New Wireless Weight-Loss Tools
Fit in the Palm of Your Hand
January 24, 2005
Handhelds Help People On-the-Move Track Food and
Exercise
Talking on a cell phone may be considered rude in most
restaurants, but tapping on a handheld device is perfectly
acceptable -- encouraged, even, by people watching their
weight.
Handheld devices do much more these days than keep
schedules and store phone numbers. Many people trying
to slim down use their handhelds or PDAs to track the
food they eat and the exercise they perform. The biggest
names in weight-loss are offering mobile versions of
their plans that people can take with them wherever
they go.
"We like to think of our new mobile product as
a global positioning system for weight management,"
said Scott Parlee, director of product development for
WeightWatchers.com. "Our customers told us they
want tools to help them stay on course when they're
at a restaurant, the grocery store, or the gym, so we
found a way to put our weight-loss tools in the palm
of your hand."
Weight Watchers® On-the-Go(TM) for handheld devices
works in conjunction with a WeightWatchers.com account.
You can follow Weight Watchers online and add the mobile
product to the cost of your monthly subscription.
Followers of Weight Watchers track POINTS® values
for food and activity, or follow a no counting plan
in which they eat from a core food list until satisfied.
The mobile product delivers food lists -- over 25,000
food items, including brand name groceries and menu
items from national restaurant chains -- a tracker to
keep tabs on food and exercise, and a POINTS calculator
to help subscribers make smart meal choices anytime,
anywhere. Unlike other mobile weight-loss products,
Weight Watchers On-the-Go synchronizes entries between
the handheld and a Web-based account, so that ham on
rye eaten at lunch gets entered only once.
Myra Slepoy from New York attributes much of her weight-loss
success to using her handheld. "I'm always running
around and I use my PDA, so this is great for me. I
can keep track of what I eat and how much I exercise.
I can pull up food lists. I can go to a restaurant and
pull up food that they have at that restaurant."
"Having the food lists in front of you takes the
guesswork out of dieting and gives people a feeling
of control," Parlee said. "Our customer surveys
showed more and more people wanted wireless weight-loss
tools. In fact, 30% of our subscribers use handhelds.
They told us that they see it as a solution to stay
on track, wherever they are."
Source:http://biz.yahoo.com
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