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Here are some common questions about using each section of the service:
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The Meal Plan page gives you everything you need to start and stick with your nutrition plan. This is where you'll find your daily and weekly menus.
If you elect to follow a prescribed meal plan, the site will generate menus for you. The calendar is located on the top right hand side of the diet tracker page. You may view your menu for the entire week or focus on a single day. Tracked/ submitted meals are highlighted in grey, planned/ future meals are highlighted in yellow. If you want to view your meal for a particular play, simply click on the desired date to do so.
Click the ‘Get more meals’ link to generate more meals. A yellow pop-up window will appear prompting you to indicate the amount of meals you want to add. You can: add a week, add 2 weeks, add today’s meal plan or click on the ‘custom days’ link. The ‘custom days link” will provide you with meal plans for a specific date range.
Click on the print/email link to print or email your diet plan. You may print a single day’s meal plan or meal plans across a specific time frame. Select desired date values using the calendars located within the start date and end date fields. In addition, you can elect to print your menu including the recipes or not.
The email this diet functionality works in a similar fashion. You can email a single day or multiple days worth of diet plans - including recipes if you so desire. Click on the email this diet button, enter one or several email recipient addresses, create message text and hit submit.
Your daily diet scorecard located on the diet tracker page, provides you with targeted versus actual nutritional information. If you would like to view a specific food items’ nutritional breakdown, just click on the food item name. This will take you to a page which will provide you with a detailed account of the nutritional information for that particular food item.
When you receive a meal plan, the system selects only compliant food choices. However, our food library does contain both compliant and non-compliant foods, so if you use the food library to substitute one food for another, the site will not stop you from selecting a non-compliant food. When you search for a substitute meal, the system lists the choices most compliant with your meal plan first, followed by non-compliant choices, all marked with an icon. Please refer to the swap an entire meal section of this help page for more information.
Individual food swap search presents the most similar items to what was prescribed. You can verify the level of compliance for you food choices by clicking on the food or meal plan name and viewing the detailed nutritional breakdown for that food items or meal plan choice.
To print out a handy shopping list of all the foods that appear on your menu, click on the ‘grocery list’ link on the diet tracker page. If you want to shop in advance, enter the date ranges for the days you'd like to shop for. The shopping list organizes your purchases so similar items are grouped together. If you already have some of the items on the grocery list, click on the check box located on the left of the item and click on the’ Remove item’ link. All checked items will be hidden. If you want to restore previously hidden items, click on the ‘Restore Item’ link. To print your shopping list, click on the ‘print’ link. To email your shopping list, click on the ‘email’ link and follow the system prompts.
You can rely on the site to generate menus that are designed to keep you on track to meeting your weight loss goal. But if there’s a particular food you don't want to eat, you can swap it out for something else.
To swap a food item on your prescriptive plan, click on the "swap" link located under the food item name that you want to change. Conduct a text search or choose from the food suggestions on the “Swap Food” page. The site will recommend some alternatives – with most similar food choices listed first. However, you are free to search for other food items too.
Our prescribed meal plans were designed by our experts to help you reach your weight loss goal. However, if there’s a particular meal you don't want to eat, you can swap it out for something else.
To swap an entire meal, click on the "add/ swap meal" link, then select the “swap meal” option from the dropdown menu. This will take you to a “Swap Meal” page. The 100% compliant meal plan choices will be presented first on the list of suggestions and contain a green check mark to the left of the meal plan swap option. Less compliant swap options will have a red minus sign next to them. You can conduct a text search for other choices as well.
Click on the “food database” tab under “My Meals.” You can conduct a text search or search by: food group, brand/ restaurant or created by.
The "Be A Sponge" module is located in the right sidebar on the diet tracker page on some sites. Simply click on the glasses and the system records your water intake.
If you don't see the module you can still track your daily water intake through the diet tracker. Click the ‘add food’ link and enter the word “water” on the search text field located on the top left of the “Add A Food” screen. When you click the go button, a list of search results will appear. Click on the red “choose” button next to your desired water line item. Now you can enter how much water you drank on any given day from the “Add to Menu” page. You should see a confirmation message on the top of the “Add A Food” page. You can either close the window by clicking on ‘done”; or undo your request by clicking on the ‘undo’ link located next to the message text.
You can track you water intake using the “Be A Sponge” right side module or through the diet tracker itself.
Tracking what you eat daily is easy to do. You can:
- Enter all planned meals for the day by clicking on the ‘add all planned meals’ link located on the planned meals tab; or
- Submit individual meals by clicking on the “I ate this (meal) link of the diet tracker.
Once an individual meal or all meals are submitted, you can view them in the meals eaten tab located on the diet tracker page. On the Abs Diet Online site there is also a recalculate button located within this tab. Power foods are recorded within the meals eater tab as you go; however, if you make a change to the plan, such as adding a food, simply click on the recalculate button so that the system recalculates your earned points for the day.
Click on the "add food" link of your diet tracker. Enter the food item on the “Add A Food Page.” You can either: (a) conduct a text or category search; or (b) create a new food by clicking on the “Create new food link" on the top right hand corner of the screen. Follow the system prompts to add the desired food item. You may also create a new recipe from this window as well by clicking on the "create new recipe" link.
You can change your meal plan preferences by clicking on the ‘Account’ link located on the top right hand corner of the page. Go to the “diet preferences” section, where you may switch your diet plan, edit nutrient targets, edit the number of meals per day for your plan or edit your activity level.
You no longer have to check in your diet on a weekly basis. However, tracking your progress is very important. Click on the “My Progress” tab located under the Home tab. This will take you the My Progress page. You may:
- Enter or edit your current weight to see how close you are to meeting your weight loss goals.
- The key stats section provides you with you rate of weight loss per week, your adjusted BMR, your current BMI, your target BMI and your current percentage of body fat.
- The My Weight, My Measurements & More Section allows you to enter and view your: weight, measurements & blood pressure level.
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The Workout Tracker page displays your current workout plan - cardio and strength exercises. If you do not have a workout scheduled for a particular day, the site will tell you. Since each new workout is generated using the results of your previous workout, the more accurately you record your results, the better the site can respond to the progress you are making. The Daily Calories Burned Scorecard displays targeted versus actual calories burned during cardio exercises, strength training exercises and a combination of both.
If you want to find out how many calories you should expect to burn during a particular exercise or activity, click on the “calories-burned calculator” tab located under the My Workouts tab. Enter your body weight, exercise and exercise duration. Then conduct a text search or search by: category, primary muscle group, cardio sub-category, and created by.
For the best results, try to stick to your schedule.
Your workout calendar lets you review completed workouts and preview scheduled workouts. Completed workout dates are highlighted in grey, scheduled workout dates are highlighted in yellow. Click on a date to see completed or upcoming workouts.
If you click on a date and nothing happens, that means that you do not have a workout scheduled for that date.
If you want to view an animated or Branded exercise demonstration for a particular exercise, click on the exercise name or go to the “exercise finder” tab, conduct a search and view the demo, including instructions.
If you are having difficulty viewing the demonstrations, please make sure that you have Adobe's Shockwave and Flash Player installed on your computer. You can download this plug-in at http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download.
Click on the ‘print/email’ link for a printable version of your current workout. This will take you to the workout plan print page. You can print your workout for the current day or for the week by selecting the appropriate value on the print dropdown. In addition you may print your workout with or without instructions using the layout field.
Because Personal Trainer adjusts your workout each week based on your previous performance, only the current week of a workout routine is available to be printed.
Click on the ‘print/email’ link for a printable version of your current workout. This will take you to the workout plan print page. Click on the ‘Email this workout’ link located above the day/ date text and follow the system prompts.
If you're not able to get to your current workout, you can always do it at a later time then change the completion date when you record your results.
However, if you want to skip your current workout altogether - and you know that you're not going to complete it at a future date - then click the "skip workout" link located under the “submit results” button on the workout tracker. This will remove it from your schedule.
In order for the site to generate a workout plan that's appropriate for your current strength and fitness levels, you need to provide regular feedback, which means entering the results of each workout you perform.
To log your workout actual, select the “actual” field you would like to enter information for. Enter your actual values, select the date you completed the workout, and click the submit results button. To get the most out of the site, be as accurate as you can and enter results into every box. Please note that some exercises do not require weights and therefore, you will not need to enter them into the system.
Click on the ‘swap’ link under the exercise name and select a value from the dropdown provided. You should receive a confirmation message highlight in yellow. You should click on the ‘Save and update” link to be sure that your swap is saved.
Changing an exercise affects the current workout only. It will not change the structure of your workout in the future.
If you did not perform a set or exercise at all, simply delete it. To delete a set, click on “- set” . You will receive a confirmation message highlighted in yellow indicating that the set for a given exercise has been removed. To delete an individual exercise, click on the ‘delete’ link located under the exercise name.
If you performed any additional exercises, please add them by clicking the "Add an Exercise" button. This will take you to the “add exercise page” where you can conduct either a text search or filter by exercise type. Click on the exercise name that you are interested in adding and then click on “Add to Workout.”
Use this setting to get suggested weights for your ability level. All current and future workouts will be adjusted. Switch back at any time to see the workout's original weights.To determine a suggested weight value, we create a relationship between all the exercises in the system and your pushup value. This lets us estimate a weight value that is appropriate for your level for any exercise in the system. But this is just an educated guess, and your input data is required to improve the calculations. As you enter your actual results the system will update the values associated with individual exercises to increasingly improve the weight suggestions.
Change completion date
If you could not get to your workout on the scheduled date, simply complete the workout when you have time then change the completion date.
If "max" appears in the Distance column instead of a number value, you should exercise for as long a distance as possible in the time allowed - the maximum distance possible for you.
If "—" appears in the Distance column, choose whatever distance you consider appropriate for the exercise.
If "min" appears in the Time column instead of a number value, you should complete the exercise at a fast pace - in the minimum amount of time possible for you.
If "—" appears in the Time column, choose whatever pace you consider appropriate.
RPE stands for rate of perceived exertion and is based on a 10-point scale.
- 10 = extreme exertion - conversation is impossible
- 8 = high effort - conversation is extremely labored
- 6 = optimum effort - conversation is difficult, but possible
- 4 = medium effort - conversation is easy to maintain
- 2 = warm up
HR stands for your target heart rate, which is the rate at which you should achieve optimum physical gains.
your target heart rate - the rate at which you should achieve optimum physical gains.
- Cardio Warm Up - Easy cardio activity of choice prior to speed work to get blood pumping. Stretching can then be completed prior to speed work
- Pre-Lift Cardio Warm Up - Easy cardio activity to get blood pumping before weight training activity
- Easy Run - Complete at self-determined "comfortable" pace
- Easy Run - Complete at slightly slower than 10K race pace
- Race Pace Run - Complete at the pace of the goal run
- Long Run - Complete at super-easy or "leisurely" pace
- 200M, 400M, 800M, and 1600M Repeats - Complete at around your 5K race pace
- Recovery Jog - Super-easy jog in between speed intervals
- Active Rest - Super-easy cardio in between speed intervals
- Easy Ride - Complete at self-determined "leisurely" pace
- Brisk Ride - Complete at 2-3mph faster than goal ride pace
- Pace Ride - Complete at the pace of the goal ride
- Easy Walk - Complete at self-determined "comfortable" pace
- Max Walk - Complete at self-determined "maximum" pace
- Easy Walk - Complete at self-determined "comfortable" pace
- Brisk Walk - Complete at slightly faster than normal walking pace
- Speed Walking - Walk at your highest possible rate - varies with each individual
- Pace Walk - Complete at your goal pace
- Incline Walk - Uphill walking pace
- Max Walk - Complete at self-determined "maximum" pace
- Morning Walk, Afternoon Walk, Evening Walk - Daily steps/miles separated into different walks during the day - pace determined by walker
- Cool Down - Walk at easier and easier pace until end of cool down period
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Track your progress using easy-to-follow graphs. Clicking on My Progress tab under ‘home”, lets you keep track of key weight loss indicators, such as weight, body measurements and energy using the Add New Entry link.
Take advantage of our great tools! Click on the My Tools tab to access:
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The Calorie-Needs Calculator. The calories needs calculator helps you determine the daily calories you need to eat to achieve your fitness goals:
- Click Calorie-Needs Calculator
- Enter requested information
- Click Calculate
Want to know how many calories burned by performing any exercise? Click on Calorie-Burn Calculator to find out:
- Enter your body weight
- Exercise duration
- Conduct an exercise search
- Calories burned are displayed on the exercise profile
Clicking on the exercise name will allow you to view a video demo and instructions on how to execute the exercise in proper form to achieve maximum results.
Our Body Fat Calculator provides you with your body fat percentage quickly and easily:
- Click on Body Fat Calculator
- Enter required information
- Click Calculate
- See your results instantly
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Measurements are optional information that we will store to further help track your progress.
Measurement tips:
- Neck: Place the tape measure around your neck and measure just above your collar
- Abdomen/Navel: Place the tape measure around your midsection and measure at belly button
- Waist: Place the tape measure around your midsection and measure at the narrowest point
- Hips: Place the tape measure around the widest point of your hips
- Chests: For men, place the tape measure around your chest at the nipples. For women, place the tape measure around your ribcage just below breasts
- Thighs: Place the tape measure around one thigh at widest point
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If you want to expand your food and recipe choices, you can create foods and recipes by clicking on the create food and create recipe links.
Our recipe finder helps you select from a wide array of recipes that will keep your meal plan interesting and easy-to-follow.
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Here are some of the great community features we have added to keep you motivated and connected with others:
Find A Friend. Keep motivated and achieve your fitness goals by finding friends on the PT site. This is easy to do:
- Click on the People under the Community Tab
- Conduct a search
- If you find someone with similar interests that you want to connect to, click on the Add As A Friend link
- You can send a personalized message and friend request via e-mail through the system
You can also view and join groups!
Don’t forget to complete your profile by clicking on My Profile. Enter:
- Basic Information, Contact Information, Relationship Status, Personal Information, Education Information, Work Information, Fitness Information
- Post comments on your wall
- View your activities
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Upload pictures and videos:
- Click on the view all media link
- Click on the add media button for the media type you want to upload
- Enter required information on the upload media page
- If you want to make your picture public, click on the checkbox. But if you do not want to make your picture public, simply uncheck the box
- Click on the browse button
- Upload your picture
- Click submit
- Start a blog