Nutri-plate

Savanna sat at her kitchen table, absently twisting the band around her wrist, staring anxiously at the plate in front of her.

After a couple of minutes, her husband broke into her thoughts, "Well, I guess maybe that silly contraption might actually work."

Savana looked over at him with her brows wrinkled.

He had been critical of the Nurtri-Plate since she had shown him the infomercial over six-months ago and had refused to let her buy it. So, she had saved every penny she could get her hands on and then asked her parents and in-laws to fund the rest of the cost as her Christmas present.

"What?" She asked.

"Well, scaring you out of eating anything at all should reduce you calorie intake."

Savana glared at him, but he was right. She was more than a little apprehensive about using the thing. She had spent most of the first day of the new year calibrating the device and setting up her profile.

Instead of opening the box on Christmas, she waited until earlier that morning.  She knew, and had read about each of the gadgets in the box. The commercial had dubbed the set as the "virtual health managing system." Of course there was the digital plate itself, but then there was  the portable roll-up scale with a USB connection to connect to your computer in order to instantly update your profile; the wristband that monitored your heart rate, body temperature, pulse, and had even claimed to be able to detect some hormonal and sugar levels; and a small handheld device with a rounded silver end that she had to pass over her stomach, thighs and biceps to get a precise digital reading of her fat/muscle ratio.

What she hadn't realized, was that it was going to take several hours to fill out the profile. It need to know how old she was, how active she was, her current weight, her goals and she had to upload a picture of herself.

The picture was the main concept behind the Nutir-plate. Using a software called Photo-Phuture, the program would continuously upgrade your photo using all the data collecting gadgets. The user could choose how far out they would like to see the effects of their current health habits and this is the picture that would appear on the digital plate after each meal.

Finally, Savana reached up and hit the power button. The rim of the plate glowed red and the center read "calculating." In seconds the rim dimmed from red to yellow and then to a soothing green. Savana added a spoonful of mashed potatoes and a small amount of gravy, a small baked chicken breast and three pieces seasoned asparagus onto her plate and hit the scan button. The plate once again glowed yellow as a small arm raised up from the side of the plate, passed over the food and returned to its original position.
Savana caught her husband's look out of the corner of her eye, but ignored it, watching the plate for the all clear. The light around the plate once again glowed green which meant that it had determined the meal to meet the caloric intake she had calculated to achieve her weight loss.

She ate slowly. As soon as she had finished the rim turned yellow once more. In the center her picture appeared. She had chosen to see how her current habits would affect her overall health in three months. Before the picture came up, a box appeared,  listing the improvement in muscle/ fat ratio, overall metabolism and finally weight loss she could expect if remained on course. Then the picture appeared. The system showed the picture with the predicted fifteen percent decrease.
Savana stared down at the picture in disbelief, a huge smile spreading across her face. She lifted the plate to show her husband the photo on the plate.

"I'll believe it when I see it." He said.

And he would.

Every meal didn't go as well as the first one, and she had to use all of the accessories, not just the plate, but she did it. It took her six months to meet the weight goal that she had wanted, but even after that she continued to use the system. While at the beginning the prospective photos had been the strongest motivation, she quickly realized that it was the overall improvement in her overall wellness that kept her going.