Another month ends and we are one step closer to exiting Spring and entering Summer. How many of you have been able to stick to your New Year's Resolutions? Especially that one where you swore up and down that you would fit into that bikini, or trunks, before Summertime. I can admit that I haven't been always successful. Like I've said before, I want to maintain my own mobility while using my mobile. Similar to upgrading BlackBerry devices, I need to take my body from Curve (for lack of a better analogy) to Bold. Fitness applications and sites, such as the amazing Gymtechnik, that I have reviewed, offer great wireless training and support solutions. I thought that I should present additional options, sort of expanding your selection, before expanding your waistline. That way you can choose which is best for you.
Another application to satisfy your appetite for athleticism is Iambic's Health and Diet Manager. The application acts more like a trainer, as it helps you determine what to ingest, keep track for your exercise activities and help you reach your weight loss, or management goals. So, instead of sucking it in, suck it up and read on.
About Iambic / Health & Diet Manager
Over the past year and a half, we covered a good number of applications developed by Iambic; including data tracking and storage applications Splash Money, Splash Data, Splash Wallet Suite (all of which made quite the splash- pardon the pun) and personal information manager Agendus. They've really focused on allowing your information to be easily stored, as well as easily managed and Health & Diet Manager is no exception. I've been testing out version 3.00, build 119 of Health & Diet Manager, which does take up a stocky 1.5MB of space on your Berry's waist.
Similar to its siblings, Health & Diet Manager helps you track multiple profiles at once. This isn't necessary for the individual user, but maybe Bob and Jillian from Biggest Loser may be able to keep a log of their respective teams. Each profile allows you to store height, current and goal weight, blood type, current and goal date and activity level. As I entered in my starting weight and date, and then my goal weight and target date, the application automatically informed me of my first challenge. Based on the information I entered, the application told me; "to lose "x" lbs in "x" days, you need to eat "x" fewer calories per day than your body uses." I'm not going to tell you the details, but the goal is attainable.
starting your journey
what have you been up to?
I wondered how it came to the total it did, based on the information I supplied. Health & Diet Manager has to calculate your Body Mass Index. This formula is used:
BMI = (weight in Kg x 1000 / (height in meters2)) / 1000
I found out that the Harris Benedict Equation (a formula that uses an individual's Basal Metabolic Rate), and your level of activity is used to calculate your daily calorie burn. In the application, you are given 4 activity levels to choose from; None (sleep), Light (sitting), Moderate (standing), and Heavy (lifting). Here's how the formula works for me (as I chose the Moderate level):
For Men: BMR = 66 + (13.7 x weight in kg) + (5 x height in cm) - (6.8 x age in years)
For Women: BMR = 655 + (9.6 x weight in kg) + (1.8 x height in cm) - (4.7 x age in years)
If you're shy like me, you can assign passwords to your profiles. You profiles will now appear at the main menu. And can be viewed, edited or deleted at anytime.
After setting up my profile, I was now ready for me, and my BlackBerry, to think thin. Opening up my profile took me to a Daily Summary Screen. In this screen, I will see my weight at the top, followed by a section that shows the meals and calories fields. The fields can be swapped, depending on what values you want to view. For example;
Meals can be swapped with Metabolism, Exercises, Total, Target or Points*
Calories can be swapped with Total Fat, Carbs, Protein, Fiber or Points (Points refer to Weight Watchers points for meals).
The bottom portion of the screen displayed my meals and activities for the current day, including the time that each occurred. It's critical that you are completely honest with yourself, and the application. If you snuck in a Big Mac before your workout, make note of it. Health & Diet Manager is only as effective as you allow it to be.
Activity
Ah, exercise. For some it's a run in the park, for others, it's a walk to the front door. Keep track of whatever you can muster, as every little bit helps. From the menu, I selected "New Activity", where a pop up gave me the option to choose between Exercise or Other Activity. Choosing Exercise, I had access to 28 preloaded exercises ranging from moderate Aerobics to Yoga. Have a look at the screen shot; as you scroll though the exercises, you will see the amount of calories and fats you have burned. This of course, can be modified by altering the time taken to complete the exercise. Other information includes entering your average heart rate.
In the Other Activity option that was previously mentioned, you can manually enter in time, duration, description, calories used and any additional notes.
ain't no mountain high enough...
Meals
Food, glorious food. Now that I've built up an appetite, it's time to refuel! You can choose to utilize 5 search options:
- Search manually
- Favorites -preloaded with Big Mac, Coke Classic and Mountain Dew as favorites, but you can add you own
- Menus - This section is half loaded with fast food locations for some reason
- Groups - USDA food groupings
- Manually enter meal information
Let's be like Jared and hit Subway, where you have a partial list of the menu. Selecting a 6 inch Cold Cut Trio (and clicking Edit), I can view information such as; serving size, proteins, fiber, etc. To add this to my daily summary, I simply click the trackball. If you chose to manually enter your meal information, all of their fields are yours to fill in. If you are unsure of your meal's nutritional values, Iambic suggests using calorieking.com to find the information. I was unable to open the mobile site from my Bold. The search option is pretty powerful too. Typing in Corn Flakes, the application will search through its database for all of the matches. The database contains a vast list of food items to view.
eat fresh!
If you are what you eat, then know thyself.
Reports, Calculators and Settings
After some time has passed, you may want to check out your progress. Health & Diet Manager offers three types of reports:
- Graphs - the graph option can help you track your sleep patterns, weight and pulse rate.
- BMI - this option gives you your BMI, status and ideal weight.
- Target Heart Rate - calculates what your ideal pulse rate should be "to receive the maximum cardiovascular benefits."
Image: hdmgraph caption: Proper rest is essential for a healthy lifestyle
Cooling Down
Health and Diet Manager offers a one stop shop for those who want to get fit, or maintain their fitness. It offers a fantastic way to learn and track nutritional values from a vast list of food items. I especially enjoyed using the reporting tools available, as it helped me see how well I was actually doing. I was hoping to see more detail in the exercise section, like you would see in Gymtechnik. Perhaps you could use the two applications for the ultimate guide to your ultimate body. The application is a tad pricey at $19.95, but there is a free trial available so you can try before you buy. If you head to Iambic's site, they are offering Health & Diet Manager for 50% off for a limited time. Now it's time to hit the gym...just after I hit the fridge...
For more information on Health & Diet Manager, click here.
Pros
- manage multiple profiles
- access a large list of food items
- great reporting features
Cons
- must be diligent and honest
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