a) It's portion sized, eg a "a small knob of butter", rather than 10g of butter (I have NO idea what 10g of butter looks like, but I DO know that I put a "knob" on my toast!)
b) If you care, Carolyn also explains her portions at the front of the book, eg small knob of butter = 2 teaspoons.
c) She doesn't fill the book with stuff you can read on the back of the relevant food packet, nor fill the book with brand comparisons, eg XYZ digestive biscuits vs ABC digestive biscuits.
d) She includes relatively obscure/exotic foods eg pigeon, avgolemono soup and eel pie mash (no winkles, though, alas!)
e) She includes restaurant/home-made foods which would be calorifically difficult to guess, eg onion pakora and pineapple- upside-down pudding.
f) And finally, Carolyn linguistically addresses both the UK and USA markets. (How wonderful it is to discover a book which doesn't assume that we all eat cookies rather than biscuits!)

Hence, a top rating from me.


The Hugely Better Calaorie Counter (Essentials)   March 11, 2003
 42 out of 42 found this review helpful

Having been recently diagnosed as a Diabetic I was searching for information on calories, specifically individual ingredients and the average per portion of a restaurant meal. Whilst this does not cover absolutely everything I wanted, there is certainly enough information contained in this book for me to make informed decisions. The book is very clearly laid out in an A - Z format and focuses predominently on the calorific content of individual foods such as an apple as well as the average calorie count of a prawn curry. I do recommend this book to anyone who is in a similar situation.


Best calorie counting book I've come across!!   January 23, 2003
 50 out of 50 found this review helpful

After an extensive search to find a book which calculates calories according to portion sizes, I finally discovered this one, and use it religiously every day when calculating my calorie intake. It is extremely comprehensive and includes brand names along with the calorific value of everyday foods.

Would recommend this book to anyone who wants a calorie counting book that takes the guess work out of calculating your daily intake!!