So, recently delivered in the current flurry of parcel deliveries was this:
No! Don’t be silly – the scale, not the apple.
It is a Situ scale. Situ is a “smart, nutritional scale” that connects to a mobile device by Bluetooth. I have been after one since they were in development. Unfortunately when the scale came to market, it lacked the Android support that had been promised and only works with Apple devices for now. I waited and I wanted. The Android SDK came out but as yet there is no sign of any available functionality on the app markets.
Of course you are probably asking “What?” and “Why?” by now, especially if you followed the link and saw the price.
What:
- Acts as standard tare-able kitchen scale
- Connects by bluetooth to Apple mobile device such as iPad or iPod
- Supported by an App with drag and drop interface
- Calculates a range of nutrient values for the food that you actually use or serve
- Tracks daily intake and long term nutrients
- Can assist in dietary education
Why:
- I needed new scales as my old ones were misbehaving
- I really want to lose weight
- Doing the 500 calorie meals for Fast days is doing my head in
- The Doctor says I ought to keep an eye on my sugars and my fats
- There was a Black Friday discount, quite a hefty one
- Mr L had Cumulus money to burn and I think he was hoping for a justification to get an iPad.
- If we had an iPad then we might justify buying a Situ scale
- Repeat 6 and 7 in an infinite loop
We were very successful with the 5:2 diet last year but after dropping from the wagon in February we have struggled to get back into the swing of it or to stick to it. Hopefully the scales will not only re-educate but the expenditure is likely to focus our attention in a way that it has not been focused for the most of this year.
As the scales do not yet work with our Android tablet, we needed a new one before the scales could be used. Long established readers may recall that we bought a very cheap Chinese import Android tablet as a proof of concept. If it turned out that it was of an use to us, Mr L intended to replace it with something better once use was proved. That something better was always intended to be Android-based but the need/desire for the rigour of the Situ scale pushed him to Apple.
Of course the cost of Apple technology is both horrendous and prohibitive. Mr L is however of Yorkshire birth and has canny Yorkie thrift training and habit. He sourced a refurbished tablet, gaining a good-as-new and top of the line model for under two thirds of the best new price he was able to find. (NB – “canny” has a specific meaning in Yorkshire that does not read the same as the Geordie or Scots senses. “He’s canny wi’ ‘is money” equates to “Tight” or “Careful” or perhaps even “mean” or “Scrooge-like”. Mr L is in fact a tightwad.)
Bargain.
This arrived before the scales in fact
It’s a beautiful thing. To the naked eye it looks perfect but the camera has revealed marks showing some wear and tear.
Compared to the cheapie Chinese pad, it is so slender and elegant and lightweight as to be almost unbelievable.
When the scale was deliveredthe next day I switched both on and, being Apple, there was a no-fuss connection. The Bluetooth symbol appeared in the scale window with no fuss whatsoever. I weighed the apple, selected Apple With Skin from the app larder shelf and was informed immediately how many kilo-calories were in that actual apple
The iPad was delivered with 17% battery power and no Lightning cable, so we are unable to charge it. That means that today when I cooked my Chicken, Porcini and Barley I was still in the estimation ballpark. The iPad vendor is sending us the missing cable and we hope it will be here soon. Then we can eat with frightening accuracy.
The scale and pad will live on the kitchen table and be in daily use. It will take a while to develop the habit of weighing every morsel that I intend to consume but the effects over time ought to be worth the cost and the hassle. The act itself should become second nature.
When not keeping my eating habits in a dietary straitjacket, the iPad will do service in giving us mobile computing when we are away with Brunhilde. It even acts as a camera, so I believe – though how I have no idea. How can you possibly keep a thing that size level in every plane and steady while pressing whatever makes the shutter go click. I am mystified. Personally I cannot cope with anything that fails to offer a proper viewfinder. How do you keep the camera steady when held at arm’s length in order to be able to read a stupid screen!
Other News:
The sweater swatch grew a little sideways after washing and now yields 20 stitches to 4″ instead of 21. That does not sound like much but over a whole sweater it represents about an additional 2 inches in circumference. That being so, I’ll take it in to consideration when determining which size to knit. I have been out to the caravan for the 3 mm needles for the ribbing and am about to measure up Mr L’s favourite sweater for size. I’ll cast on shortly.
Today’s unnecessary purchase delivery was… wine. There are more goodies to come.
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