U.S. patent application number 15/047817 was filed with the patent office on 2016-06-16 for mobile computing weight, diet, nutrition, and exercise management system with enhanced feedback and goal achieving functionality.
The applicant listed for this patent is Mark E. Nusbaum, Vincent Pera, JR.. Invention is credited to Jennifer L. Nusbaum, Mark E. Nusbaum, Vincent Pera, JR., Jan E. Rhoads.
Application Number | 20160171905 15/047817 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 50391735 |
Filed Date | 2016-06-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20160171905 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Nusbaum; Mark E. ; et
al. |
June 16, 2016 |
MOBILE COMPUTING WEIGHT, DIET, NUTRITION, AND EXERCISE MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM WITH ENHANCED FEEDBACK AND GOAL ACHIEVING FUNCTIONALITY
Abstract
An illustrative mobile computing device executing weight,
nutrition, health, behavior and exercise application software
serves as a simulated combination personal trainer and
dietician/nutritionist for the user using comprehensive databases
storing personalized health, nutrition and exercise information. A
mobile computing device, such as a smartphone, executing such
software monitors, tracks and/or adjusts caloric intake, energy
expenditure taking into account nutritional information and
behavioral factors. The mobile computing device receives food
consumption, exercise-related, behavior and other input using
speech input and the device's GPS subsystem to ease data entry
burden on users and to promote continued long-term usage. The
system rewards user goal achievement in an automatic, seamless
manner, through, for example, downloading music, books, or other
media. In illustrative implementations, the system assists users to
make healthy food and exercise choices by using a comprehensive
color code system to identify good choices, bad choices and those
in between.
Inventors: |
Nusbaum; Mark E.; (McLean,
VA) ; Pera, JR.; Vincent; (Cranston, RI) ;
Rhoads; Jan E.; (Grapevine, TX) ; Nusbaum; Jennifer
L.; (Herndon, VA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Nusbaum; Mark E.
Pera, JR.; Vincent |
Cranston |
RI |
US
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
50391735 |
Appl. No.: |
15/047817 |
Filed: |
February 19, 2016 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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14242106 |
Apr 1, 2014 |
9280640 |
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15047817 |
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13733588 |
Jan 3, 2013 |
8690578 |
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14242106 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
434/127 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63B 2220/807 20130101;
A63B 2220/20 20130101; G06F 19/3481 20130101; A63B 2230/75
20130101; A63B 24/0062 20130101; G16H 20/60 20180101; A63B 2230/04
20130101; G09B 5/125 20130101; A63B 2225/50 20130101; G06F 19/00
20130101; G06F 19/3475 20130101; G09B 19/0092 20130101; G16H 20/30
20180101; A63B 2220/12 20130101; A63B 2220/17 20130101; G16H 40/67
20180101; A63B 2024/0071 20130101; G09B 19/00 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G09B 19/00 20060101
G09B019/00; A63B 24/00 20060101 A63B024/00 |
Claims
1. A hand-held mobile weight and exercise management computing
device having a housing sized to be held in a user's hand
comprising: a storage subsystem for storing health information
including a user profile, said storage subsystem being operable to
store health information about a user, including body weight, pulse
rate information, at least one food-related goal including a
calorie-related daily goal, and an exercise-related goal; said
storage subsystem being further operable to store data relating to
a plurality of user-selectable foods and to store data relating to
a plurality of user-selectable exercises; a touch screen display
operable to display food-related and exercise-related information
to said user; a user interface operable to receive input from said
user and to communicate output to said user, said user interface
including a plurality of user interface displays displayable on
said touch screen display; said user interface being operable to
selectively initiate entry into said user profile or at least one
food-related operation or at least one exercise-related operation,
said user interface including a plurality of user-selectable
symbols; said user-selectable symbols being operable to initiate
entry into said user profile or at least one food-related operation
or at least one exercise-related operation; a GPS receiver in said
housing operable to receive input GPS data; a pedometer in said
housing operable to generate step-related data; said user interface
being operable to display on said touch screen display in said
housing: a food mode symbol, a first exercise mode symbol for
initiating an exercise mode that uses position coordinate
information based upon said input GPS data, and a second exercise
mode symbol for entry of data regarding a plurality of exercise
modes that do not use position coordinate information based upon
said input GPS data; a processing subsystem, operatively coupled to
said user interface, said GPS receiver, said pedometer, said touch
screen display, and said storage subsystem, said processing
subsystem including: a food monitoring subsystem being operatively
coupled to said storage subsystem and being operable to receive
food-related data from said user, via said user interface,
including data identifying a first set of foods input by said user,
and being operable to link said first set of foods to a specific
user meal, said first set of foods including a first food and a
quantity-related parameter identified by said user; said food
monitoring subsystem being operable to determine the calories
expected to be consumed by said user upon eating said first food,
and to store food-related information in said storage subsystem
relating to said first food, including information relating to the
nutritional content of said first food and the calories consumed by
said user upon eating said first food, based in part on said
food-related data from said user; said food monitoring subsystem,
in response to user selection of said food mode symbol, being
further operable to generate a food selection display screen
identifying a plurality of meal category symbols that allow the
user to select a meal category including a breakfast category
symbol, a lunch category symbol, and a dinner category symbol; said
food monitoring subsystem being further operable to generate a list
of said user's favorite foods in response to food-related inputs by
said user during food selection for said specific user meal; and an
exercise monitoring subsystem being operatively coupled to said
storage subsystem and, in response to user selection of said first
exercise mode symbol or said second exercise mode symbol, being
operable to receive exercise-related data from said user, via said
user interface, including data identifying a first exercise
expected to be performed by said user; said exercise monitoring
subsystem being operable to determine the calories expected to be
burned by said user upon performing said first exercise, and to
store exercise-related information in said storage subsystem
relating to said first exercise, including the calories burned by
said user and an exercise quantity-related parameter upon said user
performing said first exercise, based in part on data from said
user; said exercise monitoring subsystem being further operable to
analyze data related to user performance of at least one exercise,
and to generate exercise feedback for said user relating to said at
least one exercise; said exercise monitoring subsystem, in response
to user selection of said first exercise mode symbol, being further
operable to receive exercise data including user location data via
signals received from said GPS receiver, to determine user distance
traveled using location data from said GPS receiver, and to track
user distance traveled and duration traveled; said exercise
monitoring subsystem being further operable to associate each of a
plurality of exercise levels with at least one user-selectable
exercise, said user-selectable exercise including an associated
exercise parameter combination; said exercise monitoring subsystem
being further operable to allow said user to select a
user-selectable exercise to be performed from any one of said
plurality of exercise levels from said storage subsystem; said
plurality of exercise levels ranging from a low exercise level,
linked to an exercise with an associated exercise parameter
combination that may be performed by users having a relatively low
fitness level, to a first high exercise level, linked to an
exercise having an exercise parameter combination requiring a
relatively high fitness level to perform; said plurality of
exercise levels including a second high exercise level, linked to
an exercise requiring a relatively high fitness level to perform,
where said second high exercise level is at a lower exercise level
than said first high exercise level, but at a higher exercise level
than other exercise levels in said plurality of exercise levels,
based upon a comparison of exercise parameter combinations
associated with exercises of respective exercise levels being
compared; said processing subsystem being further operable to
monitor the user's performance of at least one exercise activity
and to notify said user, if said user's performance exceeds the
user's prior best performance of said at least one exercise
activity; said exercise monitoring subsystem being further operable
to receive said step-related data from said pedometer, to determine
the number of steps taken by said user during a step-related
exercise, and to calculate the distance traveled during said
step-related exercise; said processing subsystem being further
operable to monitor a user's food consumption and exercise
performance, based in part on user input, and to generate a
notification to said user via said user interface of progress
towards the achievement by said user of at least one daily
food-related goal and at least one exercise-related goal; said
processing subsystem being further operable to generate a display
of a food-related daily goal and data indicative of said user's
progress towards meeting said food-related daily goal, and to
generate a display of an exercise-related goal and data indicative
of said user's progress towards meeting said exercise-related goal;
said processing subsystem being further operable to monitor said
user's weight over time, and being operable to receive user weight
data from said user interface and to store said user weight data in
said storage subsystem, said processing subsystem being further
operable to generate a weight-related display visually depicting a
plurality of instances of said user's weight over time on said
touch screen display; said touch screen display being operatively
coupled to said processing subsystem to display at least some of
said user's favorite foods to aid in food data entry by said user,
to display said food-related daily goal and data indicative of said
user's progress towards meeting said food-related goal, to display
said exercise-related goal and data indicative of said user's
progress towards meeting said exercise-related goal, and to display
at least one current exercise parameter during the user's
performance of an exercise.
2. A hand-held mobile weight and exercise management system
according to claim 1, wherein said food monitoring subsystem is
further operable to generate a nutritional-related rating for said
specific user meal and to communicate said rating to said user via
said user interface.
3. A hand-held mobile weight and exercise management computing
device according to claim 1, wherein said processing subsystem is
further operable to initiate communication of said exercise
feedback to said user to change the level of exercise.
4. A hand-held mobile weight and exercise management computing
device according to claim 1, wherein said exercise quantity-related
parameter is distance and wherein said processing subsystem is
operable to generate and couple to said touch screen display a
visual depiction of the current exercise location and the pace of
the exercise.
5. A hand-held mobile weight and exercise management computing
device according to claim 1, further including a camera, wherein
said food monitoring subsystem is operable to receive image data
from said camera of a least one food item.
6. A hand-held mobile weight and exercise management computing
device according to claim 1, wherein said storage subsystem
includes: a first set of memory locations for storing data
identifying said plurality of user-selectable foods, wherein each
of said foods is associated with a unique food identifying signal,
and for storing a plurality of descriptors associated with at least
one of said foods, wherein said plurality of descriptors includes
the quantity of each food, said first set of memory locations
further operable to store data relating to the calories consumed by
said user for each food based in part upon user input; and a second
set of memory locations for storing data identifying said plurality
of user-selectable exercises and for storing a plurality of
descriptors associated with at least one of said exercises, wherein
said plurality of descriptors includes data indicative of distance
traveled during at least one motion-related exercise based upon
data received from said GPS receiver, said second set of memory
locations further operable to store data relating to the calories
burned by said user during each exercise.
7. A hand-held mobile weight and exercise management computing
device according to claim 1, wherein said user interface includes
an audio input device being operable to receive a speech signal
from a user, and wherein said storage subsystem includes memory
locations being operable to store a set of instructions for
performing speech recognition.
8. A hand-held mobile weight and exercise management computing
device according to claim 1, wherein said processing subsystem is
operable to store in said user profile data indicative of said
user's age and height.
9. A hand-held mobile weight and exercise management computing
device according to claim 1, wherein said processing subsystem is
operable to store in said user profile data indicative of a user's
physical statistics including a user's height, and a body frame
size-related parameter.
10. A hand-held mobile weight and exercise management computing
device according to claim 1, wherein said processing subsystem is
operable to store in said user profile data indicative of a user's
heart rate during exercise and to determine a target heart rate
based in part on data stored in the user's profile.
11. A hand-held mobile weight and exercise management computing
device according to claim 1, wherein said processing subsystem
further includes a reward generating subsystem being operable to
automatically select a reward for said user if a user
health-related goal has been met by said user.
12. A hand-held mobile weight and exercise management computing
device according to claim 1, wherein said processing subsystem
further includes a behavioral subsystem that generates requests for
input from a user regarding dietary issues, and generates dietary
recommendations in response to the user's input.
13. A hand-held mobile weight and exercise management computing
device according to claim 1, wherein said exercise monitoring
subsystem, in response to user selection of said first exercise
mode symbol, using said user location data received from said GPS
receiver in said hand-held housing, being further operable to
generate a visual depiction of the current location of said current
exercise in real time indicating the user traversing the path
defined by said user location data.
14. A hand-held mobile weight and exercise management computing
device having a housing sized to be held in a user's hand
comprising: a storage subsystem for storing health information
including a user profile, said storage subsystem being operable to
store health information about a user, including body weight,
height, pulse rate information, at least one food-related goal
including a calorie-related daily goal, and an exercise-related
goal; said storage subsystem being further operable to store data
relating to a plurality of user-selectable foods and to store data
relating to a plurality of user-selectable exercises; a touch
screen display operable to display food-related and
exercise-related information to said user; a user interface
operable to receive input from said user and to communicate output
to said user, said user interface including a plurality of user
interface displays displayable on said touch screen display; said
user interface being operable to selectively initiate entry into
said user profile or at least one food-related operation or at
least one exercise-related operation, said user interface including
a plurality of user-selectable symbols; said user-selectable
symbols being operable to initiate entry into said user profile or
at least one food-related operation or at least one
exercise-related operation; a GPS receiver in said housing operable
to receive input GPS data; a pedometer in said housing operable to
generate step-related data; said user interface being operable to
display on said touch screen display in said housing: a food mode
symbol, a first exercise mode symbol for initiating an exercise
mode that uses position coordinate information based upon said
input GPS data, and a second exercise mode symbol for entry of data
regarding a plurality of exercise modes that do not use position
coordinate information based upon said input GPS data; a processing
subsystem, operatively coupled to said user interface, said GPS
receiver, said pedometer, said touch screen display, and said
storage subsystem, said processing subsystem including: a food
monitoring subsystem being operatively coupled to said storage
subsystem and being operable to receive food-related data from said
user, via said user interface, including data identifying a first
set of foods input by said user, and being operable to link said
first set of foods to a specific user meal, said first set of foods
including a first food and a quantity-related parameter identified
by said user; said food monitoring subsystem being operable to
determine the calories expected to be consumed by said user upon
eating said first food, and to store food-related information in
said storage subsystem relating to said first food, including
information relating to the nutritional content of said first food
and the calories consumed by said user upon eating said first food,
based in part on said food-related data from said user; said food
monitoring subsystem, in response to user selection of said food
mode symbol, being further operable to generate a food selection
display screen identifying a plurality of meal category symbols
that allow the user to select a meal category including a breakfast
category symbol, a lunch category symbol, a dinner category symbol,
and a snack category symbol; said food monitoring subsystem being
further operable to generate a list of said user's favorite foods
in response to food-related inputs by said user during food
selection for said specific user meal; and an exercise monitoring
subsystem being operatively coupled to said storage subsystem and,
in response to user selection of said first exercise mode symbol or
said second exercise mode symbol, being operable to receive
exercise-related data from said user, via said user interface,
including data identifying a first exercise expected to be
performed by said user; said exercise monitoring subsystem being
operable to determine the calories expected to be burned by said
user upon performing said first exercise, and to store
exercise-related information in said storage subsystem relating to
said first exercise, including the calories burned by said user and
an exercise quantity-related parameter upon said user performing
said first exercise, based in part on data from said user; said
exercise monitoring subsystem being further operable to accumulate
the calories burned by the user during at least one day, and to
display said calories burned during said at least one day to said
user via said touch screen display; said exercise monitoring
subsystem being further operable to analyze data related to user
performance of at least one exercise, and to generate exercise
feedback for said user relating to said at least one exercise; said
exercise monitoring subsystem, in response to user selection of
said first exercise mode symbol, being further operable to receive
exercise data including user location data via signals received
from said GPS receiver, to determine user distance traveled using
location data from said GPS receiver, and to track user distance
traveled and duration traveled; said exercise monitoring subsystem,
in response to user selection of said first exercise mode symbol,
using said user location data received from said GPS receiver in
said hand-held housing, being further operable to generate the
current location of a motion-related exercise, and to generate a
visual depiction in real time indicating the user traversing the
path defined by said user location data; said exercise monitoring
subsystem being further operable to associate each of a plurality
of exercise levels with at least one user-selectable exercise, said
user-selectable exercise including an associated exercise parameter
combination; said exercise monitoring subsystem being further
operable to allow said user to select a user-selectable exercise to
be performed from any one of said plurality of exercise levels from
said storage subsystem; said plurality of exercise levels ranging
from a low exercise level, linked to an exercise with an associated
exercise parameter combination that may be performed by users
having a relatively low fitness level, to a first high exercise
level, linked to an exercise having an exercise parameter
combination requiring a relatively high fitness level to perform;
said plurality of exercise levels including a second high exercise
level, linked to an exercise requiring a relatively high fitness
level to perform, where said second high exercise level is at a
lower exercise level than said first high exercise level, but at a
higher exercise level than other exercise levels in said plurality
of exercise levels, based upon a comparison of exercise parameter
combinations associated with exercises of respective exercise
levels being compared; said processing subsystem being further
operable to monitor the user's performance of at least one exercise
activity and to notify said user, if said user's performance
exceeds the user's prior best performance of said at least one
exercise activity; said exercise monitoring subsystem being further
operable to receive said step-related data from said pedometer, to
determine the number of steps taken by said user during a
step-related exercise, and to calculate the distance traveled
during said step-related exercise; said processing subsystem being
further operable to monitor a user's food consumption and exercise
performance, based in part on user input, and to generate a
notification to said user via said user interface of progress
towards the achievement by said user of at least one food-related
daily goal and at least one exercise-related goal; said processing
subsystem being further operable to generate a display of a
food-related daily goal and data indicative of said user's progress
towards meeting said food-related daily goal, and to generate a
display of an exercise-related goal and data indicative of said
user's progress towards meeting said exercise-related goal; said
processing subsystem being further operable to monitor said user's
weight over time, and being operable to receive user weight data
from said user interface and to store said user weight data in said
storage subsystem, said processing subsystem being further operable
to generate a weight-related display visually depicting a plurality
of instances of said user's weight over time on said touch screen
display; said touch screen display being operatively coupled to
said processing subsystem to display said food-related daily goal
and data indicative of said user's progress towards meeting said
food-related goal, to display said exercise-related goal and data
indicative of said user's progress towards meeting said
exercise-related goal, to display at least some of said user's
favorite foods to aid in food data entry by said user; and being
further operatively coupled to display said visual depiction of
said motion-related exercise in real time indicating the user
traversing the path defined by said user location data while the
user is moving along said path, and to display to said user at
least one current exercise parameter during the user's performance
of an exercise.
15. A hand-held mobile weight and exercise management computing
device according to claim 14, wherein said food monitoring
subsystem is further operable to generate a nutritional-related
rating for said specific user meal and to communicate said rating
to said user via said user interface.
16. A hand-held mobile weight and exercise management computing
device according to claim 14, wherein said processing subsystem is
operable to generate a color code indication to said user, via said
touch screen display, of progress towards achievement of a calories
consumed-related goal.
17. A hand-held mobile weight and exercise management computing
device according to claim 14, further including a camera, wherein
said food monitoring subsystem is operable to receive image data
from said camera of a least one food item.
18. A hand-held mobile weight and exercise management computing
device according to claim 14, wherein said processing subsystem is
operable to store in said user's profile data indicative of a
user's heart rate during exercise and to determine a target heart
rate based in part on the user's age stored in the user's
profile.
19. A hand-held mobile weight and exercise management computing
device having a housing comprising: a storage subsystem for storing
health information about a user including a user's profile, said
storage subsystem being operable to store health information about
said user including body weight, height, pulse rate, a
calorie-related daily goal, and an exercise-related goal; said
storage subsystem being further operable to store data relating to
a plurality of user-selectable foods and to store data relating to
a plurality of user-selectable exercises; a touch screen display
operable to display food-related and exercise-related information
to said user; a user interface operable to receive input from said
user and to communicate output to said user, said user interface
including a plurality of user interface displays displayable on
said touch screen display; said user interface being operable to
selectively initiate entry into said user profile or a food-related
operation or an exercise-related operation, said user interface
including a plurality of symbols selectable by said user, including
a symbol operable to initiate entry into a user profile mode of
operation, at least one food-related symbol operable to initiate
entry into a food-related mode of operation, and a plurality of
exercise-related symbols operable to initiate entry into a
plurality of exercise-related modes of operation; a GPS receiver in
said housing operable to receive input GPS data; a pedometer in
said housing operable to generate step-related data; said user
interface being operable to display on said touch screen display in
said housing: a food mode symbol, a first exercise mode symbol for
initiating an exercise mode that uses position coordinate
information based upon said input GPS data, and a second exercise
mode symbol for entry of data regarding a plurality of exercise
modes that do not use position coordinate information based upon
said input GPS data; a processing subsystem operatively coupled to
said user interface, said GPS receiver, said pedometer, said touch
screen display, and said storage subsystem, said processing
subsystem including: a food monitoring subsystem being operatively
coupled to said storage subsystem and being operable to receive
food-related data from said user, via said user interface,
including data identifying a first set of foods input by said user,
and being operable to link said first set of foods to a specific
user meal, said first set of foods including a first food
identified by said user and a quantity-related food parameter; said
food monitoring subsystem being operable to determine the calories
expected to be consumed by said user upon eating said first food,
and to store food-related information in said storage subsystem
relating to said first food, including information relating to the
nutritional content of said first food and the calories consumed by
said user upon eating said first food, based in part on said
food-related input from said user; said food monitoring subsystem
being further operable to accumulate the calories consumed by said
user during a given day based in part on the user's food-related
inputs and to display said calories consumed by said user on said
given day via said touch screen display; said food monitoring
subsystem, in response to user selection of said food mode symbol,
being further operable to generate a food selection display screen
identifying a plurality of meal category symbols that allow the
user to select a meal category including a breakfast category
symbol, a lunch category symbol, a dinner category symbol, and a
snack category symbol; said food monitoring subsystem being further
operable to generate a list of said user's favorite foods in
response to food-related inputs from said user interface; and an
exercise monitoring subsystem being operatively coupled to said
storage subsystem and being operable, in response to user selection
of said first exercise mode symbol or said second exercise mode
symbol, to receive exercise-related data from said user, via said
user interface, including data identifying a first exercise
expected to be performed by said user; said exercise monitoring
subsystem being further operable to determine the calories expected
to be burned by said user by performing said first exercise; and to
store exercise-related information in said storage subsystem
relating to said first exercise, including the calories burned by
said user and an exercise-quantity related parameter upon said user
performing said first exercise, based in part on data from said
user; said exercise monitoring subsystem being further operable to
accumulate the calories burned by the user during at least a given
day, and to display said calories burned to said user via said
touch screen display; said exercise monitoring subsystem, in
response to user selection of said first exercise mode symbol,
being further operable to receive exercise data including user
location data via signals received from said GPS receiver, and to
determine user distance traveled using said location data from said
GPS receiver; said exercise monitoring subsystem being operable to
track user distance traveled and duration traveled; said exercise
monitoring subsystem being operable, in response to user selection
of said first exercise mode symbol, to generate, via said touch
screen display, a visual depiction of the current location of a
current exercise and an exercise parameter relating to the user's
performance of said current exercise; said exercise monitoring
subsystem, in response to user selection of said first exercise
mode symbol, using said user location data received from said GPS
receiver in said hand-held housing, being further operable to
generate a visual depiction of the current location of said current
exercise in real time indicating the user traversing the path
defined by said user location data; said exercise monitoring
subsystem being operable to receive said step-related data from
said pedometer, to determine the number of steps taken by said user
during at least one step-related exercise, to calculate the
distance traveled during said step-related exercise, and to
determine the number of calories burned during said step-related
exercise; said exercise monitoring subsystem being further operable
to display real-time performance data regarding said step-related
exercise to said user, via said touch screen display; said
processing subsystem being further operable to monitor said user's
weight over time, and being operable to receive user weight data
and to store said user weight data in said storage subsystem; said
processing subsystem being further operable to generate a user's
weight-related display visually depicting a plurality of instances
of said user's weight over time on said touch screen display; said
processing subsystem being further operable for a motion-related
exercise to associate a first color code with said user's expected
performance at a first pace, and to associate a second color code
with said user's expected performance at a second pace that is
faster than said first pace; said processing subsystem being
further operable to monitor the user's performance of at least one
exercise and to notify said user, if said user's performance
exceeds the user's prior best performance of said at least one
exercise; said processing subsystem being further operable to
monitor a user's food consumption and exercise performance, based
in part on user input, and to generate a notification to said user
via said user interface of progress towards the achievement by said
user of at least one food-related daily goal and at least one
exercise-related goal; said processing subsystem being further
operable to generate a display of a food-related daily goal and
data indicative of said user's progress towards meeting said
food-related daily goal, and to generate a display of an
exercise-related goal and data indicative of said user's progress
towards meeting said exercise-related goal; said touch screen
display being operatively coupled to said processing subsystem,
while in a food-related mode, to display said calorie-related daily
goal and data indicative of said user's progress towards meeting
said calorie-related daily goal, and to display at least some of
said user's favorite foods to aid in food data entry by said user;
and, while in an exercise-related mode, to display said
exercise-related goal and data indicative of said user's progress
towards meeting said exercise-related goal, to display the calories
burned by the user during a given day based in part on the user's
input, to display said visual depiction of the current location of
said current exercise in real time indicating the user traversing
the path defined by said user location data while the user is
moving along said path, and to display an exercise parameter
relating to said current exercise; said touch screen display being
further operable to display a plurality of instances of said user's
weight over time.
20. A hand-held mobile weight and exercise management computing
device according to claim 19, wherein said exercise monitoring
subsystem is operable to analyze data related to the user's
performance of at least one current exercise, and to generate
exercise feedback to said user to change the level of exercise,
based at least in part on said pulse rate information stored in
said storage subsystem, said processing subsystem being further
operable to initiate communication of said exercise feedback to
said user to change the level of exercise, based at least in part
on said stored pulse rate information.
21. A hand-held mobile weight and exercise management computing
device according to claim 19, wherein said processing subsystem is
further operable to store information indicative of the performance
of a current exercise by said user and to dynamically generate a
recommendation to the user to increase or decrease the amount of
exercise based on the user's performance of said current
exercise.
22. A hand-held mobile weight and exercise management computing
device according to claim 19, wherein said visual depiction in real
time indicating the user traversing the path shows an avatar
traversing the path.
Description
[0001] This application is a continuation of allowed U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 14/242,106, which is a continuation of U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 13/733,588, filed on Jan. 3, 2013, now
U.S. Pat. No. 8,690,578, which are hereby incorporated by reference
in their entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The invention generally relates to a computing diet,
nutrition and exercise tracking system and methodology. More
particularly, the illustrative implementations relate to a mobile
computing weight, diet, nutrition, behavioral, and exercise
tracking system with enhanced data acquisition functionality to
ease tracking calories consumed and calories burned through
exercise while providing enhanced user feedback features to improve
the probability of goal achievement.
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY
[0003] Obesity has been a well-recognized serious health problem in
the United States for decades, significantly contributing to
shortening lives and increasing medical expenses for millions of
Americans. Many diseases, such as type II diabetes, hypertension,
hyperlipidemia, heart disease, and others have been directly linked
to obesity. Unfortunately, the threat of a reduced lifespan,
reduced quality of life and an enhanced probability of suffering
from comorbid diseases in the future is not sufficient for those
who are significantly overweight to be successful in reducing their
weight and in maintaining such a reduced weight, and a healthy
lifestyle incorporating a consistent exercise program.
[0004] The causes of obesity are multiple and can be complex.
Genetic predisposition impacting metabolism and environmental
factors such as diminished physical activity often play a key role.
For some individuals additional psychological factors such as
stress and depression and medical conditions such as
hypothyroidism, chronic pain and other conditions that restrict
physical activity or affect metabolism all can contribute in
varying degrees in causing obesity.
[0005] Given the complexity of obesity, there are many approaches
to its treatment. At the most basic level, treatment involves the
manipulation of energy intake and energy expenditure. To lose
weight one has to take in fewer calories than one expends. To
attain this objective, diets limiting the intake of calories are
typically coupled with exercise to increase energy expenditure and
thus create negative energy balance. Along with this, however, when
restricting calories one must be aware of the nutritional needs of
the body. Healthy weight loss is best achieved when nutritional
requirements of the body are fulfilled during the process of
limiting caloric intake.
[0006] Since many individuals suffering from obesity also are
afflicted with comorbid medical conditions, the determination of
appropriate nutritional intake, caloric restriction and exercise
regimens should take into account these conditions and, often, the
medications associated with them. Safety is of utmost concern when
establishing an exercise regimen and in determining nutritional
requirements making up a dietary protocol. For example, an
appropriate dietary protocol and exercise regimen for weight loss
for a 60 year old morbidly obese male individual with hypertension,
coronary artery disease and history of heart attack would be very
different than the appropriate protocol for a 38 year old
moderately obese female having type II diabetes treated with oral
medications. Given these factors, it is recommended that protocols
for weight loss including nutritional guidelines and exercise be
constructed by healthcare professionals including physicians,
nutritionists and others.
[0007] In this country, there is significant variation in the
approaches available to address obesity. Many commercial programs
exist, such as Weight Watchers, that provide nutritional and
exercise direction along with help to keep on track. There are many
individual health care professionals that provide specific weight
management services such as nutritionists, trainers, exercise
physiologists, counselors, psychologists, nurses and physicians. In
some areas, there are more comprehensive programs available at
multidisciplinary medical weight management centers where medical
management, nutrition, exercise and psychological intervention are
provided in a global, coordinated approach. Also, there are
surgical approaches available offering a number of procedures aimed
at altering caloric intake and absorption.
[0008] In addition to services and programs, there are a myriad of
weight loss products available. FDA approved prescription
medications, herbal products and over the counter products to
stimulate metabolism and to increase satiety, prepackaged, low and
zero calorie foods and beverages and many other products are
available to alter caloric intake. Exercise machines, devices and
videos are also available to encourage increased energy
expenditure.
[0009] In the end, the success of individuals, whether it be in
losing weight and maintaining the weight loss or any health
enhancement endeavor is most affected by their ability to make
positive behavior changes and to maintain those positive behaviors
indefinitely.
[0010] Well known programs, such as Weight Watchers, have employed
weight-loss monitoring data processing systems that have been
helpful to participants in this program. In recent years,
weight-loss applications have become available for use with iPhones
and iPads to assist dieters in successfully meeting their weight
loss goals.
[0011] While existing weight-loss computing systems have a variety
of useful features, such systems are typically cumbersome to use
due in part to the complexities of adequate data entry. The
difficulties in various data entry steps in such systems are likely
to discourage consistent use over a long period of time for many
users.
[0012] Moreover, there is a need for a diet, exercise and
behavioral monitoring system that provides the user with a
structured system for addressing the old adage "you are what you
eat" in part by providing feedback in real time to the user as to
food consumed, exercise performed and/or progress towards goal
achievement. In illustrative implementations, such feedback
includes nutritional and/or health information about food items to
be consumed of which the user may be unaware. Armed with such
information, the user is then equipped to make an informed decision
whether to eat a selected food item. With such a system, even those
who are not overweight (or suffering from any known illness) but
who wish to structure a diet that minimizes their odds of in the
future suffering from a variety of diseases linked to poor diet,
have an opportunity to do so. Still others, who are not overweight
but who suffer from high blood pressure, diabetes, lipid disorders,
renal disease and perhaps various cancers, have an opportunity to
meet their food consumption and exercise goals to take advantage of
a diet and exercise protocol that has been linked to helping
control such medical conditions. Also individuals in good health
who may have very specific health and fitness goals such as
bodybuilders, runners, martial arts enthusiasts and others may
utilize such a system to help attain their fitness and health goals
by monitoring and tracking exercise, behavioral and nutrition
parameters.
[0013] There is a need for an easy to use weight, nutrition,
exercise and behavior monitoring data processing system that, for
example, simplifies data entry for food consumed and/or exercise
modes of operation and/or behavior parameters, while providing
valuable health beneficial feedback and rewards for behavior change
and goal achievement. Former smokers and those who are attempting
to quit smoking have a dire need to eat in a nutritionally sound
manner, exercise as much as they are able, and be rewarded for
their efforts to stop smoking. Moreover, it is desirable for such a
system to, for example, dynamically adjust to changing user food
intake, exercise regimens and behaviors, to change user profiles
and associated goals, and to appropriately generate medical
warnings as needed.
[0014] In practical effect, in illustrative implementations, the
mobile computing device executing the weight, nutrition, health,
behavior and exercise application software as described herein
serves as a simulated personal trainer, dietician/nutritionist, and
physician's assistant for the user while having access to massive
amounts of personalized health, nutrition and exercise information.
In non-limiting, illustrative implementations, a mobile computing
device, such as an Iphone, is augmented with a unique weight,
nutrition, health, behavior and exercise tracking application and
databases that provide enhanced user feedback features and
automated data entry.
[0015] The illustrative implementations advantageously contribute
to the ability of users to maintain positive diet, nutrition and
exercise lifestyle changes by monitoring, tracking and adjusting
caloric intake, energy expenditure, nutritional information and
environmental and behavioral factors. Identifying behavioral issues
and working to improve them through prompts and recommendations are
used to enhance and maintain positive behavior change. In
maintaining the positive behaviors, weight loss and health
improvement can be achieved and maintained long term, resulting in
significant improvement in quality of life, self esteem, medical
conditions and overall health.
[0016] In an illustrative implementation (or set of illustrative
implementations), the mobile computing device receives food
consumption, exercise-related, behavior and other input from
various input devices/mechanisms using speech input and digital
imaging technology to ease the data entry burden on users and to
promote continued long-term usage. In certain illustrative
implementations, the system is designed to reward user goal
achievement in an automatic, seamless manner, through for example
downloading music, books, or other media to the user's mobile
computing device via the Internet.
[0017] As used herein, it should be understood that any feature
identified as being used in one illustrative implementation, is
contemplated as being usable in any other illustrative
implementation identified herein. Thus, merely because a feature is
not expressly identified as being used in a particular illustrative
implementation should not be interpreted as an indication that it
is not contemplated for use in that implementation. Similarly, any
reference herein to "in an implementation/embodiment" or the like
should be interpreted as indicating a contemplation of use in any
desired implementation. Further, reference to a feature or a set of
features being used in "illustrative implementations" should not be
construed as an indication that some or all of such features must
be used in "all" implementations.
[0018] In an illustrative implementation, food consumption and
exercise and other goals are set using input from a physician,
and/or a nutritionist, and/or healthcare provider, and/or personal
trainer, and/or the user, and/or another source. For example, a
physician may provide input to set appropriate thresholds for the
user including average calorie intake per day, grams of sugar
intake per day, amount of exercise per day, etc.
[0019] In an illustrative implementation, a "select mode" display
is generated. In such an illustrative implementation a wide array
of mode select icons are displayed to indicate, for example, a user
profile mode for creating a user profile that is modifiable and
displayable, a diet selection mode, a food data entry mode, an
exercise data entry mode including those using the computing
device's GPS functionality, a food purchase mode, a diet and
exercise issue mode for addressing a range of issues including user
"behavioral" issues in comporting with a diet and exercise program,
and various other modes.
[0020] One of various mechanisms used by the illustrative
implementations to assist, motivate and encourage users to make
good, healthy food and exercise choices is a color code system to
identify good choices, bad choices and those in between. For
example, in an illustrative implementation, the colors GREEN, LIME,
YELLOW, ORANGE, and RED, respectively indicate relative values such
as Best, Good, Okay, Bad, and Worst with respect to food and
exercise choices.
[0021] In an illustrative implementation, for each food and
exercise activity supported by the system described herein, the
system advantageously provides color code feedback to the user with
respect to (WRT) any and all of the many nutritional parameters
monitored by the system while taking into consideration related
health information from a user's profile.
[0022] In an illustrative implementation, for each food and each
exercise identified by the user, a color code is displayed to the
user and dynamically adjusted taking into account, for example,
user weight, height, sex, age, health, goals, progress, etc. Such a
color code system aids in motivating the user to abide by color
codes that are internationally-recognized signals (e.g., "Go" on
Green, "Stop" on Red) to select the foods or exercises that provide
the greatest benefit (as indicated by the color Green in this
example), to avoid the poor choices that provide the least benefit
or may even be harmful (as indicated by the color Red in this
example), and to advance the color up from Red to Green as soon as
possible.
[0023] The color coding system used in illustrative implementations
is dynamically tailored to individual users in real time. In an
illustrative implementation, in generating color code feedback to
the user for use in the user's profile generation, the system
adjusts the color coding taking into consideration the specific
health characteristic to which the user (or the user's physician,
nutritionist, or personal trainer) is seeking to improve. For
example, in an overweight male user trying to lose weight, fruit is
color coded Green but in the overweight female diabetic user who is
trying to lose weight and improve her diabetes control, fruit is
color coded Orange. Under a variety of circumstances, the same food
may undergo a color change for the same user. For example, with the
diabetic user, after surpassing a certain amount of fruit in a day,
fruit becomes Red due to the sugars in fruit making them not as
good for diabetics.
[0024] In illustrative implementations with respect to exercise,
for a user with significant arthritis in the knees and hips who is
trying to lose weight, treadmill walking is coded Red while
elliptical machine exercise is coded Orange. However, for such a
user, walking or swimming in a pool is coded Green.
[0025] In an illustrative implementation, exercise duration times
are also factored in by color coding the activity based on the
activity itself and the time participating in the activity. In such
implementations, too little or too much exercise time generate a
less desirable color code, taking into consideration the user's
health parameters (heart disease, arthritis, asthma, etc) and the
user's goal (to lose/gain weight, improve strength, increase
endurance, quit smoking, etc).
[0026] In practical effect, the system guides the user to make
healthy choices based upon nutrition and health factors tailored to
the user, which the user may be unaware of or otherwise
avoiding.
[0027] In an illustrative implementation, a wide variety of modes
may be entered from a "Select Mode" display screen. Initially, a
user profile-related mode is entered to permit a user to create,
modify, or display his or her user's profile. Entry into such a
mode may, for example, enable the user to immediately access
his/her current weight loss, calories consumed, calories burned,
and other exercise or health-related data to get real-time feedback
on his/her progress to date.
[0028] In an illustrative implementation, a diet selection mode
permits a user to select a diet to be associated with the user's
profile that may be used to target one or more medical conditions
of the user. In an exemplary implementation, upon the selection of
the "diet selection" mode, an array of icons are displayed
identifying various diet regimens, at least some of which are
targeted to address weight loss, one or more serious medical
concerns, and/or other specialized dietary needs such as those of
athletes. For example, one or more icons zone in on a diet tailored
to addressing the needs of diabetics, cancer patients,
gluten-intolerant individuals, individuals with high blood
pressure, or individuals with other major medical conditions, who
are attempting to stop smoking or drinking, etc. In an illustrative
implementation, the application generates selection of a diet by
accessing an associated database that contains pre-formulated
breakfasts, lunches and dinners targeted to comport with the
selected diet and associates such meals with the user's
profile.
[0029] In an illustrative implementation, one of such icons
available in the diet selection mode would, for example, enable
selection of the "GOMBS" diet (or a variation thereof) promoted in
the mass media by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. In such an implementation,
variations of meals following the spirit of the GOMBS diet as
identified in Dr. Fuhrman's book "Secrets to Healthy Cooking" are
stored in one of the databases used in the illustrative
implementation. GOMBS is an acronym for Greens, Onions, Mushrooms,
Beans & berries, and Seeds & nuts. Such foods have
reportedly been associated with healthier blood vessels/blood flow,
enhanced weight loss, reduced suffering from certain cancers,
anti-diabetic and other beneficial properties.
[0030] In an illustrative implementation, entry into a food
consumption data entry mode (Food mode) permits the user to enter
into the system, food that is consumed either in or outside a
user's home in a manner that is as user-friendly as possible. Over
a period of time, users tend to eat one or more of the same
favorite meals for breakfast, lunch, or dinner on a consistent
basis. Taking advantage of this habituated tendency, the system can
learn a great deal about the user's present nutrition profile by
initially asking him/her to declare his/her Top 5 favorite meals.
In an illustrative implementation where the food is nutritional and
low in calories, a user works with, for example, a
physician/nutritionist/other consultant to select various
breakfast, lunch, and dinner combinations that have beneficial
amounts of nutrition (e.g., low in calories, sugars, saturated
fats, sodium, etc.) that are then stored in the user's profile (or
a database associated therewith). For example, a user who has
chosen to eat a breakfast of Cheerios, with raspberries,
blueberries, and skim milk may have an associated user profile
having such a breakfast identified as "breakfast number 1" and
storing (or otherwise identifying by pointing to a database storage
location) a wide array of nutritional information for such a
breakfast including, for example, calories and sugar content. In
such an implementation, using speech recognition software, the
system recognizes, for example, the user stating "breakfast number
1" in response to a verbal or displayed prompt to describe the
breakfast to be consumed. In certain other illustrative
implementations, a touch screen display (or other identification)
of a particular food may be used to obtain user confirmation that
the speech recognition software accurately decoded the food he/she
identified.
[0031] After speech recognition software determines, for example,
that the user has stated the particular food consumed and the food
amount, the system then determines the caloric, nutritional, and
other health-related characteristics of the food consumed which is
stored and analyzed as described herein. In the above example, a
Green color code is displayed to the user consuming such a
breakfast number 1. Additionally, in certain illustrative
implementations, image processing technology may be utilized to
identify the food and the caloric and other
nutritional/health-related characteristics of the food consumed.
This same user/system interactive process is likewise used for the
user to store and later specify other favorite meals such as "Lunch
number 3", "Dinner number 5", etc.
[0032] In an illustrative implementation, a user's exercise
activities are tracked and analyzed. In one of various exercise
modes, GPS technology embodied in the user's computing device is
used to automatically acquire user coordinate position data using
the GPS receiver associated with the mobile computing device, and
the system monitors the time over which running, walking, or
bicycling exercise activities have occurred. After user entry of
the type of exercise being undertaken and after determining the
distance traveled during the monitored time, the system generates
an estimate of the number of calories burned by the user during
such GPS-tracked activity.
[0033] In an illustrative embodiment, other exercise modes may be
entered in which, for example, speech analysis software is utilized
to enable the user to input a specific type of exercise: for
example, various exercise-related "tags" are stored in a
newly-created exercise record identifying the duration, resistance,
rest interval, and other characteristics of the exercise. Under
circumstances where various conventional health club exercise
machines are used, the system stores the generated output of such
exercise machines, such as elliptical machines, stationary bicycle
machines, stepper machines, etc., that generate, for example, the
number of calories burned during an exercise session.
[0034] Further, in other illustrative implementations, a food
purchasing mode may be entered to guide the user during food
shopping or at a restaurant to determine whether a food product
being purchased is consonant with the user's profile and associated
goals and health issues. In an illustrative implementation, a
database is accessed to identify, where possible, alternative foods
of the same food type to enable a user, for example, to select a
desired food and yet cut down on, for example, the amount of
sugars, fats, sodium, or calories consumed.
[0035] Further, in another illustrative example, a diet/exercise
issue mode may be entered where the user selects a category
corresponding with a behavioral issue that may be impacting diet or
exercise success. The user is then prompted to answer questions
regarding the behavioral issue raised by the user's problem. The
responses are analyzed by the system and the system provides the
user with recommendations to improve the behavior: e.g., to eat an
apple at 3 PM in response to a user query regarding hunger issues
in the middle of the afternoon.
[0036] Additionally, in illustrative implementations access to
external servers and databases is advantageously utilized to
provide a behavior enhancing reward system designed to motivate
users to achieve their goals through rewards based on goal
achievement and/or progress towards goal achievement. In an
illustrative implementation, any diet, exercise, health or
nutritional goal being met may trigger an award generation,
including weight-related goals, exercise-related goals and smoking
cessation-related goals. A reward may be embodied in a wide variety
of forms including, without limitation, automatically downloaded
music, movies, digital versions of TV shows, music videos, cash,
discounts at movies, restaurants (particularly those that include a
wide range of healthy alternatives), discounts at sporting events,
mobile games, mobile gaming currency, other mobile applications,
etc. In an illustrative implementation, a user's types of reward
preferences, e.g., music, electronic book, etc., are stored in the
user's profile to guide the system in generating and downloading an
appropriate reward.
[0037] These and other features of the illustrative implementations
will become apparent from a review of the drawings of which:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0038] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a non-limiting, illustrative
mobile computing weight, exercise, nutrition tracking and reward
system;
[0039] FIG. 2A is a flowchart delineating the general sequence of
operations performed by the mobile computing device during
performance of illustrative weight tracking, analysis, and user
feedback methodology;
[0040] FIG. 2B1 illustrates various nutrition and exercise-related
modes of operation of the mobile computing device when performing
the weight, exercise and nutrition tracking methodology described
herein;
[0041] FIG. 2B2 is an illustrative diet selection screen that is
generated when a diet selection mode icon 52 is selected by a
user;
[0042] FIG. 2C illustrates a color-code rating scale, with
exemplary thresholds, for each food eaten, each nutrient consumed,
each exercise performed, and relative level of goal achievement by
the user;
[0043] FIG. 2D1 illustrates macronutrients considered essential to
the human body, plus an identifying color code level for each
macronutrient;
[0044] FIG. 2D2 illustrates micronutrients considered essential to
the human body, plus an identifying color code level for each
micronutrient;
[0045] FIG. 2E provides an example of how color code ratings from
Red to Green can be derived for any given nutrient, such as vitamin
C, from a 100% baseline established using certain widely-available
foods for that nutrient;
[0046] FIG. 2F illustrates a top nutritional foods database
identifying various top natural foods and a variety of their best
peers within the same food family;
[0047] FIGS. 2G1 and 2G2 are an illustration of a recommended daily
intake (RDI) database that discriminates the calorie needs of
various users based on, e.g., their body weight, gender, age, and
level of physical activity;
[0048] FIGS. 3A and 3D are an illustrative flowchart depicting an
exemplary sequence of operations underlying the creation of a
complete initial User Profile, including user ID and Health
data;
[0049] FIG. 3B shows an exemplary process for FIG. 3A by which the
system captures, stores, and updates food data in the user's Food
Database on a wide variety of foods for breakfast, lunch, and
dinner, as well as each snack and drink outside of meals;
[0050] FIG. 3C shows an exemplary data matrix for the food database
in FIG. 3B that enables a user to declare his/her Top 5 favorite
meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as snacks and
drinks, displaying popular food items/add-ons for each matrix cell
to encourage user participation in every meal category;
[0051] FIG. 3E shows an exemplary process for FIG. 3D by which the
system captures, stores, and updates exercise data in the user's
Exercise Database on a wide variety of exercises performed by a
user daily or periodically, or otherwise for playing sports,
non-competitive conditioning, or weightlifting;
[0052] FIG. 3F shows an exemplary matrix for the exercise database
in FIG. 3E that enables a user to declare his/her Top 5 favorite
exercises for sports, conditioning, and weightlifting, as well as
daily and periodic tasks, displaying popular exercises/tags for
each matrix cell to encourage user participation in every
category;
[0053] FIG. 4A is an illustrative flowchart for the system Food
Mode depicting an exemplary implementation of 4 different ways the
user can access his/her Food DB to view/modify its contents or add
new items eaten to the DB;
[0054] FIGS. 4B1 and 4B2 illustrate macro- and micro-nutrients in
the USDA Nutrient Database;
[0055] FIG. 4C shows a comparison of 2 examples of popular Fast
Food items (Red level 1) side-by-side with 2 examples of healthy
Salmon/Turkey (Green level 5), where all nutrient data was
extracted from the USDA Nutrient DB of FIGS. 4B1 and 4B2;
[0056] FIG. 5A is an illustrative flowchart for the system Exercise
Mode depicting an exemplary implementation of 4 different ways the
user can access his/her Exercise DB to view/modify its contents or
add new exercises to the DB as he/she performs them;
[0057] FIGS. 5B1 and 5B2 show numerous examples of calories burned
via activities/exercises, excerpted from the Compendium of Physical
Activities (researched/updated for NIH by Arizona State Univ 2012)
which, taken together with an illustrative calorie coefficient,
form an illustrative system Activity Database;
[0058] FIG. 6A is a flowchart delineating the sequence of
operations performed in an illustrative implementation during food
purchase mode at a grocery store or restaurant;
[0059] FIG. 6B is an illustrative flowchart delineating the
sequence of operations involved in a behavioral data acquisition
mode;
[0060] FIG. 6C is an illustrative risk chart depicting the health
risks from being overweight and/or obese.
[0061] FIG. 7A1 illustrates a database format specifying a record
format to track user weight loss (gain) across time toward multiple
delta subgoals, leading to an overall final goal;
[0062] FIGS. 7A2-7A4 provide 3 illustrative examples that use FIG.
7A1 delta subgoals to track weight loss from obese to overweight,
from overweight to healthy weight, and from healthy to ideal
weight;
[0063] FIGS. 7B1 and 7B2 show illustrative DB register formats for
each user food eaten and exercise done (for the Food DB in FIG. 4A
and the Exercise DB in FIG. 5A, respectively);
[0064] FIGS. 7B3 and 7B4 show companion DB register formats for
user Daily and Delta Records, which accumulate Cals In/Cals Out to
calculate weight loss (gain) on a daily and cumulative basis,
respectively, to show user food, exercise, and weight loss (gain)
history from start to current date;
[0065] FIGS. 8A-8C show an illustrative user profile record format
that may be used in an exemplary implementation; FIG. 8A delineates
an illustrative user ID and user Health Data List that includes all
related data items declared in the User Profile flowchart of FIG.
3A;
[0066] FIG. 8B shows an illustrative variable-length record format
for all Nutrition data items declared in FIG. 3A, repeated
cyclically for each Food/Add-on eaten/declared by the user in FIG.
4A;
[0067] FIG. 8C shows a variable-length record format for all
Exercise data items declared in FIG. 3D, repeated cyclically for
each Exercise/Set performed/declared by the user in FIG. 5A;
[0068] FIG. 9 is an illustrative flowchart of a utility subroutine
dedicated to performing lookups on the system Nutrient DB or
Activity DB, in order to calculate calories associated with food or
exercise, respectively, and if appropriate, to update the
Daily/Delta Records of FIGS. 7B3 and 7B4, respectively:
[0069] FIG. 10 is an illustrative format for displaying calories to
the user as pairs of "expected values" versus "actual values" in 3
areas: net calorie accrued today, net calories accumulated from day
one to date, and goal weight vs. actual weight, using the
Daily/Delta Records of FIGS. 7B3 and 7B4;
[0070] FIG. 11 is an illustrative flowchart for reviewing and/or
adjusting a user goal that is triggered by any incremental progress
indicated by the user toward that goal, including any food eaten or
any exercise done, and further including any new weight reported or
any food/exercise restriction violated;
[0071] FIGS. 12A-12B show tables correlating body frame (small,
medium, large) of a man or woman with either a user's wrist size or
his/her elbow size, respectively;
[0072] FIG. 12C shows a chart correlating waist size vs. height
with underweight, healthy weight, moderate overweight and severe
overweight (obese), as defined by the 4-zone USDA chart (1995)
reflecting current BMI thresholds;
[0073] FIG. 13A shows an overlay of profiles for both men and women
in the world-standard Met Life Table (updated 1983) on the 4-zone
world-standard BMI Chart (by the USDA 1995) that reveals how far
apart the two baseline standards are for tall women and all men, as
confirmed by an additional overlay of men and women (average
height/weight) from 5 modern industrialized countries;
[0074] FIG. 13B shows how the Met Life profiles of FIG. 13A can be
rotated around a common pivot point with the USDA Chart to yield a
more realistic healthy-weight model for all men and women;
[0075] FIG. 13C1 illustrates an ideal weight database that allows
the system to provide an ideal weight matched to a user's height
for both men (left side) and women (right side);
[0076] FIG. 13C2 is a chart showing the step-wise linear MIN/MAX
boundary equations used to define the limits of ideal weight for
men and women, as tabulated in FIG. 13C1 and charted in FIG. 13B;
and
[0077] FIG. 14 is a flowchart delineating the sequence of
operations performed in an illustrative implementation during
reward processing.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0078] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a non-limiting, illustrative
mobile computing weight, food consumption, nutrition, and exercise
tracking system with enhanced data entry and user feedback. As
schematically illustrated in FIG. 1, a mobile computing device 1
receives food consumption and exercise input from a potentially
wide range of input devices/mechanisms 4, using, for example, a
microphone 9 for speech input and a digital imaging device (such as
camera 10) associated with the mobile computing device 1. The
mobile computing device 1 additionally receives user
exercise-related input using an internal GPS receiver 5 and from
various exercise equipment 12 not involving GPS data as explained
further below.
[0079] As will be explained further below, mobile computing device
1 communicates via the Internet with a server 14 that includes
associated user profile, weight tracking, exercise/activity
databases, and food/nutrition databases as described in more detail
below.
[0080] Additionally, mobile computing device 1 also communicates
via Internet 11 with a rewards server 16 that includes an
associated rewards database that in turn communicates with a music,
video and entertainment server 17 that is utilized during reward
processing to provide additional motivation to users for enhancing
the likelihood of goal achievement. It should be understood that,
while servers 14 and 16 and physician/nutritionist/personal
trainer/data processing system/server 20 are represented by
multiple computers having multiple associated databases, such
systems may be implemented, if desired, at one data processing
system location using one data processing system having one
database.
[0081] Mobile computing device 1, in an illustrative
implementation, may be implemented by any of a wide array of
commercially available, conventional mobile computing devices,
including, for example, conventional smart phones, such as Apple's
iPhone 4s or 5, or Samsung's quad-core processor-based Galaxy S3, a
tablet computing device such as Apple's iPad, or any of a number of
laptop computers. In certain illustrative implementations, such
mobile computing devices may be modified to include a pedometer 13
that provides user step-related data to the mobile computing
device's processing system 2. See, for example, the commercially
available Ipod Nano with a built in pedometer. In other
implementations, a pedometer 13A wirelessly transmits pedometer
data to mobile computing device 1 that is received by a receiver in
mobile computing device 1 in a manner understood by those skilled
in the art. See, for example, the commercially available pedometer
used with an Ipod or Iphone that receives pedometer transmissions
from a shoe. Although in illustrative implementations, step-related
data may be transmitted wirelessly to mobile computing device 1 for
use in exercise tracking in walking or running activities,
exercise-tracking during such activities may be made based on GPS
data analysis alone, as will be explained further below.
[0082] Mobile computing device 1, as will be appreciated by those
skilled in the art, includes a processing system 2 that is
operatively coupled to receive speech input from microphone 9, GPS
data from GPS receiver 5, and image data from camera 10. Processing
system 2, inter alia, executes the unique weight, diet,
food/nutrition, exercise/activity, behavior, health-related
tracking, analysis, and user feedback application software 6 stored
in the mobile computing device's memory subsystem 15. Memory 15
may, for example, be implemented by a 64 GB memory, such as that
associated with the iPhone 4S or iPhone 5. Although not shown in
FIG. 1, it is contemplated that, if desired, the user's mobile
computing device may be coupled to a user's desk top computer to
store and further analyze any and/or all the information identified
herein.
[0083] The computing device 1 also includes one or more cameras 10
that, as will be explained further below, may be advantageously
utilized as a food consumption and, if desired in certain
instances, an exercise-related input device. The illustrative
digital camera 10 that may, for example, be the digital camera in a
conventional iPhone 4S or iPhone 5, incorporates a conventional
optical system including an imaging device having a CCD/CMOS image
sensor. For example, the CCD image sensor captures an optical image
of a target and the imaging device outputs a converted image
signal. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, image
processing circuitry including an analog to digital converting
circuit converts processed image data into a digital image signal.
Such a digital image signal is transferred to processing system
2.
[0084] Memory 15, in an illustrative implementation, stores a wide
range of user-related data 21 including a User Profile, and various
user databases including for example, a food database, a nutrient
database, an exercise database, and an activity database, each of
which is described in detail herein. As described below, an
illustrative user profile record format is shown in FIG. 8A. An
illustrative user profile, includes the user's ID, sex, age,
height, weight, wrist size, waist size, a set of goals, potential
reward information, etc. Additionally, an illustrative user profile
includes a range of health data including information regarding
handicaps, ailments, injuries, smoking, addictions, allergies, and
food and exercise restrictions. FIGS. 8B and 8C described below
illustrate a user's food record format and exercise record format
that also may be part of the user's profile or, alternatively, may
be stored locally as databases on the user's mobile computing
device, e.g., an Iphone, as indicated in FIG. 1.
[0085] The mobile computing device 1, in an illustrative
implementation, also includes associated speech recognition,
analysis, and synthesis software 8 stored in memory 15 that is
utilized as is described below to provide data entry for food
consumption, and certain exercise and behavior. A person skilled in
the art will recognize that commercial speech recognition, analysis
and synthesis software systems are well known and are commercially
available, such as Dragon Naturally Speaking offered by ScanSoft
and Via Voice marketed by IBM. Further, the speech recognition,
analysis and synthesis software (hereinafter referred to as speech
recognition) 8 may be implemented by a system corresponding to
Apple's Siri intelligent personal assistant and navigator system
utilized in the iPhone 4S or iPhone 5 augmented to incorporate the
speech recognition, voice synthesis/communication and control
features described herein. The speech recognition software 8 is
executed by processing system 2. The speech recognition software
includes a voice recognition module that is responsible for parsing
input speech as digitized by an audio codec and analog to digital
converter operatively coupled to processing system 2. Well known
speech recognition algorithms are well understood to those skilled
in the art and are available for inclusion included in such speech
recognition software 8, such as, for example, the voice recognition
methodology described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,809,565, which is
incorporated herein by reference. In an illustrative
implementation, as will be explained further below, speech
recognition operations are simplified due to user prompts that
condition the system to expect receipt of a certain type of
information from the user to trigger the storage of, for example,
food consumption-related data.
[0086] Mobile computing device 1 includes a GPS receiver 5 that is
capable of determining the geographic location of computing device
1 via received satellite signals from antenna 7 in a manner well
understood by those skilled in the art. The GPS receiver 5 in an
illustrative implementation is operable to output to processing
system 2 the geographical coordinates of mobile computing device 1
to define its current location in real time. The geographical
coordinate location data may be stored in conjunction with
time-related data under the control of processing system 2 for use
in calories burned-related calculations. As noted above, in
illustrative implementations, in addition to wirelessly receiving
GPS data, mobile computing device 1 may wirelessly receive
step-related data from a pedometer-based device 13A including a
transmitter that transmits step-related data that is received via,
for example, the mobile computing devices' antenna 7 and processed
as described herein in a manner appreciated by those skilled in the
art.
[0087] It should be recognized that in yet other illustrative
implementations, a vast number of additional mobile computing
devices 1A-N (where A to N--used herein as any desired integer--may
range from 1 to any desired number of devices N) may also be
utilizing servers 14, 16, 17 and 20 for the same weight, diet, and
nutrition tracking and analysis as described in detail herein. In
illustrative implementations, weight loss competition between users
may occur. Moreover, teams of users may be formed to compete
against each other based on a variety of criteria such as total
weight loss by team members, successful weight loss by highest
percentage of team members, total calories burned during exercise
by team members, etc. In such an implementation, server 14 is
programmed to compile the results for each team, assess such
results, and declare a victor in the competition. Team members are
rewarded in a manner corresponding to the description below of the
reward generation process when an individual user meets individual
goals.
[0088] In an illustrative embodiment, the mobile computing device 1
communicates via the Internet 11 with one or more physicians and/or
nutritionists and/or personal trainers located at one or more
remotely located data processing stations 20 exemplified in FIG. 1
as a physician/nutritionist/personal trainer server 20. In
illustrative implementations, goals to be attained by users are set
based upon a generated user profile using health and exercise
information obtained from the user and/or using physician,
nutritionist, personal trainer-generated thresholds for the user
including average calorie intake per day, grams of sugar intake per
day, amount of exercise per day, etc. In one illustrative
implementation, it is contemplated that the user input all
requested health and exercise information into the system without
assistance from a physician, nutritionist, trainer or other source.
In such an implementation, a user, for example, may determine
requested variables by his/her own research by communicating with a
doctor, healthcare professional and others, and then enter such
information. In this implementation, the user need not rely on any
other source for inputting information.
[0089] In certain illustrative embodiments, server 20 may be
distributed and implemented by, for example, individual physicians
who already have a doctor-patient relationship with the user of
mobile device 1. Such physicians commonly have an extensive medical
history stored for patients. Various implementations, particularly
those that involve large numbers of users may employ artificial
intelligence-based software that automatically responds to medical
queries and sends warning messages if maximum or minimum thresholds
are exceeded or are not met triggered by, for example, a user
consuming too much sugar, too many calories, not completing enough
exercise, etc. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art,
the number of servers 20 employed will need to be tailored to the
volume of inquiries. In other implementations, particularly those
having a modest volume of queries, it is contemplated that a
physician, nurse, physician's assistant, nutritionist, personal
trainer, or other professional individually responds to queries and
personally manages the user's food consumption and exercise
programs.
[0090] FIG. 2A is a flowchart delineating the general sequence of
operations performed by a mobile computing device 1 during
execution of the weight, diet, food, nutrition, exercise, activity,
behavior, health-related tracking, analysis, and user feedback
application software 6 identified above in conjunction with FIG. 1.
Upon a user selecting application 6 for execution (30),
initialization operations are performed (31). In an illustrative
implementation, when the weight tracking and nutrition analysis
application initially begins executing, a display is generated
identifying feature highlights of the weight tracking, exercise
tracking, nutrition analysis and the reward/motivational aspects of
the system and methodology described herein that promote, for
example, weight control, better nutrition and a healthier
lifestyle. In an illustrative embodiment, a user is prompted to
indicate the user's agreement to initiating weight, medical and
exercise tracking operations. In an illustrative implementation, a
user may be required to acknowledge and accept certain
responsibilities in using this device relating to, for example,
diet regimens and exercise routines recommended by the system. In
such an implementation, the user is requested to read an associated
disclaimer and then select an affirmative response to acknowledge
acceptance of responsibility by the user for the device to begin
operation. Initialization processing in an illustrative
implementation involves user authentication and appropriate
configuration of files to be used by application 6. Upon initial
entry into the application, the system resets registers storing,
for example, variables to track to a zero state. A check may be
made to ensure that the application has been appropriately
downloaded. If, for example, the user turned off a smart phone or
other mobile computing device 1 to pause during exercising, in
initialization processing, the system restores the prior processing
and file states to comport with the point where the exercising (or
other processing) paused.
[0091] After initialization operations, if not previously created,
a user profile is generated during create user profile processing
(32) as is described in detail herein in conjunction with the
description of FIGS. 3A-3F. In an illustrative implementation, user
prompts are generated to request desired data including user
height, weight, medical conditions, including, but not limited to
diabetes, heart disease, handicaps, allergies, etc. In illustrative
implementations, during this process, smokers and users who are
attempting to quit smoking are also identified. In an illustrative
implementation, data is supplied by users via speech input and/or
by a graphics display/touch screen that may be provided in parallel
with speech inputs to aid in the recognition process. Such user
data is supplemented, if authorized by the user, with detailed
relevant blood work and goal-related information transmitted via
the Internet 11 from a physician/nutritionist/personal trainer's
data processing center 20. The user profile in an illustrative
embodiment stores goals including weight loss, exercise, smoking
cessation, and other goals. In illustrative implementations, goals
are dynamically changed over time. For example, smoking cessation
goals may begin at not smoking for one day and be modified to more
long term goals as smoking cessation goals are continuously met. As
will be explained in detail herein, during subsequent processing,
after a user profile has been created, the system modifies the user
profile in real time based on current information stored locally
and/or in the database associated with server 14 during mode
processing. After the user profile has been created, it is accessed
from server 14, if it is not already stored locally within the
mobile computing device 1.
[0092] After a user profile data entry operation has been completed
(32), a check is made to determine whether the user profile is
complete (33). If not, the user is prompted to "please complete
profile" (23) by entering further data in the user profile as
indicated at block 32. The user's continued efforts in completing
the profile provide an opportunity for the user to correct any data
entry errors by modifying any previously entered data. In an
illustrative implementation, the user is given a limited number of
attempts to complete the user profile to provide some predetermined
minimum level of completion. Once this limited number of attempts
has been reached, if no data is entered by the user, the weight
tracking and nutrition analysis routine is exited. While it is
desired to limit the number of user data entries to the bare
minimum, in illustrative implementations, it is likewise desirable
to require a sufficient amount of information about the user to
assist the user in gaining life changing, long-term health benefits
from the system described herein.
[0093] If the check at block 33 indicates that the user profile is
complete, then the user profile is stored locally in the user phone
DB (storage 15) and also uploaded to remote server 14 (25).
[0094] Thereafter, mobile computing device 1 generates a "select
mode" display (35) as illustrated in FIG. 2B to display various
operational modes that a user may initiate as will be explained in
detail below.
[0095] A check is then made to determine the mode of operation to
enter based on a user's selection of the modes displayed on the
display of the user's mobile computing device 1 (36), as explained
in further detail in conjunction with FIG. 2B. A check is then made
at block 27 to determine whether the select mode display has been
exited (27). If so, the select mode screen is closed.
[0096] If the user has not selected the exit icon in FIG. 2B, then
based on the user's selection of one of the operational modes, the
system enters the selected mode (38). In an illustrative
implementation, the system sequences through checks for each of the
displayed modes to determine if the user has selected a mode. If no
mode is selected, the routine continuously cycles back to check the
various modes being displayed until the user finally selects a
mode.
[0097] If, for example, the food mode has been selected, the system
acquires the user's desired food consumption data (39), as will be
explained further below. A check is then made at block 40 to
determine whether data is available. If data is not available, the
routine continues to check for data. Such data checking continues
until a predetermined time period passes (e.g., a number of minutes
of no data entry), at which point the routine branches back to
display mode block 35. If data is available, the system acquires
the appropriate data for the mode being processed, and the detailed
processing associated with the selected mode is performed (42) as
shown in the continuation of FIG. 2A.
[0098] After a mode processing operation (42) has been completed, a
check is made at block 43 to determine whether the mode of
operation in process has ended. If the mode being processed is not
yet finished, the routine branches back to block 42 to complete
mode processing. If the mode has finished, then a check is made at
block 44 to determine whether the user has decided to cancel the
current mode being processed or to change to a different mode (44).
If the user has decided to cancel or change the mode, the routine
branches back to display mode block 35.
[0099] If the user has not canceled or changed the mode as
indicated by the check at block 44, the databases associated with
the user are updated (46) to reflect in real time the current
status of, for example, the user's food consumed or exercise
performed.
[0100] A check is then made as indicated at block 47 to determine
whether a reward has been earned based on, for example, the updated
data generated during mode processing that was stored at block 46.
If no reward has been earned, the routine branches back to display
modes block 35.
[0101] If the check at block 47 indicates that a reward has been
earned, the system performs reward processing operations to
determine if goals have been met and, if so, provides, as desired,
a reward to the user for meeting daily, weekly, or monthly goals
(48). By way of example, based upon a user's indicated preference
for a music-based reward, the reward processing system (44) may
utilize Apple's iTunes application. The iTunes' app automatically
selects music to download to the user based upon: [1] the contents
of the user's iTunes' playlist; [2] the music listened to by the
user during exercise; or [3] a stored playlist created by the
mobile computing system 1 over time. Thereafter, the routine
branches back to display modes block 35.
[0102] As shown in FIG. 2B1, in one illustrative implementation of
the mobile tracking system and methodology described herein, a
"Select mode" display is generated in which an array of select mode
icons are displayed. The user may enter any mode he or she chooses,
starting with the User Profile mode 50 where, upon system startup,
the user can extensively personalize the system by declaring
his/her favorite foods and exercises (explained in detail with
FIGS. 3A-F). The dotted lines between displayed icons indicate that
additional other mode initiating icons (such as Diet/Exercise
Issues mode 54) may be added to the icons shown in FIG. 2B1 to
provide ease of user entry into additional operations disclosed or
suggested herein or contemplated in other implementations. In the
example shown in FIG. 2B1, an illustrative "Nth" mode (where N is
any desired integer N representing the last desired mode in a
particular implementation) is exemplified as a Vitamins mode 60 to
provide ease of user entry of the user's preferred/favorite
vitamins and food supplements (e.g., ginkgo biloba).
[0103] As also shown in FIG. 2B1, in an illustrative
implementation, the icons are conveniently arranged in a layout
corresponding to the user's expected most frequent accesses to the
system. For example, in this illustrative implementation, the top
level is reserved for the most often accessed icons:
displaying/modifying the User Profile 50 (FIGS. 3A-3F), entering
food eaten throughout the day via Food mode 56 (FIG. 4A), and
entering exercise performed throughout the week via Exercise mode
62 (FIG. 5A). The middle level is reserved for functions accessed
by the user on an as-needed basis: a Diet Selection mode 52 (FIG.
2B2), any Food Purchases 58 (FIG. 6A), and any GPS-based Exercise
64 (FIG. 5A). The bottom level includes a Diet/Exercise Issues mode
52 (FIG. 6B) for obtaining personalized tips for addressing a
user's diet/exercise personal behavioral issues, and a Vitamins
mode 60 (as an example of the Nth mode) for user entry of
vitamins/minerals taken and personalized
information/recommendations regarding vitamin supplements. At any
time, the user may choose to exit the mobile system via Exit icon
66.
[0104] As shown in FIG. 2B1 and as explained in detail in
conjunction with FIGS. 3A-F, the User Profile mode 50 may be
entered at any time to permit a user to create, modify, or display
his/her User Profile. Entry into such a mode may, for example,
enable the user to immediately access his/her current weight loss,
calories consumed, calories burned, and other exercise, nutrition,
or health-related data to get real-time feedback on his/her
progress to date.
[0105] Detailed Discussion of Diet Selection Mode 52 (FIG.
2B2):
[0106] In an illustrative implementation, a Diet Selection mode 52
permits a user to select a diet to be associated with the user's
profile that may, for example, be used to target one or more
medical conditions of the user. As used herein, the term "diet" is
used broadly to refer to an organized plan for specifying or
limiting what one eats and drinks. The plan does not necessarily
have to have weight loss as its goal.
[0107] In an exemplary implementation, upon the selection of the
"diet selection" mode, an array of icons are displayed identifying
various diet regimens, at least some of which are targeted to
address one or more serious medical concerns or specialized needs.
For example, one or more icons zone in on a diet tailored to
addressing the needs of diabetics, cancer patients, individuals who
are attempting to quit smoking, gluten intolerant individuals, and
users having high blood pressure, other major medical conditions or
specialized needs such as those of athletes. Upon the selection of
such a diet, the application generates and/or accesses
pre-formulated breakfasts, lunches and dinners that are targeted to
comport, where possible, with a user's indicated favorites, and
with the selected diet and associates such meals with the user's
profile.
[0108] In an illustrative implementation, one of such icons
available in the diet selection mode would, for example, enable
selection of the "GOMBS"-related diet promoted on various mass
media by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. In such an implementation, variations of
meals following the spirit of the GOMBS-related diet as identified
in Dr. Fuhrman's book "Secrets to Healthy Cooking" are stored in a
database used in the illustrative implementation.
[0109] GOMBS is an acronym for Greens, Onions, Mushrooms, Beans and
berries, and Seeds and nuts. Such foods have reportedly been
associated with healthier blood vessels/blood flow, reduction in
the likelihood of suffering from certain cancers, enhanced weight
loss, anti-diabetic and other beneficial properties. It has been
reported that green leafy vegetables have many diverse nutrients
and properties that help the body to allow blood vessels to
function better. Onion consumption has been associated with
reduction in certain cancers in at least one European study.
Mushroom consumption has been associated with a decreased
likelihood to develop breast cancer in certain studies. Beans and
berries have been reported to have high cancer preventive
antioxidants levels while promoting healthy brain function. Beans
and legumes have been reported as containing soluble fiber and as
having anti-diabetic and weight-loss properties. Blueberries,
strawberries and blackberries are low in sugar and very high in
nutrients. The antioxidants in berries have been reported as
providing both heart-protective and anti-cancer effects. Raw seeds
and nuts have been reported as helping to reduce the body's
inflammation and to reduce cholesterol.
[0110] In accordance with an illustrative implementation, if the
user selects the GOMBS diet (on his or her own or after being
prompted to consider this diet due to a user's profile indicated
health condition), the application generates and/or accesses
pre-formulated breakfasts, lunches and dinners that feature these
health benefitting ingredients and that comport, where possible
with the user's favorite foods and with the GOMBS-related diet and
associates such meals with the user's profile using a variation of
the format shown in FIG. 8B.
[0111] Turning to an illustrative example of the diet selection
mode, the user's selection of diet selection mode icon 52 shown in
FIG. 2B1 triggers the generation of a display of an array of
diet-related icons, such as is shown in FIG. 2B2. In an
illustrative implementation, it is contemplated that the user will
have the opportunity to select a totally customized diet plan or
any one of a variety of popular diet plans such as, by way of
example only, the Atkins diet (100) and the South Beach diet (101).
The selection of icon 100 or 101 will respectively result in the
generation of a presentation of the details of the Atkins and South
Beach diet plans including a list of foods that comport with each
plan.
[0112] In addition, in an illustrative implementation, an array of
icons are generated that have been recognized as being helpful in
addressing various medical conditions including those identified by
users in their user profiles. The use of specific dietary regimens
to enhance the treatment and control of medical conditions is often
an important component of an overall treatment plan for the
specific condition. As such, specialized dietary regimens can be
utilized as part of the overall treatment of that medical condition
in an individual whose goal is to keep their weight stable.
Additionally, these specialized dietary regimens can be used as
part of a weight loss intervention for an individual suffering from
certain medical conditions. In this setting, a calorically
restricted regimen having specific beneficial components relative
to the medical condition would be utilized.
[0113] In an individual suffering from more than one medical
condition, a customized dietary regimen utilizing and incorporating
specific beneficial components of a number of specialized regimens
would be utilized addressing special dietary needs in a way that
enhances the treatment of all of the medical conditions. An example
might be use of a specialized dietary regimen having beneficial
components to improve diabetes and hypertension concurrently.
[0114] Another situation to consider is the individual suffering
from a medical condition such as cancer or gastrointestinal
absorption problems resulting in excessive weight loss and
difficulty maintaining weight. There are specialized dietary
regimens that can be utilized to improve this situation. In an
illustrative implementation, one or more of such regimens would be
identified and highlighted to such an individual and would be
included in the array of icons dedicated to therapeutic diet plans
(98).
[0115] There are also other circumstances in which individuals may
benefit from specific dietary regimens not related to weight loss
and not related to a medical condition. Examples include athletes
in a specific training regimen such as endurance running or weight
training. In an illustrative implementation, one or more of such
regimens would be identified and highlighted to such an individual
and would be included in the array of icons shown in FIG. 2B2.
[0116] It is possible to contemplate even more permutations of
special dietary needs in individuals that may have certain medical
conditions, are stable and otherwise healthy and are pursuing
various athletic endeavors. An example might be a young type I
diabetic who is a long distance runner. This individual would
benefit from some aspects of a diabetic diet but would have vastly
different nutritional needs compared to a sedentary type I
diabetic. In an illustrative implementation, an acceptable regimen
would be identified and highlighted to such an individual and would
be included in the array of icons dedicated to therapeutic diet
plans (98).
[0117] In an illustrative implementation, when the diet selection
mode icon 52 is selected, a display is generated identifying an
array of icons each defining a diet regimen that may be selected by
a user. For example, as shown in FIG. 2B2 when the diet selection
mode icon 52 is selected a diet selection screen is generated. As
indicated above, the diet selection screen includes an array of
possible diets that may be selected by user to review foods that
may be eaten in conformance with a diet.
[0118] As shown in FIG. 2B2, in this example, with respect to
medical condition-related diets, a user will be enabled to select a
diabetic diet 91, a hypertension diet 92, a renal diet 93, the
GOMBS diet (102) described above, a cardiac diet 94, a gluten-free
diet 95, a food allergy diet(s) 96, athletic/muscle building diets
97, and any of an array of other therapeutic diets 98, at any time
the user may exit from the diet selection screen by touching the
exit icon 99.
[0119] In illustrative implementation, when a user identifies in
his or her user profile a health condition which implicates one or
more of the identified diets, upon selecting the diet selection
screen one or more of the diets shown in FIG. 2B2 is highlighted
for the user. For example, for a user who indicates in his or her
user profile, a diabetic or blood sugar-related problem, diabetic
diet 91 will be highlighted for the user to peruse.
[0120] In such an implementation, each of the medical
condition/health condition-related diets is indexed in the system
in a memory table used to access one or more diet plans. The memory
table is structured to associate a set of medical or health
conditions with one or more diet plans. For example, key terms such
as "diabetes," "blood sugar," "diabetic," etc., are linked in the
memory table used to access one or more diet plans to a diabetic
diet. Similarly, key terms such as "hypertension," "high blood
pressure," etc., are linked in such a table to a hypertension diet.
Key terms such as "cardiac," "heart," etc. are linked in this table
to a cardiac diet plan. Likewise, terms such as "gluten," or
"allergy" are respectively linked in the table to a gluten-free
diet or a food allergy diet. Further, in an illustrative
implementation, the user is prompted to review the diet highlighted
on the diet selection screen or otherwise notified of appropriate
diets, if the user has identified (e.g., during the creation of his
or her user's profile) a condition suggesting the efficacy of such
a diet in addressing the symptoms or causes of the user's
condition.
[0121] The following are some examples of special dietary regimens
including those identified above that would be beneficial in the
treatment and context of certain medical conditions and certain
athletic situations and that would be selected by the system for
consideration by the user based upon the user's profile implicating
one or more of the following diets: [0122] 1) Diabetic diet--goal
is to alter diet in a manner that improves control of serum
glucose. This regimen typically decreases sugary carbohydrates and
saturated fats while increasing fiber and protein. Also, timing of
food intake is important in a diabetic dietary regimen. A calorie
restricted version of this diet would be utilized in diabetic
individuals needing to lose weight. [0123] 2) Hypertension
diet--goal is to alter diet in a manner shown to improve blood
pressure control. The DASH diet (Dietary Approach to Stop
Hypertension) is an accepted example of such a regimen. This
regimen typically promotes use of more fruits, vegetables, low fat
dairy, grains, fish and poultry and foods rich in magnesium,
potassium and calcium while discouraging saturated fats, red meat,
sugary carbohydrates and salt. A calorie restricted version of this
diet would be utilized in hypertensive individuals needing to lose
weight [0124] 3) Renal diet--goal is to alter diet in a manner
shown to minimize complications associated with existing or
developing renal dysfunction. Those individuals having compromised
renal function and those to the point requiring dialysis must limit
intake of sodium, potassium and phosphorous while delicately
balancing fluid intake and output and maintaining appropriate
levels of electrolytes while also taking in an appropriate amount
of protein to maintain lean body mass but not negatively impact
remaining renal function. A calorie restricted version of this diet
would be utilized in individuals having renal function impairment
needing to lose weight [0125] 4) Cardiac diet--goal is to alter
diet in a manner to minimize risk of cardiac illness and promote
cardiac function in the context of existing cardiac disease. This
regimen discourages foods with high amounts of cholesterol and
saturated fats while promoting low fat protein, vegetables, fruits
and unsaturated fats. A calorie restricted version of this diet
would be utilized in individuals having cardiac disease needing to
lose weight [0126] 5) Gluten free diet--goal is to eliminate or
minimize foods containing gluten. Individuals suffering from celiac
disease cannot process gluten containing foods. These foods,
including most cereals, breads and pastas must be eliminated and
replaced with fruits, vegetables, unprocessed meats, dairy and non
gluten containing grains such as rice. A calorie restricted version
of this diet would be utilized in individuals with celiac disease
needing to lose weight [0127] 6) Therapeutic diets--there are
numerous additional conditions that would benefit from customized,
specialty dietary regimens that would help diminish the negative
affects of the condition. An example here would be food allergies.
Some individuals suffer from allergies to certain foods which can
vary in number from few to many. Specialized dietary regimens are
often required to help minimize the food allergy symptoms. A
calorie restricted version of this diet would be utilized in
individuals requiring the use of therapeutic diets needing to lose
weight [0128] 7) Athletic diets--nutritional requirements of
athletic vary significantly based on the type, duration and goal of
the athletic activity. For example, individuals in weight training
building large amounts of muscle need greatly increased amounts of
protein daily while the dietary regimen of endurance runners would
need to include more carbohydrates and some fats.
[0129] Detailed Discussion of remaining Select Modes in FIG.
2B1
[0130] Entry into the Food mode 56 permits the user to enter into
the system food that is consumed in a manner that is as
user-friendly as possible. Over a period of time, users tend to eat
one or more of the same favorite meals for breakfast, lunch, or
dinner on a consistent basis. Taking advantage of this habituated
tendency, the system can learn a great deal about the user's
present nutrition profile by initially asking him/her to declare
his/her Top 5 favorite meals. In an illustrative implementation, a
user working, for example, with a physician, nutritionist, or other
consultant selects various breakfast, lunch, and dinner
combinations where the food is nutritional (e.g., low in calories,
sugars, saturated fats, sodium, etc.) that will be stored either
directly in or linked to the User Profile. Such preselected meals
may be stored in the User Profile as schematically represented in
FIG. 8B. For example, a user who has chosen to eat a daily
breakfast of Cheerios, with raspberries, blueberries, and skim milk
may, in an illustrative implementation have stored in his user
profile, a corresponding breakfast identified as "breakfast number
1" together with a wide array of nutritional information for such a
breakfast including, for example, calories and sugar content. A
wide array of similar user profile meal entries may be made for
lunch and dinner. In an illustrative implementation, the food mode
incorporates extensive use of color codes to inform the user as to
a wide range of health and nutritional information about the food
being consumed and alternative choice options.
[0131] Using speech recognition software 8 shown in FIG. 1, the
system recognizes, for example, the user stating "breakfast number
1" in response to a verbal and/or displayed prompt to describe
breakfast information. The speech decoding process is simplified by
using such user prompts since the system may expect to receive a
verbal indication of, for example, a known category of foods, e.g.,
breakfast foods or a prestored breakfast combination (e.g.,
"breakfast number 1"). This same user/system interactive process is
likewise used for the user to store and later specify other
favorite meals such as "Lunch number 3", "Dinner number 5", etc.
Alternatively, where no prestored meals have been selected, in an
illustrative implementation, the system prompts users to state, for
example, the breakfast food consumed and the food amount. The
system then determines the caloric, nutritional, and other
health-related characteristics of the food consumed which will be
stored and analyzed by the system and displays relevant color codes
to the user.
[0132] In an illustrative implementation, in conjunction with
creating a user profile, if a user indicates a particular favorite
food such as a snack, e.g., chocolate ice cream, the system will
display its associated color code, e.g., Orange or Red, indicating
a poor choice by the user. The system will thereafter display
alternative snack choices have better color code ratings--e.g.,
yogurt (color Green), an apple (color Lime) or almonds, walnuts and
flax seeds (color Green)--all in an attempt to prompt the user to
select a healthier favorite.
[0133] In an illustrative implementation, the system accesses a
wide range of accessible nutritional information from existing
sources through Internet resources. For example, food/nutrition
lists having information regarding calories, fats, carbs, etc. are
available though such sources as CDC or NIH (e.g., see FIGS.
4B1-4B2) or weight watchers or similar organizations (with
permission to obtain such lists). With such available nutritional
information accessed through its databases, the system can
calculate the wide range of calorie and nutrition values referenced
herein. Similarly, various exercise lists with associated calories
burned information have also been developed/refined across many
years of research, and are readily accessible (see FIGS. 5B1, 5B2).
There are also preexisting classifications of food and drinks that
assign a value as to how satisfying a particular food might be
(e.g., a satiety index) that may be used in the illustrative
implementations.
[0134] Additionally, as explained further below, in illustrative
implementations image processing technology may be utilized to
identify the food consumed to aid in the identification of caloric
and other nutritional/health-related characteristics of the
food.
[0135] In an illustrative embodiment, an Exercise mode 62 may be
entered in which, for example, speech analysis software 8 is
utilized to enable the user to input a wide variety of exercise
data, as is explained in detail below in conjunction with FIG. 5A.
For example, the generated output of various conventional health
club and home exercise machines, such as elliptical machines,
stationary bicycle machines, stepper machines, etc., that generate,
for example, the number of calories burned during an exercise
session may be input by a user. In a further implementation, a user
lacking the time or desire to enter such data via speech input may
choose to input such data by using the mobile computing device's
camera to capture the data via a digital photo of the output
display of the exercise equipment being used. The system analyzes
the image to extract such data as calories burned. It is further
contemplated that, in certain implementations, the system may use
exercise equipment modified to communicate a user's exercise
session data to the mobile computing device 1 via a wired or
wireless communication link.
[0136] Upon detection of the user entering a GPS-based exercise
mode via the GPS exercise icon 64, the system automatically
acquires user coordinate position data and monitors the time over
which running, walking, or bicycling activities have occurred
(e.g., via "Start" and "Stop" screen icons). After user entry of
the type of exercise undertaken, the system generates the number of
calories burned based on the distance traveled within the time
monitored.
[0137] Further, in an illustrative implementation, a Food Purchase
mode may be entered via the Food Purchase icon 58 to guide the user
during food purchasing (at a grocery store or at a restaurant) to
determine whether a food product being purchased is consonant with
the user's profile, selected diet, and associated goals and health
issues. This mode allows a user (in a grocery store shopping or in
a restaurant dining) to access a database that identifies
alternative products of the same product type. This enables a user,
e.g., to select a similar alternative that cuts down on the amount
of sugar or calories consumed.
[0138] Various other modes (not shown) may be incorporated in the
"Select Mode" display shown in FIG. 2B1.
[0139] In an illustrative implementation, for each food and
exercise activity supported by the system described herein, the
system advantageously provides color code feedback to the user with
respect to any and all of the many nutritional parameters monitored
by the system while taking into consideration the specific health
improvement the user is seeking. For example, in an overweight male
user trying to lose weight, fruit is color coded "Green" to
indicate a very positive choice by the user. However, when
providing feedback to an overweight female diabetic user who is
trying to lose weight and improve her diabetes control, fruit is
color coded either "Orange" or, after surpassing a certain amount
of fruit in one day, it turns "Red" due to the sugars in fruit that
make it a liability for diabetics.
[0140] Similarly, with respect to exercise, for a user with
significant arthritis in the knees and hips who is trying to lose
weight, treadmill walking is coded red but elliptical machine is
coded orange and walking or swimming in a pool is coded green. In
an illustrative implementation, exercise duration times are also
taken into account by color coding the activity based on the
activity itself and the time performing the activity--with too
little (or too much) exercise time generating the less desirable
color code, all taking into consideration the user's health
parameters (heart disease, arthritis, asthma, etc) and the user's
goal (to lose or gain weight, improve strength, increase endurance,
quit smoking, etc).
[0141] FIG. 2C shows an illustrative implementation of a Color-Code
Rating Scale Table for generating color-coded ratings using stored
thresholds with respect to (WRT) each Food and Exercise item being
tracked by the system to provide immediate feedback, guidance, and
motivation enabling users to make healthier decisions. The color
codes are generated for each food and exercise being tracked and
are adjusted for user weight, height, sex, age, health, goals,
progress, etc. As the user enters any given food or exercise that
he/she is about to consume or undertake, the system rates the
relative value of that item WRT the user on a simple scale ranging
from 1 to 5 ("Worst"==>"Best"). As depicted for display to the
user in the top block 280 of FIG. 2C, the system attaches a
symbolic color to each of the 5 rating levels (RED 281/ORANGE
282/YELLOW 283/LIME 284/GREEN 285), which corresponds to a
gradually improving relative value (at 290): WORST (starting at the
bottom at 0%)==>up to BAD==>up to AVERAGE (passing through
50%)==>up to GOOD==>up to BEST (reaching the top at
100%).
[0142] In the illustrative implementation, these 5 colors are an
expansion of the ubiquitous Stoplight Colors for traffic control
(RED/YELLOW/GREEN) that have become "Stop-and-Go" conventions for
traffic worldwide. As such here, they are designed to trigger
compulsive, lifelong-conditioned responses in users to "Stop" on
RED cues and "Go" on GREEN. The system uses these strong
internalized negative/positive stimulants to guide the user to
his/her desired goal (lose weight, get stronger, get healthier,
etc.): e.g., by hopefully shifting the user over time from his/her
worst food items (color RED) to nature's best choices (color GREEN)
. . . or by elevating an average exercise such as casual "walking"
(color YELLOW) to a better exercise like timed "jogging" (color
LIME) . . . and ultimately to a best exercise like "running" (color
GREEN).
[0143] Moreover, in an illustrative implementation, beyond the
"best" GREEN level 285 lies a "Superior" BLUE level 286, which
represents an exceptional Food or Exercise value that goes beyond
100% on any scale (e.g., exceeding the user's goal). Any such top
value is awarded a BLUE RIBBON by the system for superior
performance--which is also a recognized color convention. Finally,
as also depicted in top block 280, upon each user Food or Exercise
input, the system immediately displays its rating as a
RED==>BLUE "button" attached to the item.
[0144] The center block 290 of FIG. 2C next provides two pairs of
parallel Rating Examples that illustrate how the visually
stimulating Color-Code Rating Scale has been applied to every level
of the system, top-to-bottom: [0145] Bottom Level: starting at the
bottom level, the first pair of examples 291/292 is actually a
continuum of parallel ratings that run the gamut for what nature
has to offer as a "nutrient" WRT its bad-to-good effect on the
human body: Unhealthy Nutrient 292 runs the gamut from
"Worst"-100%==>0% "Best" . . . Healthy Nutrient 291 continues
the run from "Worst" 0%==>+100% "Best" . . . so that taken
together, the pair runs continuously from -100%==>0%==>+100%
[0146] Range Limits: each rating example is expressed as a series
of 5 range limits that are calculated WRT a baseline of
extremes--i.e., each baseline for a given nutrient is established
WRT its most accessible, widely-available Top 5 items (e.g.,
oranges available from any food store as opposed to Borneo jungle
fruit): Healthy Nutrient 100% baseline 291 is based on its
highest-rated Top 5 sources (see FIG. 2E for an example of how a
+100% baseline is derived for Vitamin C) Unhealthy Nutrient -100%
baseline 292 is based on lowest-rated Worst 5 sources, so the user
can be guided from his worst RED snack to Nature's best GREEN food
[0147] Middle Level: at the system mid-level displays are
Straight-Line Curves 293 for linear functions, such as milligrams
(MGs) for a given Vitamin or Mineral from all food sources. Such a
curve is a linear plot of MGs--fewest (RED) to most (GREEN)--where
all increments are the same size from 0%==>100% (see FIG. 2E for
an example of how Vitamin C would plot as a straight line, where
each 20% increment of 15 MGs corresponds to 11 unique food items)
[0148] Top Level: at the top level of system displays are
Changing-Rate Curves 294 for non-linear functions such as Weight
Loss, which typically starts with a few large increments
(40%==>30%) that quickly taper off to smaller increments
(20%==>10%) over time. This allows user progress to be displayed
as a non-linear RED==>GREEN curve vs. his/her goal curve over a
week/month/year (see FIG. 7A4 for an example of how healthy==>to
ideal weight tapers off, where each 20% delta of 3 weeks tapers off
from 4==>3==>2==>to 1 pound which shows, for example, as
often experienced by professional boxers, how difficult it is to
burn off the last few pounds).
[0149] FIGS. 2D1 and 2D2, which is largely self-explanatory,
illustrates a database that delineates, in light of the current
state of the art, essential nutrients that the human body needs to
function properly, together with color codes for each nutrient.
Macronutrients (FIG. 2D1) are nutrients the body needs in larger
amounts (e.g., >10 grams), and micronutrients (FIG. 2D2) are
nutrients the body needs in smaller amounts (e.g., mostly <1
gram) so that it can perform all of its functions properly.
Although micronutrients are only needed in minute amounts, their
deficiency can ultimately lead to critical health problems.
[0150] The database illustrated in FIG. 2D1 shows various
categories of macro nutrients, together with their Daily Value (DV)
in MGs at 2000 cal per day. The macronutrient categories of
essential nutrients for the human body include carbohydrates,
sugars, dietary fiber, cholesterol, dietary fat, and proteins. As
shown in the left-most column of FIG. 2D1, each macronutrient is
further associated with a color code that identifies whether it is
good, bad, or somewhere in between. For example, saturated fats
(DV=20 g) are associated with a color code of Red that indicates
the worst level of health, because Americans typically get far more
than 20 g per day--particularly from hamburgers and french fries
(e.g., see FIG. 4C for McDonald's Big Mac and TGIF's seasoned
fries). In contrast, polyunsaturated fats such as Omega-3 fatty
acids rate a Blue Ribbon, color because they promote an extremely
level of health--yet many Americans seldom eat these foods (e.g.,
see FIG. 4C for a side-by-side comparison of Salmon and Turkey with
the items above, all at 220 g serving size). Although Omega-6 fats
are essential macronutrients, they appear in such large quantities
in the typical American diet, they become harmful since the huge
excess starts quickly shifting into significant weight gain--hence,
for Americans, in this example, they rate the color Orange.
Cholesterol provides another prime example as to how the color
codes described herein can serve to help the user. Since it has
been reported that the body can only generate approximately 70% of
the cholesterol it needs, it still needs an additional 30% from
daily food sources (hence, DV=300 mg). However, to avoid making
matters worse, the user should find foods that provide more of the
good "Green" HDL than the bad "Red" LDL. FIG. 2D1 shows how the
system assigns the 5 color codes RED==>GREEN to the 5 rungs of
the Cholesterol Ladder so as to maintain the equilibrium of the
cholesterol equation: [0151] Total Cholesterol
(mg/dL)=HDL+LDL+Triglycerides/5 (mg/dL) which is unlikely to be
calculated or tracked or tracked by most individuals [0152] The 5
rungs of the Cholesterol Ladder are displayed as 5 corresponding
colors to the user for each food with meaningful levels of HDL/LDL
cholesterol
[0153] FIG. 2D2, which is also largely self-explanatory, is an
illustration of essential nutrients-micronutrients database
identifying color coding levels for each nutrient that the body
needs to function properly. The database illustrated in FIG. 2D2 is
based upon nutrient and daily value (DV) data taken from a
published USDA database (e.g., downloadable directly from USDA
websites) and shows various categories of micronutrients together
with their daily value (where a daily value has been established)
in micrograms at 2000 cal per day. With respect to food and
nutrition tracking, it is significant for users to be aware of
whether the foods they are consuming provide the required amounts
of nutrients identified in the database of FIG. 2D2. As indicated
in FIG. 2D2, each of the associated categories of vitamins,
carotenoids, macro minerals, micro minerals, and various trace
minerals are color-coded to indicate their Green and Blue Ribbon
ratings, indicating their extremely high nutritional value (caveat:
no DV can be established for trace minerals since their subtle
functions are generally too difficult to isolate). The
international-standard USDA Nutrient DB (delineated in FIGS. 4B1
and 4B2) contains all of the above essential nutrients (identified
in FIG. 2D), except vitamin B7 (biotin), E (4 tocotrionols),
zeaxanthin, iodine, and molybdenum.
[0154] FIG. 2E provides an illustrative example of how color code
ratings from RED==>to GREEN can be derived for any given
nutrient, such as vitamin C, by using its Top 5 food sources to
create a 100% baseline. FIG. 2E depicts one way the system can
assign 5 color codes RED 1==>5 GREEN to five 20% increments that
reach the 100% baseline as an upper limit (as illustrated in FIG.
2C).
[0155] With respect to the exemplary nutrient Vitamin C, FIG. 2E
shows an exemplary subset of food sources for vitamin C (in 2 pairs
of columns) that are both commonly known and widely available in
food stores, which helps make the search for high-quality food more
user-friendly. The qualifying foods are shown in descending order
of milligrams (mg) of vitamin C per 100 g (3.53 oz) for each food
item (extracted primarily from the USDA Nutrient DB shown in FIGS.
4B1 and 4B2).
[0156] As illustrated in FIG. 2E, the exemplary 100% baseline for
Top 5 sources of vitamin C is set as follows: There are relatively
few extremely high sources of any given nutrient like vitamin C.
For example, Acerola, Gooseberry, and Rose Hips are all very high
sources of vitamin C--yet, they are not commonly known nor widely
available at typical food stores, but rather, are primarily used to
manufacture vitamin C tablets. Similarly, Jalapeno Peppers and
red/green Chili Peppers are 3 more very high sources of C, but they
too must be dismissed as too "spicy hot" for the general public.
Hence, in this example, a Top 5 food for any given nutrient must
meet 4 significant "user-friendly" qualifications: [0157] commonly
known to the vast majority of users) [0158] widely available In
food stores throughout the country) [0159] palatable to the vast
majority (eliminating "hot spicy" foods)) [0160] consumable in
portions >1 ounce (eliminating many garnishing spices
[0161] Thus, looking back at the top Vitamin C foods in FIG. 2E,
the Top 5 sources of vitamin C that meet these criteria would be #1
Red Pepper (190 mg), #2 Kale (120 mg), #3 Kiwifruit (93 mg), #4
Broccoli (89 mg), and #5 Brussels Sprouts (85 mg), where
Cauliflower and Green/Yellow Peppers are considered best peer
alternates within the same food group as #4 Broccoli and #1 Red
Pepper.
[0162] 100% Baseline and 5 Color Code increments: Once this process
qualifies the Top 5 for Vitamin C, a 100% baseline can be drawn
beneath the #5 qualifier (Brussels Sprouts) at "greater than 80 mg"
such that all foods >80 mg of vitamin C are now considered @
Blue Ribbon level 6. In the example shown FIG. 2E, the 5 color code
levels are sequentially assigned in 15 mg increments, e.g., Green
@>59, Lime @>44, Yellow @>29, Orange @>14, and Red @
0-14 mgs, such that there are about 11 food items per each 20%
increment of 15 milligrams. Note that there are thousands of foods
not identified in FIG. 2E (too numerous to mention) that fall into
Red level 1 @ 0-14 mg, which merely indicates to the user that they
offer the lowest amount of vitamin C. Moreover, from a potency
standpoint, FIG. 2E also reveals that most foods yield the highest
levels of Vitamin C in their raw form, and that
boiling/freezing/canning them invariably reduces their Vitamin C
content--often significantly--and that there are few animal sources
since Vitamin C is water-soluble.
[0163] FIG. 2F is an illustration of a Top Foods database
identifying various nutritional characteristics of such foods and
identifying related top foods (best peers) in the same food family.
As indicated in FIG. 2F, the top 14 foods are rated in terms of
their content of macronutrients, vitamins, phytonutrients,
minerals, and other nutrients. The database identifies the
macronutrients of protein, high fiber low calorie and omega-3 fatty
acids and tracks the content of vitamin B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B9,
B12, C, and E. The database stores an indication for each of the
identified categories of macronutrients, vitamins, phytonutrients,
minerals, and other nutrients whether the food provides a
substantial amount of the given nutrient, indicating that it is a
substantial source of the nutrient and whether this food is an
abundant source of the given nutrient, indicating that the food has
a much higher quantity of the nutrient than a substantial
amount.
[0164] Each of the foods indicated in the illustrated column one of
the database is one of nature's finest sources for the identified
macronutrients, micronutrients, and minerals, especially where it
serves as an abundant source. The database also includes a link to
a list of related foods, or best peers, to the identified top food.
The database is utilized as a source for providing alternative
recommendations of foods so that the system can encourage users,
for example, to replace an unhealthy selection with a Top 14
healthy choice (or a best peer). In an illustrative embodiment,
users may be encouraged to replace an unhealthy food selection with
a healthier selection on a step-wise basis using best peers
selected from this database, then stepping up the food ladder to a
Top 14 healthy choice. The database also provides a user who has
already chosen one of the top-ranked healthy foods with an array of
alternate healthy foods to form a weekly food cycle.
[0165] FIG. 2G1 shows a database containing an illustrative array
of recommended daily intake (RDI) values for various categories of
users. This RDA database delineates the daily calories required to
sustain men and women of varying age, weight, and level of physical
activity. For example, as shown in FIG. 2G1, a man weighing 110
pounds is assigned an RDI of 2000 calories, whereas a woman of the
same weight is assigned an RDI of 1500 calories. Similarly, a man
weighing 176 pounds is assigned an RDI of 3500 calories, whereas a
woman weighing 176 pounds is assigned an RDI of 3000 calories. This
500 calorie difference between men and women at the same weight can
be attributed to men being typically more muscular than women
(i.e., muscles weigh more than normal body fat). Additionally,
adjustments to RDI are made based upon whether the user's nominal
physical activity is sedentary, moderate, or heavy. Note that these
generic levels have been further discriminated into specific user
activities, with associated calories burned across 30 minutes, in
FIGS. 5B1 and 5B2. As further illustrated in FIG. 2G1, RDIs are
differentiated on the basis of age, i.e., linear calorie increments
for 3-year age groupings of children, boys, and girls, followed by
single calorie values for adult men, women, and pregnant women,
followed by modulated values for senior men, women, and lactating
women. (all groups are assumed @ average healthy weight/height for
their given age) Here are nutritional points revealed by this
illustrative database:
[0166] RDI varies considerably with age, sex, body weight, and
physical activity\
[0167] the singular DV of 2000 calories will only sustain a healthy
woman @ 132 lbs
[0168] DV of 2000 applies to all women age 19-60, but only if they
remain @ 132 lbs
[0169] the singular DV of 2000 cals only applies to a healthy
9-year old boy @ 110 lbs
[0170] DV of 2000 is not sufficient for any man >110 lbs or for
any boy >age 9
[0171] the singular DV of 2500 cals applies to all men age 19-60,
but only @ 132 lbs
[0172] all DVs must be modulated UP for higher weight/heavier
activity/pregnancy/etc.
[0173] FIG. 2G2 shows that the RDI described in FIG. 2G1 can be
flexibly modulated up/down from the singular DV of 2000 calories.
And, looking at the expansion of RDI ranges for
Protein/Carbs/Fat/Saturated Fat, FIG. 2G2 further shows that such
modulations to higher RDIs (e.g., for heavier healthy men) are
strictly linear from 1800 cals/day==>DV @ 2000==>2500
cals/day. As explained below, the system described herein
calculates a Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) precisely tailored to
each user per the Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) database in FIGS.
2G1-2G2. This RDI differs from USDA's ubiquitous "DV for a 2000
calorie diet" (that is strictly applicable to women @ 132 lbs or
less). The system's RDI can be fine-tuned to each user's age, sex,
activity level, obesity level, current weight, ideal weight, and
body frame, which applies to just about every medium- and
large-frame Male/Female above 5'2'' in the Ideal Weight database of
FIG. 13C--a significantly high percentage of Americans, Canadians
and Europeans. Note that the system can still index user weight
against the traditional 2000-calorie DV baseline to remain
compatible with the de facto USDA standard, but the above-described
illustrative implementation's personalized RDI is more relevant and
more encouraging for most users of the system to achieve reachable
weight goals.
[0174] FIGS. 3A-3F show examples of what the user first sees and
does upon downloading, in an illustrative implementation, mobile
computing device application software (app) embodying the
functionality described herein. After the app is initialized (at 31
in FIG. 2A), the newly-stored app launches its module to create a
User Profile (32 in FIG. 2A) which, in this example, is built upon
many efficient system constructs: [0175] Purpose: To capture as
much personal user information as possible up front, when the user
is first introduced to the system, in an effort to keep tedious,
repetitive user inputs to a minimum in the future. This also
showcases the expandable functionality of the system and provides a
baseline to which the system can compare future user activity.
[0176] Strategy: To capture the minimum data items required for the
system to be of the desired degree of help to the user, and then
encourage the user to select as many optional favorite data items
as he/she is willing to share. However, even if the user fails to
provide all his/her ID data, assumptions can be made about the
items that allow the system to proceed, but with the caveat of
possibly degraded, less relevant recommendations to the user (see
below). [0177] Parallel Audio/Visual Prompts: In an illustrative
implementation, system prompts and feedback are offered via
parallel synthesized voice and touch-screen visual displays
substantially simultaneously, to which the user can respond
alternatively by voice or touch (which, inter alia, allows users
with heavy foreign accents or speech impediments to more
successfully participate). [0178] Open-Ended Lists: In an
illustrative implementation of the Create User Profile Mode
(described below), each category in the User Profile displays a set
of popular exemplary items to get the first-time user started. This
is intended to stimulate the user to visualize and enter as many of
his/her own favorite choices as he/she wishes (up to a preset limit
N). With all the thousands of foods and exercises that exist, such
open-ended lists allow a user to expand his/her profile selectively
in all food/exercise categories. This process efficiently
personalizes each user profile, without having to maintain/display
exhaustive checklists of every food and exercise. [0179] Quantified
Items: In an illustrative implementation, wherever appropriate,
data items entered by the user are next quantified by asking "How
Much?" with respect to food/nutrition (pounds/pints/ounces) or
exercise (pounds/reps/distance)--e.g., "12-ounce steak" or
"100-pound bench press for 3 reps"--so that the system can
accurately calculate calories in versus calories out for the user
as the quantified items appear in the future. [0180] Exercise Tags:
In an illustrative implementation, wherever appropriate, exercise
items entered by the user are quantified with "How Long?"
(hours/minutes) and "How Often?" (times per week)--e.g., "jog for
30 minutes" or "tennis match for 2 hours" (duration tags in the
system database) plus "3 times per week" (frequency tags). Such
extended data gives the system a revealing snapshot (or baseline
profile) of what foods and exercises the user is already engaged in
and at what level. [0181] Nutrition Tags: In an illustrative
implementation, wherever appropriate, each nutrition item selected
by the user is further qualified by the system with nutrient tags
representing its nutrient value per unit (including, inter alia,
calories, carbs, fats, cholesterol, sugars, fiber, protein,
vitamins, minerals, omega-3s, herbs, antioxidants, etc.), plus an
overall rating tag representing its relative value to user health
from 1 to 5 (explained below). These short nutrition and exercise
tags are further examples of how the system efficiently expands
user profiles outward while keeping storage to a minimum. [0182]
Parallel System/User Databases (DBs): In an illustrative
implementation, all items accepted from the user are stored
immediately in the user DB within the mobile computing device's
(e.g., smart phone's) local memory 15, and then later as a
cumulative batch update in the parallel system DB within remote
server 14. Having a parallel, for example, smart phone DB allows
the user to view/update/add items to his/her DB locally offline at
his/her convenience, without tying up the phone with unnecessary,
sustained low-activity communication to the remote server. Equally
important, it enables the user to access his/her DB in remote areas
and enclosed buildings (such as restaurants/spas/gyms) that often
have degraded or no phone signal.
[0183] Streamlined Database Structure: In an illustrative
implementation, tracking the wide range of every possible
snack-to-dinner food item and low- to high-energy exercise requires
many "wordy" user inputs each day across long periods of time.
Hence, in an illustrative implementation, the system DB structure
has been radically streamlined to minimize its size and to curb its
exponential growth. In this example, all of this starts with the
User Profile Create mode (below) where, e.g., each open-ended list
is constrained to actual user choices 1-N (as above) and quantified
with short tags (as above). In such an implementation, the User
Profile Create mode generates a single baseline record from initial
user inputs that the user can later expand, one item at a time, in
any food or exercise category. However, none of these long "wordy"
entries (1-N) are repeated in subsequent daily records where any
repeat is represented by a simple binary "ditto" (1-N). Thus, in an
illustrative implementation, the system DB has one long baseline
record followed by a string of short daily records that can
compress the span of many years into a small disk area.
[0184] FIGS. 3A through 3F show an illustrative implementation of
the process flow and data structure of the User Profile Create mode
(see table below), which prompts the user for all data required by
the system in this example (such as his/her current weight and
ultimate goals) and all optional data he/she is willing to share
beyond that (such as Top 5 favorite foods and exercises). In other
implementations, alternative required data may be designated. All
this data entered, taken together, comprises the user's primary
baseline record from which, in an illustrative implementation, the
system makes initial recommendations (such as an initial diet and
exercise regime to pursue) as a first step toward achieving his/her
ideal weight, tempered by any applicable restrictions (due to
handicaps, injuries, meds, etc.). The Create mode captures this
primary baseline User Profile, and is run only once up front, upon
initial launch of the system--as the first pass through the User
Profile module. Thereafter, the user can selectively view and
change any of his/her initial profile data in the Modify mode
during any subsequent pass through the User Profile process shown.
However, other than expected user weight updates and user
preference updates to goals or rewards, any user changes to his/her
permanent baseline data in an illustrative implementation are
challenged by warnings and confirmations (e.g. "Are you sure?") in
order to maintain user profile integrity.
[0185] The table below summarizes various aspects of the creation
of illustrative user profiles, subsequent revisions/modifications
thereof, user profile-related process flow and exemplary data
structures involving food and exercise. Various user profile
features and data structures are explained in detail below
particularly in conjunction with the referenced FIGS. 3A-3F.
TABLE-US-00001 FIGS. 3A-3F: User Profile Create Mode (initial pass)
and Modify Mode (thereafter) LEVEL USER PROFILE FOOD EXERCISE User
User ID/Health Data User Preferences User Preferences Input
Baseline Record in FIGS. 3A ==> 3C FIGS. 3D ==> 3F FIG. 3A
Top System Process Top 5 User Top 5 User Level Modular Flowchart
Choices Choices FIG. 3A FIG. 3D Middle System Structure Categories/
Categories/ Level Modular Block dishes/tags modes/tags Diagram FIG.
3B FIG. 3E Bottom System Database Popular Examples Popular Examples
Level Matrix of Open-Ended FIG. 3C FIG. 3F Lists Tag As-Needed
Illustrative Illustrative Level System Tags Examples Examples
Quantifying/Qualifying FIGS. 3A ==> 3C FIGS. 3D ==> 3F
Data
[0186] In an illustrative implementation, as shown in FIG. 3A, upon
entry, the User Profile program (UP) presents 4 icons to the user:
User ID 300, User Health 324, Nutrition 348, and Exercise 400 that,
for example, may be displayed via touch screen icons (and may be
viewed as software generated "keys" or "buttons") on the user's
mobile computing device 1 (e.g., a smart phone). In this example,
these appear sequentially in the Create Mode and all at once in the
Modify Mode, along with an EXIT icon at, for example, the lower RH
corner. Hence, if the user hits any, for example, user touch screen
icon button other than "User ID" (NO out of 300), the UP tests for
Create Mode at 302 and, if the UP is in the Modify Mode, advances
to User Health 324 (NO out of 302). Otherwise, UP prompts the user
to "please enter all ID items" at 304 and returns to enter User ID
data 306, as will next be delineated item-by-item.
[0187] In the Create Mode, in an illustrative implementation, the
user selects User ID in order to enter the following Minimum User
ID data 306 for the system in this example: [0188] Name: required
in an illustrative implementation to maintain a unique baseline
record for each person--but since all kinds of aliases may arise,
such as initials, first/last name only, nicknames, screen names,
etc., the UP may add unique numbers to make each user name unique
[0189] Sex: required in an illustrative implementation to calculate
his/her ideal weight via the Ideal Weight DB, and to recommend
exercise regimes appropriate to his/her natural motions and limits
[0190] Age: required in an illustrative implementation to
differentiate higher-to-lower calorie requirements to account for
the younger, more energetic teenagers . . . to the older, more
sedentary retirees [0191] Height: required in an illustrative
implementation to calculate ideal weight via the Ideal Weight DB,
ranging from 4'10''==>6'6'' for both men and women (the DB can
be further extended for taller/shorter users, if necessary) [0192]
Weight: required in an illustrative implementation to calculate
ideal weight via the Ideal Weight DB (FIG. 13C), to serve as the
primary baseline to compare successful weight loss (or gain) and,
from a system point of view, to calculate reasonable increments to
achieve ideal weight--in illustrative implementations, the DB has
been structured to permit an accurate determination of ideal
weight, taking into account various user characteristics. In some
of these illustrative implementations, the UP may ask for user
weight "5/10 years ago" to glean a historical trend. [0193] Wrist
Size (FIG. 12B): may be advantageously used to differentiate body
frames via the Ideal Weight DB as small/medium/large--a revealing,
user friendly measurement (takes 30 seconds) that can serve to
discriminate between such worldwide healthy extremes as: Women
(small frame)<==>Women (large frame, both healthy) @ healthy
weight MIN edge @ healthy weight MAX edge Note: Wrist Size is a
more user-friendly measurement than the more difficult Elbow Size
that was initiated by Met Life in 1942 (see FIG. 12B) [0194] Waist
Size (FIG. 12C): required to differentiate obesity level via the
Ideal Weight DB as healthy/overweight/obese--a revealing, user
friendly measurement (takes 30 secs) that can serve to discriminate
between such worldwide obesity extremes as: Women (large
frame)<==>Women (large frame, same height) @ healthy weight
MAX edge @ obese weight MIN edge Note: this metric can also
separate muscular healthy athletes from obese people at the same
height and weight. [0195] Goals: although the most commonly desired
goal today is to lose weight, the system is designed to handle a
wide variety of users: from obese to underweight, from out-of-shape
weak to perfectly fit, from sick to healthy, etc. Thus, the system
has been designed to handle user goals that are going to vary
accordingly:
[0196] from lose weight==>to gain weight
[0197] from get stronger==>to last longer (more endurance)
[0198] from get healthier==>to drop bad habits (e.g.,
smoking/drinking/drugs)
Note: in illustrative implementations, the user has the option of
selecting as many goals as desired; e.g., most people would like to
get healthier while they are trying to lose weight. [0199]
Timeframe: used to calculate reachable increments toward the user
goal across a reasonable time interval with a typical range of 1-2
lbs per week [0200] Rewards: a significant factor in achieving
goals--in this case, it is a user reaching an incremental goal
toward resurrecting his/her own health and body. In illustrative
implementations, rewards are downloaded iTunes and Netflix
movies--and these can be expanded to prizes (for achieving a long
sought-after goal) such as dinner at an organic free-range chicken
restaurant [0201] Default User ID data: for an illustrative
implementation, all the above items are considered minimum User ID
data needed to calculate an ideal weight for any given user, and to
facilitate him/her achieving that goal (or any other goal above)
via reachable increments toward that goal that are rewarded
proportionally. It should be understood that in some illustrative
implementations, apart from all the above minimum User ID data
needed to calculate a user's ideal weight, the system can just as
easily be run with a few token values made up by the user, or even
none at all, if desired by a particular user. That is, the user
could simply experiment with the system by plugging in any token
height/weight/sex and look to see how the system would go about
resolving a typical overweight male/female, e.g.:
[0202] Male: 5'9'' @ 195 lbs (assumed to be about 16 lbs
overweight)
[0203] Female: 5'4'' @ 170 lbs (assumed to be about 24 lbs
overweight)
[0204] Furthermore, it is noted that this system can be run without
any of the minimum User ID data--e.g., as an exemplary "trial demo"
(for a user who has no desire to enter data) by, for example,
making a few real-world assumptions regarding the user, who could
be an average U.S. male/female (whose actual
weight/height/overweight level are listed above). The average U.S.
male/female are then compared to an "ideal" average male/female at
a similar height--in this case, an average German male/female,
whose average weight is deemed "ideal" by the Ideal Weight DB shown
in FIG. 13C. That is, assuming no user inputs at all, the system
can perform a realistic trial demo with representative Males and
Females from around the world, using their actual average Heights
and Weights, to show how the system can work to bring obese people
back to healthy weight, as follows:
TABLE-US-00002 ##STR00001## *Using 1% total weight as an initial
safe MAX weight loss increment: Time interval here is 3 weeks for
Men ==> yielding 6 lbs in 3 months (8% loss) Time interval is 6
weeks for Women ==> yielding 24 lbs in 6 months (14% loss) **See
the System Color Code Rating in FIG. 2C for the `stoplight`
sequence and for the non-linear weight loss increments here as a
changing-rate curve
[0205] Minimum User Clicks: In illustrative implementations to
promote enhanced user friendly data entry, the User Profile module
is streamlined to yield the highest level of system output for the
least number of user input "clicks" (where a "click" can be, for
example, a written or spoken entry or a choice from a displayed
list) to keep the user enthusiastic and locked in throughout the
initial Create mode, as follows:
TABLE-US-00003 User Profile: how increasing Create Mode Inputs
==> yields higher-level System Outputs System Initial User
Inputs for each Higher Level of System Output User Output Level
User ID User Health FOOD EXERCISE Clicks Trial Demo 0 0 0 0 0 (no
user clicks) Healthy Weight Height/Weight 0 0 0 2 (2 user clicks)
Ideal Weight Above plus Age/ Current Health 0 0 11 tailored to User
Sex/Wrist/Waist plus 4 "nones" * Weight Loss Above plus Goal/ same
as above Top Meal ** Top Exercise ** 24 Diet + Exercise Time/Reward
for 5 categories for 5 categories Fast Track same plus Weight same
plus Health Top 5 Meals Top 5 Exercises 36 + tags toward all goals
"5/10 years ago" "5/10 years ago" plus tags *** plus tags *** *
User Health only requires 4 "none" answers for people with no
health problems (otherwise, people with
injuries/ailments/handicaps/meds enter data as needed) Thus, in 11
clicks, a user can see Ideal Weight precisely tailored to his/her
body ** Food/Exercise, in this example, only require one Top
Meal/Exercise to initiate diet/exercise plan (otherwise, the user
can enter as many Top Choices 1 ==> 5 as he/she is willing).
Thus, in 24 clicks, a user can get an initial Weight Loss plan
tailored to him/her. *** all tags
(sauces/vitamins/quantity/sets/reps/etc.) are optional in Create
mode (tags become more important attached to actual eating/exercise
in Modify mode) Thus, in 36 clicks, a user can get the fastest
track (diet + exercise) to his/her goal.
[0206] Maximum User Choices in Minimum Time: In illustrative
implementations, to facilitate the user's food/exercise entries
shown in the above table, the UP has also been streamlined at all
levels to provide the User the maximum number of popular choices
(primarily, via the open-ended lists of FIGS. 3C/3F) to identify
his/her "favorite" preferences in a rule-of-thumb telescopic
10.times. focusing process, * as follows:
TABLE-US-00004 User Profile: how a large Server DB gets telescoped
10X down ==> to a small Phone DB Telescopic System Actions User
Actions User 10X Process * Filters ==> Offers ==> Chooses
==> Uses ==> Prefers when used/ online access User Profile
offline access Modify Mode Create where stored to Server DB*
Food/Exercise to Phone DB* Food/Exercise Mode Level Global ==>
Standard ==> Relevant ==> Favorite ==> Top 5 FOODS 100,000
** 10,000 1,000 *** 100 25 EXERCISES 10,000 ** 1,000 100 *** 10 5
*This chart illustrates how the system telescopes the large
reservoir of global foods/exercises down several 10X levels to a
small relevant number a user can use, reducing the size of the
mobile computing device DB (e.g., an IPhone) down to what the user
can still use offline. ** Global levels illustrate how the system
efficiently strips out specialized items (like ethnic
foods/exercises) from standard American foods/exercises, so the
vast majority of users can scan faster through shorter, more
familiar open-ended lists (specialized/ethnic choices are still
available to the minority by typing them in). *** Relevant levels
illustrate how, despite the vast array of potentially better
foods/exercises out there, human nature still tends to favor just
"a precious few" - the goal of the Create mode here is to tease out
the precious few from the user and gradually nudge him/her from a
suspect few to the more relevant healthier many, as will next be
described for Nutrition (FIGS. 3A-3C) and Exercise (FIGS.
3D-3F).
[0207] Turning back to FIG. 3A, once the user enters the above
Minimum User ID data 306 (or if default data is utilized) in the
Create Mode, UP can now establish his/her Ideal Weight via the data
base illustrated in FIG. 13C, and can next calculate the initial
baseline System Tracking Data 308 based on that weight: [0208]
Ideal Weight: in illustrative implementations, the data base
illustrated in FIG. 13C zones in on an ideal weight for both Men
and Women and for people with different body frames and vastly
different levels of obesity. As in any system, the higher the level
of precision to pinpoint correct ideal weight means the higher the
level of precision for all calculations that follow (below) [0209]
Weight Loss Increments (or "deltas"): UP calculates a reachable
weight "delta" within a periodic interval (week/biweek/month/etc.)
based on his/her specified timeframe, all of which is precisely
tailored to each user
[0210] Recommended Daily Intake (RDI): UP calculates an RDI
precisely tailored to each user per the RDI database in FIG. 2G1.
This RDI differs from the USDA's ubiquitous "DV for a 2000 calorie
diet" (that is primarily applicable to women @ 132 lbs or less).
The system RDI can be fine-tuned to each user's age, sex, activity
level, obesity level, current weight, ideal weight, and body frame,
which applies to just about every medium- and large-frame
Male/Female above 5'2'' in the Ideal Weight data base of FIG.
13C--which is a significantly high percentage of Americans. UP can
still index user weight against the traditional USDA 2000-calorie
DV baseline, but UP's personalized RDI is more relevant and more
encouraging for most users of the system to achieve reachable
weight goals. [0211] Calorie Counters: UP maintains a set of
running Calories IN/Calories OUT counters that keep track of
running daily/weekly/monthly amounts of Calories IN (from food
eaten by the user) versus parallel running amounts of Calories OUT
(from exercise by the user) that can be selectively displayed or
plotted by the user. UP maintains these counters based on food
eaten (where each gram of protein or carbs=4 Calories, each gram of
fat=9 Cals, each gram of alcohol=7 Cals, etc.) and based on user
exercise to balance out the food eaten (where each pound worked
off=3500 Calories). Thus, at any given time or for any given
timeframe, weight loss can be easily calculated via the delta
between Cals IN vs. Cals OUT:
[0211] Weight Loss Delta (lbs)=(Cals OUT-Cals IN)/3500 Cals per
pound [0212] Goal Percentage (%): Armed with these pairs of running
Calorie Counters, at any given time or across any given timeframe,
UP can now maintain a corresponding set of running Goal Percentages
(%) with respect to the user's specific ideal weight and/or current
weight increment above, as follows: Current Goal (%)=current Weight
Loss Delta/current Weight Increment
[0212] Ideal Weight Goal (%)=cumulative Weight Loss
Deltas/(Baseline Weight-Ideal Weight)
In an illustrative implementation, the above Calorie Counters and
Goal Percentages are displayed on the user's mobile computing
device 1 screen as running display counters, or as more stimulating
color X-Y plots of Weight across Time--e.g., as cumulative weight
loss vs. successive weight increments.
[0213] User Profile Modify Mode: the above System Tracking Data 308
is initialized by the Create Mode at the user's declared Goal(s)
and Weight, plus UP-calculated Ideal Weight. Beyond these initial
baseline entries, all remaining user tracking functions--including
successive weight increments, calorie counting, and goal
percentages--are performed by the Modify Mode during subsequent UP
passes, following the same process flow shown in the flowchart of
FIG. 3A.
[0214] Parallel Audio/Visual Interface: As set forth above, in an
illustrative implementation, all User Profile prompts and feedback,
as well as all user choices for data entry and/or next course of
action, are offered to the user via simultaneous, parallel
synthesized voice and touch-screen video, to which the user may
respond alternatively by voice or touch.
[0215] Turning back to FIG. 3A and the User ID entry processing,
after the user has finished entering Reward as his/her final choice
in Minimum User ID data 306, UP tests at 310 whether the user
changed his/her current Weight, which is an expected response. If
so, it sets the Weight Flag 312 for further processing by the
mainline routine in FIG. 2A--if not, it proceeds to test at 314
whether the user changed his/her current Goal. If so, UP sets the
Goal Flag 316 for the mainline routine (as above)--if not, it
proceeds to test at 318 whether the user changed any other Minimum
User ID data 306--e.g., any change to the user's height, or sex
would be suspicious. If so, UP first warns the user as to the
danger of such a change to his/her profile integrity and asks "Are
You Sure?" to confirm that the change was intended (not shown). If
so, it sets the ID Flag 320 for the mainline routine (as above)--if
not, it proceeds to test at 322 whether the user has entered all
Minimum User ID data 306. If not, UP prompts the user at 304 to
"please enter all ID items" and returns to re-enter User ID data
306--if so, it proceeds to test User Health 324.
[0216] After finishing User ID processing, if the user hits any
icon but "User Health" (NO out of 324), the UP tests for Create
Mode at 326 and, if it is in not in the Create Mode, but is in the
Modify Mode, advances to Nutrition 348 (NO out of 326). Otherwise,
UP prompts the user to "please enter all Health items" at 328 and
returns to re-enter User Health data 330, as will next be
delineated item-by-item.
[0217] In the Create Mode, in an illustrative implementation, the
user must select User Health to enter the following Minimum User
Health data 306 for the system to optimally assist in recommending
food/exercises that are not otherwise unsafe or even harmful. It is
expected that individuals will be open and honest about their
handicaps, ailments and injuries. [0218] General Level of Health:
in an illustrative implementation used to actively elicit from a
user a rating defining the user's self-image of his/her own health,
on a color-coded scale of Worst 1==>5 Best. In illustrative
implementations, UP next may ask the follow-up "What level 5 and 10
year ago?" to glean a historical trend. [0219] In illustrative
implementations, each item below has "None" as the first answer to
accelerate healthy users through this Health section as quickly as
possible. [0220] Injuries: In illustrative implementations, UP
first asks whether a user's injury is permanent or temporary (with
a date for expected recovery). It then asks what areas of the body
are affected, such as skeletal, muscles, organs, nerves, brain,
etc., followed up, as needed, by what limbs such as (right or left)
hand/foot/arm/leg/torso/back/neck/etc. Such a body injury profile
guides the system away from bad limbs to help the remaining good
ones [0221] Ailments: In illustrative implementations, ailments
such an diseases (cancer, diabetes, etc.), and allergies. UP
follows the same inquiry process as that above to identify specific
Injuries, except that ailments often imply a weakening of the
entire body which can preclude, e.g., eating certain foods and
nutrients, exercising outdoors, exercising the remaining healthy
limbs (as above), etc. [0222] Handicaps: In illustrative
implementations, UP follows the same inquiry process as that above
to identify specific Injuries except handicaps often imply a severe
weakening of entire limbs or the entire body which can complicate
any system trying to help them, e.g., mobility limited to a
wheelchair, exercise limited to special gym equipment, etc. [0223]
Addictions/Health Impacting Bad Habits: Only addictions and
habitual behavior that significantly affect body health and/or
normal exercise--namely, smoking, drinking, and drugs--are embraced
in illustrative implementations tracking these activities. Here, UP
asks the simple question of frequency, "How often?" on a scale of
Seldom 1==>5 Every Day. However, focusing on these three
activities does not in any way preclude adding any number of other
habitual behaviors that affect health and/or exercise to a lesser
degree, or that involve fewer people. [0224] Medications: Each of
the above Health issues can require Meds that may be inconsistent
with or interact with certain foods/nutrients/supplements the
system might normally recommend. Therefore, UP asks in illustrative
implementations for whatever Meds the user is taking regardless of
the specific health reason, to avoid such unnecessary, potentially
hazardous conflicts. [0225] Historical Trends: Finally, for each of
the significant injuries, ailments, handicaps, and bad habits, UP
asks the follow-up "What level 5 and 10 year ago?" (optional) to
glean a historical trend that may influence recommended exercises
and/or diets.
[0226] In an illustrative implementation, once the user enters the
above Minimum User Health data 330 in the Create Mode, UP can now
establish the system baseline User Restrictions 332 based on, for
example, the injuries/ailments/handicaps/bad habits/meds disclosed
by the user, and set RED flags on all foods/diets and exercise
regimes that should be excluded due to them, particularly during
subsequent passes in the Modify Mode. In an illustrative
implementation, these RED flags are backed up by a RED Zone Body
chart (not shown) that flags affected body areas.
[0227] FIG. 3A User Health (continued): After the user has finished
entering Medications as his/her final choice in Minimum User Health
data 330, UP asks the user at 334 if he/she has any Weakness in any
Limb (beyond the Health data 330) that could affect normal exercise
regimes (i.e., any motion limited right/left, up/down, CW/CCW). If
so, it sets the Weak Flag 336 (i.e., a RH/LH flag for each affected
limb) for further processing by the mainline routine in FIG. 2A--if
not, it asks the user at 338 if he/she similarly has any Limited
Range of Motion (beyond the Health data 330). If so, it sets the
Range Flag 340 for the mainline routine (as above)--if not, it
proceeds to test at 342 whether the user changed any other Minimum
User Health data 330--e.g., any change to the user's handicaps or
permanent injuries would be suspicious. If so, UP first warns the
user as to the danger of making such a change to his/her profile
integrity and asks "Is this an update or a correction?" plus "Are
You Sure?" to confirm that the unexpected or inconsistent change
was intended (not shown). If so, it sets the Health Flag 344 for
the mainline routine (as above)--if not, it proceeds to test at 346
whether the user has entered all the Minimum User Health data 330,
which includes "None" as the most common answer for each Health
item. If not, UP next prompts the user at 328 to "Please enter all
Health items" and returns to re-enter User Health data 330--if so,
it proceeds to Nutrition 348.
[0228] FIG. 3A Nutrition: As shown in FIG. 3A, in an illustrative
implementation, if the user selects the Nutrition icon (YES out of
348), UP proceeds to capture high-level Nutrition inputs at
350--otherwise, it exits (NO out of 348) to Exercise at 354 that is
explained in detail in conjunction with the description of FIG. 3D.
As described above, a goal of the Create mode at 350 here is to
encourage a user to enter certain favorites identifying his/her Top
5 favorite meals among Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner/Snacks/Drinks (which
are the system's 5 Food categories). While picking out 5 favorites
for each of the 5 categories is not required, in this example, UP
encourages the user to specify at least his/her #1 "all-time"
favorite items (per the Minimum User Click chart above) which, for
Breakfast, could be as complex as a havarti cheese/egg souffle with
sauteed shrimp and avocado . . . or as simple as a piece of
buttered toast.
[0229] Vitamins/Minerals: Similarly, in an illustrative
implementation, a goal of the Create mode at 352 is to encourage a
user to enter certain favorites identifying his/her Top 5 favorite
supplements among Vitamins/Minerals/Herbs/Omega-3s/Antioxidants
(which are the system's 5 supplement categories), following the
same user input process as above. For Vitamins, this could be as
complicated as all eight Vitamin E tocopherols and tocotrienols
(each has alpha/beta/delta/gamma variations) or as simple as a
One-a-Day multi-vitamin (the process for specifying Top 5 is
described in detail next with FIGS. 3B/3C).
[0230] Color-Coded Foods/Nutrients: As shown and illustrated in
FIGS. 2C/2D (above), in an illustrative implementation, all the
elements of the entire system from top-to-bottom are color-coded
with a 5-color rating of RED 1==>5 GREEN (beyond which lies a
sixth "Blue Ribbon" category). Thus, in an illustrative
implementation, each of the above Nutrition icons (from
Breakfast==>Dinner Top 5 meals and from
Vitamins==>Antioxidant Top 5 supplements) will always be
displayed to the user in its system-rated color RED==>GREEN on
the user's color screen. This reinforces the underlying
"bad-to-good" nutritional value of each food or exercise that the
user is presently engaged with or is planning to move up to.
[0231] Top-to-Bottom Color Codes: In an illustrative
implementation, this color-code rating extends across the entire
system--from top-to-bottom. For example, at the highest level, each
meal (Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner) is color coded with a RED==>GREEN
color based on the weighted-average color of all its food elements
(drink/appetizer/entree/vegetable/dessert/etc). This same color
rating extends all the way to the lowest level where, for example,
each food item is color-rated WRT its
cals/carbs/sugars/fiber/fats/cholesterol/protein/etc--as well as
its total vitamins/minerals/omega-3s/antioxidants/etc--each
nutrient individually.
[0232] Hence, to satisfy likely user curiosity, the inquisitive
user can click on any color-coded icon (food/vitamin/exercise/etc.)
to find out exactly what lower-level element (high LDL
cholesterol/low protein/slow walking pace/etc.) caused the RED
ALERT.
[0233] Moreover, this top-to-bottom color-coding serves to educate
the user as to each item's "bad" RED elements that were otherwise
"hidden" from his/her view prior to using this system--revealing
why he/she should move up to the next-higher level food choice.
Alternatively, it reveals what he/she has to do to correct and/or
improve a RED exercise.
[0234] User Health/Attitude Profile: One significant function of
storing a user's food/nutrient favorites is to piece together a
revealing snapshot of the user's current health--and his/her
collective attitude toward healthy eating via Top 5 Meals and
adequate nutrition via Top 5 Vitamins--presumably formed over many
years. Taken together with Top 5 Exercises (gathered via parallel
FIGS. 3D-3F below) and a user history from "how much 5/10 years
ago?" (gathered above), the resulting 5-10 year health/attitude
profile of a new user allows the system to more accurately gauge
just how much to soften (or harden) the resulting recommended diet
plan for a pre-established "average" YELLOW male/female, to which
the system will otherwise default. Such data, in an illustrative
implementation, may be used as follows:
[0235] On the positive side: if the user reveals a long-term
healthy diet profile, the system can more aggressively "harden" the
recommendations toward the highest GREEN level foods to accelerate
the user directly to his/her ideal weight--such "hardening" is
especially important for already fit athletes, who easily qualify
for this group.
[0236] On the negative side: however, if the user reveals a
long-term unhealthy diet profile, in an illustrative
implementation, the system may, for example, cautiously "soften"
the recommendations toward the lowest RED level--such "softening"
avoids overburdening an obese user with average goals that are
beyond his/her physical reach and current diet attitude. Such a
plan may be modified as desired to accelerate obese users towards
goal achievement based upon a medical need to do so, or an
indication from an analysis of performance data that the user is
ready for more accelerated goal achievement.
[0237] For more details on how this strategy is fine-tuned, see the
discussion on how food are adapted to each user by the Create mode
in FIG. 3C.
[0238] Food Database: FIG. 3B is a modular block diagram for the
Food Database which follows in FIG. 3C. The basic structure of the
DB shown in FIG. 3C is a virtually 4-dimensional (4D) array,
including:
[1] the top-level Categories (horizontal axis across FIG. 3C) [2]
the middle-level Dishes (vertical axis down FIG. 3C, grouped as 3
courses) [3] an Open-Ended List for each mid-level Dish (into the
paper in FIG. 3C) [4] the bottom Tags attached to each open-ended
List (orthogonal to above 3 axes)
[0239] As shown in FIG. 3B, in this illustrative implementation,
the UP access sequence for this Food DB is broken into 5 major
Categories: Breakfast 360/Lunch 362/Dinner 364 plus Snacks
384/Drinks 385 (not shown here for clarity, but as shown in FIG.
3C). UP accesses each of the 5 categories as follows:
[1] the top-level Categories (horizontal axis across FIG. 3C) [2]
the middle-level Dishes (vertical axis down FIG. 3C, grouped as 3
courses) [3] an Open-Ended List for each mid-level Dish (into the
paper in FIG. 3C) [4] the bottom Tags attached to each open-ended
List (orthogonal to above 3 axes) [0240] The UP access sequence for
this Food DB is broken into 5 major Categories: Breakfast 360/Lunch
362/Dinner 364 plus Snacks 384/Drinks 385 (not shown here for
clarity) as shown on FIG. 3C. UP accesses each level as follows:
[0241] UP accesses these 5 Categories sequentially (as shown by the
top arrows), overflowing into Snacks 384/Drinks 385 on FIG. 3C
before exiting. [0242] Next, for each of the 3 meal categories, UP
cycles through the 3 Dishes: 1st Course 366/Entree 368/3rd Course
370 (as shown by the middle arrows). [0243] Within each of the 3
Dishes, UP cycles through 4 Meal Items that, taken together
comprise 12 unique items for each meal (as listed at 366/368/370),
the significance of which is explained in more depth in FIG. 3C
(below). [0244] Within each of the 4 Meal Items, UP cycles through
the 3 Tags at the bottom: Add-Ons 372/Quantity 374/Nutrients 376
(as shown by the bottom arrows), which are selectively created
as-needed to qualify or quantify the item. [0245] Finally, the last
Tag--Nutrients 376--is generated by UP as a helpful FYI for the
user, with RED==>GREEN codes displayed with each nutrient to
educate him/her as to the relative GREEN value or RED danger posed
by that Meal Item, and the Meal as a whole (as discussed at
Color-Coded Foods/Nutrients above). [0246] Moreover, it is hard to
grasp the significance of the first Tag--Add-Ons 372--until the
system calculates the total calories added to meal items by the
Add-On examples (sauce/dressing/gravy/syrup/cream/etc.) that can
downgrade an ordinarily healthy slice of turkey to RED ALERT, as
will be discussed in depth next with FIG. 3C.
[0247] Food Database Meal Matrix: FIG. 3C is a modular block
diagram of the Food Database accessed in FIG. 3B. For breakfast,
lunch, dinner, snacks and drinks, examples of popular choices are
displayed to the user so that the user may select from the open
ended list and choose meals that need not be repetitively input.
For example, the user need only define breakfast #1, lunch #3,
dinner #5, etc., one time and then conveniently select such meals
by identifying breakfast #1, lunch #3, or dinner #5. In this
example, the user enters up to 5 favorites for each category,
starting with his #1 favorite food, e.g., yogurt. FIG. 3C
illustrates the same Food Database shown as a modular block diagram
in FIG. 3B, formatted here into a 5.times.12 Meal Matrix that is
virtually a 4-dimensional (4D) array of open-ended Lists (except
for the 3C Snacks/Drinks) with the following 4 independent
axes:
[1] the 5 Categories corresponding to horizontal Matrix columns
381==>385 [2] the 12 Dishes corresponding to vertical Matrix
rows 387==>398, except that Snacks/Drinks (columns 384/385) are
not indexed to the 12 Dishes (column 380) [3] the 60 Open-Ended
Lists corresponding to each cell in the 5.times.12 Matrix array,
where each cell initially contains a popular example to stimulate
User choices [4] the 3 Tags attached to each of the 60 Open-Ended
Lists (180 max Tags) where:
[0248] Add-Ons 372 initially contain a popular example, like
sauce/dressing/syrup/etc.
[0249] Quantity Tags 374 are generated by the user after he/she
eats each food/meal
[0250] Nutrient Tags 376 are generated/displayed by the system upon
user request
[0251] Top 5 Favorite Meals: UP initially asks the user to enter up
to 5 Favorites for each Category 381==>385, starting with
his/her #1 favorite food, and optionally entering up to 4 or more
favorites per category at user discretion. At any time from this
juncture on, the user can conveniently select any "repeat" favorite
by its sequence number among the Top 5 Favorite lists--for
example:
[0252] Breakfast #1==>Lunch #2==>Dinner #3==>Snack
#4==>Drink #5
which saves the user all the time and effort to re-enter the same
Favorite food/meal
[0253] This initial system/user interplay over Top 5 Favorites
provides the opportunity for UP to find out exactly what the user's
attitude toward food is, and perhaps even explain where all his/her
excess weight (if any) came from--e.g., even if the user doesn't
eat the favorites very often. Knowledge of the users urges may be
significant in guiding the user towards a more healthy diet.
[0254] The system advantageously matches the 60 food examples shown
in the initial matrix of FIG. 3C to the RED 1==>5 GREEN quality
of food that the user, for example, identifies as favorites to
eat.
[0255] Based on all the above User ID/User Health inputs (that will
normally yield an ideal weight and target weight loss goal for the
user) coupled with the skeletal user "5/10 years ago" history data,
UP can gauge which initial 1==>5 level to display. That is, as
an illustrative embodiment here, the 60 examples shown in FIG. 3C
vary through all 5 color levels from RED 1 (e.g., malted Milk
Shake) to 5 GREEN (e.g., Iced Tea with lemon). An illustrative
strategy is to present most of these 60 examples at the 1==>5
food level the user can identify with and/or actively seeks out. By
this illustrative strategy, UP may elicit a more realistic/honest
answer from users than by suggesting they pick among "better" foods
they know they really should be eating. In an alternative
implementation, the system may suggest a range of better foods for
the user to identify as favorites.
[0256] This initial Create mode strategy dovetails with the
higher-order strategy of an illustrative implementation of the
entire system to facilitate weight loss (or gain), which can be
accomplished more effectively when the system knows the exact
diet/exercise profile of the user:
[0257] at the obese RED extreme, in an illustrative implementation,
UP will present all the customary RED foods that likely enticed
certain users to become obese in the first place, to avoid wasting
their time with GREEN foods they already ignore, and to otherwise
establish an accurate RED baseline
[0258] at the healthy GREEN extreme, UP will present all the
high-caliber GREEN foods that fit athletes are already aware of
and/or eating religiously, to avoid wasting their time with RED
foods they already dislike, and otherwise establish an accurate
GREEN baseline [0259] One such illustrative system strategy is to
boot-strap each user from his/her current RED==>GREEN level (as
just described) up the diet ladder, one notch at a time, as shown
with the Meat Ladder below:
TABLE-US-00005 ##STR00002## [0259] * This is the MAX ==> MIN
range for a small/medium/large frame Healthy User * This is the MAX
==> MIN range for a small/medium/large frame Healthy User
[0260] As can be seen from the essential macronutrients database of
FIG. 2D, the rib roast is high in calories, low in protein, and
high in fat when compared to the light turkey shown in the above
chart. The calories, protein, and fat parameters for rib roast are
unhealthy and merit a red rating. In contrast, white meat turkey
calorie, protein, and fat parameters are healthy and merit a blue
rating. The diet ladder chart shows that the rib roast alternatives
of sirloin steak, round steak, dark chicken, and light chicken
provide increasingly healthy choices that a user may progress
through on a stepwise basis to habitually consume more healthy
products. [0261] Thus, this Meat Ladder chart illustrates an
illustrative system strategy of boot-strapping the user at any diet
level--e.g., obese RED==>healthy GREEN--up the ladder, one step
at a time--from the fattening RED rib roast or ORANGE sirloin
steak, up the ladder toward the GREEN light chicken or ultimate
BLUE light turkey [0262] This Meat Ladder concept illustrates how
the system can make a user healthier: i.e., there is a similar
5-color food ladder for each one of the 60 Open-Ended Lists by
which the system can improve a user's diet, one step along one
ladder at a time.
[0263] In one implementation, the system operates to recommend
healthier foods to a user as follows. In an illustrative
implementation, after a user has selected a food such as "rib
roast," the system will encourage the user to "step up the ladder"
by selecting a healthier alternative that is next highest up the
ladder of related foods, such as described in the meat ladder
above. In this implementation, the healthier alternative is added
to the users "favorites" list in a highlighted fashion ((e.g.,
displayed higher up the favorites list based upon a displayed color
code indicating a "healthier choice" than the red colored rib
roast) with a frequency count of zero indicating that the user has
not selected the food at this particular point in time. However,
the presence of the food in the user's favorites list will serve to
encourage future selection by the user.
[0264] Turning back to FIG. 2F, as noted above, the illustrated top
nutrition foods database identifies top foods and top related foods
(best peers) from the same food family that may be used to
encourage users to modify their diet to eat the identified high
nutrition foods as part of breakfast, lunch and dinner and as
possible alternatives to less healthy choices made by the user.
This database illustrates various top rated, highly nutritious
natural single foods widely-available from food stores and includes
links identifying alternative related highly nutritious foods in
the same or similar food groups.
[0265] Thus, one or more of the foods shown in FIG. 2F may be
suggested to the user as an alternative to a less healthy choice in
a similar manner to a user's choice of "rib roast" may lead to a
display of the above meat ladder in the meat example shown above.
In this example, FIG. 2F identifies Top 14 natural foods along with
their best peers in the same food family--i.e., these 14 ultimate
foods (and their best peers) are at the top of the ladder for many
of the Open-Ended Lists.
[0266] FIG. 3D Exercise: The flowchart described above in FIG. 3A
continues in FIG. 3D and focuses on the user profile exercise
subsystem. As shown in FIG. 3D, upon exiting Nutrition at 354 (FIG.
3A), if user hits the Exercise icon (YES out of 400), UP proceeds
to capture high-level Exercise inputs starting with Daily
Activities at 406. Otherwise, UP exits (NO out of 400) to test
Create Mode at 402 and, if it is in the Modify Mode, returns at 404
to the system Mainline at 25 (FIG. 2A). Otherwise (YES out of 402),
UP returns the user to consider making initial data entries in
Daily Activities at 406. [0267] Although in this example there is
no minimum required data here in Create
[0268] Mode, as a purely "common sense" rule of data entry, in one
implementation, UP obliges the user to at least consider each of
the five Exercise categories of Daily Activities, Periodic
Activities, Sports, Conditioning Exercise, and Weightlifting
(406/410/414/418/428). Each of the exercise categories in FIG. 3D
may be selected by a user in a display depicting the exercise
categories identified above as icons that may be selected for data
entry by the user. If the user does not see any applicable
exercises therein, he/she can just quickly select "none" to proceed
on. [0269] Moreover, other than lifting weights, there are enough
ubiquitous activities (e.g., "sit at work (perhaps the lowest level
of activity)" or "walk outdoors"), that all but handicapped users
are likely to do them. Forcing such an obligatory first look at
each category, serves to introduce the user to the vast array of
exercises he/she can get credit for.
[0270] As described earlier for Nutrition (FIG. 3A), a goal of the
Create mode at 408 here is to encourage the selection of favorites
from the user as to his/her Top 5 favorite exercises for each of
the system's five categories. The user's favorite exercise list is
initially built through processing described below in conjunction
with FIGS. 5A and 5B regarding the user selecting the "activities,"
"sports," and "conditioning" icons, selecting favorites from these
categories and generating color codes, and calories burned data
associated with the exercise and characteristics of the user
including the user's body weight. The favorites list continues to
expand over time as the user actually performs new exercises or old
exercises with new frequency, duration, cycle, or quantity tags.
Such expansion simplifies the user's entry of exercise into the
system.
[0271] While picking out 5 favorites for each category is entirely
optional, UP encourages the user to specify at least his/her #1
"all-time" favorite exercise items (per the Minimum User Click
chart above) which, for Daily Activities 408, could be as complex
as "lifting a heavy load overhead" . . . or as simple as "sitting
at a desk".
[0272] Similarly, the goal of Create mode at 424/426 is to
encourage the selection of favorites from the user as to his/her
Top 5 favorite conditioning exercises among indoor/outdoor regimes
and upper/lower body weight lifts 428, following the same optional
input process as above. For weightlifting 428, this could be as
complex as "max bench press with 2 spotters" or as simple as "wrist
curls with 25-lb bar" (the process for specifying Top 5 is
described in detail next with FIGS. 3E/3F).
[0273] Color-Coded Activities/Exercises: as shown and illustrated
in FIGS. 2C/2D/2E (above), in an illustrative implementation, all
the elements of the entire system from top-to-bottom are
color-coded with a 5-color rating of RED 1==>5 GREEN (beyond
which lies a sixth Blue Ribbon rating which would be awarded for,
say, a bench press that's 5% beyond the user's max). Thus, in an
illustrative implementation, each of the above Exercise icons (from
Daily==>Sports Top 5 activities and from
Conditioning==>Weightlifting Top 5 exercises) will consistently
be displayed to the user in its system-rated color RED==>GREEN
on the user's color display screen. This approach reinforces the
underlying "bad-to-good" performance value of each exercise that
the user is presently engaged with or is planning to move up
to.
[0274] In this example, color-code rating extends across the entire
system, from top-to-bottom. For example, at the highest level, each
workout (all sets/reps/weights combined) is color coded with a
RED==>GREEN color based on the weighted-average color of all its
separate lifts (for torso/upper limbs/lower limbs). This same color
rating extends all the way to the lowest level where, for example,
each set of a given lift is color-rated for its reps/weight
level/rest interval WRT user capability.
[0275] Hence, in an illustrative implementation, to satisfy user
curiosity, the inquisitive user can click on any color-coded icon
(5-mile run, 100-lb lift, etc) to find out exactly what lower-level
element (slow pace/weight too low/rest interval too long) caused
the RED ALERT.
[0276] Moreover, this top-to-bottom color-coding serves to educate
the user as to each item's "toxic" elements that were otherwise
"hidden" from his/her view prior to using this system--revealing
why he/she should move up to the next-higher level. In addition, it
points to what he/she has to do to correct/improve a RED
exercise.
[0277] User Health/Attitude Profile: the underlying motive for
encouraging selection of the user's favorites is to piece together
a revealing "snapshot" of the user's current fitness--and his
collective "attitude" toward healthy lifestyle via Top 5 Activities
and healthy conditioning via Top 5 Exercises--presumably formed
over many years. Taken together with Top 5 Exercises (gathered via
parallel FIGS. 3D-3F below) and a user history from "how much 5/10
years ago?" (gathered above), the resulting 5-10 year
health/attitude profile of a new user allows the system to more
accurately gauge just how much to soften (or harden) the resulting
recommended exercise plan for a pre-established average YELLOW
male/female, to which the system will otherwise default--for
example:
[0278] On the positive side: if the user reveals a long-term
healthy exercise profile, the system can freely "harden" the
recommendations toward the highest GREEN level exercises to
accelerate the user directly to his/her ideal fitness--such
"hardening" is especially important for already fit athletes, who
easily qualify for this group.
[0279] On the negative side: however, if the user reveals a
long-term unhealthy exercise profile, in this example, the system
will cautiously "soften" the recommendations toward the lowest RED
level--such "softening" avoids overburdening an obese user with
average goals that are beyond his/her physical reach and current
exercise attitude.
[0280] For more details on how this strategy is fine-tuned, see the
discussion of how exercise examples are adapted to each user by the
Create mode in FIG. 3F.
[0281] Turning to a more detailed discussion of the flow between
the blocks on FIG. 3D, there is no reference to the illustrative
examples of typical activities/exercises here that are offered
below as "popular examples" in the 5.times.10 Matrix Array of 50
Open-Ended Lists that, taken together, comprise the Exercise
Database (discussed below with FIG. 3F). For any given
Activity/Exercise mode, the user can say "none" or enter
"other".
[0282] Daily Activities 408: upon entry (YES out of 406), UP
initially offers the "To/From Work" choices to give the user extra
credit for, say, walking to work--then offers the choices of what
activities the user performs on a daily basis at work (or school)
including at a minimum, "sit at desk", referenced to Indoor or
Outdoor, where all user responses are merely his/her estimates of
average hours per day. When the user is finished, UP next
highlights the icon for Periodic Activities 410.
[0283] Periodic Activities 412: upon entry (YES out of 410), UP
initially offers simple Home Tasks, such as "mow lawn" or "wash
dishes"--then offers some low-energy/recreational Sports away from
home--indexed to Indoor or Outdoor. When the user is finished, UP
next highlights the icon for Competitive Sports 414.
[0284] Competitive Sports 416: upon entry (YES out of 414), UP
initially offers Competitive Individual Sports, such as "Martial
Arts" or "Tennis"--then offers high-energy Team Sports such as
"Football" or "Basketball"--all referenced again to Indoor or
Outdoor. UP next qualifies each sport as to its competitive level:
training only/hobby or recreational/middle school/high
school/college/sport club/semi-pro/pro--in order to establish a
ball-park measure of the user's athletic fitness. When the user is
finished, UP next highlights the icon for Conditioning Exercise
418.
[0285] Conditioning Exercise 424: if the user does not enter this
Category (NO out of 418), UP prompts him/her at 420 with "any other
exercise not identified yet?" and, if not, tests for Create
Mode--if YES out of either test 420/422, UP returns to the user to
Conditioning block 424. Either way, upon 424 entry (YES out of
418), UP initially offers Outdoor exercises, first using Body Only,
then with Equipment. >Next, UP offers Indoor Strength/Endurance
exercises, first using Body Only, then with indoor
Equipment--followed by Stretch/Balance exercises like "Yoga"
[0286] Finally, UP offers Indoor Weight Training exercises, first
for the Upper Body, then for the Lower Body--covering all the
opposing muscle pairs (see FIG. 3H).
[0287] UP next qualifies each exercise as to its competitive level:
(training only/hobby or recreational/middle school/high
school/college/sport club/semi-pro/pro) so as to establish a
ball-park measure of the user's athletic fitness. When the user is
finished, UP next returns at 430 to the system Mainline
Routine.
[0288] FIG. 3E Exercise Database: FIG. 3E is a modular block
diagram for an illustrative Exercise Database which follows in FIG.
3F. Each category rotates through all four modes identified below.
Tags are only attached to each exercise selected or added by the
user. The basic structure shown for this DB in FIG. 3E reveals it
is virtually a 4-dimensional (4D) array, as follows:
[1] the top-level Categories (horizontal axis across FIG. 3F) [2]
the middle-level Modes (vertical axis down FIG. 3F broken into 2
"forces" as described below in the mode description) [3] an
Open-Ended List for each mid-level Mode (into the paper in FIG. 3E)
[4] the bottom Tags attached to each open-ended List (orthogonal to
above 3 axes)
[0289] UP access sequence for this Exercise DB is broken into 5
major Categories: Periodic 440/Sports 442/Conditioning 444/Weights
446 plus Daily (not shown here for clarity) as shown at 481 on FIG.
3F. UP accesses each level as follows: [0290] UP accesses these 5
Categories sequentially (as shown by the top arrows), starting with
Daily Activities 481 on FIG. 3F before entering Periodic 440 here.
[0291] Next, for each of the 5 exercise categories (including Daily
Activities 481), UP cycles through the 4 Modes: Outdoor 450/Indoor
452/Upper Body 454/Lower Body 456 (as shown by the middle
arrows).
[0292] Within each of the 4 Modes, UP cycles through 2 Forces that,
taken together, comprise all unique types of exercise (as listed at
450/452/454/456), the significance of which is explained in more
depth in FIG. 3F (below). With respect to the forces, for the
outdoor mode and indoor modes, the forces are identified as body
only forces, and equipped forces (force provided through the use of
exercise equipment). For the upper body and lower body, the forces
are categorized as push/pull forces. Within each of the 2 Forces,
UP cycles through the 4 Tags at the bottom:
Frequency 460/Duration 462/Cycle 464/Quantity 466 (as shown by the
bottom arrows), which are selectively created as-needed to qualify
or quantify the item.
[0293] Finally, the last Tag--Quantity 466--includes horizontal
ground Distance, which the system can optionally provide via GPS
tracking if the user decides to carry his/her mobile computing
device 1 equipped with GPS capabilities (e.g., an iphone) along on
an outdoor walk/jog/run/skate/bike trip/etc. Here at the lowest
data level, each data item associated with each tag is also
displayed with RED==>GREEN color codes to inform him/her as to
the relative GREEN positive or RED negative value of that
particular exercise parameter, and the Exercise as a whole (as
discussed at Color-Coded Activities/Exercises above)
[0294] FIG. 3F is an illustrative Exercise Database Top 5 Matrix.
In this example, the user enters up to 5 favorites for each
category, starting with the exercise done most often (e.g., walk).
From this juncture on, the user can conveniently select periodic
exercise #1, sports #3, weights #5, etc. This is the same Exercise
DB shown as a modular block diagram in FIG. 3E, formatted here into
a 5.times.10 Exercise Matrix that is virtually a 4-dimensional (4D)
array of open-ended Lists (except for 3D "To/From Work" 498) with
the following 4 independent axes:
[1] the 5 Categories corresponding to horizontal Matrix columns
481==>485 [2] the 10 Modes corresponding to vertical Matrix rows
487==>496, except that To/From Work (column segment 498) is not
indexed to the 10 Modes (col. 480) [3] the 50 Open-Ended Lists
corresponding to each cell in the 5.times.10 Matrix array, where
each cell initially contains a popular example to stimulate User
choices [4] the 4 Tags attached to each of the 50 Open-Ended Lists
(200 max Tags) where:
[0295] Frequency Tags 460 initially contain a popular example like
"3 times per week"
[0296] Duration Tags 462 initially contain popular example like "60
mins per workout"
[0297] Cycle Tags 464 initially contain a popular example like "3
sets @ 10 reps"
[0298] Quantity Tags 466 initially contain popular examples like
"100 lbs" or "1 mile" that are later modified or updated by the
user after he/she completes a set or a run (or alternatively hits
"done" to stop optional GPS tracking for a walk/jog/run/etc.)
[0299] Top 5 Favorite Exercises: UP initially asks the user to
enter up to 5 Favorites for each Category 481==>485, starting
with his/her #1 favorite, and optionally entering up to 4 or more
favorites per category at his/her discretion. At any time from this
juncture on, the user can conveniently select any "repeat" favorite
by its sequence number among the Top 5 Favorite lists--for example:
Daily #1==>Periodic #2==>Sports #3==>Conditioning
#4==>Weights #5 which saves the user all the time and effort to
re-enter the same Favorite exercise.
[0300] This initial system/user interplay over Top 5 Favorites
provides an opportunity for UP to find out exactly what the user's
attitude toward exercise is, and perhaps explain where all his/her
excess weight (if any) came from--e.g., even if the user doesn't do
the favorites very often, it is his/her urges that count. The
system matches the 60 exercise examples shown in the initial matrix
of FIG. 3F to the RED 1==>5 GREEN quality of exercise the user
loves to do. Based on all the above User ID/User Health inputs
(that will normally yield an ideal weight and target weight loss
goal for the user) coupled with the skeletal user "5/10 years ago"
history data, UP can gauge which initial 1==>5 level to display.
That is, as an illustrative embodiment here, the 50 examples shown
in FIG. 3F vary through all 5 color levels from RED 1 (e.g., walk
slow) to 5 GREEN (e.g., sprint competitively). The strategy here is
present most of these 50 examples at the 1==>5 food level he/she
can identify with and/or actively seeks out. Hence, by this
strategy, UP is able to elicit a more realistic answer from users
than by suggesting they pick among "better" exercises they know
they should be doing.
[0301] This initial Create mode strategy dovetails with the
higher-order strategy of an illustrative implementation of the
entire system to facilitate weight loss (or gain), which can be
accomplished more effectively when the system knows the exact
exercise profile of the user:
[0302] at the obese RED extreme, in an illustrative implementation,
UP will present all the customary RED activities that may have
contributed to the user's obesity in the first place, to avoid
wasting their time with GREEN exercises they already ignore, and to
otherwise establish an accurate RED baseline
[0303] at the healthy GREEN extreme, UP will present all the
high-caliber GREEN exercises that fit athletes are already aware of
and/or doing religiously, to avoid wasting time with RED activities
they dislike, and otherwise establish an accurate GREEN
baseline.
[0304] One such illustrative system strategy is to boot-strap each
user from his/her current RED==>GREEN level (as just described)
up the exercise ladder, one notch at a time, as shown with the
Walk/Run Ladder below:
TABLE-US-00006 ##STR00003## * This is the MAX ==> MIN range for
a small/medium/large frame Healthy User * This is the MAX ==>
MIN range for a small/medium/large frame Healthy User
[0305] This Walk/Run Ladder illustrates the prime system strategy
of boot-strapping a user at any exercise level--e.g., obese
RED==>healthy GREEN--up the ladder one step at a time--from the
slowest RED walk time or ORANGE Walk/Jog time, up the ladder toward
the GREEN fast run time or ultimate BLUE fast sprint time [0306]
This Run/Walk Ladder illustrates how the system can make a user
healthier: i.e., there is a similar 5-color exercise ladder for
each one of the 60 Open-Ended Lists by which the system improves
user exercises, one step along one ladder at a time.
[0307] FIG. 4A Food Mode: FIG. 4A shows an illustrative flowchart
of an exemplary implementation depicting the steps involved in
acquiring food consumption data in the system "Food Mode." Entry
into this mode is triggered by the user selecting the Food Mode
icon (56) in the mode selection display shown in FIG. 2B1, which in
turn triggers the display of multiple food icons at the beginning
of food mode processing (500). In this example, the display food
icons processing (500) results in the display of the following
illustrative food mode icons: "Favorite Foods" (502), "Restaurant
Menu/Diet plan" (504), "User Voice Input" (506), and "Phone Picture
Input" (508). The circled nodes "A," "B," and "C" in the center of
FIG. 4A define iterative branch points back to blocks 502/544/560,
respectively.
[0308] Initially, a check is made at block 502 to poll for the user
selecting his/her "favorite foods" icon. As explained above for
FIGS. 3A-3C, during the creation of a user profile, the user
generates entries in the system Food DB that identify his/her
favorite meals and/or favorite individual foods/snacks/drinks. This
enables the system to acquire a baseline snapshot of the user's
current eating inclinations and simplifies the user's future data
entries. Each favorite food entry is stored locally (e.g., in
memory 15 of the user's mobile computing device 1) and, in
illustrative implementations, remotely at server 14.
[0309] If the check at block 502 reveals that the "favorite foods"
icon was selected, the routine displays the various food categories
(510) described above for FIGS. 3B-3C which, in this example,
include breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and drinks (512). A check
is then made at block 514 to determine whether a food category has
been chosen. If a category has not been chosen, the routine
branches back to node A and displays the above-identified four
icons.
[0310] If the check at block 514 reveals a category has been
chosen, then the user food database (516) is accessed to, for
example, obtain the user's favorite foods for breakfast, assuming
the "breakfast" category was chosen. The user's favorite foods for
breakfast are then displayed together with the frequency of
consumption (518). The user may, for example, select favorite
breakfast No. 1, (which may, for example, consist of one cup of
Cheerios with whole-grain and 1/2 cup of skim milk), whereupon the
associated tag information is displayed with associated color
codes. Such tag information includes nutritional information (such
as 140 calories, 2 grams of total fat, 160 mg of sodium, 1 g of
sugar, etc.) that is accessed from Nutrient DB (566), as explained
below.
[0311] It is noted that, every time the user eats a given food
item, that item is added to the favorites list, together with an
indication of the number of times such food has been consumed. By
tracking the number of times an item is eaten, the system is able
to rank favorites based on the user's frequency of eating that food
item over time.
[0312] In illustrative implementations, the system operates to
recommend healthier foods to a user. In such implementations, by
way of example only, after a user has selected a RED food such as
"rib roast," the system encourages the user to "step up the ladder"
at least one rung by selecting a healthier alternative that is the
next highest up the ladder of related foods, such as described in
the exemplary Meat Ladder shown above. This healthier alternative
is added to the user's "favorites" list in a highlighted fashion
(e.g., displayed higher up the favorites list with a higher-level
color code indicating a "healthier choice" than the RED color-coded
rib roast) with a frequency count of "zero", until the user selects
the recommended food which raises the count to "one". However, the
presence of the food in the user's favorites list serves to
encourage later selection by the user.
[0313] Turning back to the flowchart in FIG. 4A, a check is then
made at block 520 to determine whether the user has chosen a both a
food and quantity to be eaten. If the user has not made both
selections at block 520 in a predetermined time period, the routine
branches back to node A.
[0314] If the user has chosen a food and quantity as determined at
block 520, a check is then made at block 522 to determine whether
the user has selected a different add-on than the original favorite
(if any). If the user has not selected a different add-on at block
522, the routine branches to node C at block 560.
[0315] If the user has decided to add a different add-on, such a
new or additional add-on is then specified at 524 so that data can
be accumulated for a new food record. For example, if the user had
selected a meal including ham and eggs with the add-on "honey" on
the ham, the check at block 522 gives the user an opportunity to
select a different add-on for the ham and eggs at 524 such as
"apple sauce". In an illustrative embodiment, the system provides
an open-ended list of alternative add-ons for each food selected
that is augmented by each new add-on declared by the user.
Alternatively, the user may identify the add-on by voice input, as
described earlier. The user's selection may in an illustrative
embodiment be confirmed by a display to the user of the selection
made, such as by a textual display of "apple sauce." In an
illustrative implementation, the newly-selected add-on is next
attached to the food item as a tag, as shown in FIG. 3B.
[0316] Once an add-on has been specified by the user or, if the
user does not include a different add-on, the routine branches to
block 560 at node C. As indicated at block 560, the chosen foods
are displayed as a tentatively selected meal, items and add-ons,
reflecting the user's selections (562). The meal referred to in
block 562 is an aggregate of all the items constituting the meal.
Furthermore, each item may have its own separate add-on (e.g., a
sauce, dressing, butter, etc.).
[0317] In an illustrative implementation, the meal itself, each of
the items in the meal. and each add-on has an associated color code
that is displayed to inform the user as to, for example the
relative healthiness of each meal/item/add-on to be consumed. In
addition, in an illustrative implementation, a user may request to
see the nutrient content of a food item/add-on selected, as
indicated by the "show nutrient" check at block 564. Such a user
selection may be prompted by, for example, a RED color code
associated a selection, as would be the case with a rib roast or an
ice cream sundae.
[0318] If the check at block 564 indicates that the user has chosen
to see an item's nutritional content, the system then accesses the
Nutrient Database (566) which displays all the food nutrients (and
their quantities) associated with the item selected (at its
quantity). All of this is displayed to the user together with
associated color codes indicating the quality of nutritional
content (568) via a call "F1" to the Calculate Calories utility
subroutine shown in FIG. 9.
[0319] After the nutrient display, a check is made at 570 to
determine whether the user has chosen to eat the food tentatively
selected after reviewing the nutrient value and color code
information displayed at 568. If the user chooses not to eat the
food, the routine returns to the mainline in FIG. 2A (at 572).
[0320] If the user chooses to eat the food selected at 570, the
user Food Database is updated at 571. If the item is a Favorite
Food, the program (573) calls the Calculate Calories subroutine at
"F1" (where the food's usage counter is incremented by one) and,
upon its return, exits to the mainline at 572. If the item is not a
Favorite Food, the program creates a new record for each item in
the meal (including its associated quantity, add-on(s), and
calories), appends the new record to the Favorite Food DB (with a
usage count of zero), and makes the same "F1" call and final exit
as above. In this manner, the system is able to sort and display
the user's favorite foods according to the frequency he/she eats
those foods.
[0321] In other words, any new food item, such as an old meal but
with a new add-on, is added to the favorites list via creation of a
new record--hence, the system creates a new record for each such
item plus tags (575). The tags in this example identify the
quantity of the food item consumed, together with any add-ons and
their calories consumed, displayed separately on the same screen.
The manner in which the total calories are monitored and tallied is
discussed below in conjunction with FIGS. 7B and 9.
[0322] As shown in FIG. 4A, if the check at block 502 reveals that
the user has not selected "favorite foods," the next check at block
504 tests whether the "restaurant/diet plan" icon has been
selected. If so, the routine generates a display identifying the
restaurants for which digitized menus are available (at 526) and/or
a list of diet plans for which the system has a digitized
compilation of acceptable foods contemplated by the plan (at
528).
[0323] The routine then checks at 530 whether a restaurant or diet
plan has been chosen. If a restaurant/diet plan has not been
chosen, the routine branches back to node "A" to poll for another
mode selection. For convenience purposes, only restaurant menus are
identified below without further reference to diet plans. It should
be recognized that the description below equally applies to the
user making selections from a diet plan, as discussed earlier with
FIG. 2B2.
[0324] If a restaurant has been chosen at block 530, the routine
accesses a restaurant database (532) and displays the menu for the
selected restaurant (534).
[0325] A check is then made to determine whether the user has
chosen a meal from the menu, or an identifiable a la carte item
that is not associated with a meal from the menu (536). When a meal
has been selected, the routine identifies the various items
constituting the meal. In an illustrative implementation, such a
meal is displayed with caloric information and with nutritional
values associated with each of the meal items--including, e.g.,
main entree, plus side dishes, plus any add-ons, as delineated in
FIGS. 3B-3C. The nutritional value of a selected meal is based on
the total nutritional value of all the items constituting the
meal.
[0326] If no meal or item is chosen by the user as indicated by the
check at 536, the system branches back to node "A". If a meal or
item has been chosen in accordance with the check at 536, then the
routine checks at 538 whether the user desires to select more
items. If so, the routine branches back to the displayed menu at
534. If no more items have been selected by the user, a check is
made to determine whether additional add-ons to an item have been
selected (540). If the user has chosen to modify the meal add-ons,
then the user is asked to specify the add-ons (542) as explained
previously in conjunction with blocks 522 and 524 in the "favorite
foods" processing described above.
[0327] After add-ons have been specified by the user or, if no more
add-ons were selected, the routine branches to branch point "C" at
block 560 and processing continues as explained above in
conjunction with the favorite foods processing at blocks 560
through 575 (including return 572). It should be understood that
once the user selects a meal, e.g., at a restaurant, the selection
made is added to the favorites list in the manner explained above
and as indicated at block 575. Thus, the selection and data entry
of the identical meal (at a later point in time) is significantly
simplified for the user to choose and to enter due to the
ever-expanding nature of the user's open-ended list of favorite
foods.
[0328] If the user selects the "user voice" icon (506), the routine
prompts the user to identify the food item to be consumed and the
food quantity (544). The prompt may be verbal or displayed on the
mobile computing device's display screen. The user may, for
example, respond "chicken breast, 4 ounces." Upon the user
articulating the food to be consumed, the routine analyzes and
decodes the user's voice response (545). The routine then displays
the identified food and the food quantity for user verification on,
for example, the LCD display of the mobile computing device shown
in FIG. 1 (547).
[0329] After the food and its quantity are displayed, the routine
checks whether the user has confirmed that the system identified
the food and quantity correctly (at 546). If the user indicates
that the correct food was not displayed, the routine analyzes a 2nd
and 3rd attempt to display the correct food and quantity. If the
correct food is still not identified on the 3rd try (at 548), the
user is prompted to type in the correct food and quantity (at 550).
Prior to the 3rd try, if the correct food has not been identified,
the routine branches back to node B and, once again, prompts the
user to identify the food and quantity thereof at 544.
[0330] After the user types in the correct food, the system
displays the food selected and its quantity at 552, where, in an
illustrative implementation, the system also displays, for example,
two foods that are equivalent in nutritional value to that chosen
by the user. The two equivalent foods presented to the user are
accessible from the Top Foods relational database schematically
depicted in FIG. 2F. Thus, through a relational database
implementation of the Top Foods database, a user's selection of
walnuts may lead to an equivalent recommendation of almonds and
pistachios. Moreover, in illustrative implementations, instead of
presenting two foods that are merely equivalent to the user's
selected food, the system may present foods that are related to the
selected food, but even more highly nutritional, based on the needs
of the individual user.
[0331] A check is then made at block 554 to determine whether the
displayed food is the correct food. If so, the routine proceeds to
display the chosen food at block 560 and processing continues in
blocks 560 through 575 (including 572) in the manner described
above. If the food is still not determined to be correct as a
result of the check at block 554 an unknown food flag is set (at
556) and the routine returns (at 558) to the main routine in FIG.
2A.
[0332] As shown at block 508 in FIG. 4A, the system checks whether
the user is entering food data via the camera on the smart phone or
other personal computing device. A user may choose the camera-based
food data entry mode under circumstances, for example, where
packaged foods are used containing a barcode that, e.g., identifies
the meal contained in the package and a wide range of nutritional
information as described herein. In illustrative implementations,
packaged meals may be generated together with barcodes that are
tailored to the goals described in the subject specification.
[0333] If the phone picture icon 508 is selected, a check is then
made to determine whether the user has chosen a packaged meal
having a barcode (574). If so, the barcode is decoded and a Barcode
Database (576) is accessed to find the food and its quantity (578).
The food is then displayed at block 547 and processing continues as
explained above, beginning at block 546 through 575 (including
572). In an alternative implementation, instead of using a Barcode
Database 576, the system may utilize, for example, prepackaged
lunches and dinners, each of which is identified with a barcode
that may be a two-dimensional barcode such as a QR code. A QR code
may be used to store and/or otherwise identify both the food
consumed, portion size, and nutritional information including
calories, fat, sugar content, and any other quantity the user, a
physician or nutritionist desires to monitor.
[0334] If the check at block 574 indicates that a barcode package
is not involved, the routine branches to a check at block 580 to
determine whether the correct food has been identified. In this
mode of operation, the user's mobile computing device camera is
utilized to take a picture of a meal item or items. The digital
image taken is used to determine the food and quantity based on an
analysis of the picture taken. In an illustrative implementation,
the image processing may be utilized in conjunction with specially
designed plates of a known diameter having, for example, concave
portions or built-in containers of a predetermined size that
provide a known portion size of a meat, vegetable, and/or other
food.
[0335] The image analysis reveals certain food identifying
characteristic features of the food (582) and accesses a Food
Feature Database (584) that correlates a given food with a set of
food features. Such features include characteristics of the outer
surface of the food and may include interior cross-section features
of the food. With respect to the food outer surface, the routine
looks for matches in the database with respect to food shape,
surface textures, striations and food colors, and then matches such
data to stored data relating to characteristics of various foods.
Thus, the combination of various surface textures, striations,
color and shape obtained from the digital image analysis is used to
identify a particular food item. For example, a precooked hamburger
or hot dog may be identified and indexed in the database based upon
a combination of their visual characteristics of: 1) an
identifiable round shape, 2) a predetermined surface texture, and
3) typical range of colors. Food quantity assessments (in ounces)
are based on various visual characteristics (586) such as size and
shape. Based upon such pattern matching data, the routine displays
the best match for food and food quantity after considering, for
example, the best 2 or 3 matches in the database (588). In an
illustrative implementation, both the best match and the next best
match for the digital food image may be displayed and the user may
select the correct match, via, for example, a touchscreen
selection.
[0336] A check is then made at block 590 to determine whether the
displayed match with the mobile computing device's camera generated
digital image for food and quantity identified the correct food and
quantity. If the correct food is identified processing continues at
block 560 as explained above, until the routine returns to the
mainline routine at block 572.
[0337] If the correct food was not identified, the routine cycles
back through blocks 580 and 582 and again accesses the Feature
Database (584) to display the next best match for the photo once
again checking for whether the correct food was displayed (590).
If, after the third try (580), a correct match has not been found,
the routine branches to node B and prompts the user to verbally
identify the food and quantity (544). The previously described
processing cycle then continues which, as described above, may
ultimately prompt the user to type in the food and quantity (550).
Processing continues as described above until the routine returns
at block 572 to the mainline routine of FIG. 2A.
[0338] FIGS. 4B1 and 4B2 identify and illustrate the contents of
the publically-available USDA Nutrient Database that may be
utilized in whole or in part to implement the system Nutrient
Database 566 in FIG. 4A. In an illustrative implementation, the
nutrient values illustrated in FIG. 2D are accessible via the
publicly-available National Nutrient Database, maintained by the
Nutrient Data Laboratory of the USDA (Release 25, September 2012),
or a subset thereof.
[0339] FIGS. 4B1 and 4B2 show for each identified nutrient number,
the nutrient name and the number of foods in the database that
contain it--e.g., for nutrient number 208, the USDA database
provides the number of calories (energy) contained in 8,194
foods.
[0340] The USDA DB identified in FIGS. 4B1 and 4B2 includes
nutrients that are generally self-explanatory, including most of
the Macronutrients and Micronutrients delineated in FIGS. 2D1 and
2D2, respectively--however, for clarity, the common name/mnemonic
for several nutrients has been added. It is also noted that the
USDA DB includes total lipid (fat) information @ nutrient #204
(found in all 8,194 foods) and that, for clarity here, this "fat"
category is later broken down into its constituent "Fatty Acid"
subcategories, as follows: [0341] Saturated Fatty Acids (SFAs) @
#606, then non-sequentially through #654 [0342] Mono-Unsaturated
Fatty Acids (MUFAs) @ #645, then sporadically through #859 [0343]
Poly-Unsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFAs) @ #646, then sporadically
through #858 [0344] Trans Fatty Acids (TFAs) @ #605, plus #693 and
#695
[0345] FIG. 4C includes an illustrative side-by-side comparison of
the nutritional content for foods that are unhealthy choices
(center columns) versus foods that are healthy choices (right-hand
columns). In the example shown in FIG. 4C, the nutrient, mineral,
and vitamin content in "Seasoned Fries" from T.G.I. Friday's and a
"Big Mac" from McDonald's is compared with Sockeye Salmon and
Turkey Breast. Looking at the boldface highlights, the unhealthy
food is rated "Red" for many nutrients (center columns) and the
foods that are highly nutritious are rated "Green" for many more
nutrients (RH columns). Hence, FIG. 4C illustrates how the
illustrative implementations described herein and their associated
color codes help a user recognize exactly why salmon and turkey are
healthier choices, based on their superior levels of nutrients,
minerals, vitamins, and essential amino acids, e.g.: [0346] WRT
protein, the Sockeye Salmon/Turkey Breast provide 56 g/67 g,
whereas the Seasoned Fries/Big Mac respectively provide only 9 g/26
g of protein [0347] WRT fats, the Sockeye Salmon/Turkey Breast are
limited to 15 g/5 g, whereas the Seasoned Fries/Big Mac
respectively provide 34 g/33 g of fat [0348] Far worse, WRT
saturated fats, the Salmon/Turkey are limited to 2 g/1.3 g, whereas
Seasoned Fries/Big Mac provide 6 g/14 g, which is the bane of the
American diet [0349] Again worse, WRT sodium, the Salmon/Turkey
have radically lower 295/219 mg, whereas Seasoned Fries/Big Mac
have 842/1007 mg, another bane of today's diet [0350] As for
hard-to-find Selenium (that is vital to activating Vitamin E as a
catalyst), the Salmon/Turkey have 81/67 micrograms, in stark
contrast to the negligible selenium found in Seasoned Fries/Big
Mac, which have only 9/0 micrograms
[0351] Additionally, FIG. 4C shows that Sockeye Salmon and Turkey
Breast provide 18%-83% more than the recommended daily allowance
(RDA) of the nine essential Amino Acids for an exemplary 220-pound
man. Smaller individuals would require proportionately less of
these 9 essential Amino Acids to meet and exceed their RDA provided
by the very healthy sockeye salmon and turkey breast (e.g., half as
much--110 grams--for a 110-pound woman).
[0352] FIG. 5A Exercise Mode: FIG. 5A is an illustrative flowchart
delineating the sequence of operations involved in the "Exercise
Mode." Entry into this mode is triggered by the user selecting the
Exercise Mode icon (62) in the mode selection display shown in FIG.
2B1, Upon entry into the Exercise Mode in this illustrative
implementation, the routine displays the following four icons:
"Favorite Exercises," "Activities," "Sports," and "Conditioning."
The user has the option of selecting any one of these four exercise
modes.
[0353] The routine initially checks whether the user has selected
the Favorite Exercises mode (at 600). If the check at 600 indicates
it was selected, the routine displays the favorite exercises
categories of daily, periodic, sports, conditioning, and weights
(602) as previously described, for example, in conjunction with
FIG. 3D. The routine next checks at 604 whether any of these
categories was chosen by the user. If not, the routine branches
back to node A to determine whether the user has selected an
exercise mode other than favorites.
[0354] If the user has chosen favorites, the routine accesses the
Exercise Database as illustrated in FIG. 3F (at 606) to display
each of the user's favorite exercises from the chosen category,
together with associated tags of, for example, frequency, duration,
cycle, quantity, calories burned, and the associated color code as
shown in part in FIG. 3E (at 608). The calories burned are
calculated at 616 using the approach described below that
calculates calories at 618 using, for example, the Calorie
Coefficient Database shown in FIG. 5B.
[0355] The illustrative implementations contemplate a wide range of
tags that are associated with various exercises, as shown for
example in FIG. 3D. The exercise frequency tag defines frequency as
times per workout or times per week. The exercise duration tag
tracks the time of exercising in hours, minutes, and even down to
seconds where necessary (e.g., for sprints and other quick-burst
track events). The exercise cycle tag keeps track of repetitions
and sets for quick-burst events. The exercise quantity tag tracks
pounds in weightlifting exercise and distance in a walking,
running, biking or swimming context. The associated "calories
burned" tag is ultimately calculated for every chosen exercise of a
measurable duration and quantity (e.g., time and distance and/or
sets and pounds).
[0356] The routine next checks at 610 whether the user has selected
a favorite exercise together with its associated tags. If an
exercise plus tags has not been selected, then the user has decided
to exit out of the favorite exercises mode and the routine branches
back to node A. If the user has selected an exercise as indicated
by the check at block 610, then the routine checks at 612 whether
the user has elected to modify the tags associated with the
exercise. For example, the user may have decided to modify the
frequency, duration, cycle, or quantity associated with the
selected exercise. A user may increase, for example, the reps for a
bench press from 6 to 10 reps, or the weight from 100 to 150
pounds, thereby indicating a change in the "cycles" or "quantity"
tag shown in FIG. 3E; or the user may increase the time for a run
from 1 to 2 hours, or the frequency from 2 to 3 times a week, which
similarly changes the "duration" or "frequency" tag.
[0357] If the check at block 612 indicates the user decided to
modify one or more of the tag parameters associated with the
exercise, the user must next specify the new tags (at 614). If a
different tag has not been entered, as indicated by the check at
612, the old exercise record remains unchanged and the routine
branches to node C to display the original favorite exercise, tags
and calories that will be burned upon completion of the exercise.
Since no new tag has been selected, the originally-calculated
calories burned and the original color code still apply to the
user's chosen favorite exercise. Otherwise, if a new tag has been
specified at 614, the routine proceeds to calculate calories burned
(at 616). The calories burned is calculated by multiplying the
user's body weight by a calorie coefficient for a given activity
(at 618) as is described in detail below.
[0358] FIGS. 5B1 and 5B2 delineate an illustrative portion of an
activity database based on calories per user activity for an
exemplary user. The database was excerpted from the
government-funded database published in the latest "Compendium of
Physical Activities" by Ainsworth et al. (2011), as updated by
Arizona State University in August 2012, which is hereby
incorporated herein by reference. As shown in the database excerpts
in FIGS. 5B1 and 5B2, the database provides an associated calorie
coefficient for the exemplary user for a 30-minute timeframe across
a wide range of activities. The calories burned during the
identified activities are calculated by multiplying the user's body
weight times the identified calorie coefficient.
[0359] The illustrative database shown provides calorie burned data
for an exemplary user identified in FIG. 5B1 as a healthy,
large-frame 6'3'' American male, age 25 who weighs 200 pounds. As
set forth at the top of FIG. 5B1, the data shown for an exemplary
200-lb 6'3'' male may be modulated by the identified percentages
(e.g., per pound, per inch, per year, etc.) to embrace a wider
range of users depending upon the user's weight, height, age, and
gender. Using these and similarly-patterned clusters of percentages
for other weight ranges centered, for example, at
80/110/150/250/300 pounds, a stepwise-linear Activities Database
has been developed for a comprehensive range of users from the
"Compendium of Physical Activities" (cited above), as will be
appreciated by those skilled in the art.
[0360] As shown in FIGS. 5B1 and 5B2, activities are characterized
by various parameters that further qualify the activity by
specifying, for example, resistance, speed, or load level
associated with the activity. Examples of qualifiers for an
activity of carrying a load upstairs include carrying a load of 1
to 15 pounds upstairs, carrying 16 to 24 pounds upstairs, etc. For
the activity of bicycling, illustrative qualifiers are leisure
cycling speeds of 5.5 mph and 9.4 mph. Similarly, qualifiers for
jogging, running, walking include a range of different speeds in
miles per hour which reveal a non-linear increase in calories
burned as speed is increased. In this illustrative DB excerpt,
various universally popular categories of activities are walking,
running. swimming, biking, gym, and sports
[0361] The database shown in FIGS. 5B1 and 5B2 may be used to
encourage users to step up from a minimally strenuous exercise such
as walking at 2 mph to burning more calories by walking at 2.5 mph,
and then 5 mph. Similar to nudging a user to step up a "Meat
Ladder" from rib roast to light turkey meat (as described above) to
eat additional more nutritious food with less calories, a user may
be encouraged here to step up an "Exercise Ladder" by advancing
through stages of walking faster from 2 to 2.5 mph, then running at
4 mph, at 6 mph, up to 7 mph, to get more aerobic exercise and burn
more calories.
[0362] In illustrative implementations when a user changes an
exercise tag such as those shown in FIG. 3E, the number of calories
burned during exercise likewise changes. Such is evident from the
calorie coefficient database shown in FIG. 5B1 by observing the
difference in the calorie coefficients (per 1/2 hour) between
carrying a 1 to 15 pound load upstairs to carrying a 25 to 49 pound
load. Since the calories burned equals the body weight times the
calorie coefficient, the calories burned (per 1/2 hour) for a
200-pound male is 219 calories carrying a 1 to 15 pound load
upstairs versus 350 calories carrying a 25 to 49 pound load
upstairs.
[0363] Turning back to FIG. 5A, when an exercise tag changes, the
calculated calories burned will likely change and a new trial
record must be created (at 618) for potential storage in the
Exercise Database, as will be explained in more detail below in
conjunction with blocks 682, 684, and 686.
[0364] Thereafter, the system displays the chosen exercise together
with all the associated tags as described above (at 620) including
the calories burned for the given exercise activity (at 622) via
call "E1" to the Calculate Calories utility subroutine (shown in
FIG. 9). The calories burned values for a given exercise activity
must be tallied to define the user's total calories burned during
all exercise activities during any given timeframe chosen to be
monitored, e.g., daily, aggregated to weekly, next aggregated to
monthly, etc.
[0365] The routine then checks at 680 whether the user has actually
completed the exercise or is merely contemplating performing it. If
the user does not perform the chosen exercise, the routine returns
to the mainline routine in FIG. 2A (at 688). If the user performs
the chosen exercise as indicated by the check at block 680, the
Exercise Database is updated (at 682), in a manner described
further below, by updating the favorites (at 684), creating a new
record for each item plus associated tags and calories (at 686) by
calling the Calculate Calories utility subroutine at FIG. 9 (which
also increments the record's usage counter) via the "E2" call
following block 684. Thus, if a previously-stored favorite exercise
is modified by, for example, increasing the pounds utilized during
weightlifting, a new record is created in the user's Exercise DB to
reflect the change in the tag quantity, which in turn results in a
modified "calories burned" output. Any new exercise performed by
the user in any of the exercise modes triggers appending the trial
record discussed above to the user's open-ended list of favorite
exercises to enable fewer user data entry operations.
[0366] If the favorite exercises icon was not selected at block
600, the routine checks whether the "Activities" mode (624) was
selected for entry of activities that occur on a daily basis (626)
or on an as-needed periodic basis (628).
[0367] In an illustrative implementation, if the Activities
exercise mode is selected at block 624, under a "Daily" heading,
two daily icons are displayed: To/From Travel (630) and Job/School
(634). Additionally, under a "Periodic" heading, two periodic icons
are displayed: Indoor (638) and Outdoor (644).
[0368] If the "Daily" To/From Travel icon is selected, a user will
have a choice of selecting a range of travel options including, for
example, train, car, bike and walk. Thus, in this fashion, a user
receives credit for calories burned, for example, while bicycling
or walking to work as a daily activity. In an illustrative
implementation, the user is informed not to redundantly enter
walking or bicycling to and from work as both a daily activity and,
for example, a conditioning exercise so as to duplicate the
calories burned totals entered into the system. Alternatively,
while the system registers that travel to and from work or school
is done by car, only a minimal amount of calories burned is
attributed to such minimal activity.
[0369] Additionally, in the example shown in FIG. 5A, if the daily
Job or School icon is selected, such common activities as sitting,
standing, lifting, carrying, etc. are displayed to the user (636).
Thus, in this fashion, users with physically strenuous jobs
requiring extensive lifting and/or carrying, such as FedEx
delivery, trash pickup, home building, brick laying, etc., will be
awarded full credit for their effort. Even users who stand at their
job all day will get more credit than the minimal credit for those
who, for example, sit at their desk.
[0370] Similarly, with respect to "Periodic" activities, if the
indoor icon (638) is selected, the routine displays an array of
periodic home activities such as, for example, scrub/mop floors,
vacuum rugs, and wash dishes. If a user selects periodic home
outdoor activities, an array of periodic home outdoor activities
(644) are displayed including, for example, mow/rake grass,
wash/wax car, mulch/weed garden (646). Although such common
activities are often dismissed as mundane, users here will get full
faith and credit for their extra diligence.
[0371] If any one of the icons 630, 634, 638, and 644 are selected
and the user chooses an activity displayed as a result of selecting
a given icon, the user then enters tags associated with the
activity, as described above, defining the time per day, for
example, to the nearest half hour (648). After the tags have been
entered, the routine proceeds to node B at block 616 to calculate
the calories burned and completes the processing described above
with respect to blocks 616 through 622 and 680 through 688.
[0372] If the user did not select the Activities icon (624), the
routine next checks whether the user has selected the "Sports" icon
(650). If so, the routine displays a Recreational Sports icon
(652), a Competitive Individual Sports icon (654), and an Organized
Team Sports icon (656).
[0373] If the user selects the Recreational Sports icon (652), an
array of recreational sports options is displayed to the user
(658). For example, the user may select ping-pong, golf, badminton,
pool, water skiing, snow skiing, etc. If the user selected
Competitive Individual Sports icon (654), an array of competitive
individual sports icons are displayed including for example run,
bike, swim, tennis, martial arts, gymnastics, track & field,
etc. (660). If the Organized Team Sports icon (656) is selected, an
array of organized team sports is displayed to the user (662). For
example, as shown in block 662, the user may select basketball,
baseball, football, soccer, hockey, field hockey, etc. If the user
has selected any of the sports activities shown in the open-ended
lists represented in block 658, 660, or 662, depending upon the
sports activity chosen, the user may add a wide variety of
qualifying tag information tailored to the individual activities
(664). For example, as indicated by the illustrative list below, a
user may specify racks (pool), rounds or holes played (golf), miles
run/elapsed time, games/sets/time (tennis), events (gymnastics),
quarters/time of play (football), team position (e.g., running
back, QB, pitcher, goalie), etc. Additionally, in an illustrative
implementation, since calories burned are modulated on user
performance levels, the routine asks the user to declare his/her
involvement at one of the following performance levels: training,
recreational, middle school, high school, college, sports club,
semi-professional, professional, etc. After a tag entry by the user
(664), the routine proceeds to calculate calories for the given
activity at block 616 and to complete the processing at blocks 616
through 622 and 680 through 688.
[0374] If the Sports icon was not selected as indicated by the
check at block 650, the routine next checks whether the user has
selected the Conditioning icon (666). If it was not selected, the
routine branches back to node A at block 600.
[0375] If the Conditioning icon was selected, icons for
"Noncompetitive" Conditioning (664), "Machine" Conditioning (666)
and "Weight" Conditioning (668) are displayed. If the user selects
the Noncompetitive Conditioning icon (664), a wide array of
noncompetitive activities are displayed for user selection. For
example, the user is presented with an array of open-ended lists of
such exercises, including walk, run, swim, bike, hike, climb,
dance, karate forms, Yoga, Pilates, Tai Chi, etc. (at 670)--plus
shadow boxing, skip rope, push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, knee bends,
jumping jacks, alternating-leg lunges, etc. (also at 670) which are
vital to properly warmup before any athletic exercise, especially
weightlifting.
[0376] With respect to linear-motion activities such as walking,
running, biking, hiking, and even swimming (with proper
waterproofing), the user may initiate a GPS-based exercise mode
(64) shown in FIG. 2B, where, for example, the distance traveled
can be automatically tracked by the user. As indicated above, the
GPS subsystem of a computing device (e.g., an iPhone) is utilized
to track distance and to provide the exercise "quantity" tag. If
GPS is utilized, the system acquires and stores user position
coordinate information based on GPS data input to GPS receiver 5
via GPS antenna 7 shown in FIG. 1. In illustrative embodiments,
mobile computing device 1 may be equipped with a pedometer 13 to
provide an input relating to the number of steps taken by user. In
addition to tracking the number of steps taken by a user over time,
the pedometer input may be utilized by the system to provide an
additional indication of calories burned and distance traveled as,
for example, an independent backup check on distance traveled that
was calculated from the GPS data. Furthermore, the pedometer input
may be used to credit the user with exercise, for example, from
running in place, running up/down steps, using a stair stepper
machine, or other relatively stationary exercise where the user is
not traversing a typical linear path. Moreover, the steps the user
takes over a given time period in this fashion may independently be
used to calculate the calories he/she burned during exercise.
[0377] In an illustrative implementation, after acquiring user
position and/or pedometer data, the routine displays the user
position together with progress data on the user's screen display.
The progress data may, for example, include a wide range of data
regarding the run including the distance traveled in real time, the
pace of the activity, whether the pace is faster or slower than the
average pace during the past week's exercise session, etc. In
various implementations, the user (or a simulated "avatar" of the
user) may be visually depicted traversing the path defined by the
GPS data while engaged in the walking, running, or bicycling
activity. In this fashion, a user may view his or her position in
real-time during, for example, a walk, run, or bicycling exercise
routine through the city or suburban path chosen by the user,
while, for example, listening to selected music, audio books or
other entertainment or educational media. In certain embodiments,
the pace of the user may be monitored and a simulated "personal
trainer" may prompt the user to, for example, adjust the pace (up
or down) as appropriate based upon age and health-related criteria.
In an illustrative implementation, the user is prompted to provide
a walk, run, or bicycling activity start signal to, for example,
indicate that the current exercise is a walk, run, or bicycling
exercise session and to signal that the exercise session has
commenced.
[0378] Additionally, in an illustrative implementation, with
respect to, for example, non-competitive activities, the system
determines a wide range of parameters regarding the activity
including various pace-related parameters, the distance traveled
since the beginning of the exercise and the length of time of the
exercise. In an illustrative implementation feedback is provided to
the user to, for example, indicate that the 30-minute run was
faster than his/her last run, or the fastest run of the week based
upon stored historical exercise data. In addition, in an
illustrative implementation, information regarding the speed of the
run and the calories burned during the run are displayed to the
user. In certain illustrative embodiments, assuming the exercise
took place after lunch, the system may, for example, display to the
user the amount of calories that may be consumed at dinner to meet
current goals, based upon the calories consumed at breakfast and
lunch minus the calories burned during the exercise, as is
conveniently tracked via the running display counter of cumulative
"User Cals Today" shown in FIG. 10.
[0379] If the user has selected the Machine Conditioning icon
(666), an array of exercise machines are displayed to the user that
may be selected (672). For example, the system provides the user
with the ability to select treadmill, cross-country ski, stationary
bike, stair stepper, elliptical, rowing machine, etc. In an
illustrative implementation, if the system does not already have
stored information regarding the machine being utilized, in an
illustrative implementation, a user prompt is generated for the
user to input the specific brand of exercise equipment being used.
Additionally, if the machine generates an array of workout
information, the routine may capture data from identified equipment
by, for example, prompting the user to verbally indicate the data
output from the equipment such as the amount of calories burned,
the distance traveled, the level of difficulty or resistance, and
other significant data relevant to defining and/or delimiting the
machine-guided exercise. In certain illustrative implementations,
the user may capture a displayed array of output data using the
computing device's camera. Many machines provide a display of
identified data such as calories burned, miles traveled, etc., that
may be captured via a camera, via verbal user input, or via a
wireless communication link with compatible exercise equipment that
has been expressly designed to transmit data to, for example, smart
phones.
[0380] If the user selected the Weight Conditioning icon (668), an
array of weightlifting exercises are displayed to the user that may
be selected (677). For example, as shown in block 677: [0381] with
respect to upper body weightlift exercises, the user can select,
inter alia: bench press, overhead press, incline press, dumbbell
press, tricep press, tricep pressdowns, bicep curls, wrist curls,
standing cable pulls, seated rowing, etc. [0382] With respect to
lower body weightlift exercises, the user can select, inter alia:
squats, weighted lunges, leg curls, leg extensions, weighted back
extensions, calf press, seated leg press, incline leg press,
vertical leg press, etc. [0383] As with the other exercise
categories above, there is an open-ended list of weightlift
exercises dedicated to each motion of the torso and each limb
(forward/back, up/down, and CW/CCW rotation as appropriate), [0384]
This includes exercises for both limbs (arms/hands, legs/feet)
working together and independently isolated, which can be adapted
to the user's unique needs (e.g., a weak limb or one with limited
range of motion, as declared by the user) [0385] This also includes
sequentially-paired exercises for opposing muscle groups (e.g.,
chest/upper back, stomach/lower back, biceps/triceps,
quads/hamstrings, thigh subduction/abduction, forward/reverse wrist
rolls, etc)
[0386] For most weightlifting exercises, there are four parallel
options that each have their advantages and disadvantages, which
include: [0387] Free Weight Barbells: working with a barbell
provides a real two-hand (or two-leg) challenge that quickly
reveals any weakness in one limb or the other--hence, a lifter gets
the best advantage out of maintaining RH/LH equilibrium--however,
at higher weights, presses/squats require a spotter for safety
reasons [0388] Free Weight Dumbbells: working with one or two
dumbbells provides the best mechanism to strengthen the inevitable
weaker RH or LH arm/shoulder/hand--however, they only benefit the
arms and can still harm a user at higher weights [0389]
Weightlifting Machines: working with machines provides the most
convenient way to emulate most free weight lifts but without the
instability or the spotter--however, it is much more difficult to
isolate/strengthen a weaker limb, and without the pressure of
maintaining weight equilibrium, the torso gets left out [0390]
Isolated versus Combined Lifts: since two hands are always better
than one, most users can lift a barbell with much more than twice
what either arm or leg can lift separately with dumbbells or
machines, mostly because the torso helps [0391] however, over time,
isolated lifts strengthen the weak side of a combined lift so that
both lifts are essential to optimizing overall strength of the
entire body [0392] Therefore, for any given weight exercise, the
system offers all 4 options above, side-by-side on the user screen,
wherever practical and/or possible, taking into account a 20%
differential from free weight levels up to higher machine levels,
using back-to-back opposing-muscle lifts to optimize available
blood flow, and the user's unique needs (e.g., a weak limb and/or
with limited range of motion)
[0393] After the selection of the non-competitive, machines, or
weightlifting conditioning exercise, the user enters any of a wide
array of tags (678). Such tags may include distance, time, sets,
repetitions, etc., depending upon the activity selected. As
explained above, the distance information and time information may
be provided by the system when operating with the use of the
computing device's GPS subsystem. Additionally, resistance levels
may be entered with respect to the various machines identified.
Further, with respect to weightlifting, the user may, for example,
enter pounds, pulse rate, and rest interval information.
[0394] After the tags have been entered (678), the routine proceeds
to node B at block 616 to calculate the calories burned and
completes the processing as described above with respect to blocks
616 through 622 and 680 through 688.
[0395] Food and Exercise Recommendations--Stepping Up the
Ladder
[0396] In certain illustrative implementations, it is contemplated
that the system described herein will play an active role in
encouraging users to eat and exercise in a healthier fashion than
they have done in the past. With respect to both healthy food
intake and optimum exercise routines, many individuals benefit from
a highly structured system in which some of the individual's food
and exercise choices are selected for them. It is contemplated that
certain illustrative implementations will advantageously utilize
food and exercise ladders of the type described herein to encourage
users to "step up the ladder" so that they can find out for
themselves the joy of eating and exercising in a healthier fashion
over time.
For example, the Meat Ladder shown above illustrates how the system
can make a user healthier by way of better nutrition:
TABLE-US-00007 ##STR00004## * This is the MAX ==> MIN range for
a small/medium/large frame Healthy User
[0397] This Meat Ladder chart illustrates an illustrative system
strategy of boot-strapping the user at any diet level--e.g., obese
RED==>healthy GREEN--up the ladder, one step at a time--from the
fattening RED rib roast or ORANGE sirloin steak, up the ladder
toward the ultimate GREEN light chicken or BLUE light turkey.
Moreover, in illustrative implementations, there is a similar
5-color food ladder for each one of the 60 Open-Ended Lists by
which the system can improve a user's diet, one step along one
ladder at a time.
[0398] Similarly, the exercise ladder shown above illustrates how
the system can make a user healthier by encouraging better exercise
or at least some exercise:
TABLE-US-00008 ##STR00005## * This is the MAX ==> MIN range for
a small/medium/large frame Healthy User
[0399] This Walk/Run Ladder illustrates the system strategy of
boot-strapping a user at any exercise level--e.g., obese
RED==>healthy GREEN--up the ladder one step at a time--from the
slowest RED walk time or ORANGE Walk/Jog time, up the ladder toward
the GREEN fast run time or ultimate BLUE fast sprint time. This
Run/Walk Ladder illustrates how the system can make a user
healthier. In an illustrative implementation, there is a similar
5-color exercise ladder for each one of the 60 Open-Ended Lists by
which the system improves user exercises, one step along one ladder
at a time.
[0400] Regarding food intake, in an illustrative implementation,
the system provides the user with a scheduled diet to consume for a
prescribed time period. In an illustrative implementation, the user
is provided with (e.g., by display or email) a "Grocery List" of
foods to be obtained at the market, for example, for consumption
during the following one week or two week time span. The grocery
list is based on a projection of foods needed to create 3 meals,
snacks and drinks for each day based on the user profile
information including the user's favorites list and the user's
selected diet plan with caloric intake projected over time.
[0401] As indicated above, in an illustrative implementation, the
system operates to recommend healthier foods to a user as follows.
After a user has selected a food such as "rib roast," the system
encourages the user to "step up the ladder" by selecting a
healthier alternative that is next highest up the ladder of related
foods such as described in the meat ladder above. In this
implementation, the healthier alternative is added to the users
"favorites" list in a highlighted fashion ((e.g., displayed higher
up the favorites list based upon a displayed color code indicating
a "healthier choice" than the red colored rib roast) with a
frequency count of zero indicating that the user has not selected
the food at this particular point in time.
[0402] In illustrative implementations, the grocery list for the
next two weeks is based at least in part on healthier entries added
to the user's favorites list to encourage the user to step up the
ladder. Thus, the list of foods to purchase for the next week would
be based on what was consumed the previous week but also factors in
the step ladder by adding foods to purchase for the next week
including some foods on the next rung up the ladder. Since many
people do better during dieting when some of their choices are made
for them, the system prepares a daily diet menu that the user can
follow and creates a "Grocery List" so that the user will know what
foods and amounts to obtain such that the daily menus can be
followed. In such an approach, planned visits to restaurants may be
factored into the foods needed calculations for the next two
weeks.
[0403] These healthier entries may be automatically added to the
grocery list based upon any of a variety of reasonable approaches.
For example, the generated grocery list may be based in large part
on the favorite meals recently consumed by the user as indicated by
the Food Database 571 (FIG. 4), and be based in part on replacing a
small percentage of the user's favorite choices with healthier
alternatives as indicated by the relevant food ladder. In one
certain implementation, if, for example, the user has had
difficulty achieving weight loss goals, the next generated "grocery
list" should include an increasingly larger number of healthier
alternative selections that are chosen to aid progress towards goal
attainment.
[0404] In certain illustrative implementations, a similar approach
is also applied to exercise by having the system generate an
"exercise prescription" for the user. In such an implementation,
the system projects, for example, a two week user's exercise plan
by identifying the exercise activities that the user should be
trying to do over a future period of time. Such a projection would
be based upon the user's current exercise favorites (e.g., compared
to his/her original Top 5) and on the caloric expenditure
requirements determined by the system based on the user's profile
and goal data.
[0405] In such an implementation, the system generates a plan that
the user sees over time (e.g., by display or email). A chart may be
generated that defines the recommended exercise plan for a
projected 2-week month, or 6-month period, as illustrated for an
exemplary overweight American male in FIG. 7A.
[0406] As indicated above, the database described in conjunction
with FIGS. 5B and 5C may be utilized to generate the exercise
prescription to encourage users to step up from a minimally
strenuous exercise such as walking at 2 mph to burning more
calories by walking at 2.5 mph, and then 5 mph. Similar to the
desirability of a user progressing through a meat ladder from rib
roast to light turkey to eat more nutritionally with less calories
as described above, a user may be encouraged to step up the
"exercise ladder" by progressing through walking faster from 2 to
2.5 mph to running at 4 mph and then 5 mph, or even 6 mph.
[0407] As with the food entries, the healthier exercises may be
automatically added to the exercise prescription based upon any of
a variety of reasonable approaches. For example, the generated
prescription may be based in large part on the favorite exercises
recently performed by the user as indicated by the Exercise
Database 682 (FIG. 5A), and be based in part on replacing a small
percentage of the user's favorite choices with healthier
alternatives as indicated by the relevant exercise ladder. In one
implementation, if, for example, the user has had difficulty
achieving weight loss goals, the next generated "exercise
prescription" should include an increasingly larger number of
healthier alternative selections in light of the user's profile
that are chosen to aid progress towards goal attainment.
[0408] In this fashion, the user may plan for exercise by knowing
that he/she would need to set time aside, for example, four, 30
minute periods on the elliptical this week and four, 40 minute
periods next week. Such an "exercise prescription" generated in
light of one or more exercise ladders will change dynamically based
on how well the user did during the previous timeframe.
[0409] FIG. 6A is a flowchart delineating the sequence of
operations performed in an illustrative implementation during the
"Food Purchase" mode that may, for example, be utilized in a
grocery store or restaurant environment. While the flowchart
depicted in FIG. 6A is tailored to applications in a grocery store
context, modifications for use in restaurant ordering of foods will
be apparent to those skilled in the art particularly in light of
the description below. As applied in a grocery store context, upon
entry into the Food Purchase mode (83) in response to a user
selecting the Food Purchase mode icon 60 shown in FIG. 3, the
system prompts the user to input food product information. The user
may, for example, verbally indicate that "Honey Nut Cheerios" has
been selected for purchase (84). In a restaurant context, a user
will be prompted to identify the name and location of the
restaurant and identify the entree selected.
[0410] The routine then, using speech recognition software 8,
decodes the input product information and accesses the server 14
database to acquire nutritional information regarding the product
and any closely-related products (85). Similarly, in a restaurant
context, in one illustrative implementation, the server 14 database
stores menus and nutritional information data regarding selections
from the menu in the users geographical area as determined by the
mobile computing units GPS subsystem. The server 14 then accesses
nutritional information regarding the user's selected entree and
entrees that are in the same family of food selected by the user.
In one illustrative example, if the user selects a fish entree, the
system will access and display all available nutritional
information regarding the selected entree and all other fish
alternatives on that menu, together with their associated color
codes, to inform the user of his/her immediate options to eat the
worst RED 1==>5 best GREEN choices (if any are available).
[0411] As indicated at block 86, a check is then made to determine
whether the product selected is acceptable in light of the user's
profile. In the present example, if the user's profile indicates
that the user is a diabetic, the system proceeds to identify a more
appropriate product of the same product type (87). Thus, using the
example of a request for Honey Nut Cheerios, the database in server
14 is accessed and the routine determines that at least two
alternative products may be better alternatives since Honey Nut
Cheerios has 9 g of sugar, whereas the original Cheerios has 1 g of
sugar and Multi-grain Cheerios has 6 g of sugar. For a diabetic,
the routine may only identify original Cheerios as an alternative.
For a user without sugar-related problems, in this illustrative
example, the routine would nevertheless display the original
Cheerios and multigrain Cheerios as alternatives of the same
product type. In addition, in certain implementations, basic
nutritional information for each alternative may be displayed. As
shown in FIG. 6A, whether or not the selected product is
appropriate in light of the users profile, healthier alternatives
are proposed. Analogous operations of presenting various menu
alternatives may be performed in a restaurant context as will be
appreciated by those skilled in the art.
[0412] Thereafter, the food purchasing mode routine adds the
selected product/entree to the food caloric, nutritional and health
related portions of the database associated with server 14, if the
product/entree is acceptable for consumption by the user (88).
Products/entrees which are identified as not being acceptable based
on input from the physician's data processing center 20 shown in
FIG. 1 will include products/entrees that contain ingredients to
which the user is allergic or are otherwise unacceptable in light
of health-related profile information.
[0413] A check is then made at block 89 to determine whether the
item selected is the last item to be purchased. If so, the routine
exits. If other items remain to be purchased, the routine branches
back to block 84 when user is again prompted to input food product
information.
[0414] FIG. 6B is an illustrative flowchart delineating the
sequence of operations involved in behavioral data acquisition.
Upon entry into behavioral data acquisition processing (109), the
mobile computing device 1 initially prompts the user to input
whether the user is experiencing any behavioral adherence issues or
any other problems adhering to the dietary protocol or exercise
regimen or otherwise needs help of any kind (111). If the user
fails to indicate any issues, the mobile computing device 1 prompts
the user to continue his or her current behavioral and adherence
regimen through a user (e.g., Iphone) display or digitally
synthesized verbal message (113).
[0415] In an illustrative implementation, if the user's response
indicates a behavioral issue, the mobile computing device 1
generates and displays a sequence of prompts (115) to elicit a
response from the user identifying the area(s) of behavioral
difficulty as being in a particular category or categories, such as
dietary adherence, exercise adherence and/or other issues that
impact adherence (including, but are not limited to, difficulties
caused by symptoms from diabetes, chemotherapy, physical
disabilities, etc.).
[0416] For each category in which an adherence issue is identified
(117, 119, 120), the mobile computing device 1 generates and
communicates in an appropriate sequence one or more questions
specific to each identified category by LCD display and/or
digitally synthesized verbal message (121, 122, 123). Although not
represented in the simplified flowchart, as will be appreciated by
those skilled in the art, once the system determines that no
further adherence issues remain to be processed, the behavioral
adherence mode processing ends.
[0417] If, for example, the user identifies a dietary behavioral
adherence assessment problem, the system may respond with a series
of questions and prompts such as: Are you hungry? At certain times?
Are you feeling tired, stress, bored? Are you going long periods of
time without eating? Are you eating too much at a particular meal
time? Are you snacking in between meals?
[0418] If the user identifies that he or she is having trouble
adhering to an exercise regimen, the system may respond with a
series of questions such as: Are you having trouble finding time
for exercise? Are you getting short of breath during exercise? Are
you straining muscles during exercise?
[0419] The user responds to these questions via LCD display touch
screen selection and/or speech input that is analyzed by speech
analysis software 8 (124, 125, 126).
[0420] The mobile computing device 1 accesses the user profile and
associated database(s) to assess exercise, behavioral, nutritional
and other related data (127, 128, 129). In illustrative
embodiments, mobile computing device 1 then displays results to the
user pertaining to behavioral issues and provides feedback
regarding the identified issues with, for example, suggestions to
address the identified issues (131, 133, 135). An evaluation of the
user's responses may lead to any of a wide range of dietary and
exercise-related behavioral recommendations such as: "Add a piece
of fruit at 4 pm", "Stay occupied with a project or activity after
8 pm", "Eat some protein with each meal," "Eat smaller portion
meals every 3 hours," "Stop exercising if you feel faint and see
your physician," "Slow down your run to a 11 minutes per mile
pace," "Increase your distance run by 1/4 mile per day until you
reach a distance of 3 miles," or step up one or more food and/or
exercise ladders as explained in detailed above, etc.
[0421] In illustrative implementation, under circumstances where a
user's issue suggests that the user is not sufficiently motivated
to address his or her obesity or overweight condition, a wide range
of motivational information may be displayed to the user. In
addition to positive reinforcement in light of prior weight loss
accomplishments documented by the system, may be displayed to the
user to emphasize the significant increase in risk associated with
being obese and/or overweight. An illustrative risk table of the
type that may be displayed is shown in FIG. 6C, where the reticent
obese user will discover that the traditional bane of Type 2
Diabetes for obese people at 1020% higher risk (than a healthy
person) actually comes in at 2nd place behind Esophageal Cancer at
1520% higher risk.
[0422] In an illustrative implementation, a generated behavioral
recommendation at blocks 131, 133, and 135 includes links to
behavioral web sites and to blog sites where the user is able to
interact with others having similar dietary and/or health problems
while trying to lose weight, maintain weight loss, successfully
complete exercise regimens and combat health issues through dietary
and exercising lifestyle changes.
[0423] FIGS. 7A1-7A4 are an illustrative implementation of a user
database format to record weight loss for a system-derived weight
progression plan adapted to each user's profile and goals. The
illustrative weight loss plan database format stores user data from
a "start" point when the user begins the program (689), through a
series of system-programmed weight loss deltas (693), until the
user reaches his/her goal (697). In an illustrative implementation,
the system categorizes user's weight in a category from
Obese==>to Healthy (690) at a level within that category from
Min==>to Max (691) plus the color associated with his/her
category from Red==>Green (692) at the start date when the user
first signed up for the weight loss plan.
[0424] The user database format examples shown in FIGS. 7A2-7A4
show three typical transitions for users of the present system with
color codes reflecting their cumulative progress:
[0425] FIG. 7A1: user weight loss database format
[0426] FIG. 7A2: from RED obese==>to YELLOW overweight
[0427] FIG. 7A3: from YELLOW overweight==>GREEN to healthy
[0428] FIG. 7A4: from GREEN healthy==>to BLUE RIBBON ideal
weight
These 3 examples use the database format shown in FIG. 7A1 with
typical exemplary data values. Accordingly, each of the database
format fields are identically numbered but contain different data
values pertinent to each example.
[0429] The database format shown in FIG. 7A1 additionally includes
a set of "weight loss deltas" (693) that in this example are four
sets of (unspecified) weeks over which the user's goal is to be
reached. It should be noted that, if desired, there may be more
than four such "deltas" defined in increments of time other than
weeks. As shown in FIG. 7A1, each of the deltas 1-4 (694) define a
number of pounds to be lost during each increment of time (695) as
will be illustrated below. The weight loss delta portion of the
database format also stores the color code (696) as it hopefully
transitions from Red towards Green during deltas 1-4. It should be
understood that the weight loss plan may be modified at any time to
adjust the delta periods as well as the delta subgoals, e.g., to
keep the goals achievable in response to the user's mid-stream
progress (or lack thereof).
[0430] The goal portion (697) of the database format includes, for
example, the user's goal weight (698), the timeframe (699) over
which the goal is to be reached, the category (701) to be reached
when the goal is attained, and the level reached (703) within that
category when the goal is reached. Additionally, the database
format specifies the reward (705) that the user is targeted to
receive for reaching the goal. It should be understood that such
rewards may be allotted upon the user meeting the expected goal
increment at the end of each of the deltas specified in weight loss
deltas (693), or alternatively that each delta subgoal reached can
be rewarded with another smaller reward.
[0431] As delineated above, FIGS. 7A2-7A4 show three examples of
use of the database format as applied to an exemplary user
transitioning all the way from mid-range obese to his/her ideal
weight. In the illustrative example, the exemplary user could be
one individual transitioning from obese to ideal weight. However,
it should be recognized that the example shown in FIGS. 7A2-7A4 may
otherwise represent three distinct individuals. In fact, the
40-pound weight loss depicted in the first example is a notable
accomplishment in and of itself.
[0432] The hypothetical user in the example is a postulated as a
large-frame obese American male who is 5 foot, 9.4 inches tall and
weighs 236 pounds. As shown in the first example in FIG. 7A2, the
user is categorized as a mid-range plus obese person whose weight
goal has been set to be 196 pounds in six months, which still is in
an "overweight" category at a maximum level. As shown in the first
example, the weight loss deltas (696) set intermediate weight goals
of losing 13/11/9/7 pounds in 7/6/7/6 weeks, respectively. Thus, at
a minimum, the system will prompt users to enter their current
weight at least as of the end of each of the delta periods. During
this time frame if the user achieves such weight loss, the users
color code changes from red to orange to yellow as shown. In the
first example, the user's goal is to lose the 40 pounds necessary
to reach 196 pounds in six months and to reach the MAX edge of the
"overweight" category in this timeframe. In fact, according to the
CDC, the average weight for the American male as of 2010 is 196
pounds at a height of 5 feet, 9.4 inches. Thus according to this
example, it would take at least six months to bring an obese
236-pound male back to the American average of 196 pounds at a
height of 5'9'', which is right at the MAX edge of the "overweight"
category (as shown in FIG. 13C2).
[0433] The reward (705) for attaining the goal is set to be 4 iTune
song selections selected for example by analyzing the user's iTunes
playlist as described further below during rewards processing. If
desired a reward may be allotted at the end of the successful
completion of an intermediate subgoal defined by one of the weight
loss deltas (693). For example, if the hypothetical user after
seven weeks lost 13 pounds and then after six more weeks lost 11
pounds, the system will automatically download a selected song
performed by one of the user's favorite artists at the end of the
7th week and the 13th week, respectively.
[0434] In the second illustrated example in FIG. 7A3, transitioning
from overweight to healthy, the hypothetical user's goal is to lose
20 pounds, from the starting weight of 196 pounds to an end weight
of 176 pounds, within a 6-month timeframe. During the second set of
weight loss deltas (693), the user is targeted to lose 6/5/5/4
pounds at the end of 7/6/7/6 week increments, respectively. If the
user successfully meets these intermediate subgoals the user will
transition from yellow==>to lime==>to green color code
ratings and, thus, be targeted to receive a reward of 4 downloaded
movies or books.
[0435] In the third illustrative example in FIG. 7A4, transitioning
from healthy to ideal weight, the hypothetical user's goal is to
lose 10 pounds from the starting weight of 176 pounds to an ideal
weight of 166 pounds within a 3-month timeframe. During the third
weight loss deltas (693), the user is targeted to lose 4/3/2/1
pound at the end of 5/3/2/2 week increments while transitioning
between green==>to aqua==>to blue color code ratings. In this
example, the blue-green color "aqua" is added as an incentive for
highly motivated users trying to shed the last few pounds up to
their ideal weight. For this latter example, in recognition of the
arduous difficulty of an obese individual reaching his "ideal
weight", the system, in concert with cooperating restaurants, may
reward the user with a wild salmon dinner (e.g., in certain
implementations with the purchase of a 2nd entree).
[0436] FIG. 7B illustrates user database formats to provide
baseline weight loss records that document a user's food and
exercise history from start to the end of the goal period. Such
records provide the user's data trail for every current day X
within each of deltas 1-4, where the days in the delta period run
from day 1, . . . X, . . . N, where N is the last day in a delta
period. Thus, the baseline records shown in FIG. 7B provide the
data that is monitored by the system in order to determine whether
our hypothetical user described in FIG. 7A was able to meet his
initial six-month goal of losing 40 pounds on a day by day basis.
The baseline records in FIG. 7B provide a mechanism for tracking
food and exercise on a daily basis by creating a new record every
time a food is consumed or an exercise is performed, leading to a
"calories IN" for each food item consumed and a "calories OUT" for
each exercise performed. While many of the data fields in the
records of FIG. 7B remain unchanged, information such as the
calories in, calories out, quantity information, and cumulative
totals vary widely over time.
[0437] The Exercise Record in FIG. 7B1 is created for each new
exercise or each old exercise with a new tag. Each exercise and
food record is created on a trial basis until the exercise is
performed or the food is consumed. Such is the case since the user
may be considering either exercise or food to determine whether a
given exercise will burn a certain number of calories or a given
food/meal contains less than a certain number of calories. Field
702 in the Exercise Record identifies each exercise (e.g., bench
press) with its category (weightlifting) and its mode (upper body
push), as shown at 428 in FIG. 3D, at 454 in FIG. 3E, and in the
Weights column 485 of FIG. 3F's Exercise Matrix. The Exercise
record for the identified exercise item likewise stores the
calories burned (Cals OUT) at 704, and its associated exercise tags
at 706. As also shown in FIG. 3E, a Quantity tag 708 identifies,
for example, a number of pounds lifted or distance run; a Time tag
710 identifies the duration of the exercise in hours (e.g., for
workouts or marathons) and/or minutes (e.g., for treadmill sessions
or miles run) and/or seconds (e.g., for quick-burst events like
sprints and dashes). Likewise, a Cycle tag 712 may be included to
define the number of sets performed, the number of repetitions
performed per set, or other such data. The exercise record also
includes a Usage Counter 714 to keep track of the frequency the
exercise has been performed. Moreover, WRT exercise usage counter
714, if the same exercise is performed (or WRT the food usage
counter 732, if the same food is eaten) the same old record may be
updated by simply incrementing the usage counter+1. The Other
Tags/Qualifiers field 716 is available to track, for example, a
handicap or physical limitation the user may have that limits
his/her exercise capabilities (e.g., due to a weak limb or one that
has limited range of motion). The exercise record also includes a
Dates field 718 to register each date the exercise was
performed.
[0438] The Food Record shown in FIG. 7B2 is created for each new
food or each old food with a new tag. Field 720 in the Food Record
identifies each Food (e.g., Turkey Breast+gravy) with its meal
(Dinner) and its dish (Poultry), as shown at 368 in FIG. 3B and in
the Dinner column 383 of FIG. 3C's Meal Matrix. The Food Record for
the identified food item likewise stores the calories consumed
(Cals IN) at 722, and its associated food tags at 724. As also
shown in FIG. 3B, a Quantity tag 726 identifies, for example, a
number of ounces/pounds in the portion entered by the user (e.g.,
7.7 ounces) and a Nutrient tag 710 delineates the nutrients that
are provided (adjusted to a 7.7 oz portion), e.g.: [0439] Calories:
a minimum 325 Calories IN (16% DV) for its portion size [0440]
Protein: a maximum 67 g Protein (134% DV) and maximum Amino Acids
e.g., all 9 essential Amino Acids @ 108%-183% of RDA for a 220-lb
male [0441] Fats: a minimum 1.3 g of Saturated Fat (6% DV) and
minimum 0.05 g Trans-Fat [0442] Minerals: a minimum 219 g of Sodium
(9% DV) with maximum 4 mg zinc (27% DV) and 67 mmg of hard-to-find
Selenium (96% DV) [0443] Vitamins: 26 mg of Vitamin B-3 Niacin
(130% DV) [0444] All the above data was excerpted from the USDA
Nutrient DB (see FIG. 4B) and was delineated in the side-by-side
comparison with salmon (see FIG. 4C) Additionally, the food tag
field includes an Add-on Calories tag 730 to define the number of
calories attributable to add-ons (e.g., gravy). As explained above,
in connection with the exercise record, the food record
additionally includes a Usage Counter 732 to identify the number of
times a user consumes the given food (e.g., Turkey Breast). A field
defining other tag qualifiers 734 is provided, for example, to
identify a user's food allergy. A date field 736 is provided for
identifying each date the food was eaten--from the first time until
the last--to provide a history of food consumption. By providing
the dates each food was consumed, the system is able to identify
good and bad patterns, such as the fact that the user generally
eats a large steak twice a week, thereby contributing to an already
problematic high cholesterol problem. In an illustrative
implementation, armed with this or similar data, the system is able
to recommend healthier alternatives (for example, smaller portions
with lower cholesterol) to proactively address the issue in real
time before further damage is done.
[0445] In order to track progress towards a user's goal on a daily
basis a daily record is maintained and updated with every user's
use of the system. As shown in FIG. 7B3, a Daily Record is
maintained by providing cumulative daily totals of the food
record's Calories IN 722 and the exercise record's Calories OUT
704, i.e, once it is confirmed that the record has advanced beyond
the trial stage where the user is merely considering eating a food
or doing an exercise. Once the user has confirmed eating the food
or doing the exercise, the respective calories are added into the
daily record's food Calories IN field 742 and the daily record's
exercise Calories OUT field 744, as described above WRT the Food
Mode and Exercise Mode (via Calculate Calorie calls F2 in FIGS. 4A
and E2 in FIG. 5A, respectively). The daily record likewise
includes, with the user's cooperation and entry of the user's
current weight (748) and the current date (750).
[0446] The Daily Record also includes an Expected Weight Loss in
field 740 which the system calculates for the current day X (as
defined at the top of FIG. 7B). For example, here is how the
Expected Weight Loss is calculated for the 1st Delta in FIG. 7A2:
the 1st Delta projects an expected loss of 13 pounds across seven
weeks; if the current day X is the completion of the 21st day, the
expected weight loss is 3/7ths (43%) of the projection for delta 1
(13 pounds) or as a simple equation: 3/7.times.13 lb=5.6 lb
expected weight loss by day 21 of 49 days. Based on the cumulative
calorie data in the daily record fields Cals IN 742 and Cals OUT
744, a calculated weight loss (gain) field 746 is formulated by a
generic equation: Weight Loss (lbs)=(Cals OUT-Cals IN)/3500
calories/lb, where 3500 cals/lb of body fat is modulated by user
weight, age, sex, activity level, and obesity level.
[0447] The baseline records in FIG. 7B also include a Delta Record
which is updated daily. The delta record includes a Cumulative
Expected Weight Loss field 752 that records the expected weight
loss totals for each day accumulated across the delta (day 1 to day
X, the current day) that is used as a reference. The delta record
also includes for the delta period at issue, a cumulative food Cals
IN field 754, a cumulative exercise Cals Out field 756 and a
calculated weight loss (gain) 758 that utilizes the data in field
754 and 756 to determine a calculated weight loss or gain up to the
current day X in the period at issue (based on the difference
between calories OUT and calories IN divided by 3500 calories, as
just described above). The delta record also includes a current
weight field 760 (and current date field 762). that is entered by
the user (preferably on a daily basis) to provide the system with
accurate weight loss data that is not otherwise derived from
cumulative food and exercise inputs.
[0448] Minimizing the Size of System Databases: to minimize the
physical size of the system databases over many years of
anticipated exponential growth, the record structure has been built
like an "Egyptian pyramid" for each user: [0449] FIGS. 7B1/7B2: the
structure is large and volatile at the base of the pyramid where
one record arises from every new/unique Food and Exercise
transaction; volume is minimized by incrementing a usage counter
for each repeated item; and any variations in "tags" associated
with the same food/exercise are merely tacked onto the
variable-length original record to avoid making another record;
nutrients are stored once (in mg/100 g units) and scaled up/down to
portion size [0450] FIG. 7B3: the structure is steady and
predictable in the middle of the pyramid where just one small
record emerges per day for all Food/Exercise transactions; fixed
disk space can be allocated yearly since the DB only grows 1
record/day; the resulting DB allows the system to display
cumulative weight vs time plots [0451] FIG. 7B4: the structure is
small and pointed at the top of the pyramid where just one record
carries all the cumulative data for each successive delta; thus,
only the original plus 4 delta records are generated for any given
weight plan; the resulting DB allows quick display of weight vs
time plots across all 4 deltas which simplifies any statistical
analysis across the entire population of users
[0452] FIG. 8A illustrates an exemplary user profile record format.
FIGS. 8B and 8C respectively illustrate a user's Food Record format
and Exercise Record format that also may be part of the user's
profile or, alternatively, may be stored locally as databases on
the user's mobile computing device, e.g., an iPhone. The
illustrative user profile record formats 720, 728, and 760 shown in
FIGS. 8A through 8C are initially populated during the create user
profile processing described above in conjunction with, for
example, the flowchart depicted in FIGS. 3A and 3D.
[0453] As shown in FIG. 8A, the user profile record format 720
includes a user ID data list 723 that, for example, is stored as a
set of fixed length data records and specify an identified data
item 721 and at least one qualifier 722. The identified data items
721 shown in FIG. 8A are illustrative only and may be expanded or
contracted to meet the needs of a given implementation. The
illustrative data items are largely self-explanatory and are only
briefly described.
[0454] The user ID data list 723 includes a user ID number that is
assigned by the system to uniquely identify the user. Further, a
revision level data item is included that identifies the number of
times that the user has revised his or her user profile. The
original user profile created by the user when first using the
weight and exercise tracking system described herein, forms the
baseline record for the user and is preserved intact.
[0455] The date and/or time the user initially begins using the
system and a device number, a unique identifier identifying the
user's portable computing device (such as a cell phone serial
number), are also stored. The identification of, for example, a
cell phone serial number permits added security features to be
included in illustrative implementations. The user's email address
may be acquired to serve as an alternative communication link and
to, for example, communicate with the user to, for example,
enabling the system to confirm that changes made to the user's
profile were actually made by the authorized user.
[0456] The system also records in the user's profile, the user's
name (e.g., while a name like "John" may be accepted, the system
may also use a unique numeric modifier to distinguish John Smith
from John Doe), sex, age, height, wrist size, and waist size. As
explained herein, measurements of wrist size may be simply made by
users with a string and a ruler and permits the system to identify
the appropriate category for the user's body frame. The user's
waist size permits the system to determine whether the user should
be characterized as, for example, overweight or obese.
[0457] The exemplary list of data items 721 include an ID flag that
identifies any change that is made in the user data item list so
that the system may, if desired, challenge any such change. In an
illustrative implementation, any time a change is made in the user
profile, the data is recorded as a subsequent revision of the
user's profile, e.g., Rev 2 is a revision of Rev 1.
[0458] The user ID data list 723 includes various weight related
entries such as weight0, weight5, weight10 which respectively store
the user's current declared weight, the user's weight five years
ago and the user's weight 10 years ago. The user profile also
stores the user's ideal weight by accessing the ideal weight
database shown in FIG. 13C using the data entered including the
user's gender, weight, height, wrist size, and waist size. In
certain implementations, the user ID data list 723 includes a
weight flag to indicate whether the user has modified his or her
entered weight. In other alternative implementations, the user's
current weight may be stored in memory locations other than the
user's profile for generating the weight displayed in FIG. 10. The
user ID data list 723 also includes a defined set of goals that the
user defines during the processing at block 308 of FIG. 3A. A user
may, for example, define a goal of losing or gaining weight
including a specific goal weight (goalW).
[0459] In certain illustrative implementations, such a user
specified goal weight may be used to set the user's original goal
weight. In other illustrative implementations, particularly those
in which the user has selected no weight goal, the ideal weight
database illustrated in FIG. 13C may be used to set an initial
goal. In yet other instances, a physician, nutritionist, personal
trainer or other third party may have set a weight goal for the
user.
[0460] Turning back to FIG. 8A, in addition to a weight goal, the
system may, in illustrative implementations elicit further user
goal information which is recorded by the system. For example, the
user may, for example, in response to system queries indicate a
goal of getting stronger (goalS) that may be attained by increasing
the weight used during the user's top-five weightlifting exercises.
Thus, in an illustrative implementation, an assessment of the
user's top-five weightlifting exercises may be used to assess the
user's baseline level of strength. Moreover, such an assessment can
be used to define a reasonable approach that may be used to
increase strength such as by increasing the initial weight used for
bicep curls from 20 pounds to 30, 35, and 40 pounds over time.
[0461] Similarly, a user's indicated goal of increasing endurance
(goalE) may be specified in response to system queries (e.g., "Is
your goal to increase endurance?") and attained by assessing the
user's top-five endurance exercises. For example, endurance may be
enhanced by increasing the distance run, cycled, or swum during one
or more of the user's top-five endurance exercises. A goal of
getting healthier (goal H) may be specified in response to system
queries (e.g., "Is your goal to get healthier?") and may be
attained by assessing the user's top-five foods/meals and, for
example, by recommending alternative foods high in vitamins and
health promoting nutritional parameters. Further, a goal of
dropping bad habits and/or treating addictions (goal D) may be
identified in response to system queries (e.g., "Is your goal to
increase endurance?" and "what is your bad habit or addiction?")
which can be attained by, for example, monitoring and rewarding the
user's progress with respect to not smoking, not drinking, not
using drugs, food addictions, etc.
[0462] The user ID data list 723 also includes a goal date for
achievement of a defined goal and may be set by the user or system.
A goal flag is set upon any change in an identified goal. Thus, if
the user defines a new goal weight, the system re-calculates any
prior plan for goal attainment to take into account a new
endpoint.
[0463] As shown in the FIG. 8A illustrative implementation, the
user ID data list 723 also specifies three levels of rewards to be
applied to the associated user for reaching both the users final
goal and any of a number of various subgoals. In this example, the
system identifies a "rewardDS" that is the lowest level reward
which is triggered by a user reaching one of the four weight loss
Delta subgoals, such as is described in FIGS. 7A1 through 7A4. The
system also identifies a "rewardFG" that is the highest level
reward for reaching the user's overall final goal. Additionally,
the system also identifies a "rewardBR" that is a "Blue Ribbon"
reward recognizing that the user, for example, exceeded his or her
final weight loss goal by 10%. Alternatively, the "rewardBR" may be
reserved to users who achieve their ideal weight has specified by
the ideal weight database shown in FIG. 13C.
[0464] As illustrated in FIG. 8A the user profile record formats
720 also includes a list of user health data 724. Such user health
data includes the user's own impression of his/her general level of
health (level 0), and his/her declared level of health, 5 years ago
and 10 years ago (level 5 and level 10). In an illustrative
implementation, a user may characterize his general level of health
on a scale of 1 to 5 that may be stored as a fixed length record.
By having multiple levels relating to the current general level of
health and past levels of health permits the system to determine
whether the user perceives his/her general level of health as
improving or declining over time, which may affect, inter alia, the
severity and/or intensity of exercises suggested for the user.
[0465] The user health data list 724 also provides for variable
length records which allow a user to define, for example, his or
her handicaps. Thus, a user may, for example, indicate that he or
she is confined to a wheelchair, lacks a specified limb, has
limited eyesight, etc. In an illustrative implementation, for each
of the specified handicaps the user is asked whether the handicap
has existed for five years or 10 years to determine, inter alia,
how recently the user might have eaten typical foods and/or
performed typical exercises. The user health data list 724 also
includes an ailment data item, wherein the system records whether
the user is suffering from, for example, asthma, allergies to
specific foods, etc. in the period of time over which the user has
been suffering from such ailments. Moreover, the ailment data item
may be used to indicate that the user is a diabetic, has high blood
pressure, cardiac issues etc. The health data list 724 also
includes a data item entry for injuries 1 to N to identify
temporary health issues, such as a sprained ankle or a separated
shoulder, which usually heals over a short time.
[0466] The user health data list 724 also includes a Weak Flag that
is set for each weak limb (or associated muscle, such as a
hamstring). Such a flag is set if, for example, a user identifies a
weak left or right arm that cannot exercise to the same extent as
its counterpart, e.g., many right-handed tennis players have weak
left arms. Similarly, a Range Flag is similarly set if, for
example, a user identifies a limb or (or associated muscle) that
has a limited range of motion. Given such limitations, the system
would not recommend exercises that involve movement beyond the
limited range, or that require equal pressure, e.g., on a loaded
barbell--i.e., in this case, the system would recommend isolated
exercises (described above) where, for example, the weaker arm
would use a lighter dumbbell.
[0467] In an illustrative implementation, the user health data list
724 also includes a data item for the user to identify a range of
habits including but not limited to smoking, drinking, drug issues,
food addictions etc. Additionally, a user's medications are
identified that, for example, are utilized to treat any of the
identified ailments and injuries. The list of medications may, for
example, be analyzed by the system to determine whether such
medications will present normal weight loss or tend to trigger
increased weight gain. If such is the case, the system may
recommend alternative medications or alter goals in light of such a
medication.
[0468] The user health data list 724 also includes a data item
"Restrict F" to identify foods excluded due to food allergies,
ailments, or any other condition identified by the user. For
example, a user who identifies a peanut allergy may identify
specific peanut containing foods that should be excluded. Moreover,
in an illustrative implementation, the system may access well-known
sources for a list of foods that should be avoided in light of the
given allergy to identify foods that may be unknown to the user
that may cause issues in light of an identified allergy. Further,
the user's health data list 724 includes a "Restrict E" data item
that identifies specific exercises that are either limited or
excluded in light of handicaps, ailments, or injuries identified by
the user.
[0469] Food-related restrictions may be stored in the user's
profile based upon information received directly or indirectly from
a participating physician and/or nutritionist and/or healthcare
provider including any thresholds for the user including but not
limited to caloric intake, grams of saturated fat, grams of trans
fat, milligrams of cholesterol, milligrams of sodium, grams of
carbohydrate dietary fiber, grams of carbohydrate sugar, grams of
protein, amounts by percent of daily requirement of Vitamin A,
Vitamin C, Calcium and Iron, amount of exercise energy expenditure
and other variables related to specific medical, nutritional and
other needs of the user. Moreover, based upon input received
directly or indirectly from a physician, restrictions that are
stored in the user's profile may be placed on both food and
exercise for users suffering from cardiac issues. Checks are made
to ensure that any health-related nutritional and exercise
thresholds have not been exceeded. Examples include excess sugar
consumption by users who have diabetic or borderline diabetic
issues, excess sodium in those with hypertension, excess potassium
and protein in those with renal disease and exercise limitations in
the user with cardiovascular disease.
[0470] In illustrative implementations, based directly or
indirectly on input from a physician, food consumption and exercise
thresholds may be dynamically changed in the user's profile as
necessary. Exercise, for example, may increase from an expenditure
of 300 calories per day, 3 times per week early in the process to
500 calories per day, 5 times per week with light weights by the
end of the active weight loss process. Calories may be advanced at
this point from, for example, 1200 per day to 1500 per day. In
illustrative implementations, such restrictions may be identified
in the user's profile in the variable length food and exercise
restriction segment thereof. As another example of dynamic regimen
changing, if a behavioral issue exists such that the user is not
doing well adhering to the initially prescribed dietary regimen, an
assessment of the issues contributing to the adherence problem can
be made and the dietary regimen might be changed based upon an
analysis in conjunction with the FIG. 6B behavioral processing, for
example, by increasing calories or adding more fruit to help the
user improve adherence.
[0471] FIG. 8B illustrates a portion of the user profile/food
record format 720 that stores the user's top five favorite foods
and/or meals 729. In any illustrative implementation, it should be
understood that, while the user profile record format specifies the
user's Top 5 favorite foods/meals as shown in FIG. 8B, such data is
stored both locally (e.g., in the user's iPhone) and remotely (in
the system server 14) as a separate Food Record database. It should
also be noted that, while the system encourages the user to enter
all the food data he/she can as a meal or as separate items, all
such data entered and stored (e.g., in the record format of FIG.
8B) is ultimately converted and stored as individual food items in
the food record format of FIG. 7B2, one record per item (plus tags
and add-ons).
[0472] In an illustrative implementation, the same storage format
and sequencing is used for recording the user's Top 5 favorite
foods/meals is also used for recording everyday food consumed by a
user at, for example, a restaurant via the Food Mode process of
FIG. 4A. In this example, a user is initially prompted to enter his
or her most favorite food/meal. The system maintains a list of
favorite breakfasts, lunches, and dinners entered by a user
(including all add-ons) such that, for example, the user may
identify his top favorite breakfast as "breakfast number 1" for
ease of subsequent data entry. Such a favorites list with add-ons
is displayed to the user so that he/she can quickly and accurately
select a predefined meal that he/she habitually consumes for
convenient entry into the system. Once the user realizes that every
food/meal entered gets offered back to choose again and again,
he/she will be more inclined to enter more foods/meals from then
on.
[0473] As illustrated in FIG. 8B, after certain favorite-related
entries are provided by the user (730) as explained below, the
system determines and stores in the user profile, calories consumed
741, the amount of macronutrients (carbs, proteins, etc.) 742, and
the amount of micronutrients (vitamins/minerals) 743. Storing such
nutritional information in association with the user's profile
permits efficient, local, off-line accessing of such information
whenever such favorite items are consumed. As shown in FIG. 8B, the
user's entries are totaled (736) so that the total nutritional
impact of the user's selections is appreciated by the user in real
time.
[0474] In addition to the amount of calories, macronutrients, and
micronutrients, the system associates color codes with the user's
profile that may be stored in a linked shadow database. As
illustrated in FIGS. 2C-2E, in an illustrative implementation,
every food/nutrient and exercise/activity is assigned a color code
reflecting its relative value "Worst 1==>5 Best" that is linked
to the User's profile and/or food database. As a rule of thumb, in
an illustrative implementation, every food color code has the same
bad==>good value applicable to all Users, whereas all exercise
color codes are only bad==>good with respect to each
individual's capabilities and user profile in FIG. 8A.
[0475] The color codes assigned to each of the foods/add-ons and
macro-/micro-nutrients are mapped (as numbers 1==>5) into a
"shadow" DB correlated 1-for-1 with this DB. The shadow DB provides
instantaneous access to associated color codes, since each code is
the exact same relative displacement within that DB as its parent
data item in the above FIG. 8B related DB. (As a system-level
programming note that can be appreciated by those skilled in the
art, such a fixed "relative displacement" is easily incorporated
for color code access made via software instructions, but it is far
more efficiently enabled by "indirect addressing" offsets imbedded
in the hardware instructions.) This shadow DB requires minimal disk
space since, in an illustrative implementation, only single-digit
numeric codes (and no text) are stored therein. The shadow
database, in an illustrative implementation, occupies the lowest
level of a hierarchical database system in which color codes are
associated with each selected food and exercise item. Thus, each
time a food item is identified and accessed, an associated color
code from the shadow database is automatically retrieved and
displayed therewith in a manner that can be appreciated by those
skilled in the art.
[0476] While most of the data items referenced in FIG. 8A are fixed
length data items, the data items shown in FIGS. 8B and 8C relate
to variable length open-ended lists of items. For example, a
favorite meal identified by a user may include a main course of
beef and any number of a wide range of vegetables such as green
beans, spinach, squash, etc., an add-on sauce, and a variable
number of drinks. Thus, the data records are open-ended and
variable length, where each of the fields in the record is a
variable length field, as is indicated, for example, by the data
flow in FIG. 3B. In an illustrative implementation, for each user
dish chosen, the tags indicated in FIG. 3B (which have the greatest
variability, e.g., as independent add-ons) are stored in an
associated separate database, such that the dishes are stored in
one segment of the database and the tags are stored in another
cross-referenced segment of the database in a variable-length
format.
[0477] FIGS. 8B/8C here have a dynamic variable-length database
structure in an effort, for example, to minimize the size of the
User Profile DB: [0478] all food/exercise data with wide-ranging
values are variable-length open-ended lists, rather than fixed
choices [0479] all individual text fields are also variable-length,
rather than widened them out to the maximum text value [0480] all
but the 1st DB segment are variable-length, e.g., adding up to 5
Favorites per each category [0481] for quick "burst-energy"
exercises like sprints and weightlifting, the record is extended by
modular data for 1==>N Trials/Sets (see the cyclical format) The
following is an exemplary sequence of DB segments with their
respective variable lengths, if any:
TABLE-US-00009 [0481] DB Segment Variable Length [1] FIG. 8A: User
ID None - all data items appear in short (per FIG. 3A) fixed-length
fields [2] FIG. 8A: User Health Every data item except the
fixed-length (per FIG. 3A) first item, General Level of Health [3]
FIG. 8B: Top 5 All 12 Dishes, plus Snacks/Drinks, and Favorite
Foods Vitamins/Minerals [4] FIG. 8C: Top 5 All 5 Categories, plus
increasing Favorite Exercises Goals/Sets @ different Trials/Reps
[5] FIGS. 8A/8B/8C: Exact same variability as data items in Color
Code "shadow" DB segments [2]/[3]/[4] above
[0482] As indicated in FIG. 8B, the user identifies a category 738,
add-ons 739 and a quantity 740. It is noted that the breakfast,
lunch, and dinner columns in the food database illustrated in FIG.
3C correspond to categories B/L/D (breakfast/lunch/dinner) 738 and
the associated add-ons 739 (which may include any number of
additional add-ons beyond the two shown in FIG. 8B). With respect
to the categories 738, in an illustrative implementation, the cycle
of 12 dishes identified in rows 732 to 734 repeats up to five times
each for the user to select his/her Top 5 breakfasts, Top 5
lunches, and Top 5 dinners. It is noted that, in an effort to be as
user-friendly as possible in this very first user contact, the
system will accept as many as 10 or as few as one Top item that the
user is willing to share--the more he enters, the better the system
will know him.
[0483] In an illustrative implementation, in completing his or her
user profile, the user is prompted to select a category of
favorites such as B or L or D, and then select any desired add-ons
(739) and quantities (740). Thus, if for example the user chooses
the category lunch (738), the user may select beef, chicken, fish,
or a vegetable (733) together with desired add-ons (739) and then
add any desired dishes from rows 732, 734. The user may next select
a similar set of Top 5 snacks and/or drinks indicated in row 735.
Once the user selects a particular category such as drinks, a user
will be presented with popular examples such as coffee and cream as
shown in the food database of FIG. 3C to stimulate his/her
participation. With respect to snacks and drinks (735), these items
also constitute open-ended lists that store from 1 to N items the
user may consume.
[0484] Furthermore, in an illustrative implementation, the system
next prompts the user to enter his/her favorite
vitamins/minerals/omega-3s/antioxidants/herbs/etc. which are stored
as an open-ended list for each category, such as is shown in FIG.
2E. In an illustrative implementation, system recommendations may
be provided to the user with respect to additional vitamins or
minerals, depending upon the user's identification of vitamins and
minerals taken on a regular basis.
[0485] FIG. 8C illustrates a portion of the user profile/exercise
record format 760 that stores the user's top five favorite
exercises and/or activities 747. In any illustrative
implementation, it should be understood that, while the user
profile record format specifies the user's Top 5 favorite
exercises/activities as shown in FIG. 8C, such data is stored both
locally (e.g., in the user's iPhone) and remotely (in the system
server 14) as a separate Exercise Record database. It should also
be noted that, while the system encourages the user to enter all
the exercise data he/she can as a circuit set or as separate items,
all such data entered and stored (e.g., in the record format of
FIG. 8C) is ultimately converted and stored as individual exercise
items in the exercise record format of FIG. 7B1, one record per
item (plus tags).
[0486] In an illustrative implementation, the same storage format
and sequencing is used for recording the user's Top 5 favorite
exercises/activities is also used for recording everyday exercise
performed by a user at, for example, at home or at a gym via the
Exercise Mode process of FIG. 5A. In this example, a user is
initially prompted to enter his or her most favorite
exercises/activities. The system maintains a list of favorite
activities, sports, and conditioning exercises entered by a user
(including all tags) such that, for example, the user may identify
his top favorite activity as "Activity number 1" for ease of
subsequent data entry. Such a favorites list with tags is displayed
to the user so that he/she can quickly and accurately select a
predefined exercise that he/she habitually performs for convenient
entry into the system. Once the user realizes that every
exercise/activity entered gets offered back to choose again and
again, he/she will be more inclined to make the effort to enter
more exercises from then on.
[0487] FIG. 8C illustrates a portion of the user profile/exercise
record format 760 that stores the user's top five favorite
exercises and/or activities 747. In any illustrative
implementation, it should be understood that, while the user
profile record format specifies the user's Top 5 favorite
exercise/activities as shown in FIG. 8C, such data is stored both
locally (e.g., in the user's iPhone) and remotely (in the system
server 14) as a separate Exercise Record database.
[0488] The entries in the user profile/exercise record format 760
are provided by the user except for the Cals OUT that are
calculated by the system.
[0489] As can be seen from FIG. 8C, the categories 754 parallel in
many respects to the modes of activities identified, for example,
in FIG. 3D and in the FIG. 5A Exercise Mode flowchart. Thus, in
entering his or her top five favorite exercises/activities, the
user selects activities from the following categories: Daily
Activity 748, Periodic Activity 749, Sports (Competitive and
Noncompetitive) 750, Conditioning (Noncompetitive) 751,
Weightlifting (Noncompetitive) 752, and multiple trials/sets 1 to N
(of quick "burst energy" exercise) 753.
[0490] With respect to the categories 748 to 753, the data entry
cycle repeats up to five times for each of the Daily, Periodic,
Sports, Conditioning, and Weights exercises. As shown in FIG. 8C,
each of the Daily Activity 748, Periodic Activity 749, Sports 750,
and Conditioning 751 categories is characterized as being either an
indoor or outdoor activity. Additionally, each exercise is
qualified by the user specifying a level within the identified
category and a specific exercise item such as riding a bicycle to
work, playing golf, football, running, using the stair stepper or
doing bicep curls (755). Further, each such activity/exercise is
qualified by entries defining appropriate quantities for the
identified activity (pounds/distance, quarters/distance,
resistance, etc.) 756, time/duration 757, frequency 758, cycle
information including goals/sets, trials/reps (759), and calories
burned (Cals OUT) 760 that are calculated as shown and described
WRT the Exercise Mode flowchart in FIG. 5A.
[0491] Periodic activities 749, as described above in conjunction
with FIGS. 3D and 5A, include various indoor and outdoor activities
that may be performed either at home or away from home. Indoor
activities include, for example, vacuuming, washing floors, and
playing pool. Outdoor activities include, for example, washing a
car, mowing the lawn, etc.
[0492] In an illustrative implementation, all competitive and
noncompetitive sports are grouped together in a Sports category
750. where each team sport is further qualified by the user's
position on a team such as goalie, pitcher, quarterback, guard etc.
This is because the position on a team may significantly impact the
calories burned during participation in sport. For example, an
outfielder in baseball burns significantly less calories than the
team's pitcher. Furthermore, each sport is qualified by the user's
level of competition, which in turn will trigger changes in the
Cals OUT calculation. For example, a professional soccer player
will inevitably burn more calories playing soccer than a middle
school player. Such levels of competition include, for example,
training only, recreational, middle school, high school, college,
club sport, semi-professional and professional. Cycle information
is also recorded, if pertinent to the sport at issue focusing on,
for example, goals, sets, planned attempts/trials, and or number of
actual repetitions completed. For example, a 260-lb weightlifter
tries to bench press 200 lbs for 3 sets of 5 reps--he manages to
complete the first 2 sets without a problem but, as lactic acid
builds up, he fails on the 4th rep of the 3rd set. Using the cyclic
"Multiple Sets" provision of the Exercise DB here, this would end
up as a parent Bench Press record with set tags 1/2 showing Pass
and tag 3 showing Fail.
[0493] With respect to conditioning activities 751, a wide range of
activities summarized in conjunction with FIGS. 3D and 5A is
contemplated including indoor activities such as situps, push-ups,
and Pilates. Indoor activities using machines such as a stationary
bicycle, treadmill, rowing machine, stair stepper etc., are also
tracked. A wide range of outdoor conditioning activities are also
contemplated for tracking including walking, jogging, running,
swimming, skating, etc. As shown in FIG. 8C, such activities are
qualified by specifying such quantities as the distance run and the
resistance level set on the equipment. Additionally, the time
participating in the identified activity is entered together with
the frequency per day or per week. Cycle information is also
recorded if pertinent to the conditioning activity including the
user's goals, sets, planned attempts/trials, and or number of
actual repetitions completed.
[0494] The Exercise Mode routine in FIG. 5A (which makes each
record for the Exercise database here) also tracks weightlifting
exercises 752. Such activities are identified in FIGS. 3B and 5A as
described above. For example a user who performs bench presses
would have such exercise categorized as an "upper body" exercise
activity at the "level" of "body only" and with "bench press"
identified as the exercise item. In this example, the user then
identifies the amount bench pressed under quantity, e.g., 200
pounds (as just described in the dynamic Multiple Sets example
above). To complete the cyclic Multiple Set records, the user also
enters whether he Passed or Failed the lift, his rest interval
between sets, and his final pulse rate in response to display of
his Target Pulse Range calculated @ 60-85% of the predicted MAX
heart rate for his age--i.e., Target Pulse
Rate=(60-85%).times.(220-age) for any healthy user at age
20==>70. At different times thereafter, the user also identifies
the time spent bench pressing and the number of times per week such
an exercise is performed. The system, utilizing a database of the
nature shown in FIG. 5B, calculates the calories burned during such
an activity and stores such a value in the Cals OUT field 761
associated with this weightlifting exercise.
[0495] The multiple trials/sets entry 753 permits the system to
handle "burst-energy" exercises below 1/2-hour to extend the
tracking system across the entire sports spectrum, i.e.: from slow
"low-energy" exercises greater than 30 minutes==>to
"quick-burst" acts of less than 30 seconds. This format for
repetitive "sets" of a given lift may be applied to ALL
likewise-repetitive "trials" for increasing Track & Field
"goals" in the sports record 750:
e.g., short races/sprints/shotputs/throws/vaults==>for a single
BEST/MAX goal e.g., pole vaults/high jumps/long jumps==>for an
increasing-level BEST/MAX goal. That is, for such a given track and
field event, the goal is to reach a MAX height/distance in the
trials allowed.
[0496] In an illustrative implementation, the tracking of
weightlifting may be expanded from exercise record 752 via the use
of the multiple trials/sets entry 753 (see the dynamic Multiple
Sets just described in example above). If, as in the earlier
example, the user completed the 5th repetition of bench pressing
200 lbs, the user will be credited with passing the trial.
Additionally, in an illustrative implementation the user's target
pulse range based upon age limitations is identified together with
the pulse rate achieved during the exercise. Rest interval
information between repetitions is also identified. Such
information is recorded for each of multiple trials and sets. The
system may then recommend to the user, the parameters of the next
set based on the user's performance of the just completed set.
Thus, such timely interactive information allows the system to
dynamically recommend increasing/decreasing the amount of weight
being bench pressed, decreasing the rest interval,
increasing/decreasing the number of repetitions etc.
[0497] In this fashion, in an illustrative implementation, such a
weightlifting training protocol permits the system to act as a
"personal trainer," interactively guiding the user through a
rigorous weightlifting workout in real time. In an illustrative
implementation, through the use of databases stored locally in for
example, a 64 GB local cell phone memory, such personal trainer
functionality may be accomplished off-line without any internet
link to the remote server.
[0498] The inherent advantages of this efficient, dynamic DB format
are:
[0499] ALL exercises can be tracked . . . from
longest/slowest==>to shortest/fastest
[0500] the DB's compact size allows, in an illustrative
implementation, the whole DB to be locally stored in the user's
smartphone
[0501] this enables the user to access/update the DB in real-time,
without being online with a server enabling full functionality
inside a gym or other location where there's often no signal
[0502] the system provides real-time feedback to the user, e.g.,
based on the results of previous N-1 set (pass/fail, rest interval,
pulse rate, etc), the system can adjust optimal weight/reps for
sets N/N+1/etc so as not to "kill" user enthusiasm.
[0503] FIG. 9 is an illustrative depiction of a calculate calories
subroutine. The calculate calories subroutine has four distinct
subroutines, each having a respective entry and exit point
associated with nodes Food1 (F1), Food2 (F2), Exercise1 (E1), and
Exercise2 (E2). Each of these four subroutines calls a common
subroutine to display calories that is shown in FIG. 10.
[0504] Beginning with the F1 subroutine, this subroutine is
executed to perform the functions shown in FIG. 4A associated with
the Nutrient Database 566 and the function of displaying food
nutrients with quantities and color codes 568. As shown in FIG. 9
when the Nutrient Database is accessed (770) to display nutrients
(772), the system looks up both the food item and the add-on in the
system Nutrient Database which in turn is based on data obtained
from the USDA Nutrient Database (774). Thus, the calorie data
contained in the USDA nutrient database is stored, for example, in
a database resident at server 14 shown in FIG. 1.
[0505] Thereafter, as indicated at block 776, the calories
contained in the food and add-on are calculated to factor in the
quantity of food and convert to the unit of measure being tracked
by the system based upon the data been entered by the user (e.g.,
8, 10, 12 ounces). Such a calculation is necessary to scale the
user's portion up/down to match the unit measure of the USDA
database calorie data which is in milligrams per 100 grams (mg/100
g). Once the food and add-on calories are each calculated, the
associated values are stored in a trial food record (778). The data
is not permanently entered into the system until it is confirmed
that the user is past the consideration stage and has consumed the
food. The food being consumed together with all nutrients, such as
grams of proteins, are displayed to the user (780), and the
calories consumed are also displayed (782). Thereafter, the routine
returns to block 568 of FIG. 4 (which called subroutine F1) in
light of the completion of the processing associated with the
display of food nutrients with quantities and color codes.
[0506] As previously described in conjunction with FIG. 4, after
the completion of processing associated with block 568, the system
checks to determine whether the food has been eaten at block 570
and, if so, the user food database is updated by updating the
user's favorites and creating a new record. The processing
associated with the user Food Database at block 571 is performed in
this example by calling the F2 subroutine. As shown in FIG. 9,
utility subroutine F2, which is called from the Food Database block
571, operates to update the user's food favorites. In so doing, the
food record shown in FIG. 7B is updated/created (790) in the food
record's food usage counter (732) in FIG. 7B is incremented by 1
(792). Thus, if the food at issue is consumed for the first time,
the previous count in the food usage counter will be zero,
resulting in the current usage counter state being incremented to
"1."
[0507] Thereafter, the food calories in (i.e., consumed) are added
to both the daily record and the Delta record (796) shown in FIGS.
7B3/7B4, respectively. The calories are then displayed (798) and
the routine returns to the calling routine in FIG. 4 to update
favorites at block 573.
[0508] Turning next to the Exercise1 subroutine (E1), this utility
subroutine is called during the processing previously described in
FIG. 5A. Initially, the activity database is accessed (616) to
begin calculating calories burned for a given activity using the
calories burned and/or the calorie coefficient data in the calorie
coefficient per user activity database illustrated in FIGS. 5B/5C
(806). The E1 subroutine looks up the exercise as further specified
by the associated tags in the system Activity Database, which is
illustrated in FIGS. 5B/5C and is based on the "Compendium of
Physical Activities" published by Ainsworth et al. (2011), as
updated by Arizona State University in August 2012.
[0509] Thereafter, the calories burned during exercise are
calculated using the calorie coefficient obtained from the database
illustrated in FIG. 5B in 5C (808). The calories burned are
determined by the user's body weight times the calorie coefficient.
The calories burned are then stored in a trial exercise record
(810) and the calculated calories, together with the associated
exercise tags including the color code, are displayed (812). The
subroutine then returns to FIG. 5A to display the chosen exercise
(620), enabling the performance of this display function. A check
is then made to determine whether the exercise was done (680) as
previously described in conjunction with FIG. 5A. If so, the update
favorites processing commences.
[0510] Update favorite processing (684) calls the Exercise2
subroutine (E2). Upon the initiation of E2 (816), the routine
accesses the exercise record shown in FIG. 7B (820) to increment
the exercise counter by one (822). Thereafter, the exercise Cals IN
from the calculation in subroutine E1 at block 808 are added to the
baseline records of FIG. 7B (821) including the daily record and
the delta record (826). Thereafter, the calories and other
associated exercise data are displayed (828) and the routine
returns to the update favorites processing at block 684 (830).
[0511] FIG. 10 is an illustrative display for depicting to the user
certain calorie and goal information. The display chart shown in
FIG. 10 applies to any goal over any given time where the current
value for the current day X lies somewhere in between start day 1
and a goal day N (expressed as 1, . . . X, . . . , N). The meaning
of "to date" in FIG. 10 is the cumulative value of the variable
across time from the starting date in the program to the current
date.
[0512] The display in FIG. 10 displays expected calorie values
based on goal calculations and actual calorie values accumulated
from calories consumed and calories burned (today and to date), all
of which can be compared on the LH side to the current actual
weight measurement input by the user. Alternatively, instead of
cumulative calorie levels, the display could show the calculated
weight (or loss or gain) resulting from the cumulative calories OUT
versus calories IN. Either way, the net result here is that the
user now can, at a glance, compare the actual weight he/she just
entered today with both the expected weight he/she was supposed to
reach by today and the actual weight (calculated from his/her
exercises versus foods eaten) that should have resulted by
today.
[0513] The display shown in FIG. 10 may, for example, be designed
to illustrate performance during one of the four Delta periods
described above in conjunction with FIG. 7A. With respect to the
user's goals, under the "goal weight" display, the user starting
weight, such as 300 pounds is displayed (852). Additionally, in an
illustrative implementation, associated with the "Goal Weight"
heading, the delta period is identified together with the goal
weight calculated for achievement at the end of such a delta
period, e.g., 285 pounds. Further, the user's expected current
weight, such as 290 pounds, is displayed (854). Additionally under
the "calories to date" heading the total expected calories IN (858)
and the total expected calories OUT (860) are displayed. Further,
under the expected values portion of the display in the "goal cals
today" heading, the expected goal for the calories in (864) and
calories burned/out (866) for the current day are identified.
[0514] In this example, with respect to the "actual values" for
user weight (868), the user's starting weight is again identified
at (870) for comparison with his/her actual current weight
displayed at (872). In this fashion, a user can see his/her actual
current weight and compare the actual calculated weight with the
current expected weight for goal achievement at block 854. In an
illustrative implementation, this display may be augmented with the
color codes associated with the user's weight loss progress to
date, visually depicting the degree of progress. Additionally,
under the "user cals to date" heading (874), the actual total
number of calories consumed (876) and the total calories burned
(878) during the delta period to date are identified for comparison
with the calculated calories IN and calories OUT for goal
achievement.
[0515] In an illustrative implementation, this display may be
augmented with the color codes associated with the user's progress
to date regarding calories consumed and burned, visually depicting
the degree of progress. Finally, under the "user calls today"
heading, the actual calories consumed (882) and the total calories
burned (884) during the current day are displayed for comparison
with the calculated calories IN and calories OUT for goal
achievement for the current day. In an illustrative implementation,
this display may be augmented with the color codes associated with
the user's performance during the current day regarding calories
consumed and burned, visually depicting the performance.
[0516] FIG. 11 is a flowchart delineating the sequence of
operations involved in data and goal analysis. The data and goal
analysis subroutine is entered (200) upon being called by various
routines described herein that implement the functionality
identified in the figures referenced below. The data and goal
analysis processing in FIG. 11 occurs upon the generation of any
new food record (202), any new exercise record (212), any violation
of user restrictions (222), or any new weight being entered by the
user (228).
[0517] A check is initially made at block 202 to determine whether
any new food record has been generated. If so, then a check is made
at block 204 to determine whether the food consumed by the user had
an associated color code other than Green (where the value 5
indicates the healthiest food color coded Green as explained
above). If any food in a meal being consumed is other than the
healthiest food (as indicated by Green), the previously described
"stepping up the ladder" processing is initiated. Thus, as
indicated at block 206, the system recommends food(s) at the next
higher color code value to encourage the user to eat in a more
healthy fashion. After recommending an alternative food to the
user, the food recommendation is stored in a shadow database
location associated with the food record (208). Thereafter, a daily
food flag is set and the daily record shown in FIG. 7B3 is updated.
The daily food flag indicates that a food record was constructed on
the current day. Additionally, the cumulative "Cals IN" entry in
the daily record shown in FIG. 7B3 is updated (210).
[0518] After the processing at block 210, or if the check for a new
food record indicates that there is no new food record to process,
a check is made at block 212 to determine whether there is a new
exercise record to process. If so, a check is made at block 214 to
determine whether any associated exercise was performed that has an
associated color code other than Green (and therefore has an
associated value less than 5). If any exercise is performed other
than the healthiest rated exercise for the user (as indicated by
the "Green" color code value 5), as indicated at block 216, the
previously described "stepping up the ladder" exercise processing
is performed. Thus, if a new exercise record indicates that the
user ran 2 miles in 30 minutes that might be classified as a "Red"
color code, the user will be, for example, encouraged to run at a
somewhat faster pace to reach a pace that would be classified using
an "Orange" color code instead of the original Red color code.
Thus, as indicated at block 216, the system recommends one or more
exercises at the next higher color code value to encourage the user
to exercise in a healthier fashion.
[0519] After recommending an alternative exercise to the user, the
exercise recommendation is stored in a shadow database location
associated with the exercise record (218). Thereafter, a daily
exercise flag is set and the daily record shown in FIG. 7B3 is
updated. The daily exercise flag indicates that an exercise record
was conducted on the current day. Additionally, the cumulative
"Cals OUT" entry in the daily record shown in FIG. 7B3 is updated
(220).
[0520] After the processing at block 220, or if the check for a new
exercise record indicates that there is no new exercise record to
process, a check is made at block 222 to determine whether any of
the user's restrictions have been violated. The user's profile
record format 720 is monitored to, for example, check the foods
excluded in light of the data item RestrictF stored in the user
health data list 724 shown in FIG. 8A. Additionally, the user's
health data list 724 is monitored to determine whether specific
exercises were limited or excluded as indicated by data item
RestrictE. If it is determined that a new food record or new
exercise record violates any known restriction, then a warning
display is generated to warn the user that a restriction has been
violated (224).
[0521] In illustrative implementations, it is contemplated that
this warning system can be used to warn the user about a wide range
of health related issues. For example, the system can warn an
unwary user that a food contemplated for consumption includes a
peanut-based oil to which the user is allergic. Similarly, a user
may be warned that a food to be consumed includes a sufficient
amount of sugar to raise a concern in light of the user's indicated
issue with diabetes. Moreover, a user may be warned if a food or
exercise record indicates consumption of a food or participation in
exercise that does not comport with the user profile's designation
of handicaps, ailments, injuries, habits, or medications. A warning
may be generated, for example, if a food or beverage (such as
alcohol) to be consumed is not appropriate in light of medications
taken. In illustrative implementations, such restriction
information may be based on input received from the user, or from
other sources in implementations in which, for example, a
physician, nutritionist, or other third party is actively
participating to provide professional input. In certain
illustrative implementations, based, for example, on input from a
physician, food consumption thresholds, exercise thresholds and
behavioral parameters may be either maintained or dynamically
changed as needed. Exercise, for example, may increase from an
expenditure of 300 calories per day 3 times per week early in the
process to 500 calories per day, 5 times per week with light
weights by the end of a certain active weight loss process
interval. Calories may be advanced at this point from, for example,
1200 per day to 1500 per day. In another example, if a behavioral
issue exists such that the user is not doing well adhering to the
initially prescribed dietary regimen, an assessment of the issues
contributing to the adherence problem can be made and the dietary
regimen might be changed for example by increasing calories or
adding more fruit to help the user improve adherence.
[0522] In such implementations where a physician, nutritionist or
other third party is providing input (either directly or indirectly
through the user), the routine accesses the user's profile to
assess health-related information received directly or indirectly
from a participating physician and/or nutritionist and/or
healthcare provider including any generated thresholds for the user
including but not limited to caloric intake, grams of saturated
fat, grams of trans fat, milligrams of cholesterol, milligrams of
sodium, grams of carbohydrate dietary fiber, grams of carbohydrate
sugar, grams of protein, amounts by percent of daily requirement of
Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium and Iron, amount of exercise energy
expenditure and other variables related to specific medical,
nutritional and other needs of the user. For example, a physician
may place both food and exercise restrictions on users suffering
from cardiac issues. Checks are made to ensure that any
health-related nutritional and exercise thresholds have not been
exceeded. Examples include excess sugar consumption by users who
have diabetic or borderline diabetic issues, excess sodium in those
with hypertension, excess potassium and protein in those with renal
disease and exercise limitations in the user with cardiovascular
disease.
[0523] In an illustrative implementation, such restrictions
received either directly or indirectly from a physician may result
in a goal weight modification recommended by the system to either
increase the amount of weight that should be lost, or slow down the
rate at which weight should be lost to decrease stress on the
user.
[0524] Turning back to FIG. 11, the system sets the restrict flag
on any affected food(s) or exercise(s) that triggered a restriction
warning (226). Such a restrict flag is thereafter associated by the
system with any violating food or exercise.
[0525] After the processing at block 226 of the restriction-related
content of FIG. 8A, or if the check for a restriction violation
indicates that there is no known violation to process, a check is
made at block 228 to determine whether a new user weight has been
entered by the user. In certain illustrative implementations, the
user is prompted to enter his or her weight at desired intervals
such as on a daily or weekly basis.
[0526] If a user has entered a new weight, the newly entered weight
is stored in a record associated with the user's profile shown in
FIG. 8A and the daily record shown in FIG. 7B3 is updated to
reflect a new "current weight/date" (224). Thereafter, in this
illustrative implementation, the daily weight flag is set (232),
after which, the delta record in FIG. 7B4 is updated (236).
[0527] After the delta record has been updated, the system displays
either a weight loss or weight gain across the current delta time
frame (238). In an illustrative implementation, such a display
includes two curves of expected weight over the "delta" time period
(the user's weight expectation based on goals that have been set)
and calculated weight over the delta time period (the user's weight
based on calories burned less calories consumed), and the user's
actual reported weight over this time frame so that the user can
see his or her progress over time and assess the accuracy of the
user's reported calories consumed and calories burned.
Additionally, in an illustrative embodiment, an overlay is created
to display daily food, exercise, and weight flags so that the user
can see, for example, the regularity with which food and exercise
entries have been made. In an illustrative implementation, if there
are major gaps in the exercise flag entries, the system generates a
display encouraging the user to exercise more often.
[0528] If the check at block 228 indicates that a no new weight has
been entered by the user, then a check is made at block 234 to
determine whether the current day is a new day. If the current day
is a new day, then the updating and display processing at blocks
236 and 238 is performed. The completion of processing after block
238 completes the updating of the baseline records shown in FIG.
7B.
[0529] After the processing at blocks 236 and 238, or if the check
at block 234 indicates that the current day is not a new day, the
display calories and goals illustrated in FIG. 10 is generated and
displayed to the user.
[0530] After the calorie and goal related display has been
generated a check is made at block 242 to determine whether the
current day is the last day of a delta period that is used for goal
assessment.
[0531] If the current day is the last day of the delta period, then
the baseline record shown in FIG. 7A1 is updated to record the
delta weight loss achievement (244). Additionally, a display is
generated to show the weight loss or weight gain across all the
deltas relating to the user's goal (245). In an illustrative
implementation, such a display includes, for example, expected,
calculated, and actual weight across time and an overlay showing
each day that food, exercise, and weight has been entered by the
user over the delta time period. A display that shows, for example,
sparse exercise entries may serve to explain to the user why
his/her current goal has not been met.
[0532] A check is then made at block 246 to determine whether a
user's goal has been met. It should be recognized that the system
may require, for example, 100% achievement of a goal weight loss
before a reward is targeted for downloading to user. However, in
this example, a reward trigger signal is generated if the user
achieved 95% of the assigned goal for any delta period based on the
check at block 246. Thus, the check at block 246 may be used to
determine whether the user's overall weight loss goal has been met
or whether an interim "subgoal" has been met to indicate whether or
not the user is on track to reaching his or her overall goal.
[0533] The specific percentage assigned as the proper "reward"
percentage may vary based on many factors including the user's past
weight loss history, how close or how far the user is from his or
her ideal weight, the user's overall general health, and other
factors targeted to providing the individual user with the optimum
amount of effective motivation and encouragement.
[0534] If the check at block 246 indicates that the required
percentage of the user's goal has been met, the routine generates a
goal has been met signal and transmits such a signal together with
goal achievement data to the reward processing routine (241)
illustrated in FIG. 14 and then returns to the calling routine
(243).
[0535] If the check at block 246 reveals that the user has
achieved, for example, less than 95% of the assigned "delta"
subgoal, processing is initiated to determine whether there is a
need, for example, to change the final goal or current subgoal that
is lower than the originally set goal depending on various factors,
including the degree to which the goal has been missed and whether
the initially assigned goal or subgoal is appropriate for the user
given the user's food consumption and exercise performance
history.
[0536] Daily caloric goals with their associated nutritional
requirements may require modification at various points during the
weight loss process. These adjustments may be made as a function of
the weight loss progress (or lack of progress) as determined by the
check at block 246. Alternatively, goals may need to be changed to
address issues associated with recently developed medical
conditions, such as diabetes or hypertension. Exercise goals may
need to be changed as the process progresses. Typically, the amount
of daily exercise will need to increase as weight comes down or
specific alterations in type and duration of exercise will be
needed based on the progress (or lack of progress) of the user. The
specific goals of exercise may change throughout the process from
predominantly aerobic, calorie burning exercise at the beginning of
the weight loss endeavor to an exercise regimen that includes more
muscle building activity and less aerobic activity as a user
approaches his/her weight goal and transitions into a weight
maintenance mode. New goals are displayed to the user on the user's
mobile computing device display as indicated at block 249. Food or
exercise related warnings are displayed to the user (e.g., as
indicated at block 224).
[0537] In an illustrative implementation, the existing goal may be
lowered by a desired increment, for example, 5% or 10% (247). In an
illustrative implementation, such processing includes prompting the
user to indicate if any new unreported injuries, ailments, or
handicaps have arisen that contributed to the failure to meet a
goal or subgoal. If so, the user is prompted to modify his or her
user profile to result in a modified new goal. Such new user
profile data may in turn create new food consumption and exercise
related thresholds that may serve as new restrictions recorded in
the user's profile.
[0538] Thereafter, the subgoal values for the delta periods shown
in FIG. 7A1 are recalculated and modified to reflect the new goal
weight loss and/or new goal anticipated achievement date (248).
Thereafter, a new baseline record as illustrated in FIG. 7A1 is
displayed with the modified, recalculated delta values and goals
(249) and the routine branches back to the calling routine
(243).
[0539] In illustrative implementations, after the goal analysis has
been completed (during the processing at blocks 241, 246, 247-249),
the routine generates feedback to the user regarding whether goals
have been met, and provides recommended adjustments that may need
to be made with respect to food consumption or exercise completion,
and/or any warnings regarding exceeding physician's/healthcare
provider's set thresholds for such health-related parameters as
sugar intake, daily calorie intake, etc. Behavioral recommendations
are also generated as needed taking into consideration caloric,
nutritional, exercise and other parameters. In an illustrative
implementation, for those who are grossly overweight or those who
are attempting to stop smoking, congratulatory progress statements
are forwarded with regularity as daily goals are met.
[0540] FIGS. 12A and 12B are described below and show two methods
that may be used in determining a user's frame size to help
converge on the ideal weight of a user for any given height that
may be used in determining a user's weight loss goal. As an
overview, FIG. 12A shows a rule-of-thumb wrist measurement that is
relatively accurate, and is otherwise quite simple for most users
to execute--often within 30 seconds. In contrast, FIG. 12B shows
the original Met Life elbow method (circa 1942) that was quite
accurate (but only when perfectly executed), but was otherwise
quite difficult for most users--largely due to the uncertainty of
what the correct elbow circumference was. Hence, the present app
asks the user to perform the simpler wrist method.
[0541] As noted above, FIGS. 12A and 12B show two methods that may
be used in determining a user's frame size to help converge on the
ideal weight for any given height. Bone mass and muscle mass all
play a part in determining optimal weight. This is why ideal weight
charts have a range of ideal weights for height.
[0542] As shown in FIG. 12A, the first method of determining frame
size by measuring wrist size is an easy method to utilize. The
chart shows how small/medium/large frames can be differentiated
based simply on wrist size. As an intersect between the sexes, at
the height of 5'5'', a man's medium frame equals a woman's large
frame, which reinforces the need to keep Men's weight profiles
separate from Women's. It is noted that for wrist sizes over 5'5''
height, Women's Large frame=Men's Medium frame.
[0543] FIG. 12B is a table correlating medium frames with the
breadth of the elbow. Measuring the breadth of the elbow is harder
but gives better accuracy. The chart in FIG. 12B shows the limits
of the medium range based on elbow size, beyond which is large
frame and below which is small frame. This original Met Life
procedure was very accurate but hard to follow, so it tended to be
glossed over, making the rule-of-thumb Wrist method even more
appealing. As an intersect between the sexes, within medium frames,
the elbow size of a man as short as 4'10'' is equal to the elbow
size of a woman over 6 feet tall, which reinforces the need for an
accurate DB that can discriminate down to frame sizes. It is noted
here that, as an anomaly for Medium Frames, the elbow size of Women
over 6'0''=Men at 4'10''--4'11.''
[0544] The elbow size measurement involves the following steps:
[0545] Start in a standing position: [0546] Hold out your arm so
that it's horizontal and parallel to the floor [0547] Make sure
that your palm is facing upward [0548] Then bend your elbow so your
forearm is at ninety degrees to the floor [0549] Use your index
finger and thumb of opposite hand to find the narrow part of your
elbow joint [0550] Use your finger and thumb like a gauge to find
the breadth of your elbow [0551] Do this by measuring the gap in
between them with a ruler or measuring tape.
[0552] FIG. 12C provides a simple, efficient rule-of-thumb method
for determining a user's obesity level from the size of his/her
waist, much like the wrist circumference method above, and just as
easy to measure in one minute. FIG. 12C shows a 2010 chart (LH
side) that demonstrates how Waist Size plots virtually identical to
Weight in the popular 1995 USDA chart (RH side). This variation is
a further example of how pervasive the USDA chart has become across
15 years. Just as the USDA chart plots height vs weight, the Waist
Size chart plots height vs waist size, yielding a chart that is
remarkably similar in the 3 boundary lines, and the configuration
of the 4 weight slices they demarcate: [0553] the RH severe
overweight slice==>matches the LH "Action" slice [0554] the RH
overweight slice==>matches the LH "Take Care" slice [0555] the
RH healthy weight slice==>matches the LH dark "OK" slice [0556]
the RH underweight slice==>matches the left-most "Take Care"
slice [0557] the RH height runs 4'10''-6'6''==>the LH height
runs 4'5''-6'7'' [0558] the RH weight runs 50-250 lbs==>the LH
waist size runs 18--50''
[0559] In the USDA Chart generated in 1995, BMI has been utilized
to determine the line between obesity and healthy weight. However,
using BMI as the determining factor belies the significance of the
underlying BMI equation (weight/height.sup.2.times.703) and the
fact it ignores the huge weight-per-height gap between Men and
Women that was prominently declared for 50 years by its
predecessor, the Met Life Table. In fact, the oversimplified BMI
calculation itself (weight/height.sup.2.times.703) is fatally
flawed in that it does not require any measurement of actual body
fat, but rather, wrongly assumes any excess weight above average
for a given height is due to fat rather than muscle.
[0560] Given that the general definition of obese (for the Met Life
table) is someone whose weight is 20% more than their ideal weight,
this basic BMI flaw alone inflates the obesity rate of most
countries by adding virtually every muscular athlete with <20%
body fat to its obesity group--men and women who are by definition
among the healthiest specimens on the planet--a factor that is
partially accounted for by Met Life's wise expansion into body
frames and frame overlaps.
[0561] FIG. 13A shows an overlay of the prior art Met Life Table on
the prior art USDA Chart that reveals how far apart these 2
baseline standards are for tall Women and all Men. As can be
quickly visualized here in FIG. 13A, the Met Life profile for Women
(solid black line) roughly matches up with the Chart's healthy
weight slice (within +/-1.2%)--whereas, in stark contrast, Met
Life's similarly-shaped profile for Men (dotted black line) is
uniformly shifted right by 18 pounds at the base. The base spans
the entire width of the center moderate weight slice, while the top
of the Men's profile shifts left to span the entire healthy weight
slice. This chart shows how closely the 1995 USDA chart tracked the
original 1983 Met Life data for women and exactly how far up the
weight scale men should have been plotted. An average error of
+/-1.2% for women and a +8.3% average increase required for
men.
[0562] This separation of the Men's profile (by 18 pounds upstream)
from the Women's profile appears to confirm that the ultra-low
healthy weight slice of the USDA Chart is entirely demarcated for
Women, and as such is generally beyond the reach of Men. It is
noted that the Chart and Table profiles for Women intersect at
5'9.''
[0563] FIG. 13B shows how Met Life profiles can be rotated
6.degree. around a common pivot point with the Chart (at 5'9'') to
yield a more realistic ideal model for all Men and Women. The Met
Life plot is better adapted to shorter people form 4 feet, 10
inches to five feet, four inches than the 1995 USDA weight chart.
The USDA plot is better adapted to taller people 5 foot, 11 inches
to 6 feet, 6 inches than the data in the Met Life plot. In these
charts, women benefit most at the low end and men benefit most at
the high end. In FIG. 13B, the Met Life data plotted in FIG. 13A is
rotated clockwise at a five feet, nine inch pivot point to match up
with the USDA chart. The database shown in FIG. 13C absorbs the
best of both worlds, from Table to Chart: [0564] Bottom Half
(4'10''==>5'9'') The time-honored independent Met Life profiles
for both Women and Men were adopted exactly as shown in FIG. 13A.
This new weight regime resolves the worst differences and
complaints at both extremes:
[0565] Leading Edge: Studies reveal that Japanese Women still falls
within the profile, but now correctly at the leading edge--i.e.,
the Chart values are so severe at the low end that no one in the
world (but Japanese women) can achieve them [0566] the same holds
true for Japanese Men who are now correctly positioned right at the
leading edge among all men (with the world-lowest 3.2% obesity)
[0567] Trailing Edge: Studies reveal that Italian Men/Women
correctly shifted to the center of their respective healthy weight
slices (at a very low 8.5% obesity) [0568] similarly, the German
Men/Women are correctly shifted just inside their respective
healthy weight slices (at a reasonable 12.9% obesity) [0569] the
Canadian Men/Women are correctly remained just inside the new, more
narrow moderate weight slice (at weighted-average 14.3% obesity)
[0570] the American Men/Women remained unmoved from their
precarious perch just inside the severe weight slice (at
world-worst 33.9% obesity) [0571] Top Half (5'9''==>6'6'') This
half was adopted from the more modern USDA Chart profile for Women,
while the wholly independent Met Life profile for Men was adapted
to the more relaxed slope of the Chart, exactly as shown in FIG.
13A. This weight regime will resolve the worst
differences/complaints at both extremes: [0572] Leading Edge: the
worst-case extreme here is the Men's MIN up at 6'6'' (small frame)
where, according to the Chart, a 6'6'' male is still healthy at 165
lbs [0573] But this weight is not achievable even by tall Dutchmen
(at low 10% obesity) who are already up to 195 lbs @ 6'1'' (world's
tallest avg height), whereas the Dutch women reach 165 lbs @ 5'8''
(avg), but they're 10 inches shorter than 6'6'' [0574] Thus, the
Men's MIN becomes more realistic shifted up by 13 lbs to 178 lbs
[0575] Trailing Edge: Only the German Men at 5'10'' were affected
here by the 6.degree. CW rotation (around the pivot point at
5'9'')--the GM is now correctly shifted just inside the trailing
edge, which exactly matches the position of GW
[0576] The upper-level weights are now achievable by tall men. This
has been the most contentious area in the Met Life Tables--namely,
they do not account for men taller than their 1942 model that are
heavier but still healthy e.g., the 1983 Met Life table sets a
healthy large-frame 6'1'' US male @ 192 lbs whereas, with the
upgraded profile, he can now aim at more achievable 200 lbs.
[0577] In fact, the Dutch Men and Dutch Women (cited above)
actually confirm the validity of both new profiles for Men/Women
since, at their very low obesity rate (10%) they clearly qualify to
appear in the Healthy Weight slice of the USDA Chart. This can be
easily visualized by comparing where they map into the new profiles
(overlaid on FIG. 13B) to where they'd plot in the old profiles
(FIG. 13A):
TABLE-US-00010 Case in Point for Tall Men: Comparison of 2012
Profiles with earlier Profiles (based on BMI) Extreme Example:
Extreme Example: Earlier Men/Women Profiles 2012 Profiles Very Low
Obesity Tallest in the World FIG. 13A FIGS. 13B/13C The Netherlands
Height* Weight BMI** Weight Slice Weight Slice Dutch Men (DM)
6'1''* 195 lbs 25.7** >192 Moderate <200 Healthy Dutch Women
(DW) 5'8''* 165 lbs 22.6 =165 Healthy (?) <167 Healthy Dutch Men
and Women are the tallest in the world (passed the US 50 years ago)
**At their very low obesity rate (10%), both DM/DW easily qualify
as Healthy but Dutch Men get a Moderate ranking due to their skewed
BMI @ 25.7 because BMI can't distinguish any natural weight
increase due to muscle mass in tall men
[0578] By embracing this extreme--the tallest healthy Men/Women in
the world--this case in point confirms another significant way the
newly-configured profiles for Men and Women have improved over the
USDA Chart and Met Life Table. Moreover, this upgrade for taller
men becomes all the more significant in light of the spiraling
growth of sports, from recreational to competitive, worldwide--and
the parallel explosion of fit athletes who play the sports, but are
rated obese.
Unique Database (DB) to Calculate Ideal Weight Vs. Height
[0579] In accordance with an illustrative implementation, a user's
weight goal may be selected based upon the ideal weight database
shown in FIG. 13C1. In an illustrative implementation, the system
may select a weight goal for the user based upon the FIG. 13C1
ideal weight database described below using user profile entries of
height, weight, gender, and frame size (taking into account waist
and wrist size (see FIGS. 12A/12B)) as illustrated in FIG. 8A).
[0580] In determining a user's goal weight, FIG. 13C1 depicts in a
table format an illustrative new and improved system database
relating a user's height to a healthy "ideal" weight for a range of
small, medium, and large frame minimum and maximum weight values
for both men and women. The illustrative weight, nutrition, and
exercise tracking system that is dedicated to helping today's users
get healthier and/or lose weight presents a unique answer to the
age-old question . . . exactly what is an "ideal" weight for a
given user height? The database shown in FIG. 13C1 takes into
account various generic factors that may affect the user's weight,
such as gender, body frame (small/medium/large) and relative level
of obesity. In an illustrative implementation, the database is
advantageously designed to assist in calculating small increments
of weight loss that can eventually lead an overweight user to a
goal within his or her reach. The database shown in FIG. 13C1 is
accessed in part by using wrist size to differentiate body frame
and waist size to differentiate obesity level.
[0581] This new database has been derived by selectively
reconciling and integrating the most historically reliable sources
of height vs. weight data still in widespread use today: [0582]
Metropolitan Life Table (Met Life table), from their 1942 life
expectancy data (updated 1983) But, this aging data falls short of
today's taller, heavier bodies that are still healthy [0583] USDA
CNPP center Chart, from their 1995 obesity data (and Met Life
Table).
[0584] The Met Life table has become a standard that is still
widely used for determining recommended body weights. This table
has been criticized for varied reasons:
[0585] Insured people tend to be healthier than uninsured
people
[0586] The people included were predominantly white and
middle-class
[0587] Frame size was not consistently measured
[0588] Some people were actually weighed, some were not
[0589] The table did not consider percentage of body fat or
distribution
[0590] The table is considered okay for people in their forties,
but the weights are too heavy for younger people and too light for
older people.
Yet despite all these caveats, the table has continued to serve as
a worldwide standard together with updated versions of this
table.
[0591] The database of FIG. 13C1 has been designed to take into
account such criticisms of the Met Life table and to accommodate
taller, healthy men and women, in that the Table has been extended
up to 6'2'' for women and up to 6'6'' (and down to 4'10'') for men
by interpolation. Further, the present DB has been designed to
classify large/small-bone people in their correct frame size, which
becomes important in taking into account the differences between
men and women. Thus, the ideal weight database has been customized
by the melding of Met Life tables, demographic data, frame size,
body mass index, etc. While this approach has not been clinically
proven or tested, it is presented as an illustrative implementation
of a highly useful tool in determining a user's ideal weight that
is tailored to individual users in a unique manner.
[0592] FIG. 13C1 ties together the above Tables/Charts into a
single 2012 DB that integrates MIN/MAX frames (scaled up from 1983
Met Life Table) within MIN healthy/moderate edges (rotated/shifted
from 1995 USDA Chart) that allows the system to provide an ideal
weight (nearest lb) matched precisely to a user's exact height
(nearest 1/4'') for both Men (left side) and Women (right side).
This Table reflects Ideal Weight per Body Frame according to Met
Life data (updated 1983), with new MIN boundaries per FIG. 13B
(updated 2012).
[0593] Unless separated by their naturally higher weights, men have
been improperly lumped into impossible for many to reach lower
weight profiles for women. The 2012 updates include reconfigured
"healthy weight" slices, now separated for men and women, as
redefined in the compare columns in FIG. 13C. The aging Met Life
data is still valuable for its min/max ranges that were scaled up
to define all 3 body frames within the expanded 2012 weight
deltas.
[0594] In effect, the Chart of FIG. 13B plus Table 13C1 tie
together data, indicators, and lessons learned from published data
from various countries taking into account median age, obesity
rate, height and weight in the spectrum of healthy to obese data
for men and women, the Met Life table, the USDA weight chart and
updates thereto.
[0595] In effect, Chart 13B/Table 13C1 tie together data: [0596]
For 5 Major Countries:
Median Age==>Obesity Rate==>Height and Weight
[0597] Ideal Weight vs. Height in the spectrum of
Obese==>Healthy [0598] For individual Men/Women: [0599] As shown
in the table, the 2012 Database Table 13C1 comprises modified
primary data values
TABLE-US-00011 [0599] 2012 DB 1995 USDA Chart 1983 Met Life Table
Upgrades Men Women Men Women Separate Sexes Heavier Profile Lighter
Profile -- -- into 2 Distinct Profiles (entirely new) (existing)
(existing) (existing) Expand Height -- -- Up to 6' 6'' Up to 6' 6''
Up/Down (existing) (existing) Down to 4' 10'' -- (per FIG. 13C)
Discriminate Height Rotate Medium Rotate Medium Rotate Tall
6.degree. to Rotate Tall 6.degree. to on Tall/Medium/Short and
Short -8.degree. to and Short -8.degree. to Heavier Weight Heavier
Weight (per FIG. 13B) Heavier Weight Heavier Weight (NA below) (NA
below) Distinguish Body Frame Add 2 more Add 2 more (existing)
(existing) on Small/Medium/Large ranges between ranges between
scale values up scale values up (per FIG. 12A) Min/Max edges
Min/Max edges per FIG. 13C per FIG. 13C Determine Body Frame via
Wrist/elbow via Wrist/elbow via Wrist/elbow via Wrist/elbow
Small/Medium/Large (per FIG. 12A) (FIG. 12A) (elbow existing)
(elbow existing) Determine Obesity Level via Waist Size via Waist
Size via Waist Size via Waist Size Healthy/Moderate/Severe (per
FIG. 12C) (FIG. 12C) (per FIG. 12C) (per FIG. 12C)
[0600] FIG. 13C2 is a chart showing boundary equations that may be
used to identify the ideal weight for men and women shown in FIG.
13C. More particularly, FIG. 13C2 shows step-wise linear equations
for both men and women that identify the boundaries in the ideal
weight chart of FIG. 13C for a healthy weight minimum and moderate
weight minimum based on the two height ranges of 5 feet, 9 inches
to 6 feet, 6 inches and 4 feet, 10 inches to 5 feet, 9 inches.
[0601] FIG. 14 is a flowchart delineating the sequence of
operations in an illustrative implementation of reward processing.
Upon entry into reward processing (250), the routine checks to
determine whether a "goal has been met" signal has been received
from an identified user by, for example, reward server 16 (252). In
an illustrative implementation, any goal being met may trigger an
award generation including weight-related goals, exercise-related
goals and smoking cessation-related goals. If no such signal has
been received from any mobile computing device in the system, the
reward processing routine awaits receipt of such a signal.
[0602] In the example shown in FIG. 14, it is contemplated that a
reward is automatically generated without any selection by user. It
should be understood, however, that in other implementations, the
user may be involved in selecting a desired reward.
[0603] If an identified user's goal has been met, the routine
determines the extent to which the goal has been exceeded (254).
Such a determination may be made in an illustrative implementation
based on data transmitted from server 14 regarding the user's goal
achievement.
[0604] It should be understood that a reward may be embodied in a
wide variety of forms. It is contemplated, without limitation,
that, for example, rewards may be in the form of downloaded music,
movies, digital versions of TV shows, music videos, cash, discounts
at movies, restaurants (particularly those that include a wide
range of healthy alternatives), discounts at sporting events,
mobile games, mobile gaming currency, other mobile applications,
etc.
[0605] In an illustrative implementation, a reward is selected
based upon the extent to which a goal being exceeded (256). Thus if
a user exceeds weight loss goals in a given month by, for example,
20 pounds or has stopped smoking for a predetermined extended, time
period, the user may receive a movie as a reward as opposed to
receiving downloaded music. In order to provide adequate motivation
for users, it is desirable to provide rewards as soon as it is
determined that a goal has been exceeded. For example, in an
illustrative implementation, if a user exceeds a daily food
consumption, smoking cessation, or exercise goal, the system may
reward such performance, by automatically downloading music of the
type to which the user has shown an inclination to listen.
[0606] In accordance with an illustrative implementation, the
system accesses one or more of the user's playlists (258). For
example, users of the iPhone often utilize the iTunes application
to download music of their choice. Accessing of the playlist
associated with the user's use of iTunes will reveal a great deal
of information regarding the user's listening and viewing
preferences. For example, by accessing such a playlist or the like,
it may be determined that the user has a particular preference for
`90`s music, classical music, music videos together with the
particular selections within those and other categories. Moreover,
it may be determined which selections are the user's top-rated,
recently added, top 25 and most recently played selections.
Further, the user's preferences with respect to movies, TV shows
and other entertainment preferences may be determined.
[0607] Based upon an analysis of such data from iTunes, the routine
may select a particular song which is likely to be appreciated by
the user since, for example, it is performed by an artist who has
been identified in the playlist as the performer of one of the
user's top-rated songs (260). In this example, such a song may be
downloaded upon the user meeting a daily goal. In other
implementations, the routine may select up to three songs for the
user to choose from; a similar approach may be used for TV shows,
movies, or other reward options. If, for example, a user meets a
weekly or monthly goal, a selected TV show or movie may be
downloaded to the user as a reward. Alternatively, one of the other
above identified wide range of rewards, such as a discount coupon
to an entertainment or sporting event may be downloaded.
[0608] If for example, a song has been selected for downloading,
the routine may interact with the iTunes store to trigger
downloading such a song to the user to provide the user's reward
for goal achievement (262). Thereafter, the routine returns to the
mainline routine of FIG. 2A for further processing (263).
[0609] While the invention has been described in connection with
what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred
embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be
limited to the disclosed embodiments, but on the contrary, is
intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements
included within the spirit and scope of the submitted claims.
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