Body Log, Setting Up Your

Your Body Log stores as many as 40 different variables describing your body and its nutrition. You can graph almost any of these variables on your Home Screen. The variables include:

• Your weight

• Your calorie consumption

• Your intake of 32 other nutrients

• Up to six custom variables of your own choosing

• (Optional) your menstrual cycle.*

The Body Log opens automatically the first time you log on each day. Using it, you record your weight, custom variables, and (if you're female and have chosen to do so) your menstrual state. Behind the scenes, the Body Log also maintains records of your calorie and nutrient intake, which are updated automatically as you log your foods.

The chapter of Help that you are reading now is about setting up your Body Log. For instructions on using the log, see Body Log, Using Your.

Custom Variables

Besides logging your weight (which is mandatory), the Body Log will let you record and graph virtually any variable you like. Examples:

• Your Weight Watchers points, Food Pyramid servings, or data needed by another weight-loss program that you are using in conjunction with Diet Power

• Waist, hip, chest, bicep, thigh, or other body measurements

• Blood pressure, glucose reading, cholesterol level, or other physiological variables

• Hours of sleep, number of cigarettes smoked, or other habitual variables.

You can set up as many as six variables like these. All must be expressed as decimal numbers, however. This means that you won't be able to log 35-1/2 as your waist size—you'll need to enter 35.5. Similarly, 7:30 hours of sleep must be logged as 7.5.

Two Variables on One Graph

You can also set up two variables—your systolic and diastolic blood pressures, for example—to be plotted on the same graph. And if you like, Diet Power will also display the sum of the two variables.

To set up custom variables:

From your Home Screen:

1. Open the View Menu (by clicking the word View).

2. Click "Choose Home Screen." The Choose Home Screen dialog will open.

3. Click the "Set up My Custom Variables" tab.

4. Follow the instructions on the tab.

To set up a menstrual log:

(This option won't appear if you are male or over age 59. As noted above, your log is never displayed; it is used only to adjust your calorie budget for water retention.)

From your Home Screen:

1. Open the View Menu (by clicking the word View).

2. Click "Choose Home Screen." The Choose Home Screen dialog will open.

3. Click the "Chart my menstrual cycle" box.

4. Click the OK button.

To display your Body Log as your Home Screen:

From your Home Screen:

1. Open the View Menu, by clicking the word View.

2. Click "Choose Home Screen." The Choose Home Screen dialog will open, offering you a choice of either the Diet Power logo or a graph of one or two of the 40 variables that the program monitors.

3. Click your choices. (For guidance, see "The Choices," below.)

4. Click the OK button. The dialog will close, taking you back to the Home Screen that you selected.

Shortcut: Right-click anywhere on the Home Screen and choose from the menu that appears. (The shortcut method won't let you adjust the scope or data smoothing, however. See "The Choices," below.)

The Choices

Show on Home Screen. Choose from this section if you want your Home Screen to display either the Diet Power logo (the picture of an apple that you saw the first time you used Diet Power), your weight, your calorie intake, or your intake of any of the 32 other nutrients that the program monitors. (The default setting is the Diet Power logo. During your second session after enrollment, however, the program will automatically ask you whether you'd like to switch to your Weight History, which is one of the choices in your Body History.)

Custom Variables. Choose from this section if you want your Home Screen to display any of the homemade variables that you've established. (To set up custom variables, click the Set Up My Custom Variables tab at the top of the dialog.)

Scope. The default for this variable is "Entire history," which makes the graph cover every day since you enrolled in Diet Power. Click "Current diet only" to start the graph at the beginning of your most recent diet instead. You can also choose from the past week, month, quarter, year, or as many as 999 days.

Data Smoothing. "None" (the default) will plot every day's value exactly as you log it. "Past 3 days" will plot the average of today's value and those for the two preceding days. "Past week" will plot the average of today's value and those for the six preceding days. "Past 2 weeks" will plot the average of today's value and those for the 13 preceding days. "Past month" will plot the average of today's value and those for the 29 preceding days.

Menstrual Cycle. This checkbox appears only if you've enrolled as a woman under 60. Check the box if you'd like to log your menstrual cycle. (The default is unchecked.) For details, read Menstrual Cycle, Recording Your.

To close the Choose Home Screen dialog:

If you want to save your work, click OK. Diet Power will take you back to the Home Screen.

If you'd rather discard the work, click Cancel or press the Escape key. Diet Power will discard the work and return you to the Home Screen.

(Note: If the OK and Cancel buttons are not visible, see Taskbar, Hiding to Make Screens Deeper.)

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Last Modified: 1/27/04