Well folks, we made it to 2009. After the partying, fireworks and off key renditions of Auld Lang Syne reality sets in. What do you want to accomplish this year? Did you stick to your guns and follow your resolutions from last year?

One of the most popular New Years Eve Resolutions is to lose weight, to get in shape. It's also the most commonly broken resolution. Blame it on life, determination, temptation or even organization. I've made that resolution too and have failed to stay with it. This year will be different, this year I'll be more prepared so I won't have an excuse. Though this application is an oldie, Fast Food Calorie Counter is a goodie.

I stumbled upon this while checking out Nintaii on Mobigloo's website. Fast Food Calorie Counter gives you access to thousands of menu items from dozens of fast food restaurants. You can then view nutrition information for those items. So now if I want to deviate from my diet, I can make the best choices. Lets see if Fast Food Calorie Counter is the right choice for you.

Um, are you going to eat that?

Before we go any further, this application doesn't support the new Berrys on the block, according to the CrackBerry store and Mobigloo. So for those who have the Bold, Pearl Flip, or Curve 8900, you're out of luck. I tried it with a bold, but could not open the application. Those with a Storm, let me know if this works for you. The CB store says yes to OS 4.7, but Mobigloo's does not.

the main course, I mean, the main menu

So, right off the bat, Fast Food Calorie Counter isn't helping with fast food temptation. On my home screen, the FFCC icon is a cheeseburger!! Opening up the application, I'm welcomed (or haunted) by numerous logos from restaurants. In the trial version, you can access three of them. As I scroll through I only count 29 restaurants. I say only 29 because Mobigloo's site states 41 restaurants and over 4700 menu items. ShopCrackBerry states 29 restaurants and 3000 menu items, who's a guy to trust?

As I scroll over the logo, the bottom of the screen shows the restaurant name and the number of items it has listed. Click on the desired restaurant and you are presented with a categorized menu list. For example, when I open Arby's the menu items are grouped into the following categories;

• Breakfast
• Chicken Naturals
• Kids Meal
• Market Fresh Salads
• Market Fresh Sandwiches & wraps
• Other
• Roast Beef Sandwiches and Melt
• Shakes & Desserts
• Side & Sidekickers
• Subs
• T. J. Cinnamons

choose how to sort the menu items

Below each item name are values for calories, fats, carbs, fiber and protein. You can also modify your view of the item, sorting by category, name, calories, fats, fiber and protein. With these sorting methods, it make it easier to see which food items you can eat and not feel so bad about.

quick search for a quick snack

Have a look at the top of the application menu. The "Find" section let you zoom in on the item you are looking for. Start typing the name and FFCC will automatically weed through the items until you, hopefully, find that craving. Once you highlight a menu item, open the menu and select View more info/chart. The chart will give you a basic visualization of the nutritional facts. If you want to check out other items from the menu all you have to do is scroll up and down.

chart/graph view

While I let my meal digest

If you're going out for a quick bite, I can see this help you easily choose the healthier meal to munch on. It's also subtle enough that no one else will know what you are doing. While the chart view looks pretty, its graphical representation isn't easily interpreted. If the "Fat Bar" reaches from left to right, I assume it's really high. How high is it? Is it my allotted daily intake? Some direction of a user manual would be greatly appreciated. As this application is older, the menus should have been actively updated. It seems that it still has its original food item list. Maybe the list of restaurants can be increased as well. Perhaps users should have the ability to add as we go, if they won't.

Now for dessert

I'm hoping that Mobigloo will update this application as a few tweaks could make it quite helpful. Besides adding value to the nutritional values and updating the menus, perhaps a daily intake checklist could be added. That way a user can keep track of the total calories that have been consumed. It's a decent, useful tool for those who are on the go and choice isn't an option. Partner this application up with Gymtechnik, and you'll be saying bye bye to your bulge in no time. Fast Food Calorie Counter is available at ShopCrackBerry for $9.95.

Pros

• easily navigated (and delicious) logo menu
• multiple restaurants and menu items available 
• sort and search options

Cons

• application takes time to open
• cannot manually add or update restaurants or menu items
• no true value to the chart/graph view

Download

• More Info, Free Trial, Purchase Fast Food Calorie Counter >>