FitDay.com How To's
 

As I've been reading through the forum, I've notice that many people have difficulty with using FitDay.com. I'm quite comfortable using it and I like to track my daily activities and my weight using it as well as my food. It's such a useful tool, once you get the hang of it.

If you are having difficulty using it or cannot find a food that you've eaten, feel free to post it here and I'll help you out with navigating FitDay.

Marlaine

Fitday has some unusual defaults don't they? :confused:
Do they have the option of inputing entire custom recipies? (similar to the way dietwatch does)

Yes....they have some very strange defaults.

I entered a S/F fruit spread I use as a custom food and though I put it in as a Tbsp, it defaults to a litre. :daze: Like that makes any kind of sense.

I don't know anything about dietwatch, but to put in a whole custom recipe, open a future day in a separate window. Then enter all of the components of the recipe on that future page. When it's done....transfer the totals and enter them under "New Custom Food".

M

What you can do in this case is get a second fitday account. Enter all the information for your custom food in one day and there you have the breakdown for the entire recipe. I take that information (print it out) then input it into my regular account dividing it as I want (cups, servings, etc)

HTH
Nat

Your ideas are great....why didn't I think of those things? Thanks

PS Dietwatch.com is similar to fitday.com but it has many more foods pre-entered into their database. The downsize you ask? It costs money to join and I'm just plain too cheap...

The handiest advice I ever read here was from (I think) Nat, who suggested entering partial words to get a listing...I've found that some words have an "S" and some don't (and not what you'd guess). Also, this helps me when I forget if zucchini has two "c's" or two "n's" or what. I just write "zuc" and hit "go" and it finds it for me without me havving to lern to spel or anything.

Also, a recent "aha" for me---for those of us who eat free-range meats, it doesn't list those, but in beef, it often lists "select" cuts, which would be closer in fat content to free-range than "choice" or "prime" cuts.
The defaults ARE crazy (who eats a cup of butter with only a leaf of romaine?)--the fastest way to handle that is to enter all the foods at once, then go back at the end and correct all the amounts at once.

One "beef" I have with fitday has to do with chicken :daze:

Chicken parts .. the portion size options are "from a 1 lb. ready-to-cook chicken" or "one ______ (name yer part -- thigh, breast, dark meat, light meat, etc) This is useless as far as I'm concerned. Most chickens I've encountered weigh more like 2½ to 3 lbs .. and one thigh?? I've bought packages of chicken thighs that range in weight from 3 to 6 oz. each

I've had to enter chicken parts as custom foods, using our nutrient data counter here. At least that way, I can get accurate counts based on the actual weight of the portion I eat.

Doreen

Do, I gave up trying to do that with chicken - I just started weighing everything. Its got to the point that I can eyeball 4 oz of turkey pretty dead on. It does get annoying when you're dealing with boned pieces, though.

Fitday doesnt seem too swift on replying to queries - I recently sent them off an e-mail asking just what "NFS" means next to so many of their items. Haven't heard back yet. I know what I think it means ;)

Nat

I thought I was the only one who didn't know what NFS means. Whew.....

What do you think it means? I have NO idea!

Sue

"Not F___ Sure" ;)

Nat

*LOL*

Actually, that term is also used with the USDA data, which is what fitday values are based on. I believe it stands for "No Facts Stated" usually in reference to preparation method.

Doreen

Hey, Do! Thanks - So, do you think "NS" means something other than "Not Sure"? ;) LOL I just figured NFS was the superlative of NS (shows you how my mind works)

Nat

Chicken Parts
 

I found that by going in through "All Foods" and then "Poultry" and then "Chicken", I can choose (for example) under "Chicken Breast, with or without bone", the entry called "Roasted, Skin Eaten" which gives a lot of choices for quantity:

1 cup cooked, diced
1 oz boneless cooked
1 oz boneless (raw) yield after cooking

etc. I usually use the "1 oz boneless cooked" and weigh what I'm going to eat.

I've found my $10 scales priceless and have managed to find a way to enter most foods by weight.

Thanks for the tip about chicken :thup: ... I just gave up in frustration, and entered the values manually from here as a custom food.

I agree about weighing everything. I weigh my vegetables too .. way more accurate than a cup measure.

Doreen

Marlaine, how do I delete a food from my custom list ? Im so hopeless with fitday Ive got several things in there by mistake that Id like to clear out :o thank you.

Love the N 'F' S. Unfortunately every time I glance it now, thats all I see lol