Lose Weight, Get in Shape

Pound for pound, we're the fattest nation on earth. More than 60 million Americans pinch an inch (or two, or three), and 40 million of us are technically obese. If you're one of them--and I was too, until recently--your Pocket PC can help you shed pounds.

A number of excellent health-related software programs were nominated for the 2002 Pocket PC Awards (www.PocketPCmag.com/ jan03/winners.asp). Unfortunately, one of the best was introduced after the nominations process was closed. Personal Health and Diet Manager by Two Peaks Software contains a full-featured diet and exercise manager that helps you plan weight loss or gain by tracking your meals and exercise. The program includes a full USDA nutrition database and menus from common restaurant chains. From its clear and simple design to its hefty range of features, including a new desktop edition, Personal Health and Diet Manager is a sure candidate for next year's awards.

Clean design makes it easy to track meals and activities

Fitting a wealth of data, menus, and graphics into the few square inches of a Pocket PC display is no easy task. But the designers of Personal Health and Diet Manager managed to pull it off. The layout is clear and precise and, most importantly, free of clutter. This is especially true of the software's main screen, the Daily Journal, which is a masterpiece of clean design that pulls all your data together into a single interface (more on that below). But don't be fooled by the simple design--each screen is packed with a host of features.

First, you'll enter your name, age, sex, height, and blood type on the Basics tab (Screen 1), then your current and goal weight on the Diet Goal tab. Once the software knows what you weigh--and what you'd like to weigh in the future--it's ready to track your progress.

Screen 1. The first thing you do with Personal Health and Diet Manager is enter your basic information--age, height, weight, and so on.

To lose weight and keep it off you have to change your eating and exercise habits. To do that, you have to be aware of them. The next step is to record the food you eat--all of it! Whenever you eat something, pull out your Pocket PC, open the program, and tap on the New Meal icon (the fork and knife at the bottom of the screen). This pops up the Locate Food screen, which makes the process of entering food fast and accurate (Screen 2).

Screen 2. The Locate Food screen makes the process of entering the food you eat fast and accurate.

Most fitness programs have a database of food and nutritional values, but few have one as complete as Personal Health and Diet Manager's. It has thousands of entries, including the menus for Subway, Starbucks, McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, and more. The software gives you four ways to search: by keyword, by food group, by brand, or by selecting from a list of your personal favorites.

On the off chance that you can't find what you're looking for in the database, you can create and save your own food entries, down to the exact numbers for calories, carbohydrates, fiber, protein, and fat. There's even a space for points used by Weight Watchers and other programs.