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PC-SIG Diskette Library (Disk #1489)
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Information about “SLIMMER”
SLIMMER is a computerized diet program that makes calorie-counting
easier than ever before.
SLIMMER will calculate your ideal weight and proper caloric intake and
provide you with an extensive menu of recommended foods and their
calorie values. Food lists can be created for each day of the week and
printed for reference. SLIMMER also provides information on the
calories consumed by various forms of exercise. The SLIMMER program is
menu driven so it's easy to use, and the food database can be expanded
for those with exotic tastes.
FILE1489.TXT
Disk No: 1489
Disk Title: Slimmer
PC-SIG Version: S1.2
Program Title: Slimmer
Author Version: 2B
Author Registration: $35.00
Special Requirements: 280K RAM
SLIMMER is a computerized diet program that makes calorie-counting
easier than ever before.
SLIMMER will calculate your ideal weight and proper caloric intake and
provide you with an extensive menu of recommended foods and their
calorie values. Food lists can be created for each day of the week and
printed for reference. SLIMMER also provides information on the
calories consumed by various forms of exercise. The SLIMMER program is
menu driven so it's easy to use and the food database can be expanded
for those with exotic tastes.
File Descriptions:
PKUNZIP EXE Un-archiving utility.
READ_ZIP 1ST Introductory text.
SLIM2B ZIP Archived program.
PC-SIG
1030D East Duane Avenue
Sunnyvale, Ca. 94086
(408) 730-9291
(c) Copyright 1988,89 PC-SIG, Inc.
GO.TXT
╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ <<<< Disk No 1489 SLIMMER >>>> ║
╠═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ To view instructions on how to unarchive SLIMMER type VIEW (press enter)║
╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
SLIMMER.DOC
S L I M M E R R E V 2b, D A T E D A U G 3 0, 1 9 8 9
(c) copyright 1988, 1989 by George D. Summers
****************************** WARNING ****************************************
* *
* SLIMMER CREATES OR WRITES TO ONE OR MORE FILE(S) EVERY TIME YOU RUN IT! *
* THEREFORE, MAKE YOURSELF A WORKING COPY OF SLIMMER & KEEP THE ORIGINAL IN A *
* SAFE PLACE FOR REFERENCE. *
* *
****************************** WARNING ****************************************
DEDICATION
SLIMMER is dedicated to the ultimate programmer - the creator of the
universe.
OVERVIEW
SLIMMER will do the following for you:
1. Calculate your ideal weight.
2. Calculate your ideal calorie requirement.
3. Keep track of your weight and calorie intake and plot your
progress.
4. Provide you with an extensive look-up data base of food types
with their corresponding calorie values. Allows you to select and
scale items from the food tables for your daily calorie list.
5. Provide for custom food tables for each user.
6. Allows the user to save the last seven (days of) daily calorie
lists. These lists may be recalled and edited - and even copied to a
different date if desired.
7. Various types of exercise may be selected by the user and may be
scaled and saved in the daily calorie lists.
8. Daily calorie lists can be printed (or if no printer is
on-line, a print file will be written.)
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
SLIMMER requires a computer with at least 285K of memory in which to
load. If your computer has a math co-processor, SLIMMER will use it.
SLIMMER can be run on one and two-disk systems, but runs fastest when
loaded to and run from a hard disk-equipped system.
INSTALLATION
SLIMMER has a large number of data files (77 of them) that are
displayed on the screen when you view the food tables. In addition, it
has as many as seven custom food table files and/or daily calorie
lists, and then an overflow file that accumulates the daily calorie
lists after the initial seven-day period. Finally, there is a master
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file of daily date/weight/calorie values (and its backup file) for
every individual user. It is therefore recommended, if you have a hard
disk, that you create a subdirectory for SLIMMER and copy all the files
into it. For those without a hard disk, run SLIMMER from your copy
disks after you have safely put away your original. When running from a
floppy disk, file maintenance is important since SLIMMER will create
new files or addend existing files and eventually fill your disk. To
assist you in keeping track of the space available on your disk,
SLIMMER will report the space remaining on the default drive in the
lower right hand corner of the screen. The message will only come on
when the space is less than 10,000 bytes and will stay on for two
seconds. When you see this message, you are advised to look at the
files on the disk to see which ones could be deleted.
To deal with space limitations of non-hard disk systems:
1. SYSTEM WITH ONE 360K FLOPPY DISK -
Copy the SLIMMER.EXE and SLIMMER.DOC files onto a working copy
disk # 1. Copy all the other files to another working copy disk # 2.
Put your original disk away in a safe place. Put disk # 1 in your drive
and type SLIMMER <ENTER>. After the program has loaded and you are
asked for your name, change to disk #2 before entering anything. The
n$.CAL file that you create (your name is = n$) will eventually get too
large and will have to be deleted periodically. If you have more than
one user in your household, it is recommended that each one have their
own working copy disk # 2. Certain versions of DOS have a limitation on
the number of files you can have on a floppy disk - possibly a number
like 112 files. With multiple users, this limit is quickly exceeded.
2. SYSTEM WITH TWO 360K FLOPPY DISKS -
With two floppy drives, follow the directions above for the one
disk system and prepare disks # 1 and # 2. In addition, copy file
AB.BAT from the original SLIMMER files to disk # 2. This BAT file has
the following two lines in it:
path = a:\;b:\;
slimmer
Disk # 2 goes into your A> drive, and disk # 1 goes into B>. Change to
your A> drive by typing A:<ENTER>. Start the program by typing
ab<ENTER>. This activates the AB.BAT file and starts SLIMMER. All your
daily files will now be written to go onto the floppy disk in the A>
drive, and the SLIMMER.EXE program will be executed from the B> drive
via the path command.
3. SYSTEM WITH ONE OR MORE 3-1/2" DISKS -
In this case, since the 3-1/2" disk holds at least 720K, then simply
copy your entire complements of SLIMMER files unto a working diskette
and save your original copy of SLIMMER. Again, there may be a DOS
limitation on number of files allowed on a floppy, so make a working
diskette copy for each person to use. For the convenience of REGISTERED
users, SLIMMER is available to them on a 3-1/2" disk.
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4. IBM AT OR EQUIVALENT WITH HIGH DENSITY 5-1/4" DRIVE
Since SLIMMER writes to and updates files in the default drive, it is
strongly recommended that you never run SLIMMER from a 360K disk in the
AT's high density drive. Either copy SLIMMER to a subdirectory on the
hard disk, or copy it to a high density disk before running it.
RUNNING SLIMMER
To run SLIMMER, type SLIMMER and press <ENTER> after you have either
entered the SLIMMER subdirectory on your hard disk, or are on the
floppy drive containing your working copy of the SLIMMER files. After
you have run SLIMMER a few times and get tired of the opening screens,
you can bypass them by entering SLIMMER n$ and pressing return where n$
is your name (or the file name you want to view). For example, you can
view the data for Slim by typing SLIMMER SLIM, then pressing <ENTER>.
(For the single 360K disk system user, (1. above), you really don't
have enough room on a single floppy disk to use this option.)
MONOCHROME MONITORS AND LAPTOPS
SLIMMER makes extensive use of color in its screens and windows. This
looks great on color monitors and in greyscale tones. The truly "black
and white" monitor (usually amber or green), however, will be very
difficult to read for some color combinations. For you without color
capability, you may want to try the "black and white" version of
SLIMMER. As you start up SLIMMER, simply type in SLIMMER BW to run in
black and white, or as in the example in the previous paragraph, type
in SLIMMER BW SLIM to run in black and white and bypass the opening
screens. A one-line .BAT file will save you a lot of typing. It would
contain the one-line SLIMMER SLIM command (e.g.), and could be called
1.BAT or similar simple name. SLIMMER could then be run by entering "1"
and then "<RETURN>". For those of you with laptops, SLIMMER is
available on 3-1/2" diskettes. Please indicate your preference for
3-1/2" or 5-1/4" diskettes.
DEBUGGING
Every effort has been made to program SLIMMER with sufficient internal
checks to preclude the more common bugs. It will, for example, open a
new file for you if it can't find one already started. Error comments
are provided when the data that you input doesn't match what the
program expects to see. With a program of this size, I'm sure I've
overlooked some combinations that might give strange results. Please
contact me with the circumstances and a description of any
abnormalities that you find. These abnormalities include any program
hang-ups without error message, errors in computations, and instances
where you don't get the response that you would expect to see. (See my
name and address at the end of this document) SLIMMER will be updated
as changes become necessary.
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SLIMMER VERSION #
Version 1.0 - initial release - June 1988
Version 1.0a - corrected routines for monochrome monitors - June 1988
Version 2.0 - added calorie counter & improved editor and plot
routines - Feb 1989
Version 2.0a - Fix for five food table files to enable space bar to
tag files - May 1989. Fixed so that personal tables
would be saved when going from edit to calorie counter
mode. Released SLIM2FIX.ARC & SLIM2FIX.ZIP for use by
Version 2.0 users.
Version 2.0b - Fix to link between editor and food tables. Added
expanded fast food menu section to food tables. Treats
exercise as a (negative) food category for easy input
and scaling of multiple daily exercises. Aug 1989.
USE OF SLIMMER REV 1 FILES
Whenever revisions are made, there's always a question of what to do
with the old files from the previous revision. In this case, if you use
a REV 1 file 'n$.SLM', SLIMMER will convert it to a REV 2 file. Be sure
to back up your REV 1 'n$.SLM' file before you try this. The 'n$.CAL'
file from REV 1 should be either deleted, or you can call it into your
word processor and delete the null lines that look like "". SLIMMER
will write to the 'n$.CAL' file after the seven daily files have been
filled up.
IS SLIMMER USER FRIENDLY?
Whether a program is "user friendly" or not is a function of the
amount of you must spend in reading and re-reading the documentation
and whether there is sufficient help online. There are certain
conventions that have been used within SLIMMER that try to make it
respond in the way that you might expect for a given keystroke. Some of
these are listed below:
<ENTER> - is used to select highlight bar items, to indicate the
end of keyboard entries, and to indicate the end of a selected
function.
<ESC> - used to cancel a function and return to the previous
menu.
<SPACE BAR> - used only in food tables to tag/untag your food
selections.
<ARROW KEY> - UP and DOWN arrows are used to move the highlight
bar up and down. In addition, HOME and PAGE UP move the bar to the top
of the menu, and END and PAGE DOWN move the bar to the end.
< + and - > - The + and - keys are used to increment and
decrement the date and weight input values and help to decrease the
keystrokes required to input data. In general, there is a list of
functions at the bottom of each menu or table that will indicate your
choice of keys to press.
"Bulletproofing" is a term used to indicate that the user input is
restricted to certain keystrokes. For example, if you are prompted for
a date entry, the keyboard in a "bulletproofed" environment will only
respond to entries from 0 through 9 and the / key. Other keys will
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either not respond or will produce a beep. Much of SLIMMER's user input
has been bulletproofed. Where there is a restriction on the length of
an input item, the length is highlighted and the input is restricted to
that length. Normal editing keys can be used for most of the input
items. These include the <BACK SPACE>, <INSERT>, <DELETE> and the arrow
keys. In addition, <CTRL - END> will clear and let you start over with
the input item.
There is a lot of checking, error trapping, and file manipulation that
goes on behind the scenes that you the user never get to see. If the
program is well written, you will never see an error message, and the
program will respond as expected. You the user can help to make SLIMMER
friendlier by providing your comments and suggestions.
BACKGROUND COLOR
Whenever you run SLIMMER in its color mode by simply entering the
command SLIMMER, the program will allow you to select a background
color from a list of four colors. After you have selected your
background color, SLIMMER will recall it whenever you subsequently run
SLIMMER using the command in the form SLIMMER n$ (where n$ is your
name). If you want a different background, then run it with the single
command SLIMMER to get the selection option.
NOTE: If you have a monochrome monitor running in the black and white
mode, your background choice is either black or white.
THE OUTPUT FILES
The first time you run SLIMMER, it will create a new file in your
name, It requests your first name, then uses the first eight letters of
your name plus the extension SLM to create a file such as "JOHN.SLM"
for a user named John. An example file named SLIM.SLM is included with
SLIMMER to allow you to see a file with some daily weight and calorie
data points in it. It can be viewed by entering the name SLIM when your
name is requested. The plot of Slim's data can be seen in either or
both low or high resolution depending on your graphics capability.
Two additional types of files are created by SLIMMER. These are the
daily calorie counter files (n$.CL1 thru n$.CL7 and n$.CAL) and the
custom food tables (n$.SP1 thru n$.SP7)
SLIMMER will only save 100 days worth of weight and calorie data. On
the 101st day, it will discard the first value (day 1) and renumber all
the other values to maintain a maximum of 100 points.
If you want to keep a complete record of your weight, and calorie
file, you are advised to make a copy of your output file when it
reaches 100 data points, and every 100 data points thereafter.
Page 5
HINT: You may, if you wish, use a different name in order to keep your
old data on-line. For example, SLIM has accumulated 100 days worth of
data. Now, starting on the 101st day, he logs in as SLIM1 for the next
100 days and so on. This will allow him to look at his old file at any
time by logging in as SLIM.
DATE ENTRIES
When you first enter SLIMMER, you will be prompted for a date. This
date is the default date for the daily date/weight/calorie file. A bit
further along, when you enter the calorie counter section, you are
asked again for a date. There are several other places where dates are
entered or modified. In each case, the date from your computer's board
is used as the initial starting date. You need only press <ENTER> to
accept the date, or press + or - to increase or decrease the date by
one day. You can also enter the date from the keyboard. When data is
entered in non-sequential order into the date/weight/ calorie file it
will be sorted and rearranged as you leave that section of the program.
Plotted data is output by date entry number rather than date. In other
words, if you have 7 daily weights - followed by a 2-week vacation
away from the scales - followed by seven more daily weights, it would
appear as 14 consecutive data points in your output file and on your
graph.
YOUR PERSONAL DATA AND GOALS
This section of the program should be completed by the user during his
or her first session with SLIMMER. Simply start at the top and move the
select bar using the up & down arrow keys. The first item "List your
Personal Data" will be empty until you complete the rest of the item.
Carefully enter your response to each selected item as you work your
way down the menu - from frame size down to your height. Finally select
the "Calculate Weight and Calorie Goals" item to calculate your ideal
weight and calorie goals.
As you progress with your diet, some of your initial data may change.
You can update your data at any time and have SLIMMER recalculate your
ideal weight and calorie values. The items that could change and
affect calculated values are the Activity level and the Frame
definition.
Note: Those of you who have extremely small wrists or very long
slender fingers may find yourselves in the " S " or Small frame
category. If this happens, feel free to upgrade yourself to the " M "
or Medium frame category. The method used in SLIMMER to select the
frame size is admitedly crude - and your doctor's definition should be
taken instead.
Page 6
UPDATE / EDIT WEIGHT & CALORIE DATA
The daily plot data of date, calories, and weight is edited with the
weight / cal / date editor. It again has enough checks and balances
built in to be fairly foolproof. You can either enter new daily data or
edit existing data with the editor. The date may be accepted as the
date from your computer, or you can enter a value, or else increment /
decrement the prior date date by one day. The default weight is taken
as the prior day's value, and it can be incremented up or down with the
+ and - keys. The weight can be entered here, or else will be requested
as you leave the "Count Calories....." section. The calorie data is
directly entered into this file when you leave the "Count Calories /
View Food Tables" section of the program. The data file drops off the
oldest set of daily data and renumbers all the data to have a maximum
of 100 values. If you have entered a weight and date value on the wrong
line and want to "zero out" the values, then enter the letter N (or n)
representing "NULL" for the date. That line will be removed and the
remaining data rearranged.
GRAPH YOUR PROGRESS
Plots of your daily weight, calories, or fat calories can be selected
in either low or high resolution. If in doubt about the configuration
of your system, try them both. You will need a color graphics adapter
(CGA or EGA or VGA) to view the high resolution graphs. SLIMMER will
let you know if it can't find a graphics card. If you have placed the
command GRAPHICS in your AUTOEXEC.BAT or have executed the command at
some time before entering SLIMMER and if you have a CGA graphics card
or better, and if your printer can do IBM graphics, you will be able to
copy your high resolution plots to the printer with the <SHIFT-PRINT
SCREEN> command.
COUNT CALORIES / VIEW FOOD TABLES
This section of the program is used to generate your Daily Calorie
Counter lists. It is both the most complex and also the most powerful
section of the program. Its component parts are as follows:
1. SLIMMER food and exercise tables
The food tables, starting with "Beverages" and going through the
"Vegetables" are selected using the arrow keys. Most of these line
items have another set of selectable tables. When you have a food table
displayed on the screen, you will see a flashing line which reads
"Calorie Counter Mode". When you are in this mode, the <SPACE BAR>
key will print a marker on the highlighted line. (If the marker is
already shown, then the <SPACE BAR> will remove it). Use the arrow keys
to select a line - then mark it with the <SPACE BAR> key.
You will now be asked to enter a scale factor. The default value of 1
will save the line as shown. If you enter a 1.5, the quantities will
all be multiplied by 1.5 before the line is transferred to your daily
calorie counter list. A scale factor less than .001 will return the
line with a factor of 1. The exercise tables function in the same way.
Page 7
Simply select the items that you have eaten that day. Notice that when
you select an item, sometimes another item is selected along with it.
This is done to add a descriptive line to your daily Calorie Counter
List. When you are finished selecting all the applicable items on a
given food table, press <RETURN> to add the items to your daily calorie
counter list. If you press <RETURN> before you're finished tagging the
items on that food table, you can press <RETURN> again to call back the
same table. Note that the previously tagged lines are no longer tagged.
They are, however, in your daily calorie counter list and there is a
flashing arrow <=== on the screen to remind you to go there to save
your daily calorie counter list when you have finished selecting your
items for the day. *****THIS IS THE ONLY WAY YOUR DAILY CALORIE COUNTER
LIST CAN BE SAVED*****
NOTE: You will be given another opportunity to edit the selected items
when you select the "Edit Calorie Counter List for n$" line, below.
2. Edit Calorie Counter List for n$
When you have entered all the items, you can now edit the list for
quantity by selecting the line "Edit Calorie Counter List for n$". In
this editor, you first select the line number, then enter a multiplier
for the line. If instead of 1 ounce you want three ounces, you enter
a 3 as the multiplier. Similarly, enter 0.5 to get a value of .5 ounce.
Experiment a bit with this until you get the hang of it. NOTE THAT IF
YOU SCALE A LINE BY 0, THE LINE WILL BE DELETED. When you finish
editing that page, press <ENTER> for either the next page or else
to leave the editor. You can return to this editor to revise it after
you leave it. As you leave, you will be given the opportunity
to enter your daily weight (if you didn't do it before in the "Update
/ Edit Weight & Calorie Data" section). Finally, the daily data
is entered into your daily date / weight / calorie table and your daily
calorie counter list is saved.
NOTICE: NO DATA WILL BE SAVED AS EITHER A DAILY CALORIE COUNTER LIST OR
IN THE DAILY DATE/WEIGHT/CAL TABLE UNLESS YOU PASS THROUGH THIS EDIT
ROUTINE. The flashing arrow <=== will remind you that there is data in
the computer's memory that hasn't been saved.
3. Special Items for n$
When you first enter one of these tables, you will see a list of Item
numbers. You will also see the same flashing "Calorie Counter Mode"
sign. This table is where you can place special items that are not on
the food lists. These are truly unique tables for you alone. In order
to enter items into this table, move the select bar to the last line
marked "<Select to Toggle between EDIT and CALORIE COUNTER modes>".
When you press the <ENTER> key, you will see a flashing "[ EDIT MODE ]"
sign. You are now in an editor to enter your special items. Select a
line and follow the format on the food table items by entering the
description, quantity, calorie and fat calorie values for any line that
you select. You will be prompted for each of the four entries on each
of the lines. A conservative number for use in defining fat calories is
9 fat calories per gram of fat. When you are finished, use <ESC> to
leave the editor or select the last line to go to the CALORIE COUNTER
Page 8
mode. Your Special Items files will be selectable just as are the Food
Table files.
4. Hint
When you are near the top of the menu and want to go to the bottom line
of the menu, use the <PAGE DOWN> or <END> key. Similarly, the <PAGE UP>
or <HOME> keys take you to the top.
FILE MANAGEMENT SELECTIONS
This section of the program will let you see which daily calorie count
lists are stored for you. As you enter this section of the program,
there is a list of dates displayed on the left side of the screen. If
you are just starting out, the list will be empty. Below the list will
be displayed "today's" date. The working date - or "today's" date can
be changed by selecting the "Change Today's Calorie Counter Date" line.
After you have selected a new date, it may coincide with one of the
dates on the left hand display of dates. If, you go from here into the
"Edit Calorie Counter List ....." section, the old data will be
recalled and may be edited. If you want a blank list for that date, you
can select the "Erase Today's Calorie Count List" item to clear the
file and let you start over for that date. The daily date/weight/cal
entry for that date will not be changed, but you will be given a chance
to overwrite it when you leave the "Edit Calorie Counter ....."
section.
The "Print Your Daily Calorie Count List" line, if selected will send
your file to the printer. If you have no printer, SLIMMER will create a
print file named n$.prt (where n$ is your name). This file is
overwritten every time the printer is not found to be ready for use.
(so remember to print it when you get out of the program). If you don't
have a printer and use this option, your computer may be inactive while
the computer tries repeatedly to contact the non-existent printer.
After the computer has tried a pre-determined number of times and
"timed-out", control will be returned to you. If control does not
return to you, then you can try the <CONTROL-BREAK> followed by the
<CONTROL-C> commands.
NOTE: SLIMMER print files only use the standard BASIC print commands
and should work with most printers. No attempts are made to change line
spacing, to skip perforations, etc. I leave the printer settings for
you to do for your own individual printer prior to running SLIMMER.
You can recall a prior day's file into today's date (if you have the
same thing to eat each Friday, for example) by selecting the "Recall
Old List for Today's Date" line. You will be given a choice of the last
seven (or less) daily calorie count files that have been saved for you.
After the file is recalled, you MUST still pass through the "Edit
Calorie Counter List..." section in order to SAVE and process the data.
It is important to come here (to the FILE MANAGEMENT area) first if you
Page 9
want to recall a list from seven days ago. Otherwise the data from
seven days ago is rolled into your n$.CAL file where you can no longer
access it.
NOTE: NO FILES ARE SAVED IN THIS SECTION OF THE PROGRAM. ALL FILE
UPDATES ARE PERFORMED IN THE "EDIT CALORIE COUNTER....." SECTION. (See
item 2. above.)
NOTE: If you already have a file saved for today's date, you will be
unable to recall a file from the list of old files. You will physically
have to first select the "Erase Today's Calorie Count List" item to
clear today's file. Then you will be able to recall an old list. This
feature prevents the unintentional overwriting of a file over which you
had labored long and hard ...
COMMENTS FOR THE MORE TECHNICALLY MINDED
The special food list tables that you prepare for yourself (n$.SP1
thru n$.SP7) are formatted the same as the programs food list tables.
SLIMMER treats them both the same. If you were to enter one of the
program's food list tables into your favorite word processor, you would
see something like this:
"[ VEGETABLES ]"
" Food Portion Total Sat Fat"
" Size Calories Calories"
" ----------------------------------------------------------"
"Lettuce,raw"
" butterhead, Boston (5-in diam)"
" 1 head 20 trace 6"
" 1 outer or"
" 2 inner leaves"
" 2 leaves trace trace 6"
" crisphead, iceberg (6-in diam)"
" 1 head 70 1 11"
" (1/4 head)"
" 1 wedge 20 trace 11"
" chopped or"
" shredded"
" 1 cup 5 trace 11"
" looseleaf, romaine chopped or"
" shredded"
" 1 cup 10 trace 18"
When you study this table, you will notice that there are numbers in
column 59 and 60 which don't show up on the screen when SLIMMER calls
up the file. These numbers are a left-justified two digit line number.
When SLIMMER finds a number in column 59-60 of a line that has been
selected in the Calorie Counter Mode, it will also select the line
indicated by the two digit number. For example, when the last line
(line 20) is selected, line 18 is selected with it. This is done so
that there will be enough descriptive information in your daily calorie
Page 10
counter file for you to be able to identify the items. All this
information is given to you for this reason:
If you want your Special Food Table files have the same multiple line
selection feature, you can edit your n$.SPx files (offline in your own
editor) to add the appropriate line numbers in columns 59 and 60. Note
that the entire line must be enclosed with quotes "".
UNEXPECTED ERRORS AND LOCKUPS
While every attempt has been made to squash all the bugs, there may be
a few that remain. The bugs that throw the program suddenly back to DOS
are very hard to trace since no error messages are given. An attempt
has been made within SLIMMER to include error-trapping code to cover
every line of the program. Therefore, if an error should occur, an
error comment will appear and you will be able to return to DOS by
pressing any key. Some multiple errors may even lockup your computer at
this point. (If you reach such a point, make a note of the
circumstances and drop me a note about it.) Try the control-break
followed by control-c to see if there is a response. If there is none,
simply reboot your computer (turn it off then on again) and it will be
none the worse for wear.
NOT ENOUGH MEMORY TO LOAD SLIMMER?
SLIMMER will require 285K to load. If you have some other programs
loaded in memory and SLIMMER doesn't fit, you may have to remove some
of the other ones. As an aid in determining how much memory is left
after SLIMMER is loaded, run SLIMMER and whenever you are asked for a
date, respond with <ALT><F1>. This will trigger a routine that will
provide you with the memory available. Since some of the arrays in
SLIMMER are allocated dynamically, the memory available will be
different in the various sections of the program.
RANGE OF APPLICABILITY
As an Engineer, I often deal with the twin "concepts" of interpolation
and extrapolation. Interpolation means simply to obtain tabular values
from within the limits of the table. Extrapolation is fabricating data
beyond the limits of the table by making some assumptions to extend the
data. SLIMMER, on order to not quit every time that data is requested
from beyond the limits of the tables, is written using linear
extrapolation functions - much like weather forcasters do - and assumes
that what went on before will continue into the future. There will
therefore be some error introduced into your ideal weight and calorie
calculations when you fall outside the following limits:
Weight: minimum = 90 lbs, maximum = 220 lbs
Height: for men minimum = 5'-1", maximum = 6'-3"
for women minimum = 4'-8", maximum = 5'-10"
Page 11
Age : Adults 25 years of age and above. (If between 18 and 25,
your ideal weight could be reduced by one pound per year
for every year below age 25.)
Exercise Calories: are based on data given for a weight of 150 lbs.
An adjustment is made for weight in the range of 110 lbs to
190 lbs. The range of applicability is therefore 110 lbs
thru 190 lbs.
SOURCE CODE
For those of you who have Borland's Turbo Basic and want to have a copy
of the SLIMMER source code, it is available to REGISTERED users for
$10. For unregistered users, the cost is $45 (and includes the
registration). The source code is provided to registered users with the
request that any modification or variation of SLIMMER be released under
a different name. I wish to reserve the name SLIMMER, SLIMMER.EXE,
SLIMMER.ARC, SLIMMER2, etc as unique names on the bulletin boards.
SLIMMER is written and compiled with Turbo Basic Version 1.1. (It will
compile with Version 1.0 if desired)
DISCLAIMER
For obvious reasons, no claims are made or implied that SLIMMER is more
than a database and a tracking tool. All medical data contained herein
is correct to the best of my knowledge, but the user (YOU) assume
complete responsibility for the use of and the results of the use of
this software.
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF EXERCISE
Dieting without a concurrent exercise program is dangerous. It can
lead to a serious loss of muscle and a drop in metabolic rate. Results
of a study were reported in 1984 in "the Yo-Yo Syndrome" by G.L.
Blackburn, M.D.,Ph.D., K.N. Pavlou, Sc.D., and V. Zak in RxWeight
Control, Vol.2, No.5, Jun-Jul 1984.
When 1000 calorie a day diets were administered to separate groups of
exercisers and non-exercisers, the following results were found:
EXERCISE GROUP NON-EXERCISE GROUP
Food Calories 1000/day 1000/day
Total Weight Loss 19 lbs 18 lbs
Body Fat Lost 23 lbs 11 lbs
Muscle Gained 4 lbs -
Muscle Lost - 7 lbs
Page 12
If you attempt to diet without exercise, you will reach a plateau at a
weight higher than your ideal weight, and your metabolism rate will
decrease as your body tries to compensate for the lack of calories. The
above table should help to convince you of the need to exercise.
A WORD OR TWO ABOUT CHOLESTEROL
Cholesterol comes in two component parts. The HDL (high density
lepoprotiens) and the LDL (low density lepoprotiens). The HDL
transports cholesterol to the liver where it is eliminated. The LDL
carries the cholesterol in the blood and can clog arteries and cause
heart disease. Typically, total cholesterol levels over 200 mg/dl are
of concern. You are not automatically risk-free if you test below 200.
If your HDL levels are too low, you can be just as succeptable to heart
disease. Values of HDL below 35 mg/dl are just as bad as total
cholesterol levels over 200. The usual screening test in the $3 to $5
range will only give you the total number of HDL and LDL combined. Your
doctor can arrange for a more sophisticated test that will give you the
component parts and a lot more - - .(for a lot $ more)
Ways to Help to Lower High Cholesterol Levels:
1. Decrease or eliminate coffee and alcohol from your diet.
2. Include fish in your diet.
3. Include soluble fiber in your diet - especially that found in
beans (pinto or navy) and from oat bran.
4. Exercise at least 3 or 4 times a week. This helps increase the
good cholesterol HDLs and decrease the bad cholesterol LDLs.
HOW TO USE THE FOOD TABLES TO LOWER YOUR BLOOD CHOLESTEROL
The food tables and data methods are based on "EATER'S CHOICE: PATIENT
GUIDE" and is based on the guidelines of the American Heart
Association. Eater's Choice is a system that allows you to choose foods
that you want to eat while you lower your blood cholesterol. The key to
the plan is controlling your intake of the nutrient that most affects
blood cholesterol levels - saturated fat.
Saturated Fat:
Fats contain a mixture of fatty acids - saturated, monosaturated, and
polyunsaturated. Animal fats contain a greater proportion of saturated
fatty acids, which raise blood cholesterol levels; vegetable oils
usually contain a greater proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids,
which lower blood cholesterol levels. The more saturated the fat, the
more solid it is at room temperature. Examples of saturated fat include
beef fat, butter, lard, shortening, coconut oil, and chocolate.
Figuring your Daily Allowance of Saturated Fat:
Page 13
The Heart Association recommends that no more than 10% of your total
calories come from saturated fat. SLIMMER will calculate your daily
allowance as you input your initial values and it perform the ideal
weight and calorie calculations.
Translating Your Saturated Fat Quota Into Foods:
The Food Tables that are included in SLIMMER list the saturated fat
calories in foods. Keep track of the foods you eat during the day,
along with their saturated fat calories. Limit your saturated fat
intake to the 10% level calculated by SLIMMER.
You may want to begin by determining which foods your saturated fat
calories are coming from. You can then decide which foods to cut back
on or eliminate to lower your saturated fat intake. The food tables
will also help you choose foods low in saturated fat to substitute for
foods high in saturated fat.
Controlling Dietary Cholesterol and Other Fats:
Dietary cholesterol can be controlled by simply eliminating the few
high cholesterol foods ( egg yolks, organ meats, sardines, and shrimp).
Substituting polyunsaturated margarines and oils for butter and
shortening will give you adequate polyunsaturated fat.
Sources:
United States Department of Agriculture, "Nutritive Value of Foods",
Home and Garden Bulletin Number 72, Revised 1981. United States
Department of Agriculture, Handbook No. 8, Revised Sections 8-1 thru
8-12.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My thanks and a registered copy of SLIMMER to Rick Fothergill for the
TBWINDO.INC window routines that make SLIMMER an attractive program.
For those of you that want to contact him, Rick can be reached thru his
Compuserve # 76210,443.
Other routines written by others and used in SLIMMER are
INPSUB.INC - Author Unknown
This routine is used to replace the INPUT command and
has been modified to make "bulletproof" input
routines for dates and weights etc.
JULIAN.INC - Public Domain by Joe Vest
This is used to transform the Gregorian date into a
Julian date where it can easily be included into the
+/- routine for the date input and then reconverted.
A very handy routine.
Page 14
FNEDIT.INC - Public Domain by Joe Vest
This routine was used to remove leading blanks from
some of the string data.
GETFREE.BAS - Author Unknown
Renamed space.bas and used to determine space
remaining on the default drive.
CHKCRC.INL - Written by Craig J Kim
Used within SLIMMER to determine if a file has
changed during the present session.
The data and methods used in SLIMMER were taken from a handout that I
got from my doctor when he measured my blood cholesterol levels and
gave me this plan to follow.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR / PROGRAMMER
SLIMMER is the first major program written by myself in TURBO BASIC.
It has been a vast learning experience and I'm learning more daily.
There is still much more to learn. My background is in Structural
Engineering, and I'm currently working as an Aerospace Structures
Engineer for Fairchild Space Co. in Germantown, MD. I hold a PhD in
Applied Sciences from the University of Delaware, where I completed a
dissertation on various solution techniques for laminated plates. My
interests include the violin which I currently play with a music group
known as "Servants of the Lord Most High". My home computer is an XT
clone, operating at 10 mhz with a 20 meg hard disk, a 3-1/2" 720k and a
5-1/4" 360k floppy. I use a 2400 baud modem and BOYAN's version D4
shareware communications package to access the various boards. While I
only have an amber screen, I can nevertheless see some of the effects
of color with a Paradise Monochrome EGA color emulation adapter card.
It provides full graphics on TTL monochrome monitors with 16 shades of
intensity.
If any of you want to drop me a line or leave a message, my mailing
address is:
George D. Summers
2117 Coon Club Road
Westminster, MD 21157
and my Compuserve number is: 76276,564
Page 15
WHERE DOES SLIMMER GO FROM HERE
Every major revision to SLIMMER takes about six months or so to
formulate and test. You the users will, to a large part, be the ones
that dictate what is and is not included in future revisions. Do send
your comments and suggestion. Some possible directions are as follows:
1. Write a version for the Macintosh.
2. Prepare an international version with possibility of having
dates in the form dd.mm.yy instead of mm/dd/yy and use kg instead of
lbs etc.
3. Mouse drivers - I'll prepare one for the Logitech C7 mouse.
Those of you who write drivers for other mice can send them to me to
include with the next revision.
4. Add carbohydrates and cholesterol to the food tables.
5. Rewrite SLIMMER in the C language.
6. Include on-line HELP screens.
7. Increase the number of food selectons from the present < 1000 to
more than 3000 and include B-tree database management and recall.
REGISTRATION
For those of you interested in registration, all the information you
need is found by selection the REGISTRATION line in the main menu. You
are shown a registration form that you can send to your printer. Be
sure to indicate your preference for 3-1/2" or 5-1/4" disks. You may
use the form found on the next page of this document file instead if you
have printed this file.
Page 16
SLIMMER REGISTRATION FORM
Your Name _____________________________________________________________________
Street Address ________________________________________________________________
City, State, Zip ______________________________________________________________
Phone # (Optional) ____________________________________________________________
Disk Size Desired 3-1/2" ________ or 5-1/4" _______
Registration # shown in SLIMMER closing screen _______________________________
Amount Enclosed: $35 for registration __________
$45 for registration and source code __________
$50 for registration outside USA __________
Please describe your equipment (optional):
Computer type _________________________________________________________________
Amount of RAM (memory) __________ k ; Hard disk size ___________ meg
Graphics type: Mono _____ , CGA _____ , EGA _____ , VGA _____ , Other _________
Comments_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Please send this form and your check to:
George D. Summers
2117 Coon Club Road
Westminster, MD 21157
Directory of PC-SIG Library Disk #1489
Volume in drive A has no label
Directory of A:\
FILE1489 TXT 954 10-02-89 12:51p
GO BAT 38 7-14-89 8:01a
GO TXT 386 7-31-89 8:33a
PAGE COM 325 1-06-87 4:21p
PKUNZIP EXE 21440 7-21-89 1:01a
READ_ZIP 1ST 3245 9-06-65 5:36a
SLIM2B ZIP 160086 8-31-89 4:03a
VIEW BAT 44 9-05-65 6:04a
8 file(s) 186518 bytes
131072 bytes free