Managing your health strategy
After you've entered your information, you can look at reports and graphs to show you how you're doing. Figure C shows a report of the composition of the two meals shown earlier, back in Figure A.

FIGURE C

The Windows software shows detailed graphs and charts. The Palm software does have some graphic information available, but not in the same detail. Click picture for a larger image.

I have tried many other diet management programs, and often find that the food lists provided don't give accurate information. This does not appear to be the case with CalorieKing. Everything I checked was accurate, including the pre-packaged meals that are part of my current weight loss strategy. This made it a lot easier to trust the program.

The main problem I had with the software was in the synchronization between the Palm and Windows versions. They are indeed stand-alone programs, and it shows. If you add a custom food on the Palm, for example, that food will not be available on the desktop. I saved a meal on the Palm; it does show on the Windows version but I cannot use it. When I attempt to add it to a meal, the software does nothing.

This issue makes the software less useful if you plan to use both versions interchangeably, since any food or exercise you use that was not in the original database will not transfer when you synchronize. I would recommend using only one for most of your data entry, using the other only when you cannot access your main platform.

Each piece of the software is solidly designed and works well. On their own, each would rate a strong four out of five. As a package, however, the combined rating is a three.

OUR RATING: 3 of 5

Dr. Humayun Bakht completed his Ph.D at the School of Computing and Mathematics in Liverpool at John Moores University. Prior to his current course of studies, he has successfully completed his MSc Software Engineering and BSc Electronics Engineering from University of Liverpool UK and Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology in Karachi, Pakistan. Humayun's research interest is mobile ad-hoc networks, in particular, the development of a new routing algorithm for this type of networking. He can be reached at humayunbakht@yahoo.co.uk and you can visit his Web site at http://www.geocities.com/humayunbakht/.