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?
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. 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

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

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 ... 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 thank you.

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