Tips » Diet
DietPower costs money — wouldn't it be better to use something that is free online, like FitDay.com?
FitDay is free, but in my opinion is nowhere nearly as powerful as DietPower. FitDay works from equations and assumptions. That means if you and another male the same height/weight/age plug into it, it's going to allocate you the same calories. If, a week later, they drop a pound and you gain a pound, guess what? It's still going to give you the same calories because it's equation-based.
I have trained enough people to know that metabolism can vary by as much as 500 from one person to the next, even if the BMR equations plug them at the same level.
What I love about DietPower is that it adjusts based on your actual progress. In other words, it starts with a best guess but if you aren't losing, it will lower its estimate of your metabolism and budget fewer calories to compensate. Eventually, it learns your actual metabolism. It is a very powerful tool because you can receive direct feedback about how your choices impact your metabolism - for example, I know when I increase my ratio of calories from proteins and healthy fats, my metabolism goes up, so I can eat more and achieve the same rate of weight loss.
I did two photo shoots using DietPower - I plugged in the goal weight and followed it 100%, and it got me to that weight and time time. This is the first one, when I thought I had gained a bit of muscle and could come in shredded at 188:
http://www.naturalphysiques.com/gallery/jeremytransform/march302002
A year later I set out to drop weight, this time without the traditional high protein/moderate fat bodybuilding diet and instead following a mainly vegan-style nutrition program with food-combining. I only averaged about 90 grams of protein per day. I was taking on 300 grams of carbs, eating a lot of fruit, fibrous vegetables, etc. I set my goal for 176 and came in just 2 pounds shy, at 178:
http://www.naturalphysiques.com/gallery/jeremytransform/aug122003
So I am biased as a huge fan of DietPower because it works so well for me!