Absolute Fitness – Review

Our rating:

By: Aqua Eagle LLC

Version #: 1.0

Date Released: 2008-07-09

Developer:

Price: 14.99

User Rating:

Loading...

(Elana and Peter reviewed Absolute Fitness together)

We’ve all been there- sweating it out in an early morning spinning class, shooting hoops with the guys on the weekends, even centering ourselves while mastering the sun salutations after a long day at work.  But just how many calories have we burned?  We’re all counting "points" for each garlic shrimp eaten and glass of sangria drunk during our night out at the trendy new Tapas bar.  So, how many calories did we consume?  We know we’ve "been good" for the last two weeks- no late night cold-pizza binging.  So, how far away from our target goal weight are we? In lieu of jotting down time spent working out (on the inside of your gym bag) or scribbling notes (on crumpled up napkins) and guessing about the number of pounds we’ve yet to shed, we would encourage you to think about using an app for the iPhone and iPod Touch.  At this point, however, we’re not sold on anything . . .

After agreeing to the "addendum to the end-user license agreement" AND a medical advice disclaimer, Absolut Fitness prompts you to create your "profile" through a series of personal questions- gender, birthday, activity level, height, weight, etc.  You are then asked whether or not you wish to watch the video tutorial (not necessary, but recommended- an internet connection is required); a user’s guide is also available, if desired. 

The features of this app are what you’d expect, based on its description: "Diary"- where you enter everything you eat and all exercise in which you participate,  "Weight"- where you enter your weight and view goal weight and remaining pounds to lose (if applicable) and BMI (body mass index), "Stats"/"Graphs"- where you can view your nutritional data (calories, fat, carbs, etc.) in list or chart formats.  All information must be entered by you, under the appropriate date and time (for food only), and the statistics will be calculated by the app, on a daily basis (charting in increments of 1 week, 1-6 months and 1 year).

Absolut Fitness is a comprehensive and user-friendly program.  It hosts a substantial listing of foods and nutrition facts (did YOU know that 100g of Alaskan native black bear meat had only 8g of fact- non of it saturated?) and an extensive catalog of exercise options (who knew that you could burn 544 calories playing competitive badminton?  Then again who even knew there was such a thing as "competitive" badminton?) from which to choose. 

Further, it allows you to personalize your "Diary" based on foods (i.e., yacon- an un-refined sweetener which Elana uses)/activities (such as Peter’s "5 Minutes to Fitness+", resistance band workout) which may not be listed within its database and save favorites (foods, portion sizes and exercises), so you don’t have to "re-invent the wheel" each time you input the same information.  And, it does so in a simple, straightforward way.  However, this app doesn’t have all that we desire in this type of program.  Namely, providing you with the total number of calories you SHOULD be eating, based on your personal stats and weight-loss goals.  This is CRUCIAL to all weight programs based on caloric intake.  Knowing how many calories you are actually eating without knowing how many calories you SHOULD be eating is like a dog chasing its tail- fun initially but eventually frustrating.  As far as we’re concerned, this is the most basic information that ALL apps of this type should provide FOR YOU.  YOU should NOT have to search for this information through some other means.  Also, noticeably absent: statistics about fiber intake- very important, especially for non "calorie-only" based diets. 

QUICK TAKE

Value: high in idea, low for the for the price tag

Would we buy it again: Elana says "maybe, certainly NOT for $14.99", Peter says "no"

Learning Curve: MEDIUM- a lot of information, but pretty simple to use.  Even easier, if you have used any type of calorie counter before (a familiarity with searching for the exact food/s you eat/ate in the right portion sizes, etc. is helpful) AND have a general familiarity with use of general iPhone and iPod Touch features

Who is it for: Any adult (please don’t traumatize kids with calorie counting) wanting to keep track of how much they’re eating and exercising, especially if they have a specific weight goal (losing or gaining) in mind.

What we like: Integration of food intake and exercise tracking in one program, customization of favorites, video tutorial

What we don’t like: It doesn’t help you figure out how many calories you should be eating, only three "meal categories" listed

Bottom Line:  A decent start, if you have no other mechanism for tallying up your daily "score", but we say save your money.  Search for an app which tells YOU how many calories you should be eating.  Got to www.fitday.com to find out for free.