CalorieKing
calorieking.com
Developed in Australia in 1996, CalorieKing.com was originally a spinoff of dietitian Allan Borushek's bestseller, The CalorieKing Calorie, Fat and Carbohydrate Counter (available through CalorieKing.com, about $9.20). Since then, Borushek's website has gone global, offering diets and exercise advice, as well as downloadable software.
Best features
The Food Database is the best on the web, with more than 50,000 brand name and generic items. Enter what you ate and the database, which is updated daily, tallies the calorie count, plus fat, fibre and protein information and recipe suggestions.
Designed with the premise that "seeing is believing," the handy Portion Watch tool posts pictures of each serving size, along with its calorie, fat and carbohydrate breakdown.
Once you've signed up, you can hit the Diet Diary, an online agony aunt that records your nutritional intake and exercise, analyses your efforts and gently reminds you of your target weight. Or enrol in the 13-week CalorieKing University to learn better lifestyle, nutrition and exercise habits.
Cost
Membership is about $51 for a year, which gets you access to the portion-watch tools, the CalorieKing University, Diet Diary and other goodies, although some online articles and the food database are free. For an extra $34 to $50, you can load the food database or nutrition and exercise manager tools directly onto your laptop or PDA.
eDiets
eDiets.com
Consistently lauded as one of the finest diet websites by Forbes.com, eDiets is certainly the most accessible. Since it offers online versions of 21 popular diets, including the Glycemic Impact, Blood Type and an eDiets version of Jenny Craig, you don't have to plow through the books yourself before you start. And even nonmembers can sign up for free daily e-mails offering encouragement, success stories, and health and nutrition articles.
Best features
eDiets caters to everyone. Each regimen has a personalized menu plan with alternatives, fast-food choices and recipes, plus information about why each diet works and who it works best for.
There's also a celebrity connection -- Oprah Winfrey's personal trainer, Bob Greene, offers three exercise programs, depending on whether you're a routine-loving neophyte or a fit-but-frazzled dieter who can't commit to sweating 45 minutes a day. Articles advise on the latest diet research, provide tips on how to get more energy and offer answers to the most perplexing question of all: What do you wear when you're between dress sizes?
The site's support arm, eDiets Solutions, is a glowing example of how the Internet can be the life coach you can't afford. Need to chat? Join live online meetings, drop into a chat room, write in an online journal and get 24-hour support. But if voicing your diet woes to anyone who'll listen doesn't work for you, you can talk to a real nutritionist, online or by phone.
For an additional small sum, the Recipe Club offers more than 6,000 tasty selections, personalized by diet program.
Cost
eDiets takes an Ikea approach to billing, so each thing -- exercise, recipes, diets -- is sold separately. Some programs, such as South Beach, are more expensive than the house brand eDiets regimen, but, in general, a membership including diet, exercise program and support runs $32 a month, or $382 a year.
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