Of the many people trying to lose weight, a few eventually discover that calorie intake must not exceed calorie expenditure. Counting calories can be a bothersome task, but for some of us, this may be the only way, at least initially, to balance our metabolic budgets.
CALORIE COUNTER by Foote Software could be a handy way to keep track of calories. This is a very user-friendly, menu driven, BASIC program with three main parts.
First, the user must enter and SAVE the name, unit measure, and caloric concentration of all foods usually eaten. Up to 200 foods can be stored, and since only two examples are given, the user must gather calorie information from other sources. This allows the user to customize the program according to their particular eating habits. Once the data is SAVEd, the user can select the menu item for counting calories. Fool-proof prompts guide entry of items eaten during a meal or day. A simple “TOTAL” command adds it all up.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the program is the routine that calculates calorie allowance. Based on sex, weight, and activity level, the program provides daily calorie expenditure. A comparison of this allowance with the number of calories determined by the counting routine can be very enlightening!
In all, the program is very well written and is easy to use. It doesn’t make it any easier to eat less, but no program can do that.
I can think of three improvements that could be made. There should be a routine for listing and viewing all the foods stored in the table, and there should be a way to edit any item in the list. Finally, the calorie allowance routine should be integrated with the calorie counting routine to provide an estimate of projected weight change over say, a one week or month period. This is a pretty good program, and it was produced right here in Gainesville! It represents a good value for someone who is watching their waistline and is looking for a more serious use for his or her TS 1000/1500.