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Overview

The Figwee Nutrition Facts shows aggregate nutrition information for all of the food entered in the food diary for the current diary date. It is similar to labels you see on food packaging, but represents the total nutrition for all of the entries in the day.

Minimum Daily Calories. Unless under the advice and supervision of a doctor or other medical professional, please assume that at an absolute minimum, you should consume at least 1200 calories a day. If you are exercising consistently or lead a very active lifestyle, you may require more than 1200 calories as a minimum. Very low calorie diets can lead to several extremely serious health problems, even death. Please consult your doctor to determine what calorie level is right for you.

Nutrition Totals

The Nutrition Facts display shows the total values for calories, calories from fat, total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates, dietary fiber, sugars, and protein. The values are total amounts for the food entries for the current diary day, and are given in calories, grams, or milligrams, as labeled. The percentages next the total amounts represent the % Daily Values and are discussed separately below. As food entries are added or removed from the Food Diary list, the Nutrition Facts totals are updated automatically. Depending on how you set up your goals, Figwee will display either "calories left" or "net carbs left" for the current day below the aggregate nutrition information.

% Daily Value

The percentages shown on the NutritionFacts are the % Daily Values recommended by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Here are their recommendations for most adults, and the values used in Figwee:

* Note your individual nutritional requirements may differ from those used by Figwee to report daily value percentages. For example, children, pregnant women, and nursing mothers have different recommended amounts of protein. Please constult your physician. See the FDA Website for more information.

Calories. You have to burn approximately 3,500 calories to lose one pound. That means to lose one pound a week, you need a calorie deficit of 500 calories per day. Put another way, your body would have to use 500 calories a day more than you consume. The reverse is also true. If you eat 500 calories a day more than you use through activity, then you will gain weight over time at the rate of one pound a week.

Calories Remaining

Figwee will display the number of calories you have remaining for the day under the Nutrition Facts information. The value displayed is your target calories minus the number of calories you have consumed (entered into the Food Diary). There are two ways your target calories can be established as determined by your Settings:

First, you can set an explicit constant number of calories as your goal, for example, 2000. If you do this, the calories remaining value will simply be your fixed number of calories minus the calories consumed. There is no adjustment made for exercise or activity.

The other means of establishing the target number of calories is to let Figwee dynamically calculate it for you based on your activity entries. If on the Settings page you specify a weekly weight loss of a particular amount, say one pound, then Figwee will adjust your target number of calories based on an estimation of calories burned by adding up your activity entries for the day. In this way, you can "earn" the right to consume more calories by increasing your physical activity while still meeting your weight loss goals.

See Activity Facts / Calories Burned for a detailed description of how Figwee determines calories burned through activity and exercise.

Calories Remaining - Going Over

If the number of calories you have consumed for the day exceeds your target calorie goal, then the overage will be displayed as a negative number in red type.

Carbs Remaining

If your goals involve tracking carbohydrates rather than calories, Figwee will display the number of net carbohydrates remaining based on the target number you entered on the Settings page.

Carbohydrate values are in grams. Net carbs are calculated by taking the Total Carbohydrate value and subtracting the Dietary Fiber value. The total net carbs for the day are subtracted from the carb goal you set, and the difference is displayed in the Nutrition Facts section.

If you have consumed fewer net carbs than your target value, the difference will be reported as "net carbs left today" and shown in green. This is the number of additional net carbs you can consume and still meet your goal.

If the number of net carbs you consumed exceeds the goal you set, then the overage value will be displayed as a negative number in red type and labeled "net carbs over today".