About.com has launched Calorie Count Plus, a free site that provides guidance and support to dieters. Calorie Count Plus uses interactive tools combined with community elements and information on food and exercise to enable dieters to cultivate a healthier lifestyle while helping them to reach their diet goals.
The site begins by evaluating a user’s current activity level and physical profile. It then prompts the member to create a list of his/her favorite foods. Keeping the user’s likes and dislikes in mind, Calorie Count Plus’s food recommendation tool then suggests foods with a higher nutritional value, based on the preferences of members with similar tastes. The member is then taken through a series of questions which assess his/her eating habits and determine barriers for losing weight.
In addition to the site’s profile and recommendation tools, Calorie Count Plus also provides a number of community elements to offer support and encouragement during and after the weight-loss process. Users can journal and share their dieting experiences with other members, and members can interact and connect via the sites forums and groups. Forum discussions include topics such as motivation, recipes and health & support.
The site also includes a robust resource of food and exercise information including a Food Browser with nutrition facts on over 70,000 foods. Users can also browse existing recipes and analyze the nutrition data of their own recipes. The site’s comprehensive exercise information includes a twelve-week exercise plan developed by About.com’s Guide to Exercise, Paige Waehner. Users can research exercises by target area in the site’s Work Out Center and the Beginner’s Corner provides insight on how to get started with an exercise regime. Additional content, including video and articles from About.com’s Guides on topics such food, exercise and dieting, is included in the site’s library.
Originally posted on October 3, 2007 @ 11:00 am