FrenchDiet Reviewer's Comments
FrenchDiet is all about visuals. This program may not have the features found in other nutrition programs, but it presents body composition and food choices in a never-beforeseen way. Prepare yourself: you're in for a treat. Food choices look like they're come from a European street market and you'll see an avatar-like image of yourself when you post your profile. Do give it a try, but look to higher ranked products for more serious support.
The unique features are grahpic: look for mouth watering food and a transforming figure as you enter your personal information and make your daily food selections. FrenchDiet makes great use of intuitive icons, so finding what you want is easy.
FrenchDiet offers a number of food management features like cut and paste favorites, You can also transfer certain foods to a favorites list for quick retrieval. Take advantage of the food guidelines in the integrated Mediterranean Diet, and view your food intake in a variety of graphic forms like the familiar food pyramid and the less familiar podium. The "traffic light" icon system alerts you to your levels of nutrients and whether you need to make adjustments.
Most leading nutrition software products have enormous food databases; FrenchDiet's food database is smaller, but it allows you to add foods easily. The program also has a time-saving search tool that moves to the right part of the database alphabetically as you type in the food, letter by letter. FrenchDiet tracks only 19 nutrition elements; most nutrition products track over 30.
The Body Mass Index screen shows 15 different calculations for your ideal BMI. However, each calculation yields a slightly different result, calling in to question the validity of the BMI section.
One of the major components lacking in this program is an exercise log that tracks daily physical activity, demonstrating the relationship between exercise and caloric burning. The program also lacks the ability to create meal plans and shopping lists, two features typically found in nutrition software packages.
Ease of Use:
FrenchDiet is very visual, but still difficult to navigate. Screens show an enormous amount of information in unfamiliar formats.
Help/Support:
FrenchDiet includes a comprehensive user-manual and excellent help documentation. When combined with its user-friendly navigation, very few difficulties arise when using this product.
Summary:
FrenchDiet lacks a comprehensive food database, an exercise log, and meal-planning tools. These are three features that most dieters will want to use to help track their progress. FrenchDiet has a compelling graphic approach which offers a different range of information we're used to seeing in American products. But if you need a little French flair for motivation, give it a try.
