Customer Reviews

The Calorie King Calorie, Fat & Carbohydrate Counter 2007

5 star:		(181)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Last year I was diagnosed as a diabetic. While not an extreme case I still needed to start watching my carbs and weight. The problem is while watching your carbs and fat is easy at home, it's extremely difficult to do so while traveling. My wife and I went on a long trip last summer driving across a good chunk of the US. We were afraid my new diatary needs might spoil the trip a bit. I mean who wants to spend the whole time on vacation worrying about what you're going to eat all the time? This book allowed me to be able to stay within my carb and fat limits even when eating at places like McDonalds, Burger King or your average roadside diner.

The book has a ton of practical applications for someone trying to watch their calories, fat or carbs.

One last thing. Do not let the word "pocket" make you shy away from this book. Yeah, it can fit in your pocket but I looked through a number of full sized nutritional guides before finding this one and none of the $30 books has as much information and especially practical information as this book.

By the way. I lost 30 pounds and I'm in the best shape of my life!

These little books are so handy to have around if you want to eat out and still watch what you eat. I have had the 2002 and 2003 books and they are so good to have. If you are single and eat out a lot, if you are a college student who cant cook or just don't have time but you want to have some control of how much fat or calories you are eating this is the book for you! This book has just about every fast food place you can think of plus a ton of restaurants and just everyday food items. It breaks down fat, calories, carbs, protein, and many more for you, for just about everything you can imagine!
Want to go to Burger King or McDonald's, or even Taco Bell but you don't want to ingest 10,000 calories and 700 grams of fat this is the book you should have. It will tell you everything you want to know about every item on the menu (unless the item is brand new) so that you can make a smart decision about what to eat. Things like instead of getting a Whopper that has like 48 grams of fat in ONE sandwich, you will see you can get the chicken sandwich with no mayo for on 8 grams of fat. A much better choice! Or you go by carbs if you are watching them or just by protein, calories, or all of them. You can finally eat healthy or low fat (to the best of your ability, this is fast food) and still eat out! If you are someone who has just always wondered about how many calories are in a taco or someone who counts them everyday this is a book you should pick up for sure!

Each year Allan Borushek releases a new version of "The Doctor's Pocket Calorie, Fat & Carbohydrate Counter." By issuing a new version each year Borushek is able to include the newest foods on the market and at fast food chains and restaurants.

Though there are a number of calorie counting books on the market, I like Borusheks because it is user friendly. It includes some little photos and sketches, and uses color to highlight different food items so its much easier to use than other counters. In addition Borushek includes hints to reduce fat, weight control tips, a diabetes guide and more. Lots of super useful information.

The book lists over 11,000 food items and 200 fast food chains and restaurants. For each item it includes calories, carbohydrates and fat. At the back of the book Borushek discusses other nutrients though these are not included for each item in the book. He discusses fiber, salt, protein, calcium and more.

At 4x6x1/2 the book is sized nicely to tuck into your bag or briefcase. And with its low price point you may want to purchase several copies. I keep one in my car so I know what I am consuming if I go to a restaurant.

The only drawback to the book in my opinion is dietician and health educator Borushek's face in a little crown on the cover. A little cheesy. But despite that the book is a winner.

Borushek also has a nice website where he sells a calorie counting program for your PDA, PC and/or joining an online community. He also offers his database of foods which is continually updated free at the site http://www.calorieking.com.

A very handy little book to have!

I have been using calorie counting books for years and this is by far the best and most comprehensive I have ever seen. It includes 170 fast-food chains, many of which you would never find in other calorie books. It also has a very useful index in the back, so you can find items very quickly and the book is small enough to fit easily in a purse. Very highly recommended!

2008 CalorieKing Calorie, Fat & Carbohydrate Counter (Calorie King) attempts to be a total health guide and not simply a calorie / fat / carb counter. Ambitiously, it touches on many subjects, but can only devote a page or a few pages to each topic. The format and small size don't allow this book to cover these subjects (diabetes, osteoporosis, overweight kids, etc) as well as a full size book. (For example, there is height/weight chart that gives only the most rudimentary information; if you're 5'6" your healthy weight range is 123-156. It doesn't seem to matter if you're male or female, or what type of frame you have.) If you have anything more than a passing interest in these things, you will probably want a book devoted to that specific topic AND a separate pocket size calorie / fat / carb guide to carry with you. Though this will fit into many purses or briefcases, at 4.25 by 6 inches and almost a half inch thick, this is a bit too big and heavy to be a true pocket guide.

The food section of the book is set up very nicely with columns for calories, fat and carbs. You'd be challenged to come up with a food that's not listed; for example, there are three pages devoted to listings of cheeses, and a page and a half devoted to bread.

A very nice feature of this guide is the fast food and restaurant guide, which is approximately 90 pages. Most of the listings are for fast food places, but there are also entries for chains such as Olive Garden and PF Chang. It surprised me that, living in the Queen City of Sprawl, I've only heard of about half of these places while others I recognize as regional but not around here.

No book of this type is going to be able to cover everything - not even a giddy 20th anniversary edition. This one does manage to cover quite a bit, and includes a link for free website support to check out the latest food products besides. Considering the amount of material they include, the purpose would have been better served by making this a full size book with normal print and a bit more detail. The alternative would be to leave out the special interest health sections and go for a true pocket size guide that included more dining out options. I think this book would have been more useful if the editors had gone in one direction or the other.

You can't get a better deal than this little book for over $7 bucks. It such a comprehensive book with calories on almost any food you can think of and if does not have the calorie count for a specific meal, there is still enough information on all the basic ingredients so that someone who is reasonably intelligent can figure out the total calorie intake for that specific meal.

Having this book is kind of like being on Weight Watchers except you don't have to pay money to get weighed in. With WW, a point system is allotted to food and you (the dieter) is allotted a certain amount of points per day. It is up to you to keep track of everything you eat by writing it down in a journal and make sure that you do not go over the points allowed per day. The same can be said for the Calorie King; instead of points, you track calories (that simple).

For those who are more geared towards technology, the Calorie King software for PC and PDA is SUPER. The software programs actually have more food listing in their datase than that contained in the book. So if you have a PDA or a PC, you should check out the software. I have both the software and the book and if I cannot lose weight then I have no one to blame but myself.

P.S. For those reviewers who are complaining that this book does not cover protein and fiber count, you can get the PDA version of this book as it has calories, carbohydrate, fat, fiber and protein count. What more can you ask for???

This book is definitely the best of its kind on the market. It's colorful, up-to-date, and easy to use, and I love the fact it is pocket-sized - I take it everywhere with me. It's so much easier to use and nicer to look at than other food-count books. Whoever came up with the idea of including restaurants was onto something - I always take it with me when I eat out and check the calories of menu items before I order. I first bought one in 2001 (it's updated every year) when I decided to eat more healthily. It's a great resource - I lost 30 lbs, and I've kept it off.

Each year I look forward to getting the new updated edition of this book. It has calorie, fat & carb counts for the newest supermarket products and fast-food menus, along with listings for every food imaginable. I even found counts for deep-fried Twinkies in my 2005 copy! I'm amazed so much information can be packed into a 4"x6" book I can tuck in my purse. Makes it handy to stay on track with weight management.

I was in the store looking for the Atkin's carb-counter booklet. I stumbled upon this brightly colored booklet--what a find! It's colorful, has all the carb counts Atkins does, and more. It also gives calories and fat counts, nutrition information, and added health tips. Although not everything advocated in this booklet fits with the Atkins approach (which I'm using) I still found that the book is more useful. It's more complete, easier to use, easier on the eyes (larger print and clearer fonts), and more up to date, having been published just this year. Another big plus is that although this book probably contains at least double the information found in Atkins counter, it is still compact.

Some minor complaints: some of the information does seem a bit dated, and the author clearly does not buy into the low-carb diets that many are using his book for. Also, the cover may drive some people away, because of its gaudiness (the author wearing a crown) and the stereotypical diet claim "America's Best."

Bottom line: Once inside this booklet the loudiness dissipates. Knowledge is presented such that the reader can adapt it to Atkins, to traditional low-fat or low-cal approaches, as well as to diabetic and low-sodium diets. Those who eat out will find plenty of restaurant charts. This is a Calorie/Fat/Carbohydrate pocket counter on steroids! Best of all, the price is only about $1 more than the very streamlined alternatives.

When my son got diabetes, I was so scared, there are so many foods with no nutritional informaton on it. A friend of mine gave us this book as a gift and I felt so relieved, my son loves fruit and now I have no problem working fruit into his diet. This book has become my bible, we can even eat out without worry because there is a resturant guide. I give this book to everyone of his teachers, to help him make good choices when I am not there. I would recommend this book to anyone with diabetes or anyone just trying to count there carbohydrates, it is great.