempt to add the food to the database.
Once all the nutritional value information is entered, select the Add to Database button. You will see a confirming page and if all is correct, just select OK and you will be returned to the Add New Food screen. If you are done select Done and you will be done. Easy as pie–which, by the way, has twenty one entries.
Editing the database is another story. As a Mac user I don’t have any database editing options available. This only becomes a problem when you make a mistake in adding a food, menu, or recipe. Once entered, the addition is there for good. This isn’t a major problem because you can always make the entry correctly and never choose the incorrect entry. Not a problem but a pain. I like to fix my mistakes instead of being reminded of them again and again.
.H1 Reports
All day, every day I use the feedback that I get from DietLog. When planning my next meal or deciding if I can have that snack or not, DietLog reports give me the information I need. Having the day’s dietary information in the palm of my hand helps me make the decisions that I need to make to help control my Diabetes. I need to know where I stand with regard to total calories, fat calories and especially carbohydrates. DietLog allows me to create different reports that give me the information I need for tracking and planning.
The menu at the bottom of the daily log screen, shown in Figure E, allows you to look at each food entry’s nutrient value numbers according to the eight different nutrients. Fat is broken down further into total fat and fat from calories, actually giving you nine categories.
.FIG E This is the Daily Log screen with nutrient categories.
By selecting one of the nine categories, the numbers relating to your selected category appear next to each food item. This function is very useful in determining which foods work for you within the limitations of the targets you have previously set. By going back over your day and as many previous days you like you can determine what foods fit your diet and which ones might put you over your target numbers. When planning meals or snacks, which is what Diabetes control is all about, if you recognize the problem foods and also track where you stand you can make better decisions on what to eat.
By using DietLog this way you can also tell if you can afford to eat that piece of pie or ice cream cone for desert instead of the cup of fruit. This doesn’t mean that you’re using DietLog to figure out how best to cheat. Maintaining good eating habits means you should be able to treat yourself once in a while. With DietLog you will know when you can.
With DietLog you can also create a chart, like that shown in in Figure F, that looks at all of the nutrients together comparing each one to the target values for the day. A bar chart shows where you stand for each of the nutrients for whichever meal or snack you select or for the days total. You can also see what you have logged as a number or as a percentage of your target. Plus, you can also see your target numbers for each nutrient on the chart.
.FIG F This is DietLog’s Bar Chart Report.
It also helps when you know you will be in a situation where you might not have many food selections available. You can use your DietLog to plan the rest of your day so that dealing with the unknown situation becomes easier.
The different type of reports available and the ease of access to the information on my PalmPilot helps me in two important ways. I can make food selection decisions based on nutritional facts rather than guesses, and being able to see my daily intake is very motivational. I need this kind of information to control my Diabetes. You might want the information for other good health reasons. DietLog on my PalmPilot works for me. It can also work for you.
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability and resources
DietLog is available at http://www.dietlog.com.
.END_SIDEBAR
.BIO Mark J. Smith is the Executive Producer of "Scott Manning’s Computer World" a television show about computers in our world. He is also the General Production Manager of Rittenhouse Communications, a corporate communications company in suburban Philadelphia. He can be reached via email at mjsmith@voicenet.com.
.DISCUSS http://www.component-net.com/webx?13@@.ee6c122
