Fitness Assistant is a fitness software package characterized by its scientific approach to weight maintenance and a conversational guidance dialog to help you get there. In addition to the standard exercise and nutrition modules, Fitness Assistant includes a detailed goal setting module and a recovery module to track psychological factors that may affect your fitness routines. It is well balanced and well priced, especially for new fitness enthusiasts.

When Fitness Assistant starts up, you'll see a progress summary that will keep you focused on your fitness goals. Included in the summary is a count of exactly how many additional calories you must burn on a given day to reach your overall goals. Convenient dictionaries are available to help you establish healthy eating patterns and workouts. All Fitness Assistant selections are searchable, editable and open to additions and deletions. As a new user, you probably will not need to edit anything, but as your fitness knowledge increases, you will love the customizability. Other standout features include password protection, metabolism tracking and a training log.

With this fitness software, you can record strength training and cardio workouts. Fitness Assistant uses MET (metabolic equivalent of task) values to calculate energy expenditure for accurate results. When you select an activity for a specified length of time, you can immediately see what the projected calorie expenditure is – and that's a powerful motivator. It is a solid approach to fitness, measuring only incremental activity over your normal activity level.

To confirm that your workouts are not too rigorous, Fitness Assistant contains a recovery module. The day after a big workout, enter descriptions about your sleep, appetite, energy, mental performance and desire to train, all on sliding scales. This will help Fitness Assistant know what to say and it will help you adjust your goals. For instance, f your rate your desire to train as “no way,” it’s time to rethink your workout. However, if your energy is “higher than usual” and your mental performance is “better than usual,” you know you are on the right track.

As you log your eating habits, this fitness software monitors your caloric intake in several ways: total calories, calories burned, percentage of calories from fat, calories from carbohydrates, and calories from protein.

The recipe management section lets you edit or add recipes. The recipes provided in this section include important information, such as calories per serving and a simple pie chart of nutrient percentages. It is a convenient way to record and access a new healthy recipe collection.

In the event of a problem, you can get help from one of three sources: FAQs, email or the startup help screen. Fitness Assistant is not as easy to navigate as higher ranked applications and you may encounter minor performance flaws. However, the conversational tone, human approach and motivational features outweigh these small problems.