Confused: Food, Meal or Recipe

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JimnEee
JimnEee Posts: 6 Member
in Getting Started
I'm new and I'm confused. 1) Am I be able to scan a "food" item into "My Foods" and then combine those items into a meal or recipe? 2) Does the Database favor actual bar code scans? Maybe I'm assuming that database items are actually verified in some way. If not, why not. Shouldn't there be some way to highlight officially verified products? After all, those numbers determine my weight loss. And 3) How do I create a recipe if I can't scan foods and add foods that I can then combine into a recipe or meal or something. I'm sure I'm just not understanding this yet, but if these items are in the Premium version please let me know and I'll hit the pay button immediately. Jimmy

Replies

  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
    edited December 2015
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    The things you mentioned aren't different between free and Premium accounts.

    You can scan foods but the UPC bar code that you scan just looks up the item in the database the same way it would is you typed the name in the search box. Nutritional info from scanned items is entered into the database by users just like any other item so they need to be double-checked for accuracy.

    There is a "verified foods" system but it's automated so it's not always accurate. Items in the search list with a green checkmark are verified.

    The database is mostly crowd-sourced (there are also USDA entries but some people use "USDA" when they name things whether they are USDA or not) so you need to double-check everything. Crowd-sourcing is essentially free so companies love it even if it is less accurate.

    Meals use the foods that you entered into your diary. If those are accurate, your meal will be accurate.

    Recipes can't use My Foods or your diary and items returned during the search can be things other than what you were trying to find. Just keep trying and double-checking the nutritional info until you get all of the ingredients that you want.

    It's cumbersome at first but you'll eventually build up a list of foods that you know are accurate that you eat 80% of the time and you'll only need to hunt things down when you eat things that you don't eat very often.
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
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    Additionally, for recipes, I find it much easier to use the website rather than the app. In fact I find much of my logging easier through the site, but the app is awesome when you're on the go. On the app, there are three dots at the bottom right corner for each meal. Tap on that, and hit save meal. This will save all items you entered into that meal for you. When you add the meal the next time, after you add, you can change the quantities or delete entirely for any of the items.
  • JimnEee
    JimnEee Posts: 6 Member
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    seska422 wrote: »
    It's cumbersome at first but you'll eventually build up a list of foods that you know are accurate that you eat 80% of the time and you'll only need to hunt things down when you eat things that you don't eat very often.

    Thanks seska422, seems unnecessarily confusing. This is all just database stuff, so it's design related. MyFitnessPal was the best rated app of this kind in a few of the reviews I read and I need the help, so I'm stickin' with it. I added a Meal Name called Calculate where I can build my meal first, save it and then delete the individual items, but in order to save my treat, I had to create a meal out of C Howard Candies (3 pieces, 20 cal). :)
  • JimnEee
    JimnEee Posts: 6 Member
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    nutmegoreo wrote: »
    Additionally, for recipes, I find it much easier to use the website rather than the app. In fact I find much of my logging easier through the site, but the app is awesome when you're on the go. On the app, there are three dots at the bottom right corner for each meal. Tap on that, and hit save meal. This will save all items you entered into that meal for you. When you add the meal the next time, after you add, you can change the quantities or delete entirely for any of the items.

    Thanks nutmegoreo, I am also finding that the website is easier for some things but can't beat the app for quick bar code entries.

  • ultrahoon
    ultrahoon Posts: 467 Member
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    The app is great for getting things on your food list. Personally I find the recipe tool next to useless. I just add the food items to lunch or dinner or whatever, then click quick tools > Remember meal. Much easier to modify imo, plus it provides more information at a glance.
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
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    ultrahoon wrote: »
    The app is great for getting things on your food list. Personally I find the recipe tool next to useless. I just add the food items to lunch or dinner or whatever, then click quick tools > Remember meal. Much easier to modify imo, plus it provides more information at a glance.

    the recipe tool is my favorite. if you are pulling a recipe from the internet, you just copy the link into the tool, and click submit. verify it has been transferred over accurately, and you're done.
  • ultrahoon
    ultrahoon Posts: 467 Member
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    Capt_Apollo wrote: »
    ultrahoon wrote: »
    The app is great for getting things on your food list. Personally I find the recipe tool next to useless. I just add the food items to lunch or dinner or whatever, then click quick tools > Remember meal. Much easier to modify imo, plus it provides more information at a glance.

    the recipe tool is my favorite. if you are pulling a recipe from the internet, you just copy the link into the tool, and click submit. verify it has been transferred over accurately, and you're done.

    I have never ever had it be remotely accurate, it always matches random American brands of stuff that don't exist here, despite me putting the English brand name in.
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
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    ultrahoon wrote: »
    Capt_Apollo wrote: »
    ultrahoon wrote: »
    The app is great for getting things on your food list. Personally I find the recipe tool next to useless. I just add the food items to lunch or dinner or whatever, then click quick tools > Remember meal. Much easier to modify imo, plus it provides more information at a glance.

    the recipe tool is my favorite. if you are pulling a recipe from the internet, you just copy the link into the tool, and click submit. verify it has been transferred over accurately, and you're done.

    I have never ever had it be remotely accurate, it always matches random American brands of stuff that don't exist here, despite me putting the English brand name in.

    obviously, you should just move to the USA if you were really serious about losing weight.
  • JimnEee
    JimnEee Posts: 6 Member
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    ultrahoon wrote: »
    I just add the food items to lunch or dinner or whatever, then click quick tools > Remember meal. Much easier to modify imo, plus it provides more information at a glance.

    Thanks ultrahoon, I'm doing the same
  • JimnEee
    JimnEee Posts: 6 Member
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    Capt_Apollo wrote: »
    the recipe tool is my favorite. if you are pulling a recipe from the internet, you just copy the link into the tool, and click submit. verify it has been transferred over accurately, and you're done.

    Thanks Capt_Apollo, I'll have to try that
  • BunnyBomb
    BunnyBomb Posts: 143 Member
    edited December 2015
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    ultrahoon wrote: »
    I have never ever had it be remotely accurate, it always matches random American brands of stuff that don't exist here, despite me putting the English brand name in.
    I find the same thing to be honest, which is a pain because we cook everything from scratch in our household. I've just started using the app so I accept that I'll have to go through the pain of entering recipes for a while but... I'm hopig that once I have a store of my regular recipes it will become quicker to use it. Entering ingredients manually seems to suggest British Brands though (like Tesco and Sainsbury's) so I think it must learn... else it may be linked to the 'location' I set in the profile? You may want to check this to make sure it's set to the UK.

    Eeek, imagine if I still lived in New Zealand... it probably wouldn't recognise anything lol. Not to mention, I doubt it knows what a Kumara or KamoKamo is :smiley: I'm just waiting for the day where all my manual entries make it more efficient...
  • JimnEee
    JimnEee Posts: 6 Member
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    I'm figuring it out. Thanks for all your help. :) Main thing for me is to keep track of what I eat and this looks like it will do that well.

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