TUTORIAL: Fat Secret Calorie Counting App (a super basic guide)

Lately, I've been getting a lot of questions about my recent weight loss through calorie counting, and several people have asked for a Fat Secret tutorial. It's my preferred calorie counting app and I always recommend it when people ask.

I've been working on this post forever, but today I deleted a lot of the screenshots to clean it up and keep it simpler. The app is very simple to me, but I've gotten several questions about it so maybe it's just because I'm so used to it. In this post, I tried to list everything step by step without making it overly complicated. (I've read over this post so many times I can't possibly do it anymore, haha--if something doesn't make sense, just ask!)

I know Fat Secret is not as popular as, say, MyFitnessPal, but I made the switch over from MFP because the ads on MFP made inputing my food log take SO much longer than necessary (I had to wait for an ad to load after each tap on the screen). Maybe MFP has gotten better since I switched apps, but I found that I actually like Fat Secret much more regardless.

Fat Secret is free and there are no ads. There is an option for a premium version with subscription, but I am not interested in those features, so the free version is perfect for me. I don't like all the bells and whistles on a calorie counting app--I just like it to be very clean and basic, easy and fast to log my food, and customizable. And definitely have the ability to input and save recipes.

Here, I'm just going to show the settings that I use. I don't have a premium subscription, so I don't use those features (meal plans being the main one). You can probably find much better tutorials out there showing all the features of the app, but for those who asked, here is what I use the app for:

• Logging food from a database (searching either by a keyword, scanning a UPC, or taking a picture).
• Inputing recipes and save them for easy logging later.

With the free version, you can also use the weight tracker (I use a separate app called Happy Scale for tracking my weight), set nutrient goals and view the most common nutrients, see daily or weekly reports about your food intake, track your sleep and/or exercise, and socialize with others using the app. (I will mention these things briefly, but I don't use these features). 

After creating your account (just follow the prompts to sign up), here is a "how to" for the basics of the app:

The very first thing I would do is collapse the meal plans thing at the top. That is for premium members and since I don't use it, I just close that to keep it from being distracting.

Next...

To change your starting weight, goal weight, or to log your weight:

Just tap the "Weight" tab at the bottom of the screen. From there, you can tap and adjust the weight you want to change.

To change your target number of daily calories:

1. Tap the "More" tab at the bottom right of the screen.

2. Tap "Settings".

You'll see RDI (which stands for "recommended daily intake") and it will show the number of calories that they suggest for your goal. You can leave it at that, but if you want to customize it, tap that number.

3. It will explain RDI; just tap "Recalculate".

4. From here, you can adjust your age, activity level, etc. Once that is correct, scroll down and tap "Calculate".
5. It will show you the RDI based on that info. If you want to change it, just delete that number and type in whatever number you'd like, then tap "Save".

Also in Settings:

You can choose to turn on/off an Exercise Diary (which tracks your exercise on your daily food log). You can change the privacy settings for your weight, journal, and calendar, and set reminders if you'd like.

To set up food diary:

1. Tap the "Diary" tab at the bottom of the screen.

2. Scroll to the bottom and tap "Options".

3. Tap "Change Columns".

4. Here, you can put a checkmark next to each column you'd like to see on your main diary page (fat/fiber/sodium/sugar/etc.). To view those from your diary page, you have to tap "Options" again and then switch to "Detailed View".

(As you know, I like to keep things super clean and simple; the only thing I track is calories. So I have mine set to "Summary View" and the only column I have checked is calories.)

To add food to your diary:

1. Tap the "Diary" tab at the bottom of the screen.

2. Tap the green plus sign (+) to the right of whatever meal you'd like to add food.

Along the top, in a black bar, there will be these options:

• COOK BOOK (this is where your personal recipes will be if you choose to add any)
• RECIPES (this is where user-submitted recipes can be found; I don't ever look at these, so I can't tell you anything about this section)
• FOOD (this is where you can search for a food... more on this later)
• RECENTLY EATEN (foods that have had most recently added to your log)
• MOST EATEN (foods you add to you log the most frequently)
• SAVED MEALS (foods that you typically eat together but aren't necessarily a recipe; if you have coffee with cream and sugar every day, for example, you could group those items into a "SAVED MEAL" and add them all at once instead of searching for each individually every time.

3. I'll explain them below, but when adding food, you'll choose from one of those options above--the most frequently used tabs (for me) are COOK BOOK and FOOD.

To search for a food and add it (plums, for example):

1. Tap the FOOD tab.

2. Type in "plums" and tap Search.

3. Decide which item is what you're looking for (I almost always choose the first one).

4. Tap the circle to the right of the food to highlight the green checkmark.

(If you need to change the serving size, just tap on the food item and adjust the number and/or method of measurement)

5. When the serving size is correct and the food has a checkmark next to it, tap "Save (1)" at the top right. (If you check off multiple foods, it will read "Save (2)" or whatever number of foods you have selected.)

6. It will take you back to your food diary and the item should be listed there. If you need to change something, just tap on it and you can adjust it there.

To search for a food by photo (I don't find this to be very accurate unless it's a commonly recognizable item like an apple or carrots or a slice of bread):

1. Tap the FOOD tab.

2. At the bottom, tap the green camera icon.

3. Here, you can choose (under the green shutter button) the camera roll icon (it looks like a roll of film, if you are old enough to remember what that looks like, haha!) to choose a photo from your camera roll; or the camera icon (to take a picture of the food at that moment).

4. Once you either select a photo from your camera roll or you take a picture in the moment, the app will suggest what it may be. If it's correct, just tap on the item and add to your diary like I wrote above.

To search for a food by UPC (the barcode on packaged items):

1. Tap the FOOD tab.

2. At the bottom, tap the green camera icon.

3. Choose the icon that looks like a barcode.

4. Line up the red line to go through your barcode.

5. The app will read it and pull up the item from the database.

6. Add the food to your diary like I wrote above.

(These are correct most of the time, but products change over time and the nutritional info might change as well; just double check before adding it to your food diary.)

Obviously, you'll scan an actual product; I just looked one up on the computer
because I was too lazy to go get something from the pantry while typing this.

After scanning the code, something like this will pop up. Just change the serving size (this one showed up as 40 servings, haha... I don't think that even *I* could eat that much!)

To add a recipe to your "COOK BOOK" tab:

1. Tap the "Diary" tab at the bottom of the screen.

2. In the top right corner, tap the magnifying glass icon.

3. Scroll to your COOK BOOK tab (in the black bar).

4. Scroll down to "Add New Recipe".

5. Enter the info requested.

6. When it says to add ingredients, just tap "Add Ingredient" and search for items the same way you would as described above.

7. Continue to add ingredients until they are all listed.

(You don't have to add recipe directions unless you want to. It says to add a minimum of 3 directions and 1 photo, but that is only if you plan to share your recipe with the community. I only use the recipe section in order to log my food easily, so I never type in the directions.)

8. Save the recipe.

Now, whenever you want to add it to your diary, you scroll to your COOK BOOK tab and it will be listed there. Just add it as you would any other food.

To create a SAVED MEAL (foods that are frequently eaten together):

1. In the black bar, scroll to SAVED MEALS.

2. Tap "New Saved Meal".

3. Give it a name ("tea with cream and sugar", for example).

4. At the top, it will say "Suitable for" and list the different meals. I would leave all of the meals listed so they are easier to find later. (If you were to just list "breakfast", for example, your saved meal would only show up there when you tap the green plus sign next to Breakfast on your diary page.)

5. Add all the food items that you want in that group (in this case, I'd add black tea, heavy cream, and granulated sugar). Make sure you adjust the serving sizes to the portion that you want to add.

Now, whenever you want to add that group of foods, just scroll to the SAVED MEALS tab from the black bar and it will be listed there.

Make sure breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack are all listed

To add Exercise/Sleep to your diary:

1. Tap the Diary tab at the bottom of the screen.

2. Scroll down and underneath the Snacks section, tap "Add Exercise/Sleep".

(I have never used the Sleep/Rest section, so I can't comment on that).

3. To add exercise, tap the plus sign next to Exercise.

4. Here, you can search for an exercise and add it just like you would with food (just tap on it to adjust the duration).

Because my calories burned varies with each run, I tap "Add Custom Exercise".

Here, you type a description ("Running") and calories burned ("378") and duration (36 minutes).

5. Then tap Done and Save.

To view summaries of your calories (and macros and/or nutrients):

Tap the Reports tab at the bottom of the screen.

I never use this, but it's very self-explanatory--just use the tabs "Calories" "Macros" and "Nutrients" to view the details (you can choose to view day or week).

In the top right, there is a bullseye icon where you can adjust nutrient goals (again, I don't use this, but it's self-explanatory).

Finally, about the Home tab:

I never use the "Home" tab at the bottom because it's for social stuff--you can follow people and see what they are posting, etc. I don't follow anyone and I keep mine private; I use the app solely as a way to track calories. But if you're interested in the social side of it, you can find that under the "Home" tab.

By tracking calories, I don't adhere to my target calorie number, either--I try to eat what I consider to be a "normal" amount of food and I track it. It usually ends up being somewhere between 1300 and 1900 calories per day, with the average being around 1600. I just find that when I have a target, I focus more on that target than my hunger. Tracking the calories keeps me aware of portion sizes and gives me a general guideline as far as how much I should be eating, but I don't worry about it if I go over that number (or under, for that matter).

Here is a recent post I wrote that explains the calorie target (or lack of) better: How I Calorie Counted My Way Back to My Goal Weight

One of the reasons I like Fat Secret so much is its simplicity--it's very user-friendly and easy to figure out if you play around with the app. I don't count macros or other nutrients, so I don't need fancy calculators and all that. Fat Secret does what I need it to do (for free and without ads, which is nice!). If you're new to calorie counting and you want a simple app that won't overwhelm you, I think Fat Secret is a great choice. (I am not affiliated with Fat Secret in any way--I just love the app and wanted to share.)

I feel like this tutorial is going to make the app sound MUCH more complicated than it really is--honestly, it's super easy to figure out! And now I can log a whole day's worth of calories in less than 60 seconds.

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HERITAGE RECIPE: Creamed Ham, Asparagus and Mushrooms (in a noodle ring!)

I hesitate to post photos of this recipe because it looked VERY unappetizing. However, I will spoil the ending and tell you that it was delicious! So don't let the photos turn you off.

When looking for recipes, the "asparagus and mushrooms" caught my eye--other than bell peppers, those are probably my favorite vegetables. Looking at the ingredients, it looked like a rich béchamel sauce with ham, asparagus, and mushrooms. Sounded good!

When reading the directions, I saw that it's served with noodles. "Fill noodle ring with cream sauce or just add noodle to the sauce" is how it's written. Out of curiosity, I googled "noodle ring" and I was instantly sold on this recipe. A noodle ring is about as vintage as you can get and it sounded fun to make. I'll explain more about the noodle ring after the recipe.

This recipe was submitted to the Rockwood, Michigan Area Historical Society by Jean Eagal, in memory of her mother, Elizabeth LaBo. I tried to find some info about them, but I didn't come up with much. Elizabeth was born in 1892 and passed away in 1960. I happened to find this photo of her on an ancestry website, though. She is in the front on the left:

Her only child, Jean, was born in 1925 and passed away in 2014. This is a photo from Jean's obituary:

This recipe is probably from the late 1930's to early 1940's, when noodle rings were popular. Elizabeth's recipe is just for the creamed ham, asparagus, and mushrooms; I used a separate recipe for a noodle ring to serve as suggested. (I'll post specifics in my notes.)

As always, I'm typing out this recipe exactly as submitted to the Historical Society. I made the recipe as written, without making any modifications or substitutions. The "printer-friendly" version (link below) has my clarifications written into it. Make sure you read my notes after the recipe for clarifications.

Here is a printer-friendly version!

Creamed Ham, Asparagus and Mushrooms

3/4 lb. cooked ham
1 pkg. frozen asparagus tips
1 c. cream
2 c. milk
5 Tbsp. butter
5 Tbsp. flour
1 lb. mushrooms
dry mustard

Cut ham into small pieces. Cook and drain asparagus tips and cut into small pieces. Make cream sauce by cooking the cream, milk, butter and flour until thick as a heavy cream. Add ham and asparagus and add salt, pepper and dry mustard to taste. At the last, sauté the mushrooms sliced in 2 tablespoons of butter and add to the sauce. Fill noodle ring with cream sauce or just add noodle to the sauce.

My Notes:

For ingredients specifics - The package of asparagus spears that I used was 12 ounces (4 servings). It came in a steamer bag, so I just steamed it in the microwave for 5 minutes to cook. For the other ingredients, I used heavy whipping cream and whole milk. (In the noodle ring, I used egg noodles.)

First, the noodle ring. As I said, I had no idea what it was. It is just what it sounds like--a ring of noodles. Noodles, along with a few other ingredients like eggs and milk, sometimes cheese, etc., are baked in a bundt pan. When turned onto a platter for serving, you pour some sort of creamed mixture into the center of the "ring".

There are a lot of recipes out there for the noodle ring, but I wanted a very simple "original" recipe--no mix-ins or seasonings, or even cheese (I wanted the Creamed Ham mixture to be the star of the show, since that is the heritage recipe I chose).

I ended up settling on an old Betty Crocker recipe that was as basic as it gets: noodles, eggs, milk, butter, salt, and pepper. You mix them together and pour into a buttered bundt pan. Then you put the pan in another pan that has an inch of water in it. Bake at 350. (Note: I only cooked the noodles for 5 minutes, rather than the 7-8 minutes that the package stated; since it was going in the oven with the milk and eggs, I didn't want it to get too mushy.)

source

Unfortunately, the Betty Crocker recipe didn't specify how long to bake it; it just said "until silver knife stuck into center comes out clean". (First, this made me laugh because a bundt cake has no center...) When baking the noodles, there really isn't anything that would stick to the knife. But I just baked it while I prepared the cream mixture and checked on it every once in a while to make sure it wasn't burning. It ended up being in there about 35 minutes or so.

This is what it looked like before pouring into the bundt pan--it just looked like buttered noodles, pretty much:

While that was baking, I prepared Elizabeth's recipe for the Creamed Ham, Asparagus, and Mushrooms. I like to use as few pans as possible, so I used the same big pot that I'd cooked the noodles in for cooking the mushrooms and then the whole creamed mixture.

First, I microwaved and chopped the asparagus. Then I sliced the mushrooms and sautéed in butter, per the recipe, and set those aside with the asparagus.

To make the cream sauce, I cooked it like a béchamel (the recipe didn't specify this, but it made the most sense). Melt the butter, add the flour, salt, pepper, and ground mustard. Stir until smooth. Gradually add the milk and cream, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Bring just barely to a boil so that it thickens, then turn the heat to low.

I added the ham, asparagus, and mushrooms to the pot. It looked like a really good chowder!

I flipped the noodle ring onto a large plate and immediately started laughing; I couldn't help it. I told Jerry he was in for a real treat for dinner tonight! (The black specks are just black pepper)

I didn't like that I could see the egg. I had imagined that it would look like the bottom of "Noah's Spaghetti Pie" (the egg and parmesan cheese stirred into the pasta makes the pasta stick together to form a "crust" for the pie--you can't actually see there is egg in it).

I'm sure the noodle ring would look the same if I'd included cheese, but without the cheese, the egg settled on the bottom of the pan and you can definitely see it. The egg didn't affect the taste at all--it tasted just fine--but I didn't like how it looked.) Note to self: if I make another noodle ring, I'll include a little cheese because I feel like it would look more appealing. 

I ladled the cream mixture into the center of the noodle ring until it was full:

There was still a lot of the cream mixture left, so after taking the above photo, I dumped the rest on top--might as well, right?

I sliced a piece of the noodle ring and loaded it with a lot of the asparagus and mushrooms (and ham--I'm kind of indifferent about ham in general--I don't love it or hate it).

Thankfully, the mess tasted a LOT better than it looked! I was bummed about counting calories because I was thinking I'd want another piece (and it's not exactly low in calories). It was very filling, though--I actually didn't even finish my whole piece because I was full. (I cut the ring into six servings.)

Jerry was skeptical when he saw it, but he said a couple of times how good it was. The kids wanted nothing to do with it, but I begged them to try a bite. Noah grabbed a bite as he was heading out the door to meet his friends, but he actually turned around and then ate several more bites because he said he really liked it. Eli said it was better than he thought, but he still didn't like it enough to want to eat it. No surprise there; Eli is VERY hard to please.

I don't think that this would reheat very well, so I sent the rest of it over to my mom and dad. I haven't heard from her what she thought of it yet. But basically, if you like asparagus and creamy sauces and pasta, you'll like this. The asparagus is definitely the dominant flavor. The pasta tastes just like you would expect pasta to taste. The texture was perfect--not soggy--thanks to undercooking the pasta before it went into the bundt pan.

I would describe the taste/texture as a creamy noodle and asparagus casserole (that happens to have ham and mushrooms in it). And like the recipe states, you can just mix the noodles in with the cream mixture, which is definitely what I would do if making something like this again. I think it would look more appealing as a casserole.

Overall, I really liked trying this recipe. The noodle ring was new to me and a fun way to try out my never-been-used-before bundt pan. I think that thinning out the sauce a little would turn this into a fantastic chowder--I'm definitely going to try it that way soon!

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Friday Night Photos

I felt like I was taking pictures all week long and I was sure I was going to have to narrow them down so that I didn't bombard tonight's post with way too many. Once I went through them, however, I realized that I'd just taken a lot of pictures of the same things. So unfortunately, I don't have many photos to share. But I do have a few fun memes to follow them.

I had to help Eli box up some things that he'd sold online, and I always like to use paper grocery bags to wrap packages. I took one bag and was having a hard time getting it to stay open while I cut the seam, so I just ripped the whole bottom off. Later on, I was walking to the kitchen in the dark and I noticed a weird shape in the middle of the floor. I turned on the light and saw Phoebe--she had somehow opened up the bottom of the paper bag and laid down in it to sleep. Haha! Cats really do love to find things to get inside of.

When Luke and Riley stayed the night, I was getting ready to brush Riley's hair into a ponytail and Luke asked me if he could brush her hair. Riley said it was okay, so Luke sat and very gently brushed Riley's hair--it was so cute!

Yesterday, we went to their house to celebrate Riley's third birthday. Becky made the most amazing dinner--sweet and sour chicken and teriyaki chicken with rice, and hollowed out pineapples to use as bowls! I took a little of both kinds of chicken, which were delicious. I thought the pineapple was such a cute idea.

Riley loves unicorns and my dad decorated a cake with unicorns for her. Of course, she's wearing a unicorn horn for her birthday hat.

Her grandma in Minnesota sent her the cutest gift (something simple, but I'd never seen one before). It's a plastic flower garden--there are lots of different pieces that fit together so you build flowers of different colors and then stick them into the garden base. (Here is the affiliate link to it on Amazon; I looked it up just now and there is a 50% off instant coupon, so it's only $9. It's such a cute gift!)  I think Luke and I actually liked it more than Riley did; we played with it for a long time!

Well, that's all I have as far as pictures go! But I've been loving these memes lately. They're mostly puns, and you can always find them by searching for "dad joke memes", haha. These are some of my favorites...

Have a fantastic weekend! xo

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Still working on it...

I just realized that today marks 12 years since I started the diet that would have me lose 125 pounds over the next 14 months. Twelve years ago today, I was 253 pounds. I wish I'd have realized it sooner so that I could have written something thoughtful today! But here's the situation...

I have spent over TEN HOURS today working on a single post. I am still not ready to publish it yet--it's a tutorial for Fat Secret (the calorie counting app I recommend)--and I had to take a million screenshots. I've been trying to get the post together without it being totally overwhelming. If I share it now, it will be done in haste and I don't want to make the app seem confusing. So, I will try to get it posted this weekend. Several people have asked me for a tutorial, so I assure you that I am working on it!

I think it goes without saying that I am not going to be writing a post tonight... I need to get away from this computer! ;)

For now, here is a funny picture of how Chick was sleeping today...

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Wednesday Weigh-In : Week 12

I haven't been able to wear this shirt (one of my favorites!) for a long time and I was happy to see that it fits again :)

I'm 12 weeks in (calorie counting and running) and still going strong. I had a fun milestone this week. I decided to pull out the clothes that I had packed away in the garage (all things that didn't fit; I was going to get rid of them if I didn't wear them within two years).

Most of my clothes jump from size 4 to size 10. I gained the weight so quickly in 2018 that I never really adjusted my wardrobe (and I wear a lot of forgiving athletic wear, like stretchy black pants!). I have a few items that are between those sizes, though. There is a pair of jeans that I bought from Salvation Army last year when I was doing 75 Hard and I bought them as a goal pair--something to look forward to wearing if I continued to lose weight.

They are size 8 skinny jeans; I've never worn them. I was so sure they wouldn't fit, but I decided to see how far away they were from fitting. I was shocked, then, when I tried them on this week and was able to put them on and zip them! I don't like them as much as I thought I would, but I'm happy that I was able to reach that goal.

When I was losing weight in 2009-2010, I used to buy a pair of jeans that were one size smaller than my current size and I would try them on once a week to see how close they were to fitting. It was really motivating! And when they fit, I'd buy the next size down.

I don't have any other jeans in size 8 or size 6, so I may go to the thrift store and buy a couple pairs.

Anyway, on to this week's weigh in...

Last week I was at 170.8 and today I was at 169.6--not a huge loss (1.2 pounds) but I'm happy with it. And I'm THRILLED to see that I'm back in the 160's again.  That brings the total to 27.4 pounds, which is still an average of over 2 pounds per week--I never thought I'd get to this point again (I don't mean my weight, but rather feeling in control of myself again and reaching goals).

This was a great week as far as my weight loss + running... I just feel really good about myself again!

(Since I usually get some questions about how I'm losing weight, here is recent FAQ post)

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Transformation Tuesday #38

Happy Transformation Tuesday! I was thrilled to see several transformations in my inbox this week; I'm going to post a few today and then save a couple for next week. But please, always keep them coming!

I'm so bummed because I spent four hours cleaning the garage today and I totally didn't think to take a "before" photo of it. There was clutter EVERYWHERE. The people from Saatva finally picked up the mattress today. (We'd decided to return it and bought a different one in the meantime, but we were waiting for weeks to get the Saatva mattress out of here--it took up a lot of space).

Noah invited some friends to come over for a bonfire today (we have a lot to burn after last week's storm knocked all sorts of branches into the yard). Since they'd be using the garage, I wanted to get it clean, and it looks so much better.

Anyway, here are some fun transformations this week...

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We had this odd area near our front entry way that we never knew what to do with. One day I had an idea to make a sitting area in the front yard (we live on a very wooded lot set back from the street).

We removed the boulders and leveled the area.  We created a small paver area, used the boulders as part of the arrangement - and river rocks as the filler.

It looks great and we can't wait to add a small fire pit to enjoy what is left of the summer and into the fall.

- Lorri, Syracuse, NY

Lorri, it looks beautiful! That's a great idea to make it into a sitting area. Every time I see the sitting areas on Transformation Tuesday, it makes me want to make one. Your property is gorgeous, too! -Katie

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My husband completed this transformation of a piece of live edge wood into a coffee table. He gathered different materials he had at the family farm to fabricate the legs. Once he had them welded together we had them powder coated for durability. The final product is a one-of-a-kind coffee table that we love.

- Cheryl

Cheryl, your husband did a fantastic job! I love that he used materials at the farm to create the legs--very creative. It looks amazing! -Katie

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Canberra, Australia is in lockdown with its first cases of COVID in over a year. With us all stuck at home, I decided it was time for a new hobby. My first puzzle was not the easiest choice but it was fun and had me hooked for 3 days!

- Sarah

Sarah, I LOVE puzzles, so this is fun to see! I'm super impressed that you chose that as your first. I get hooked once I start a puzzle, too--I don't want to do anything else until I finish, haha. Great idea for (another) lockdown. Hopefully things get better soon! -Katie

Thank you so much for sharing your transformations! As I always say, I love this series and I hope to be able to continue it indefinitely--so please keep sending transformations. Just email a before photo and an after photo to me at: katie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com. Include your name and a description of the transformation. I look forward to seeing what you come up with :)

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