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FILE2637.TXT
Disk No: 2637
Disk Title: Slimmer 2of2 (1489 also)
PC-SIG Version: S3.0
Program Title: Slimmer
Author Version: 3.0
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.
PC-SIG
1030D East Duane Avenue
Sunnyvale Ca. 94086
(408) 730-9291
(c) Copyright 1989 PC-SIG, Inc.
GO.TXT
╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ <<<< Disk #2637 SLIMMER 2 of 2 (1489 also >>>> ║
╠═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ To view instructions on how to install SLIMMER, insert disk #1 and ║
║ type: GO (press Enter) ║
║ ║
║ (c) COPYRIGHT 1991, PC-SIG INC. ║
╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
SLIMMER.DOC
e S L I M M E R R E V 3.0 D A T E D J A N 3 1 , 1 9 9 1
(c) copyright 1988, 1989, 1990 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 daily calorie requirement.
3. Keep track of your weight, food and exercise calories, as well
as your daily intake of protein, carbohydrates, fat, cholesterol,
sodium, potassium and fiber and plot your progress.
4. Provide you with a starting data base of over 1,200 food items
with their corresponding food values. Allows you to select and scale
items from the food tables for your daily food list.
5. Provides for custom food tables for each (registered) user. The
1,200 item data base can be expanded to up to 7,000 food items in up to
19 categories and up to 400 types of exercise.
6. Allows the (registered) user to save the last fourteen (days
of) daily food value lists. These lists may be recalled and edited,
summed, or deleted - 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 food value lists.
8. Daily food value lists can be printed by registered users.
(or if no printer is on-line, a print file will be written.) The Epson
FX and PostScript printers are supported.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
SLIMMER requires an IBM compatable computer with at least 450K 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
with difficulty. It runs fastest when loaded to and run from a hard
disk-equipped system. DOS 3.0 or higher is required. If you have a
monochrome or color monitor with or without a graphics card, you will
be able to use SLIMMER. The Monochrome, CGA, EGA, and VGA modes are
supported.
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INSTALLATION - HARD DISK
SLIMMER is distributed on two 5-1/4" disks or one 3-1/2" disk with an
installation batch file HDINST.BAT that will allow the user (with a
hard disk) to select a source and a target drive for the program. It
creates a SLIM30 subdirectory on your hard disk. To install SLIMMER,
change to the drive with this disk in it and enter the command HDINST
FROM TO where FROM and TO are your floppy disk and your hard disk
letter designations, respectively. An example is:
HDINST A D
where the FROM floppy disk is A and the TO hard disk is D. Notice that
there are no colons (:) in the above command.
INSTALLATION - FLOPPY DISK
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.
1. SYSTEM WITH ONE 360K FLOPPY DISK -
The single drive 360k system is really not suited for running
SLIMMER Rev 3.0. By the time you changed disks about 20 times during a
session, you would hate me....Have you considered a hardware upgrade?
2. SYSTEM WITH TWO 360K FLOPPY DISKS -
With two floppy drives, it will be a little easier to run, and a
lot fewer disk changes. The following 4 disks will be needed:
disk 1: files S3.EXE, the *.DAT files, and your working
data files. This is your primary working disk and
is kept in drive A:> Include a batch file on this
disk with the following statement: path = a:\;b:\;
in order to have your computer check out the
second drive. File AB.BAT should fit the bill.
disk 2: files GRAPH.EXE and CALCOUNT.EXE
disk 3: files INITIAL.EXE, UTILITY.EXE, REGIS.EXE and
REVWT.EXE
disk 4: files SLIMMER.DOC and the CALTAB files (if you are
a registered user.
3. SYSTEM WITH ONE OR MORE 3-1/2" DISKS -
If you have a 720k floppy disk, then the program will have to be on
two floppy disks as follows:
disk 1: files S3.EXE, GRAPH.EXE, CALCOUNT.EXE, the *.DAT
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files, and your working data files. This is your
primary working disk and is kept in drive A:>
disk 2: files INITIAL.EXE, UTILITY.EXE, REGIS.EXE, REVWT.
EXE, and SLIMMER.DOC. CALTAB will go here if you
are a registered user.
If this is a two-disk system, add the file AB.BAT to disk 1, and start
the program with the command AB. Otherwise, with disk 1 in your drive,
type S3. Note that for registered users, SLIMMER is available to them
on 3-1/2" disks.
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. All the
SLIMMER files will nearly fit on a single 1.2 meg high density floppy.
Move some of the lesser used files such as SLIMMER.DOC and the demo
files for SLIM (SLIM.* and *.SLI) and CALTAB.* to free up some room.
5. COMPUTER WITH HIGH DENSITY 3-1/2" DRIVE
All the SLIMMER files will fit on a high density 3-1/2" floppy. It can
be run from the drive with the command S3. If your data files get too
large, you may need to move some of the lesser used files to a second
floppy (see above).
RUNNING SLIMMER
To run SLIMMER, type S3 and press <ENTER> after you have either entered
the SLIM30 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 S3 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 S3 SLIM, then pressing <ENTER>. A one-line .BAT
file will save you a bit of typing. It would contain the one-line
command S3 SLIM (e.g.), and could be called 1.BAT or similar simple
name. SLIMMER could then be run by entering "1" and then "<RETURN>".
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" option in
SLIMMER. As you start up SLIMMER for the first time, simply type in
S3 BW to run in black and white, or as in the example in the previous
paragraph, type in S3 BW SLIM to run in black and white and bypass the
opening screens. The default black and white mode assumes a monochrome
monitor and provides a "white on white" background. If your computer
has graphics capability, then select the UTILITY option from the main
menu and make the appropriate changes to the graphics mode.
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The default color configuration assumes a color graphics adaptor (CGA)
and has a red on white background.
For those of you with laptops, SLIMMER is available on 3-1/2" 720k
diskettes. Please indicate your preference for either the 3-1/2" or the
5-1/4" diskettes when ordering.
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.
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.
Version 2.0bx - Introduced EGA 640 x 350 color graphics in addition to
the the CGA 640 x 200 B&W and monochrome graphics. Fix
to CGA graphics of version 2.0b. Sept 1989
Version 2.1 - Fix to allow SLIMMER to run on computers with DOS 2.11.
Sept 1989.
Version 3.0 - Expanded data base to 1,200 items and to track
daily weight, calories, exercise, protein, sodium,
potassium, carbohydrates, cholesterol, fat, and fiber.
added monochrome graphics for CGA, EGA and VGA, and
color graphics for VGA. The CALTAB food table editor
was made available to registered users only. Use is
now restricted to those with DOS 3.0 or higher. Added
support for PostScript printers. Mouse support is
provided.
Version 3.0i - All the above but with height in cm and weight in kg.
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USE OF SLIMMER REV 1 AND REV 2 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 or REV 2 file 'n$.SLM', SLIMMER will convert it to a REV 3
file. Be sure to back up your old 'n$.SLM' files before you try this.
The 'n$.CAL' file from REV 1 and REV 2 should be DELETED. ONLY THE
DATA FILES ENDING WITH SLM should be retained from the earlier
versions.
IS SLIMMER USER FRIENDLY?
Whether a program is "user friendly" or not is a function of the
amount of time you must spend in reading and re-reading the documen-
tation 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.
HOT KEYS are single keystrokes of the letters appearing at the
left end of some of the lines of the selection menus. A single
keystroke of the selected letter will do the same thing as moving the
select bar with the up/down arrows and pressing <ENTER>.
"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
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.
MOUSE SUPPORT
Mouse Support - In one of the first screens in the program, SLIMMER
will indicate whether it has found an active mouse. For a two-button
mouse, the left button is the <RETURN> key and the right button is the
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<ESC> key. If you have a three-button mouse, use the left and right
buttons only. For user convenience, the mouse is used to input some of
the values. For example, when the date is requested, you may increase
the date by pushing the mouse forward, or decrease the date by pulling
the mouse backward. Try this whenever input is requested, and you will
quickly see where it is active and where it not. Again, for increased
ease of use, the left button is used to tag items when you are in the
calorie counter section of the program. When you are asked for a scale
factor, you may press the left button to accept the default value of 1
or you may first move the mouse backward or forward until you see the
value that you want. For foods, the scale factor varies from 0.1 to
10.0 in steps of 0.1, and for exercise (minutes) the scale factor
varies from 1 to 100 in steps of 1 as you move the mouse. You are, of
course, always able to input any scale factor that you desire from the
numbers on the keyboard....
On some computers such as 386's and 486's the mouse response will be
too fast. In order to slow down the mouse, go to the UTILITIES section
and select the "cHange mouse speed" option. The mouse speed can be
varied from a 100% level down to a 0% level. This corresponds to adding
a delay into the mouse response of from 0.0 up to 0.5 seconds.
Experiment with this until you find the speed you desire. Note that the
mouse speed is shared by all those who use the same computer.
BACKGROUND COLOR AND GRAPHICS MODE
Whenever you run SLIMMER for the first time, go to the UTILITY menu
and select a background color and graphics mode for yourself. In
order for SLIMMER to provide graphs, it must be told the type of (or
lack of) graphics adaptor that you have. When you select the background
color and graphics mode, it is saved in a n$.CFG file for you (n$ is
your name) and will be used the next time you run SLIMMER.
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. SLIM is a "pseudo" registered user in that the File
Management options can be examined when SLIM is the user name and the
program is started with S3 SLIM. While the file management menu can be
viewed, the operation of the items are disabled. Be sure to select the
graphics mode corresponding to your system's capability in the UTILITY
section. You will then be able to view SLIM's sample data.
SLIMMER will only save up to 400 days worth of weight and food value
data. On the 401st day, it will cut back to to 300 items (discarding
the first 100 values. 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 before it reaches 400 data points, and every 400 data points
thereafter.
Page 6
HINT: You may, if you wish, use a different name in order to keep your
old data on-line. For example, SLIM has accumulated 400 days worth of
data. Now, starting on the 401st day, he logs in as SLIM1 for the next
400 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. The
date from your system 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. 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. You will be asked to input your goal weight
and calorie intake goals. The goals are displayed on your user graphs.
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.
REVISE WEIGHT & FOOD VALUE DATA
The daily plot data of date, calories, and weight etc can be edited
here. New lines can not be added, but existing lines can be changed. If
you are changing numbers by overwriting them, be sure that the number
returned by the editor is the one you want. (check your work). You may
find it helpful to use the space bar to overwrite the old data if it
extends beyond the new numbers you enter. To delete a line of data from
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the list, use the CTRL-END command to blank out the DATE entry. The
editor will return a / value, and that line will be deleted when you
leave the editor.
GRAPH YOUR PROGRESS
Plots of your daily weight and food or exercise values can be viewed in
either ASCII, low, medium, or high resolution depending on your
system's capability. If in doubt about the configuration of your
system, experiment with the options offered in the UTILITY section.
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 graphs 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. Weight entry.
As you enter this section of the program, you will be prompted for your
daily weight. This happens every time. The default value is either your
previous day's value or a value you entered earlier the same day.
Change the weight with the + or - keys, or enter a new weight from the
keyboard.
2. SLIMMER food and exercise tables
The food tables, starting with "Beverages" and going through the
"Vegetables" are selected using the arrow keys or the letter at the
left end of each line may be pressed to select the line. You will
then see the food or exercise table. You may now use the up/down arrow
keys as well as page up/down and home/end keys to move about the
table. F1 provides a help menu. You may press the V key to show the
verbose data on each highlighted item. Items are selected with the
<SPACE BAR> key and will print a marker at the left end of 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. (Note that the
values on the screen are NOT modified). A scale factor less than .001
will return the line with a factor of 1. The exercise tables function
in the same way as the food tables, but you enter the time in minutes.
When you are finished selecting all the applicable items on a given
food table, press <ESC> to add the items to your daily calorie counter
list.
Registered users get a Custom Food Table Menu from which to select
Page 8
their items. These are the tables that they edited using the CALTAB
editor. Another feature is the SEARCH routine. If the (registered) user
enters a "?", he will be asked for a search string. It doesnt matter if
it is upper or lower case, but is limited to 8 characters in length.
For example, the search words "bacon" or "Bacon" or "BACON" will
each provide a table of 18 items that contain bacon in the title or
description. A hint to those that will be using the search routine:
Even with my XT operating at 10 mhz and with a math co-processor, it
takes about 12 seconds to search through the 1200 items that come with
SLIMMER. It will save time if you customize your personal data files
to eliminate items that you don't eat, and also reduce the number of
categories if at all possible.
3. Edit Calorie Counter List for n$
When you have entered all the items for the day or for a portion of the
day, you can now edit the list further by selecting the line "Edit
Calorie Counter List for n$". In this editor, you can scale any line
again using the F2 key. You will be asked for a scale factor again.
You may enter any number from zero upward. For example: if instead of 1
ounce you want three ounces, you enter a 3 as the scale factor.
Similarly, enter .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. SLIMMER will check to see if your scaled
numbers seem reasonable. If the quantity numbers seem out of range, a
comment will be given. At this point you should use the V key to view
the verbose listing. As you move the space bar up and down on the
individual items in your daily list, you will notice one (or more)
items in the verbose list where the numbers are written over the
vertical bars that separate the numbers. The corresponding item may be
in error. After editing your data, use <ESC> to leave ther editor.
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 (Registered Users Only)
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. Above the list will
be displayed "today's" date.
1. Sum your daily calories
This will provide you with a summation of the day's food and exercise
values for "today's" date.
2. Change today's calorie counter 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 so, the data for that day will be recalled.
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3. Erase today's calorie counter list
If you want a blank list for "today's" date, you can select the "Erase
Today's Calorie Count List" item to clear the file and let you start
over for that date. You will have to enter a Y or y to verify that you
do wish to erase the data.
4. Print your daily calorie counter list
Using this item will allow you to send your data to either an Epson FX
or PostScript type of printer. Two print files are created. The first
is the n$.PRT file (Epson FX) and the n$.PS file (PostScript) (where
n$ is your name).. These are created whether you print or not, and are
overwritten the next time you elect to print.
NOTE: SLIMMER Epson FX 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. The PostScript files are written using Courier-Bold 10 point
as the default font and pitch.
5. Recall old list for today's date
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
fourteen (or less) daily calorie count files that have been saved for you.
NOTE: If you already have a file saved for today's date, its values
will be overwritten.
UTILITIES
The UTILITIES section is used for a variety of things. It can be used
to change or add user names without leaving the program, to change the
background color, to select the graphic mode, to back-up your data
files, change the mouse speed, or to select a printer. First-time
users should select a printer and graphic mode during their first
session. The values will be saved for subsequent sessions.
CALTAB FOOD TABLE EDITOR
This CALTAB editor is only available to registered users. In it the
user may edit not only the data within the food tables, but the
description and name of the table itself. For new (registered) users,
you need only enter this section, then escape out of it to initialize
your personal food table files and to generate your index file. This
index file is your key to using the custom menus in the COUNT CALORIES
/ VIEW FOOD TABLES section. There is a separate document file for
CALTAB that goes into more detail ...
UNEXPECTED ERRORS AND LOCKUPS
While every attempt has been made to squash all the bugs, there may be
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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 OR RUN SLIMMER?
SLIMMER will require 135K to load, but then requires a total of up to
450k to run the larger selections from the main menu. 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. There are two
places in the program that ask for the date. The first is when SLIMMER
first starts, the second in in the File Management section under the
Count Calories/... selection from the main menu. From the File
Management menu, select Change Today's Calorie Counter Date. 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"
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.
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RUNNING UNDER WINDOWS 3.0
For the convenience of those running MicroSoft Windows, a DIET.ICO file
is included for use as the icon.
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, SLIM21, 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
If you attempt to diet without exercise, you will reach a plateau at a
Page 12
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.
Figuring your Daily Allowance of Fat:
The Heart Association recommends that no more than 10% of your total
calories come from saturated fat. The government has recently
recommended that no more than 30% of our total calories come from fat.
SLIMMER uses the government guideline number - using a conversion of 9
fat calories per fat gram - to come up with a goal value for the fat
graph.
You may want to begin by determining which foods your fat calories are
coming from. You can then decide which foods to cut back on or
eliminate to lower your fat intake. The food tables will also help you
choose foods low in fat to substitute for foods high in 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",
Page 13
Home and Garden Bulletin Number 72, Revised 1981. United States
Department of Agriculture, Handbook No. 8, Revised Sections 8-1 thru
8-12.
Bowes and Church's "Food Values of Portions Commonly Used", 15th
edition, revised by Jean A.T.Pennington, Ph.D., R.D., published by
Harper & Row, New York.
Routines written by others and used in SLIMMER are
TBWINDO.INC - Turbo Basic 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. He now has improved routines for
PowerBasic as well.
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.
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.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR / PROGRAMMER
SLIMMER is the first major program written by myself in TURBO BASIC.
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. I have a NEC Multisync 2A color monitor
which helps me to see the effects of monochrome thru VGA programming.
My programming time is generally in the wee hours - usually between 3
Page 14
and 6 am and on the weekends - and any other free moment.
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
I'll have the latest version of SLIMMER available on CompuServe in
Library 10 (Exer/Fit/Nutrition). Type GO GOODHEALTH at the ! prompt and
when you get to the library, brouse thru using the keyword SLIMMER.
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.
4. Rewrite SLIMMER in the C language.
5. Include more on-line HELP screens.
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 14
SLIMMER REGISTRATION FORM
Your Name _____________________________________________________________________
Street Address ________________________________________________________________
City, State, Zip ______________________________________________________________
Phone # (Optional) ____________________________________________________________
Disk Size Desired 3-1/2" ________ or 5-1/4" _______
Disk Density High ________ or Low _______
Weight Tracked in Pounds ________ or Kilograms _______
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 ____________________________________________DOS version__________
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 #2637
Volume in drive A has no label
Directory of A:\
HDINST BAT 8988 3-26-91 8:35p
PKUNZIP EXE 22022 10-01-89 1:02a
S3B ZIP 198307 3-26-91 7:21p
GO BAT 38 5-02-91 11:27a
GO TXT 617 5-02-91 11:32a
FILE2637 TXT 1851 5-02-91 11:35a
6 file(s) 231823 bytes
88064 bytes free