Can I add to My Foods list using bar code scanning, WITHOUT adding to diary yet?

physicsbrown

Just getting started, trying to build a list of commonly used foods that have bar codes. It seems the My Foods list would be good for this, but it does not support bar code reading. Do I have to pretend I have eaten all the items at once today by scanning them into my diary so they will appear in the History list when I actually eat them on subsequent days? I would also like to use the list to build recipes later, without having to re-scan the ingredients.
Assuming the answer to the above question is "yes", then it looks like I have to scan an item into the diary once for each category? For example, for Kirkland Mixed Nuts, I need to scan it in for Lunch, and also scan it in for Snacks?
By the way, what is "BBCode"?

AnnPT77

You can scan the items into a past day, before you started using MFP. At least that used to work, when I started using MFP quite a while ago. I assume it still does.

The rest of this is going to sound super-complicated, but it isn't IMO in practice, once a person learns how to best use MFP. A really complicated day, one with foods that are new to me, don't have labels, involve guessing, might take 5-10 minutes max. Routine days of frequent foods take a truly trivial amount of time, maybe a minute or so per meal? To me, that's a small price to pay for staying at a healthy weight post-loss, and assuring that I get reasonable nutrition, but YMMV.

For sure, there's a learning curve, and it seems hard and time consuming at first.

The items you've logged in your diary semi-recently will persist in recent/frequent foods, and come up first when you search (by text, dunno about bar codes because I never use them). They don't go into "My Foods". That's foods you enter yourself.

As far as I know, you can't use "My Foods" in recipes, nor will recipe builder necessarily pick ingredients entries you've previously chosen (from Recent/Frequent). It searches the whole database, IME. Search results need to be checked and corrected in the recipe. That's quite easy, but it may not be obvious how to do it . . . especially in the web browser version of recipe builder.

Also, note that bar codes are not a direct pipeline to current and accurate manufacturer information or any other authoritative source.

The MFP food database is crowd-sourced, i.e. entered by other regular MFP users like you and me, except some of them are not as meticulous as you or me about making sure entries are accurate. On top of that, even if entered accurately, formulations of the same product change over time, and all of the versions may be in the database, but only one is hooked to the bar code - the version that was entered first. Some different versions even co-exist on the market (and in home refrigerators/shelves) for an overlapping period of time. Further, this is an international site, and different countries may have different formulations for the same product from the same manufacturer, different labeling regulations, or maybe even different bar code schemes. There are even a few yo-yos who've been here and decided it was cool to make up their own bar codes, and gee whiz, some of those personalized bar codes actually duplicated official bar codes for some completely unrelated product.

Even in the US, manufacturers sometimes repurpose a bar code from a discontinued product for a completely different new product. The old product may still be attached to the bar code in the MFP database, or you may have the old product on your shelf, but the new product is attached to the bar code in the MFP database.

One bit of good news: You don't need to scan a food repeatedly for each meal. When you add a food to the diary, there are search setting to search within a meal, or search foods across all your meals first, before going back to the food database. Exactly what/where that option is differs between web browser MFP and phone/tablet MFP, but if you can't find it, post back and tell me which you're using, and I'll give you a screen grab to illustrate. (Note: I'm not an MFP staffer. I'm an MFP user trying to help you to the best of my limited ability but long experience.)

BBCode is a way of adding some extra formatting/markup to posts here in the Community. Not all of the full BBCode set works here, but some does. Most of us stick with the markup options that are above the area where you type your posts/replies, to keep things simple. YMMV. There are also a few special codes, not exactly BBCode, to get some extra usual emoji-type things or other format-y stuff. I can't recall if and where there's a guide to those, but if you see some, you can quote a post that contains them and see what the person typed to get the thing. You don't need to post that quoted post, just leave the page after you look at it.

I know this all sounds overwhelming at first, but really it isn't. A person can get a lot of mileage out of the Recent/Frequent, My Foods, Meals, and Recipes, once they learn about them. You can ask questions about them here, and people will give you tips about how they use them.

Best wishes!

physicsbrown

Thank you for taking the time to write the detailed answer, AnnPT77 - very helpful! Also very encouraging. I was getting pretty overwhelmed, going in circles, so your answer gave me hope. I will start using MFP tomorrow since I've finished entering all of my scanned favorites into today's diary. Just to satisfy my curiosity, I'll try again to enter some items into a previous day also. It was behaving weirdly when I tried it earlier. I succeeded in entering something into yesterday's diary, but then could not get other items entered for yesterday. But, like so many things, once I've heard that it is actually possible, it will probably work next time I try it!
Wow, when I had my software business back in the 1990s, I faked enough HTML to write my company's website by copying and pasting from other people's HTML. I had never heard of BBCode - must be something more recent than those ancient times. Thanks for solving that mystery. Now I see it in a Google search.
Much appreciation!

AnnPT77

Wonderful! I'm glad to see you so positive about the situation, though given that you have tech background, that makes some sense.

Without that insight, so many people here don't understand why it might be the way it is, and why changing it isn't just a simple matter of (actual recent example) "hiring an intern to fix the database".

There are some food tracking apps that have tightly curated databases, but of course that means individuals need to add foods by hand much more often in their own private foods areas.

Once MFP decided, back in the mists of time, that it would be better to have a more comprehensive database via crowd-sourcing (after an initial data load of basics in the US FDA foods database at the time), so many of these current mysteries flow from that. Well, some flow from older software architecture that's been much modified and had new features tacked onto it, but you would obviously get how that works, too.

Your background will help you use MFP effectively. If you have further questions, though, please do ask. I or others will answer.

Best wishes for success with the food logging, and whatever your goals for using the app may be - weight gain/loss/maintenance, improved nutrition, improved fitness, better health markers, whatever.

I'm a retired IT gal, so I do shake my head at the occasional bug or weird consequence of the app architecture, but it's helped me make huge leaps over the 9+ years I've been using it, in my case weight loss; weight maintenance; dialed-in nutrition goals; and health markers (blood tests, blood pressure) that used to be bad, but are now solidly and consistently normal. That's not even mentioning secondary effects like reduced pain (arthritis, torn meniscus) because of being so much lighter weight.

For that, I can easily put up with some software oddities.

Wishing you success!

physicsbrown

Uh-oh ... it doesn't work for creating recipes. Yesterday I entered all of my commonly used bar-coded ingredients to yesterday's diary. I verified that those items show up when I go to add an item directly to my diary.

One of the ingredients is Bob's Red Mill quick-cooking steel-cut oats. So today, I'm trying to create a Recipe that includes Bob's oats along with certain fruits. In the "create a recipe" screen, I try to add an ingredient. It does NOT show the "history" that I created (that would include Bob's oats). It only shows items that are in the database, and this brand of oats in not on that list. So there's no way for me to add Bob's oats to my recipe! I tried typing things like Bob's oats into the search bar, but no luck.

There is one way, which would involve re-scanning the bar code. I keep many ingredients in cannisters in my pantry. All of the original bags are in a cupboard high above my refrigerator. So every time I create a recipe involving those ingredients, I apparently need to get a step stool, climb up above the refrigerator and re-scan the bar code.

There must be an easier way ... anybody?

physicsbrown

Just saw your second reply. Nice to see a kindred spirit who recognizes software design flaws!
I feel I'm getting a bit closer. In the search field, I typed "red mill" this time. Saw a lot of Bob's products. Eventually found "Oats, Red Mill" - which may or may not be the "quick cook" variety, but close enough for now. Klunky interface: I use 3/8 cup, and the serving size defaults to 0.5 cup, so I had to enter 0.625 servings, but it worked.
It sure would be nice if it the recipe-creator would let me select from my "history"!

physicsbrown

Should have mentioned that my goals are very similar to yours. Gotta lose a ton of weight with hopes it might ease my severe back pain and improve my pre-diabetes diagnosis. So I've brought out all the big guns: Wegovy, FreeStyle Libre, Eufy smart scale, and now MFP. My head is definitely spinning from all the new tech.

Lietchi

FYI, I personally recommend using the Meals functionality instead of the recipe builder. It's a lot easier (to me) because you can simply search in your frequent and recent foods.
And (a downside for some, but it has advantages too) every ingredient gets added separately into your diary. So if you need to tweak the quantity of a specific ingredient for that specific meal, it's easy.

AnnPT77

physicsbrown wrote: »

Just saw your second reply. Nice to see a kindred spirit who recognizes software design flaws!
I feel I'm getting a bit closer. In the search field, I typed "red mill" this time. Saw a lot of Bob's products. Eventually found "Oats, Red Mill" - which may or may not be the "quick cook" variety, but close enough for now. Klunky interface: I use 3/8 cup, and the serving size defaults to 0.5 cup, so I had to enter 0.625 servings, but it worked.
It sure would be nice if it the recipe-creator would let me select from my "history"!

Yes, it would be nice. It doesn't. 🤷

I think I've nearly always been able to find a suitable ingredient by repeating the search on individual ingredients that didn't look right, maybe changing the words a little bit to find it. I don't use the recipe builder much, though, because I'm more of a wing-it cook than a recipe cook. I uses Meals more.

Yes, applying arithmetic to the serving sizes is often necessary. Often, the initial serving size comes from the US package label. Maybe that's true of your oats, dunno.

My arithmetic skills are sub-par, but my math is good. (I can set up complex spreadsheets, but am iffy on multiplication tables in my head, and often forget to carry the one. That's why we have computers, right? ). A bonus of MFP use is that I've gotten a little bit better at mental arithmetic, and much better at remembering numbers (also one of my many cognitive flaws ).

Re: Goals. I'm maintaining weight. I lost from class 1 obese to a healthy range back in 2015-16, after around 30 previous years of overweight/obesity. I've stayed in a healthy range ever since, the same jeans size, only mild ups and downs. Like I said, BP and lipids normal, all kinds of goodness. I can put up with the software. I'm also athletically active, but that's been true for 20+ years, starting when I was obese. I fortunately never did have dangerously high blood sugar, somehow dodged that one. Other people do succeed here with getting the A1C down, even into the normal range.

BTW: If you're not using a food scale, I'd suggest giving that a think. It may not be so useful if you like using bar codes (I don't). But it's not only more accurate than cups/spoons (let alone eyeballing), but it's quicker and easier after one learns a few tips and tricks. I can share some of those if you want to consider it.

I don't bother with the bar codes for some of the reasons in my first reply (variations on why they may not bring up correct entries), plus I eat a lot of things that don't have bar codes, plus I have some of the factors you mention (like I didn't keep the package). Once I log a food I eat frequently, and keep eating it semi-often, it stays in recent/frequent and comes up first when logging direct to diary (not Recipes, obviously). I also like to note ingredients/weights as I cook on the back of a junk mail envelope or similar, and log the whole thing later, rather than repeatedly grabbing up my phone (possibly with damp, oily or flour-y hands) while cooking.

One thing you might consider going forward, if it's not too fussy for you, and you do want to keep using bar codes, would be to tape the bar code (or a photocopy of it, if you have a copier at home) to your storage container when you transfer to that from the package.

I'll add this: I use Meals often for things like my breakfast oatmeal. Once the specific food is in the meal, it stays there, even if you don't eat the ingredient again soon in other contexts. Unlike recipes, when you log a meal it brings the whole set of ingredients into your diary. If you need to tweak amounts or delete/add some individual ingredient, it's easy to do in the diary. Some people will create a Meal with (say) a whole list of things they commonly put in sandwiches - multiple different meats, cheese, condiments, whatever - log the meal when they make the sandwich, and delete stuff not used in that particular sandwich.

Just for an illustration, I'll put a screen grab of my usual oatmeal breakfast with sides into a spoiler below. When I eat that breakfast (often!), it's one click to add the whole list to my diary. Most things I weigh out in standard amounts when I make the breakfast (using those tips/tricks so it's quick ), but often adjust the amount of milk in my coffee or some other minor thing. Easy, quick adjustments. The whole thing takes seconds.

If you're wondering why I keep chatting: I simply want to help, and besides, you seem to be taking the suggestions on board. The results from making this work have been so hugely powerful in my life that I feel motivated to help other people get there, if I can. My efforts are imperfect, but I try.

physicsbrown

Thanks to both of you (Ann & Lietchi) for the great suggestion about using Meals instead of Recipes - yay, it works! Meals brings up the history list I was expecting, including the bar code foods. Puzzling why they didn't use the same technique when designing the Recipe feature.
Looks like a great breakfast, Ann. Inspires me to try something different sometime. I've minimized dairy, just use almond milk when I have cereal. (My caffeine fix consists of 1.5 tsp raw cocoa powder with 1 tsp honey and no dairy. Definitely an acquired taste.) But I keep hearing the virtues of Greek yogurt, so I'll have to try that sometime. The quantity of fruit is something I have to get under control though. Gotta have my breakfast oatmeal with cherries, blueberries, and half banana. Plus an orange. My nutritionist frowned.

Lietchi

Since you mention cacao powder... I love cacao nibs for a bitter hit combined with a sweetened yogurt or skyr (I prefer skyr over greek yogurt) and blueberries. Just a pity my skin doesn't like it - I break out if I eat Cacao nibs regularly!
I would possibly work with oatmeal too.
(Ever tried mixing yogurt/skyr with warm oatmeal? I discovered that - in my eyes yummy - combo through some experimentation)

AnnPT77

physicsbrown wrote: »

Thanks to both of you (Ann & Lietchi) for the great suggestion about using Meals instead of Recipes - yay, it works! Meals brings up the history list I was expecting, including the bar code foods. Puzzling why they didn't use the same technique when designing the Recipe feature.
Looks like a great breakfast, Ann. Inspires me to try something different sometime. I've minimized dairy, just use almond milk when I have cereal. (My caffeine fix consists of 1.5 tsp raw cocoa powder with 1 tsp honey and no dairy. Definitely an acquired taste.) But I keep hearing the virtues of Greek yogurt, so I'll have to try that sometime. The quantity of fruit is something I have to get under control though. Gotta have my breakfast oatmeal with cherries, blueberries, and half banana. Plus an orange. My nutritionist frowned.

I'm big on dairy, maybe extra so at breakfast: I've been ovo-lacto vegetarian since 1974, love dairy (key reason for being lacto-), prioritize protein (important for everyone, extra important for seniors), and think protein quality matters so I do a fair bit of both dairy and soy. That breakfast has 37g of protein, most of it EAA-complete and bioavailable, most of it from the dairy foods. I usually add a second cup of coffee with hot skim milk, for another 6 grams.

I use cocoa (or cacao) powder somewhat often, but usually in savory foods (e.g., chili or black bean soup).

I'm sorry to hear about the fruit . . . I suppose that would be true for someone trying to turn around a pre-diabetic situation.

@Lietchi, that's how the Greek yogurt in my oatmeal works, too: Stirred into the hot oatmeal with the nuts, seeds, etc., creating sort of adult pabulum.

I think I have some nibs in the freezer. I should break those out to use somehow.