The Hacker's Diet

[LanMan]

Has anyone tried the Hacker's Diet? Did it work for you?

You may be wondering why I am inquiring/suggesting a diet book (freepub) here in the Clie Apps forum. Well, I do so because of the Palm app, Eat Watch (freeware), that's associated with the diet plan. The book, and app are both written by John Walker, the founder/co-author of AutoDesk/AutoCAD. The book is logically written, and Mr. Walker is very humorous (which is important when we are talking about deprivation)! The Eat Watch provides a very nice trend analysis for weight loss/gain. Check them both out at Fourmilab:

The Hacker's Diet:

http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet

The Eat Watch:

http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/palm

[checkmate]

I use EatWatch since a couple of month to keep track of my weight. Wonderful app for free, also includes a desktop tool to create html-reports or export data to csv.

Unfortunatley it's not hires+, but source code is open - maybe someone can enhance it ... ;)

And no, I haven't tried the diet (not required for me) but I agree, the book is funny to read.

[Flash-57]

I can't figure out EatWatch. I enter my numbers and then it puts up little numbers next my weight. I don't know what they mean. Sometimes they are positive when I lose weight and other times they are negative. Then, it creates charts with bars and such that don't seem to relate to the numbers I'm entering. It looks all gibberish.

[checkmate]

EatWatch computes a trend-line for you (the formula is given in the links above). The little numbers give the deviation from the trend (not only from yesterday's value). For me, the numbers I enter match exactly with the diamonds in the chart.

It's more sophisticated than it may seem at first glance ...  

[LanMan]

checkmate is correct. It's really a very complex calculation. Here is an excerpt from the online manual that explains the Var field:

"When you enter a weight and close the field (by writing Return or tapping in a different field) the trend is calculated for that day and the Variance (difference between today's weight and the trend) appears in the "Var" field, positive if the weight is above the trend, negative if below. Weight and variance are displayed to one decimal place for kilograms and pounds."

I really recommend reading the entire manual, and reviewing the book as well. I know, I know, "read the manual" :rolleyes: However, both are well written and funny. :D

[checkmate]

I don't like the "exercise ladder" (Rung), instead I use the fields "Flg" together with "Comments" as sort of runners log. Whenever I went for running (and I go only once a day :) ) I check the Flg and note down the time in the comments field. When the Flg is checked the diamond symbols in the chart are filled. Additionally a percentage value is given below the chart, so I can easiliy see how lazy I was this month.

Unfortunatley the time values do not appear in the chart (rung values would), but one could easiliy chart them using a spreadsheet ....

[LanMan]

That's not a bad idea checkmate. I have another product called Vivonic that tracks my caloric intake, and exercise. However, I much prefer the wieght trend ananlysis of Eat Watch. I haven't yet tried to use the Rung, and probably won't. Therefore your idea of customizing via the Flg ticks is really very good. Thanks.