How to Use

Below is a brief guide to using the application, with example foods.

Search for foods

Start from the Search screen.

• Search for "apples raw". You will see a list of Apple varieties.
• In the resulting list of various foods with raw apples, find the apple variety that you want to eat.
• Click on the foodmark icon next to to it. This will let you eat it again without searching through all these apples.
• Press on the food link for apples, for example Apples, raw, without skin.
• You will see the list of nutrients for that food, per 100g.
• Click Use
• If you have a scale, measure your apple. I eat apples without the skin, so I wash and peel them first. Enter the amount.
• If you don't have a scale, choose one of the Portions shown in the screen. For example "small".
• Press the Eat button.

Manage the Menu

You've now added an Apple to your Menu.

• Go to the menu screen. You will see a list of food items that you've eaten, what time, and how much.

• Press the "Nutrients" button

• You will see all the nutrients that you've eaten. You can sort them by amount or by the percentage of Dietary Reference Intake (DRI). The DRI column is empty, because we haven't specified our target DRI values yet. You can explore the DRI later.

Eat more

Let's add more items to the menu.

Search for another food, and add it to the menu. For example "bananas, raw". Choose anything you like. Explore the foods in the database.

Keep eating and drinking things and adding them to the menu.

Foodmarks: Eat another apple

I asked you to create an apple foodmark above (or any other foodmarks). If you've done this, go to the Foodmarks page. You will find the Apples there, so you can eat one without having to search for it in the database. You can foodmark any food you like.

The Water Recipee

Since you probably drink water several times a day, you can create a "Water" recipee that contains a glass of water. This way you can drink several glasses of water throughout the day, without measuring the glass every time.

My current water recipee has 270g of tap water. Here's how to create it:

• Measure a glass of water.
• Search for "Water, tap"
• Click on "Water, tap" or any other water you like.
• Click Use
• Change the default amount from 100 to the amount you measured (e.g. 270g).
• Enter a recipee name, such as "Water", in the Recipee Name field.
• Press the "Create Recipee" button.

You now have a Water recipee that you can use to easily add ("Eat") glasses of water to the Menu throughout the day. Try it:

• Go to Recipees
• Click on a recipee, such as Water
• Press the Eat button
• You can press the Eat button again, if you drink a second glass right there.

Selecting Foods

There are three screens to choose foods from.

• Search
• Foodmarks
• Recipees

Overview

I use this tool to keep track of what I eat and drink in one day, including water.

I then check the list of nutrients that I've consumed during the day, comparing them with the DRI values that I have set, and I decide what to eat more of and when to stop eating.

I mostly track two nutrients: Energy and Water.

I drink more water, if I'm behind on my target DRI value for water.

I stop eating when I've reached my Energy DRI. Well, not always, but at least I make an informed decision.

I don't do this every day, and I don't try to calculate everything when I eat out. I usually do it at home, where I have a kitchen scale.

• Every day I start out with an empty Menu.
• Throughout the day, I add the things that I eat to the menu.
• I check to see whether I'm behind or ahead on certain nutrients.
• I adjust my eating and drinking accordingly