• i. Title

    Weight Management System

  • ii. Name

    C. Joyce Torres

  • iii. Abstract

    Ever since I joined Weight Watchers last summer and subsequently lost 25 pounds, I have wanted to figure out a way to continue managing my weight loss and attempting to maintain a healthier lifestyle than what I used to have. I envision an application where friends and I can interact and use tools to aid us all in our quest.

  • iv. What

    I would like to build a weight management system where friends and I can track our weight-loss progress. I would like to put in functionality that makes available the tools that proved successful for me so far. Toward this end, I would like to have a recipe-tracking system where not only will I be able to share my favorite recipes, but also be able to organize them by category, create menus and generate grocery lists to take to the store with me. I could also add a recipe-rating system to help others decide if they want to invest the time and energy in trying them out on their own. In addition, I could also put in a feature where we can track our individual weight loss which could serve as encouragement or a deterrent in case we veer away at times from our weight loss plan.

  • v. Why

    Currently, the way I manage my weight loss is using paper and pencil to figure out grocery lists, and just hopping on and off the scale now and then to see if I had made any progress. I would like to better organize this process and add some automation to it. It would also be nice if my friends and I can interact and share notes more regularly instead of waiting to do so in our weekly meetings.

  • vi. How

    I would like to use the framework that was set up for us in project 3. I plan on storing my recipes on a personal site and making it available to the project site as an XML feed a la moreovernews.com. As such, I will utilize XSLT to process the XML and Java to write the application. I need to research ways to implement the weight-tracking portion of the application as well as the recipe-rating system. I plan on working on my own so the responsibility for writing the application solely belongs to me.

  • vii. Questions

    My immediate concern is if I am allowed to use an existing framework for the project. Can I store information on another site, which is what I am hoping to do for the recipes?