Portion Selection

Overview

Welcome to the Figwee PortionRight system, the reason "Figwee" is fast becoming synonamous with portion control. Figwee provides a visual means of estimating portions using actual food photos. Once you get used to PortionRight you will never go back to guessing at portion sizes. PortionRight is simply the easiest way to enter how much of a particular food you ate.

The portion selection dialog is used for setting the serving amount for entries in the Food Diary, as well as for setting the default serving amount for items saved to My Foods.

How many photos does Figwee have? At last count, Figwee has almost 30,000 food portion photographs, with more are being added all the time.

Opening the PortionRight Dialog

There are a couple of ways to bring up the PortionRight dialog:

• Click on the photo of a Food Diary entry.
• Click on the edit (pencil) button of a Food Diary entry.
• Click on the edit (pencil) button of a My Foods item.
• Choose "Edit Default Serving..." from the right-click context menu of a My Foods item.

Using the Serving Sliders

The PortionRight dialog features two slider controls, one on the left of the food photo and one to the right. The lefthand portion slider displays a scale in grams, while the right portion slider displays a scale in ounces. To set the portion for a food, you click and drag the blue slider button. Slide up towards the top of the page to increase the portion size, slide the control down towards the bottom of the page to decrease the portion amount.

As you drag the slider, the food photo will automatically change to reflect the protion representing the current position of the indicator. For example, if as you move the slider control from 1 ounce to 2 ounces, the amount of food shown in the photo will double. In addition to the food photo changing, the textual serving and nutrition information will also automatically update to reflect values corresponding to the selected portion size.

Changing the Photo Angle

Figwee provides two photo angles to choose from when using PortionRight. The default "top" view is from above and in front of the food, looking at about a 50 degree angle. The second view is a side view. The top view is essentially what you would see if you were sitting at the table. The top view is best at showing how much area the food covers on a plate or bowl. With the side view, you are looking edge on, and this perspective allows you to determine the height of the food item.

Switching between the to perspectives is easy. In the upper right hand corner of the main photo is a small incon view of the available alternative view. Click on this small photo to swap it so that it becomes the main photo and the previous main photo becomes the small icon photo. Click the small photo again to swap them back. You will find that it is often useful to switch back and forth between the two views when determining the correct portion amount.

Serving Info

PortionRight includes a "Serving" section in the upper right corner of the dialog. This is where information about serving size is diaplayed in ounces and grams. For many foods, there will be additional item specific serving size values, such as "each", "fl oz", or "slice". The serving information is updated automatically as you move the serving slider up or down. It is also updated when you change the "Adjust Qty" value (see below).

Nutrition Info

As you adjust the selected portion size, Figwee automatically displays nutrition information corresponding to the portion photo and quanitity adjustment you have selected.

Quantity Adjustment

In Figwee, portion size is usually set visually by using the Serving Slider until you find the photo matching the amount you consumed. However, if you had less than the smallest amount Figwee provides in photos, or you had more than the largest photo portion, or if you had a portion between two photos, you can "adjust" the serving size using a Quantity Adjustment value.

The Quantity Adjustment is a "multiplier". Whatever photo portion you have selected using the Serving Slider control will be multiplied by the Quantity Adjustment value. So, if you select a photo for one slice of bacon, then enter a quantity multiplier of "0.5", you will get calorie and nutrition values for 1/2 slice of bacon. Similarly, if you select a photo portion of 3 cups of Froot Loops cereal, then enter a quantity adjustment of "2.0", the result will be calorie and nutrition values for 6 cups of cereal.

What picture is shown when a Quantity Adjustment is used? The photo displayed in the PortionRight dialog will not change when you enter a Quantity Adjustment. It will always be the photo you selected with the Serving Slider so that you know what serving is being multiplied by the Quantity Adjustment.

However, when you set a Quantity Adjustment value, the photo shown in My Foods or the Food Diary will be the closest match to your selected serving. If the portion selected is smaller than the smallest photo amount, the smallest photo will be displayed. If the selected serving is greater than the largest photo portion, the largest photo will be shown. If the serving is between two photos, the closest matching photo will be shown.

Size of Items in the Photos

how big is the plate, goblet, glass, salt shaker, spoon?

Sharing Links to PortionRight

xxx.

Help Topics:

Tour | Figwee Overview | The Diary Date | Using Diary Views | Using "My" Lists | Search | Food Diary | Nutrition Facts | Portion Selection | My Foods | Add New Food | Activity Log | Activity Facts / Calories Burned | My Activities | Creating a New Activity | Results Log | My Results | Charts | Settings | More Help / Report an Issue

Figweeosophy:

Figwee is photographic because people have a visual relationship with the world. Humans are better at finding things with visual image recognition than scrolling through long lists of text. It's the way we work, so it's the way Figwee works.

Food for Thought:

Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.
-Confucius

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.
-Aristotle

Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.
-Robert Collier

First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.
-Epictetus

Nothing is predestined: The obstacles of your past can become the gateways that lead to new beginnings.
-Ralph Blum

Energy and persistence conquer all things.
-Benjamin Franklin

My strength lies solely in my tenacity.
-Louis Pasteur

Most of the important things in the world have been accompanied by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.
-Dale Carnegie

The contents of this site do not constitute medical advice. This site offers health, fitness, and nutritional information, and is designed for educational purposes only. You should not rely on this information as a substitute for, nor does it replace, professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The use of any information provided on this site is solely at your own risk. If you are seeking medical advice, please consult a medical professional. You should always consult a physician before starting a fitness program, changing your diet, or if you have any questions.

Copyright © 2007-2008 Figwee.com. All Rights Reserved.