A way to avoid the dreaded public database

samaramae1

I have put together these instructions after spending many, many hours trying to figure out how to record in the diary without constantly getting items from the public database showing up.

Because this list is created by people from all over the place with many ideas on what the nutritional values are, the quantities different foods are used by and the construction of recipes, there is just no way to judge the accuracy of any of it. In other words it is a nightmare. The public database will also not have brands you are familiar with.

By making your own lists with information from the actual packaging or from a reputable calorie counter website, you can be confident your diary will reflect true values. Here in Australia I use CalorieKing.com.au.

To begin recording your meals it is important to create your own 'my foods ' list, one you can completely trust, which is important for your weight loss journey. I suggest you print out a number of (Keto) recipes for easy reference.

CREATING A MY FOODS LIST

1 Open MyFitnessPal and click on 'my foods' in the menu bar.

2 Click on the 'create foods' button on the right. Go through your recipes one by one and start with the first item with nutritional value. For example my recipe for Keto buns has 1 1/2 cups almond flour. In the Brand/Restaurant box I would put almond flour and in the food description box put ground. Click 'continue'.

3 Disregard ---we think the food etc---just scroll down and click' nope, this is not a duplicate'.

4 In the serving size box decide on a serving amount in either grams, ounces, cups or spoons because you will need to increase or decrease according to the recipe. For almond meal I put 1 cup ( you will see why later) but if your size is not showing just put 1 and click for all sizes to show up. If the best choice is not there you can add your own. If a number is not accepted you will need to put 'pieces'.

5 Fill in the values from the packaging or a reputable calorie counting site. Scroll down and click 'save' or 'save and create another'. You can check this by going back to 'my foods' and scrolling for the item.

6 Make this list as complete as possible as this is what you will be using to record in your diary or to create meals and recipes. It is not necessary to record foods with little or no values as you are not going to create an actual recipe, you just want the nutritional values there.


TO CREATE A MEAL YOU ARE LIKELY TO HAVE OFTEN

1 Open 'food diary' to an unused page and in a meal space click ' add food'. Scroll across and click on 'my foods' button.

2 Following the main ingredients in the printed recipe, scroll down and check all the ingredients you entered when creating ' my foods' list. Make sure you adjust the quantities according to how much of each is in the printed recipe. For example if the recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups you will need to put 1.5 cups, or for 3/4 cup it will be .75 cups. You can also weigh ingredients so it will read as 1.5 cups/100g. ( I spent a lot of time doing this but it was worth it for the accuracy). After all ingredients have been checked click ' add checked'.

3 The individual items will show up in the food diary. You are now ready to create 'my recipes' which is not the actual full recipe, which will take up too much space in the diary but will be one line only.


TO CREATE A RECIPE

1 When all components of a meal have been added in the diary, click ' quick tools' under the list and choose ' remember meal'. Type in a name for the meal and add your username to it, or add any (silly) word to make your recipe stand out as it will be going into the public database temporarily and you want to find it easily.. Click 'save meal'.

2 Go back to the menu bar and click on 'recipes' . On the right side of the screen under 'Old Recipe Calculator' click on 'enter new recipe' . Leave the recipe name space blank---putting anything here will take you to the public database which we are trying to avoid.

3 Click ' add ingredient'. Now type in the full name of the meal just created and click 'search'.
Click on the name in 'matching foods' list. Leave the number of servings as 1 serve for 1 meal. Click 'add'.

4 Now you can put in the name you would like for this recipe (minus your user name) and the number of servings you get from it. You will see the values per serve change in the last row. Scroll down and click ' save recipe'.


TO RECORD IN YOUR DIARY

1 Open the diary to the right day and in the meal space click on 'add food'. This is where you can scroll across and add items from your 'my foods' list or from a meal ( if you want all components to show) or from a recipe (with only the name showing). Both lists will be the same but ' meals' will include your user name.

2 By choosing an item from the 'meals' list you will need to determine the portion size you consumed. If it served 4 people and you had one, put in .25. If 2 servings and you had one, put in .5. For more servings per recipe I will leave the math up to you.

3 Serving sizes for items in the 'recipe' list have already been calculated - unless you consume more than the serving size shown. Remember that serving sizes are recorded as decimals.

I have tested and retested these instructions so I know they work. If you print this out it will be easier to follow and after only recording a few items you too will see how simple it is. There is not a comprehensive set of instructions for any aspect of the MyFitnessPal diary recording, so I hope this will help someone. Let me know how you found it. samara

Rincewind_1965

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