I have used this when trying to diet before so have started using it again for 5:2 and as i am still trying to cut down generally on non fast diets i have found it really helpful.

Hi, what is the name of the application? does it just read and calculate the calories once it is downloaded into one’s smart phone and held over the plate of food?

Thanks

Rosalind

No it will scan the bar code on a box/package.,.

where s the app link pls

I love my fitness pal app! The scanning bar code feature is so cool even works on items I bought in the meat or fish section of my local supermarket. I use on feeding days too just to keep track that I’m not going way out of my daily intake.

I use my fitness pal to log my calories every day. I’ve never used the scanning thing as fresh veg from the farm shop doesn’t have bar codes. I don’t use packaged foods or ready meals but I have, over the months, put a huge collection of my own recipes in the database so I can easily add them to my daily food diary. From the point of view of keeping track of calories it’s a great tool and easy to use with a huge database of foods.

BUT….

It throws a wobbly on fast days and if it could, it would shout at you ‘YOU ARE EATING TOO FEW CALORIES – YOU WILL PUT YOUR BODY INTO STARVATION MODE’ …really? And you want me to believe this?

And don’t even LOOK at the forums – whatever you say you are doing there will be dozens of posts telling you that you are doing it all wrong and you MUST do it another way …you will get dozens of ‘other ways’!

Used as a way of recording calories and keeping track, it’s great and I’ll keep using it.

I love it when it tells me that!! It makes me feel really good when it tells me I’m going to be, like, 7-12kg lighter in 5 weeks. I won’t be that much lighter in 5weeks, but spread those fast days out over 12 weeks, and I might be past my goal weight!!

My Fitness Pal has been great for me too. Lost eight Kg since May, slowly. Just started IF last week and it continues to be useful. The main drawback is the variations (inaccuracies) in the calorie database. I’ve used Alan Borushek’s calorie counter (local to Australia) to verify food quantities and calorie values. Many of the entries are not quantified. A slice of something tells me nothing. I really like being able to add exercise into the mix as it allows me to negotiate my food intake.

when you are adding food, a little picture of barcode should appear in the bottom right, press that and it clicks onto a camera view and you have to hold the barcode infront of it steady – it takes a few seconds to focus – the voila – the food is added!!!

I use this too and am a strong advocate – how do folks on here use it on non fast days? Since we’re supposed to be eating our daily allowance, do you set you goal to maintain weight? Otherwise it prompts you to try and aim below your calorie expenditure as if you were calorie cutting every day. The fact it automatically sets your target based on a goal could be confusing.

I use myfitness pal too. I just set the daily limit to my TDEE and ignore the silly warnings on fast days. As long as I can see the total for the day, whatever. What I love is that it has almost every single food in the system – even Aldi stuff! I used to use calorieking on my computer to log calories, but so often things wouldn’t be on there. I also love that so many of the foods have 1g measurements and I weigh everything I eat on a set of little electronic scales, so it’s really accurate. Yay!

When I first opened it there was an option to set different calorie goals for different days.
But it didn’t respond.
Haven’t seen it since.

It also has my weight goal as 18 kg lower than what I put in and won’t change it, rendering it pretty pointless.

“Someone” should make one – or these folks should adapt this one – with the option of logging fast days only or fast and normal days.

WHO Guidelines for sugar intake are 6 teaspoons of sugar per day, which is the grand total of 24g/per day. Any help?

Myfitness pal is still great if you rarely eat convenience foods like me. Most of the stuff I eat all the time is near the top of the recent list of food like tomatoes, chicken carrots, rice etc etc. Anything you don’t eat very often is just further down or on a later page. I’ve used it in the past for ‘normal’ calorie control and just started using it again for fast days and non-fast days. It doesn’t take many minutes to enter a meal, even if it’s something you’ve never bought before. I even found a Muffin Break Panini and Wagamamas main course very easily on a recent eating out day. The ads are an absolute pain though and slow it right down so I’m using it via Firefox rather than Internet Explorer at the moment as you can block ALL the ads