Customizing Mynetdiary: Changing Your Diet Plan

MyNetDiary is a comprehensive application that helps users track their diet and exercise. The app offers a range of features, including the ability to adjust your diet plan. After completing the initial diet profile setup, you can use the same screen to adjust your plan. This includes changing your weight loss rate, target weight and date, and adjusting your macronutrient balance. MyNetDiary also allows you to customize your macronutrients (carbs, fats, and proteins) and vitamin and mineral targets. The app provides flexibility in calorie planning, allowing users to choose their preferred method of calorie estimation and enter their own calorie goals.

Adjusting macronutrients

MyNetDiary is flexible with macronutrient ranges, allowing you to go as low as 5% or as high as 95% of calories from a particular macronutrient. However, it's important to consult a qualified healthcare professional if you go outside the safe range for macronutrients.

The default macronutrient targets for weight loss on MyNetDiary are within the Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range (AMDR) developed by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. The DRI (Daily Reference Intake) for macronutrients provides guidance for a healthy macronutrient distribution range. MyNetDiary's default goal is:

• 45-65% of total calories
• 45% of total calories
• 10-35% of total calories
• 20% of total calories
• 20-35% of total calories
• 35% of total calories

If you follow a specific eating pattern that requires a different macronutrient distribution, you can customise your goals with a Premium membership. MyNetDiary also allows you to select from suggested macro distributions for various diet plans (low-carb, keto, low-fat, etc.). You can choose one of these options in the Macros tab under My Weight Plan.

You can also set a fixed macro-gram target. For example, if you set a target of 120 grams of carbohydrates per day, this value will remain constant regardless of your daily calorie budget. You can also set fixed goals for two macros, meaning the remainder of your calories will come from the third nutrient. To choose a set macro-gram target, go to the Macros tab under My Weight Plan and tap "Switch to Grams".

The Macro Cycling feature lets you adjust your macro targets for specific days of the week, which is useful if you're following a carb-cycling plan. Go to "Cycling" under My Weight Plan to set up macro cycling.

Additionally, if you add exercise calories to your calorie budget, you may want to adjust the macro distribution for these additional calories. You can do this under Exercise Plan.

To quickly see how macros stack up for individual foods and meals, go to "Settings" and select "Macros & Nutrients in Meals & Foods". You can also add a macro pie chart to your dashboard for a visual representation of your macro intake for the day.

Setting a realistic target date

When setting a target date, it's important to be mindful of the associated weight loss rate and daily calorie intake. MyNetDiary does not allow dates that result in target calories less than your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). You can always adjust your target date, weight, and rate, and the app will re-calculate your targets and daily allowances for fat, carbs, and protein.

If you're not significantly overweight but choose a high weight loss rate, you may end up with a daily calorie intake below your BMR. In such cases, adjust your targets by either lowering the weekly loss rate or pushing out your target date.

Remember, choosing a realistic target date and a healthy weight loss rate will increase your chances of long-term success.

Calculating weight maintenance calories

MyNetDiary is a mobile and online tracker with over 16 million members worldwide. It helps users calculate their calorie intake and expenditure to meet their weight goals.

MyNetDiary uses the scientifically validated Estimated Energy Requirement (EER) formula from the Dietary Reference Intakes as the default method to calculate your weight maintenance calories. This formula takes into account your age, gender, height, current weight, and physical activity level.

To calculate your weight maintenance calories, go to "My Weight Goal & Plan" on the dashboard. Here, you can view and adjust your maintenance calorie value. This value is the foundation of your calorie planning, whether your goal is to lose or gain weight.

Alternate Methods

MyNetDiary also offers alternate approaches to calorie estimation. To choose a different method, go to "Weight & Calories" under "My Weight Goal & Plan" on the Me tab. Under "Planning Tools," select "Weight Maintenance Cals." You can then choose from the following maintenance energy methods:

• Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR): This is a value for a resting metabolic rate measurement administered by a professional. This simple test measures oxygen consumption as you breathe in and out of a handheld device to determine your metabolic rate.
• Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), calculated from measured body fat %: This formula, known as Katch-McArdle, takes into account body composition and may be more accurate for individuals with increased muscle mass. It requires knowing your lean body mass or body fat percentage.
• Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) calculated with the Mifflin-St. Jeor formula: This widely-used formula uses your age, gender, height, and current weight to calculate RMR.
• Custom weight maintenance calories: You can enter your own value for weight-maintenance calories. However, these calories will not automatically adjust based on your current body weight or changes in your "Activity Level" setting.

Additional Tips

• It is recommended to update your Current Weight at least weekly to monitor progress and allow MyNetDiary to adjust your calorie goals accordingly.
• If you have Premium membership, turn on AutoPilot in "My Weight Plan" to allow MyNetDiary to automatically update your Daily Food Calorie Budget and Calorie Budget based on your current weight and progress.
• If you are struggling to meet your weight-loss goal, consider moving your Target Date further out or adjusting your Weekly Rate of weight loss.
• Calorie Cycling, a Premium membership feature, allows you to plan different calories for certain days of the week, which can be useful for special occasions or a calorie-cycling diet.

Overriding calorie targets

MyNetDiary calculates weekly weight loss rates of up to 2 lbs. However, if you have a doctor's recommendation, you can override the app's calculation by entering a calorie target directly. You can enter any number of calories you need.

To do this, go to the "My Weight Goal & Plan" section on your dashboard, where you can view and adjust your maintenance calorie value. You can also select a different method for determining your calorie needs by going to "Weight & Calories" under "My Weight Goal & Plan" on the Me tab. From there, you can choose from the following maintenance energy methods:

• Estimated energy requirement (EER): This is the default method, which uses the Dietary Reference Intakes formula, taking into account your age, gender, height, current weight, and physical activity level.
• Resting metabolic rate (RMR): This value is for a resting metabolic rate measurement administered by a healthcare professional.
• Basal metabolic rate (BMR), calculated from measured body fat %: This formula, known as Katch-McArdle, takes into account body composition and may be more accurate for individuals with increased muscle mass.
• Resting metabolic rate (RMR) calculated with the Mifflin-St. Jeor formula: This widely-used formula uses your age, gender, height, and current weight to calculate RMR.
• Custom weight maintenance calories: You can enter your own value for weight maintenance calories, but these will not automatically adjust based on your current body weight or changes in your "Activity Level" setting.

Additionally, you can adjust your daily food calorie budget by changing your target date and weekly rate. If you are struggling to meet your weight loss goal, moving your target date further out can help reduce the weekly rate of weight loss. Similarly, you can adjust your weekly weight loss rate, which will then adjust your target date. This feature is available with a MyNetDiary Premium membership.

Customising vitamins and minerals

MyNetDiary allows you to customise and plan your vitamin and mineral intake. You can pick and choose the nutrients you want to track. To do this, use the "gear" settings button in the top right corner of the Daily Foods screen to select and deselect nutrients.

For the nutrients you select, you can further customise their target values, so MyNetDiary will calculate remaining amounts and show when you are exceeding or missing your plan. Tap the nutrient header column to customise a nutrient or learn more about it.

You can also track your supplements, sleep, hunger, and more by creating individual custom trackers accessible from your dashboard.

If you want to log your vitamins, minerals, and other supplements as regular foods to be included in your daily totals, you can do so by finding your supplement brand in the database. Remember to add it to your “Favourite list” by tapping the star in the upper right-hand corner for easy recall.

If your supplement is not currently in the database, you can enter it using the PhotoFoods feature.

If you take several supplements at the same time every day, you can create a "My Meal" for your supplements. Once you choose a meal to log, like lunch, tap “+”, then tap on “Meals” > "Create New My Meal." Next, use the barcode scanner or search the database to locate your supplements.

Frequently asked questions