Need help finding Diet App for tracking dietary intake

[Dana66CKD]

Hi. I have been monitoring my intake but no formal or efficient way to track daily intake: protein, sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphorous, sugar, fat, calories, etc.I also track water intake, which is much easier. I've been writing down what I eat, but this is so time consuming.

Does anyone know of or use an app that can track all the above info? I'm bogged down in the kitchen as it is, calculating protein, etc. for each food I prep/consume. My way has been tedious and sometimes I forget the amounts. I would definitely appreciate some feedback or recommendations for an app that can help manage my stage 2 ckd/ckf diet. Thanks for listening. 🙏🙂

[jodaer]

I use MyFitnessPal. It doesn't track phosphorous. I don't know where you can find one that will do that. MFP is free but it does have an upgrade that is ad free and has a few more features. It does have some problems but it's the best I've found, and it tracks potassium and calcium and other nutrients. I've been on and off most of the apps since they started.

[Dana66CKD in reply to jodaer]

Thank you jodaer. I will look at app and try using.I just get so bogged down with food prep, then calculating/recording how much of each thing is so time consuming.

Mostly been on track, but several times last year, I had set-backs due to eating more than supposed to. Causes me to feel ill for as long as 2-3 weeks.

Writing everything down leaves me less time for other activities since I'm not an early riser or super organized.

Thanks for your quick response and sorry for bending your ear a bit.😕

[Bassetmommer NKF Ambassador in reply to Dana66CKD]

I too have use My fitness Pal for years. does not track eveything and you get set your own limits. I love it. But I do check the validity of the nutriant content of food many times because they do not have accurate information.

[Dana66CKD in reply to Bassetmommer]

Thank you Bassetmommer.

[CuriousCKD in reply to Bassetmommer]

I use My Fitness Pal as well, and I also learned that I have to check the nutrition charts before I post. It was frustrating to learn that I was consuming more potassium and sodium than I thought, because some items do not show it. When in doubt, I now import recipes that show the nutrition, or I create my own recipe with ingredients, if I can’t find something.

[jodaer]

It's definitely not fun to have to track and watch what you eat. I often have setbacks too. Bassetmommer is right, not all the info is complete or accurate. When you start out you can build your meals, enter recipes, enter food so that as you go along there is less you have to do. Do not take what they say as accurate, even if it's verified. You can change what's already there or add in your own. Let me know how you like it once you've tried it

[Dana66CKD in reply to jodaer]

Yes, I will let you know how it works out for me. Thank you!

[Dana66CKD in reply to jodaer]

I have been using my fitness pal. It is helping tremendously. Also, I've gained 6 lbs back and I'm very excited about this. I didn't think with CKD it was possible since I went from 163# in Jan. 2022, to 120# by Jan. 2023. It was scary to lose so much. Now I'm able to keep up with eating sufficient calories & protein and stay within range on other nutrients. Thanks everyone!❤🙏

[Ladyellen2]

Try MyFitnessPal. It’s a free app for computer and laptop.

[PecanSandie]

I have used MyFitnessPal on and off since 2011. It's a good app but limited as others have mentioned. In my own case I figured I was going to have to stop obsessing about calculating everything I eat and try to get a good feel for learning the portions and how much to limit them without relying on the app. Also, my husband has different dietary needs and he's the main meal preparer so I knew keeping track was going to be really hard. So, here is the deal we made. We cook (mostly) without salt. (It's hard to bake without a little bit of salt.) I measure out my roughly 2 ounces of meat during plating (no measuring, I just eyeball it). We basically follow the Mediterranean diet with no red meat and fish and chicken once a week. I also need to make sure I get half of my daily calcium from food. Since my phosphorus, potassium and manganese are currently fine, I don't really monitor them. I would though if they became abnormal. The one thing I do monitor is exercise (via fitbit) (you can track exercise on MFP too). I am a natural couch potato and it's hard for me to get motivated to move!

[Dana66CKD in reply to PecanSandie]

Was couch potato too, but started feeling ill last year (2022). Many different s/s, recurrent UTI, elevated bp, tingling arms/legs, palpitations and ANXIETY.Now I understand why and been eating healthier, I have lost weight, have felt good enough to travel by car long distance.

My family has been very supportive, my husband a great guy, but unable to help with diet/meal prep, but takes care of everything else. It works for me.

I have learned so much on this journey.🙏❤

[Svnaia]

I too use MyFitnessPal after trying others. And my situation is exactly like Pecan Sandie-my husband cooks, we eat the Mediterranean diet, cook with very little to no salt and he salts at the table. My Neph told me not to track and measure everything forever, but to start that way and teach myself to know the right amounts and be able to eyeball it. I tracked for two months and met with a renal dietician who tweaked the amounts, establishing maximums initially but then adding minimums because I was going too far in cutting out all salt and not eating enough protein or total calories. I lost weight and was feeling good about the whole thing. We created our own recipes in the app for our favorites and frequently cooked meals which made it far easier. Then I stopped using the app and continued to loose a little weight, and my itchy skin mostly stayed away. Then my weight plateaued (I would have liked to lose 10 more pounds) but I’m happy enough with where I am at. When my skin starts itching or I gain a couple of pounds then I know I’m likely off track with my eating and I will pay more attention or get out the food scale and app and weigh and track for a week to refresh and reset my perception (especially after a vacation or a period where I have eaten out a lot). This is working really well for me and I feel great. My Neph is happy that my weight and cholesterol are down and I have moved from stage 3 to stage 2 this last year. Although we don’t attribute that exclusively to diet, it’s mostly due to stopping the ibuprofen and staying hydrated that did it. My Neph does not believe that my itchy skin is due to my kidneys at this stage but when I go off diet I get it….but honestly I cannot find a correlation in potassium (or sodium etc) even while using the app to track everything and my skin…but did find a correlation in when I eat more processed foods, so I am definitely the healthier for eating more whole foods. So yes the tracker apps are really great for several reasons. Good luck with it, I know you will enjoy it once you are using for a while.

[Dana66CKD in reply to Svnaia]

I have tried eyeballing some things; but I get tingling in arms & legs, & the worst is my palpitations and elevated bp if I overdo.Just trying to find best solution to track but not spend so much time in kitchen so I have more time to live life.

Thanks to all for your responses. I so appreciate you!🙂

[orangecity41 NKF Ambassador]

Davita has tracking and recipes for CKD on their web site.

[Dana66CKD in reply to orangecity41]

Will look into that too.👍

[Amyngil]

hello Dana66,

I struggled with finding an app that can track everything too. What I settled on is the My Food Diary app. It doesn’t track phosphorous but I can’t find one that does. If you learn of a better choice please share it! Good luck to you -Amy

[Dana66CKD in reply to Amyngil]

Thanks. I will look at how this works and see if it'll fit my needs. 🙏😊

[GoodHealthIsAJourney]

I love Cronometer. There is a paid and a free version, but the free version is enough for me as I don't need to share my food diaries with my physicians or dietitians. You can choose which nutrients you want it to track, which is extremely helpful for those of us monitoring protein, potassium, sodium, etc. I tried MyFitnessPal, and it just didn't work for me. The entries were all user generated (at least at the time I tried it), and were not terribly accurate.

One of the best purchases I've made is a cheap kitchen digital scale. Really helps to keep me honest! Otherwise, my portions gradually get bigger! You've got this!

[Dana66CKD]

I have a scale, but need something I can look at once, enter what/how much I'm having then let it keep this in memory for the next time I have same thing. Just don't want to look up amounts everytime I'm having same meal. It's time consuming and I want to spend less time in kitchen... more time living life!😁Thanks for your response too.

[GoodHealthIsAJourney in reply to Dana66CKD]

Cronometer will do that! 😀

[SunDays]

I’ve been using Cronometer for almost 3 years and find it easy to use and very informative. You can enter recipes or scan camera over a QR code for purchased items. Or use thousands of other foods that are entered. I especially like that it tracks P(otential) R(enal) A(cid) L(oad) or inflammation that can affect kidneys. I did purchase the paid “gold” version. You can also set up custom charts of nutrients, weight, water consumption, fiber, fats, protein, etc., and watch fluctuations over customized time periods. I usually spend only 2-5 minutes/day entering my food because many of my entries can be copied from previous days. Good luck with whatever app you choose!

[Dana66CKD]

Thanks. Will look into.👍