Food Database difficult to use

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ZachZP
ZachZP Posts: 1 Member
in Getting Started
Hi, I am attempting to use the food database to keep my diary, but every search I perform brings up multiple items with very different nutritional entries. I search thru the list to find the correct entry but this takes considerable time. I can add these foods to my diary and they appear in recent foods. My concern is that when I do not use them for a week or two they will disappear and I will be searching through the inaccurate database again. Is there an easier way, can I add items from the database into my foods? Can I only search for verified entries? Can I share these with my family members so I do not need to search for each member? or do I search over and over again. Really, I like the site but searching for 30-40 foods we regularly eat takes hours and if I must search for all four of us ..... This may be why there are so many entries that everyone enters their own again and again to get them into their foods. help, please?

Replies

  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    If you have added them they will show up on your "My Foods" list. Nothing on this list will ever disappear unless you delete it.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
    edited May 2015
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    You'll have a list of the 100 most recently eaten foods and your 25 most frequent entries on the website. The good thing is, on the phone/tablet, you'll have pretty much everything and all you have to do is type it in! Also, your spouse or whomever can go to your diary (provided it's open to their access) and copy the meal into their diary with one click.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    Look in your Frequent Foods tab. Also look in the Recipe tab so you can make your meals easier.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    this might help...don't let it be daunting

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide?hl=Logging+accurately

    mainly look for confirmations and if you can't find one that is correct make one.
  • blossomingbutterfly
    blossomingbutterfly Posts: 743 Member
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    If you use a smartphone, you can scan the barcode on the package as well. Make sure that when you do that the entry that pops up is correct but usually it is with stuff I've used it for.
  • luckyoswalds
    luckyoswalds Posts: 2 Member
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    The phone app is most useful for this, but yes if you go into 'frequent' then some stuff should be there. I also really make use of the barcode scanner on the phone app too! That way I know I'm getting exactly what product I'm using/eating. Of course this doesn't work so well for fresh fruits/veg but usually I just find the most generic looking option and pick that, as long as it seems within reason.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,177 Member
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    ZachZP wrote: »
    I can add these foods to my diary and they appear in recent foods. My concern is that when I do not use them for a week or two they will disappear and I will be searching through the inaccurate database again.

    I added foods when I started 3 months ago, and they are still there.


    Note that if you add a particular food to "lunch", and then you want to add the same food to "dinner", you have to change the selection "All Meals".

    And yes, check all your tabs.

  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,641 Member
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    If you're usimg the mobile app, do a search and start typing the food you're looking for, but don't hit search. The foods you've used already should pop up. If you hit search, though, it'll take you to the database and you don't want that.
  • kath5591
    kath5591 Posts: 4 Member
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    I agree with the suggestions above - use the tabs etc., but I also agree with the original poster that this database is awkward and a pain to use. In other threads people say "it gets easier over time" but I've found just the opposite.

    Search for "banana" -- you get dozens of user-submitted entries. Before you all jump on me, adding "raw" or changing it to plural "bananas" doesn't always help.

    I also find the list of "my" foods isn't sortable - as it grows longer over time, it becomes more unwieldy. Being able to change it to alphabetical would help. Also being able to search my own lists would be brilliant.

    And while I'm ranting, I wish that when it refreshes the page it would return the cursor to the meal you're adding. It's fine at breakfast, but when you get to dinner time it's click, search, confirm nutrition from the myriad user-submission or just say f** it and pick any one, click, scroll, search, repeat confirm, scroll, click ... it really puts me off using it. If I just added a food to "dinner", why can't it roll the screen back down to dinner for me?

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