General Site
Q: What is LIVESTRONG.COM?
A: LIVESTRONG.COM is the definitive health, fitness and lifestyle destination. Launched in summer 2008, LIVESTRONG.COM's mission is to help people take charge of their life by providing a full 360 degree view on diet and nutrition, fitness, personal and health-related topics. At the center is My Dares, which helps our members achieve everyday victories. The website is a partnership between Lance Armstrong, Demand Media and the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
Q: Where can I find information about the Lance Armstrong Foundation?
A: Visit www.LIVESTRONG.ORG for the latest information and to join the fight against cancer.
Q: What is the difference between LIVESTRONG.COM and LIVESTRONG.ORG?
A: LIVESTRONG.COM is the definitive health, fitness and lifestyle destination. LIVESTRONG.ORG is the website of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on supporting cancer survivors and fighting cancer.
Q: How is Lance involved with the site?
A: Lance Armstrong is a strategic advisor and ongoing content contributor. Lance works exclusively with Demand Media to build and promote LIVESTRONG.COM. He is also a daily source of inspiration to its members.
Q: Why do I need to register?
A: When you register and become a LIVESTRONG.COM member, you can start setting and tracking your goals. You'll also be able to engage in Q&A with the community, join groups and forums, comment on articles and videos, write reviews and more.
Q: What happens when I click the "I have this" and "I take this" buttons throughout the site?
A: Throughout the site, members are encouraged to interact with one another and provide their opinions and experiences. At LIVESTRONG.COM, we believe health is not just static information; rather it's an ongoing conversation between experts, doctors, caregivers and patients. When you click "I have this" or "I take this," you immediately connect with other members who are going through a similar experience. As you build out your health portfolio on LIVESTRONG.COM, we'll be able to offer you the latest information, including articles, expert commentary, news and videos, that is most relevant to you.
Q: Who are the LIVESTRONG.COM experts? How can I become an expert?
A: The LIVESTRONG.COM experts are hand-selected, highly qualified professionals that cover a variety of medical, fitness and lifestyle topics. If you are interested in becoming an expert, send us an email. Please select "Contribute to the Site" on the Contact Us form.
Q: Who provides the site content and can I trust it?
A: LIVESTRONG.COM features content from a variety of trusted sources. In addition to licensed medical databases, our timely, topical and relevant content is created by professionals and writers with expertise in their fields, from exercise planning to disease treatment. These professionals bring experience from some of the world's most respected publications and medical institutions. Information on LIVESTRONG.COM should not be used as a substitute for professional health care.
My Dares
Q: What is My Dares?
A: My Dares is there to help our members achieve everyday victories, from losing a few pounds, exercising regularly to spending more time with their family. My Dares suggests tips and simple actions users can track to complete those objectives. It's like your life's "to-do" list, only with LIVESTRONG.COM's community and experts to help put your plan together and act on it.
Q:How do use My Dares?
A: To add a goal, go to www.LIVESTRONG.COM/dares. To browse all the dares, select a "View all dares." Once you find a goal you'd like to add, click "Take this dare" to get started. To challenge someone else to that goal, click "Give this dare." My Dares is for LIVESTRONG.COM members, so please sign in or register to get started.
Q: How do I track my progress?
A: After you've set a dare, be sure to track your progress daily. Each day, you can rate how well you did against your goal, and also how difficult the day was. To stay motivated, add supporters who will cheer you on and keep you accountable.
My Account
Q: How do I edit my profile?
A: To change your profile information, click on the "edit" link next to "My Profile". You must send us an email in order to change your username.
Q: Can I change my username?
A: Unfortunately, we cannot change your username. Your username is how we identify you on the site and we are unable to change it.
Q: What will you do with the personal health information I provide?
A: We collect your personal health information to customize the content you see, connect you with other members going through similar experiences, and improve our services. Of course, we will not sell your personal health information to advertisers, direct mail companies or any similar 3rd parties. Additionally, you have the option of whether or not to display your personal health information on your profile page. For all the details, please read our Privacy Policy.
Q: How do I add friends?
A: To add a friend, visit their profile and click the "Add To Friends" link. An invitation to connect will be sent to that person. Once s/he confirms the request, you will be friends.
Q: What are badges?
A: Badges are a fun way LIVESTRONG.COM rewards its members. Whether its staying focused on healthy eating, being an active contributor to our message boards, or logging in regularly, we'll reward your accomplishments with badges. The badges you accumulate will appear in your profile.
Google Health
Q: Why is LIVESTRONG.COM working with Google Health?
A: Google Health is an innovative new solution for managing your personal health records. From conditions to medications to lab results, Google Health can store and organize your information in one place. LIVESTRONG.COM complements Google Health by offering a rich health, fitness and lifestyle content destination and community.
Q: What kind of data is passed between LIVESTRONG.COM and Google Health?
A: When you link your LIVESTRONG.COM account with your Google Health account, your health information stored at Google will be passed to LIVESTRONG.COM. No data is passed from LIVESTRONG.COM to Google Health at this time, but we plan to introduce that functionality in the near future.
Q: Why should I link my LIVESTRONG.COM account to Google Health?
A: When you link your LIVESTRONG.COM account to Google Health, we'll be able to provide you personalized professional articles, videos, expert opinions and community commentary based on your health records. The more health information we have, the more personalized information you'll receive.
Q: How do I unlink my account with Google Health?
A: To unlink your Google Health account, go to "My Content" under the "My Profile" tab. Click the "Unlink Google Profile" button to unlink the two accounts.
Q: Who can see my health information?
A: On LIVESTRONG.COM, you control the privacy settings for your health information. You can make them public, private or viewable only by your friends. You may change your settings at any time by clicking "My Settings" under the "My Profile" tab. The default for your health information is set to private. If you want others to be able to see the information, you will need to change your privacy settings.
iPhone Calorie Tracker
Q: How much does the LIVESTRONG / Daily Plate Calorie Tracker application cost?
A: The application is $2.99 and works on the iPhone, the iPhone 3G, and all generations of the iPod touch.
Q: Do I need to create a LIVESTRONG.COM account?
A: The application does not require that you have an account; you can search the database of nutritional information without tone. If you do have an account with LIVESTRONG.COM or The Daily Plate, your tracking information will be synced from your device back to the website. You'll also need an account if you want to calculate your daily calorie target for your weight-loss goal.
Q: Why don't my updates from the site appear on the device?
A: We wanted to get our app into your hands as fast as possible. Today, any foods, fitness activities, or weight updates that you track on the device will sync back to your account on the website, almost instantly. The next version of our app will contain one major enhancement: Updates you make on the site will be reflected on your iPhone or iPod. That feature wasn't supported by our website, but rather than delay the launch of the app, we decided to launch without it. We expect to release the next version soon.
Q: Does the application work in offline mode?
A: A bit. You'll be able to track your fitness activities and weight while offline, but we couldn't cram our entire 500,000-strong food database onto the iPhone without eating up memory for all your music and videos -- so tracking foods while offline is limited to "recently tracked foods" that your device has cached. The next time you open the app while online, we'll sync any offline updates to the server.
The Daily Plate
Q: Why is my food entry showing up on the wrong date?
A: Adjusting your time zone is really easy. Go to http://www.livestrong.com/prof/preferences/. Scroll down, and on the left you will see an option to tell us what time it is where you are.
Q: How do I change my gender?
A: Adjusting your gender is really easy. Go to http://www.livestrong.com/prof/edit/. Scroll down, and on the right you will see an option to choose your gender.
Q: Why is my Gold Membership not activated?
A: Here are a few of the most common reasons.
- Activate your Gold Membership by logging in and out of the site. That should do the trick!
- Have you recently opted-out of auto-renewing your Gold membership? Sometimes, our system mistakenly assumes that it should cancel your Gold membership when that happens. Email our support team -- support@livestrong.com -- and we'll take care of it right away.
- You paid via eCheck. When you purchase using the eCheck option, PayPal's system doesn't notify us to activate your Gold membership until that payment clears, which normally takes three to four business days. Once your purchase is cleared by PayPal, your Gold membership will automatically be activated on your account instantly.
Q: How do I cancel my 5 day free Gold Membership trial?
A: Please log into your PayPal account. From there find your subscription with us, and click on it. You will be given an option to Cancel Subscription. If you are having difficulty with the process, please email us: support@livestrong.com.
Q: Why isn't my work out in your fitness database?
A: We need a unique figure to add fitness activities to our database. The formula we use takes into account the duration, the weight of the person doing the exercising, and then a per-activity variable. So, without knowing that variable, we can't add new exercises to our database. We have a few fitness consultants whom we work with to add new exercises, and we'll certainly put this one on the list to ask about!
Q: How do I add an item to your fitness database?
A: Unfortunately users do not have the ability to add items to the fitness database. For more of an explanation please see the FAQ directly above this one.
Watch The Daily Plate Tutorial Video
The Daily Plate - New members
Q: What is the Daily Plate at LIVESTRONG.COM?
A: The Daily Plate (TDP) is a free tool on at LIVESTRONG.COM devoted to people who want to eat smarter.
TDP's core features are:
1. A huge database of foods.
You can search over 300,000 food items in our database. Whether it's food you order at your favorite fast food place (e.g., McDonald's cheeseburger, name-brand food you purchase at the local supermarket (Campbell's Tomato Soup), or a homemade meal (meatloaf) -- you'll find it on The Daily Plate. And we'll show you all the calorie and nutrition information for that food, just like the "Nutrition Facts" label on the packages in the store.
2. MyPlate food and fitness tracking.
Call it a food diary, call it a meal or fitness journal, it's all of these things. With MyPlate, tracking all the foods you eat each day (as well as all the exercise you do) is as simple as a few clicks. We help you figure out your daily target calories based on how much weight you want to lose (or gain) each week. And by tracking all the foods you eat with MyPlate, you can make sure you're meeting your goals, and identify and potential pitfalls/problem areas as well. Every single food item in our system has a big, green "I ate this!" button; just click it to instantly add whatever you've eaten to your MyPlate log.
3. Support.
Eating smart and dieting isn't easy. Dieting without support is virtually impossible. TDP offers a slew of community features to help you find like-minded individuals who've been-there, done-that -- or are there with you right now in the dieting trenches! Healthy eating is a lifetime commitment, and many of our weight-loss success stories stick around on the site to make sure they stay on track. We offer Groups, message boards, and custom profiles as ways to meet and interact with other members on the site for support, advice, and friendship.
Q: How does it work?
A: Using TDP is pretty simple once you get the hang of it. You'll find that tracking your workout and the foods you eat becomes just another part of your routine when you stick with it for a few days.
With food tracking, people tend to use TDP in two different ways. Sometimes, you'll look up a restaurant before you go there, to find out the nutritional info (e.g., calorie impact) of the foods on the menu. More often, you'll be coming to the site to find foods you've already eaten.
Either way, the process is the same:
1. Search for the foods using the search box at the top of every single page on the site.
2. Once you've found the food item you ate, click the big, green "I ate this!" button. If necessary, indicate whether you ate the food "today, "yesterday," or "other" (which allows you to put in any date at all).
3. The food is immediately added to your MyPlate tracking for the date you chose. You can now adjust the serving size to match what you actually ate.
4. If you haven't yet entered in your weight and your weight-loss goal, do that next. (You'll only need to do it once.) That way, TDP can tell you how many more calories you can afford to eat for the rest of the day.
Q: Do people really lose weight using TDP?
A: Absolutely. Read our message boards where our users chime in to sing The Daily Plate's praises!
Message board #1
Message board #2
Here are some
member testimonials.
TDP doesn't endorse any one diet over another; we're simply about holding yourself accountable for what you weight as a means to smarter, healthier eating. People who try us out and stick with it lose weight -- it's as simple as that!
Q: What physical activity level should I choose?
A:The Daily Plate calculates your recommended daily calorie goal based on several factors, including your age, height, weight, and your daily activity level.
That daily activity level can be a source of confusion sometimes. The dropdown menu on the calorie goal page explains the options we have to choose from pretty well, ranging from Sedentary to Extremely Active.
The source of confusion is this: Our MyPlate tracking also takes into account your daily fitness. You can track your daily exercise, like running, weight-lifting, yoga, cardiovascular workout machines, etc. But you can also track activities like "sitting in class" or "driving to work."
In general, we recommend that if you choose any of the "active" activity levels on the calorie goal page, that you don't track activities like "sitting in class" or "driving to work" separately; those are already included in our calculations for you based on your activity level. If you prefer to track those activities yourself, we recommend choosing the "sedentary" activity level instead.
Example: If your job has you up on your feet most of the day and you take the stairs a few times each day, you'd probably want to choose the "lightly active" or "moderately active" lifestyle. Then, if you workout twice a week for an hour on the elliptical machine, track that exercise separately, since it's "above and beyond" your daily activity level that you set.
The Daily Plate - Foods in the Database
Q: How accurate are the food entries in your database?
A: We recognize that accuracy is of the utmost importance when you're using The Daily Plate to track your daily intake.
Our nutrition information was originally compiled from a variety of sources, including the US Government's USDA federal database. We also got data directly from restaurants and supermarkets. And we allow members to add new items to our database, which results in hundreds or thousands of new items being added to the site each day.
Although we have a team of moderators and staff who verify all the new items submitted each day, errors do occasionally slip through. In general, the best rule of thumb we can offer is: If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. It's rare, but if you stumble across a juicy Angus beef hamburger listed as having just 10 calories -- odds are it's a mistake.
If you're just not sure, feel free to post a question on our message boards. One of our members or staffers will probably be able to assist you!
Oh, and if you find a mistake that you're able to correct, don't forget to click the "edit this item" link on the top left of the food page -- you can submit a correction to us, improving the TDP experience for everyone!
Q: How can I correct a mistake I've found in a food item's listing?
A: It's easier than you think!
There's an orange "Edit this item" button on every single food item page on our site! It's in the top left section:
Click that button, and you'll be able to edit all the nutritional information for that food item. Remember, though, that editing a food item affects every user of the site.
Remember, if you want to adjust your serving size, you should do that on the MyPlate page (see FAQ: How do I adjust my serving size?). You should only edit a food item if the data there is inaccurate and needs correction -- not if it's calculated for a different serving size from what you consumed.
Note: All edits that are submitted to our database go through an approval process, where either our staff our one of our volunteer moderators verify the new data. During busy periods, it may take up to a few days for your change to appear live.
Q: How can I add a new food item to your database?
A: First, please search the site to make sure your food item isn't already listed. More than half of the foods submitted each day are for items that are already in our database!
But if you're certain we don't have the food already, we'd certainly love to add it to our system! Visit the Add an Item page to get started!
Q: I submitted a new item (or changes to an existing one). Why don't I see them reflected on the site yet?
A: Every new item (or change to an existing item) that gets submitted to the site goes through an approval process.
Our staff and a team of volunteer moderators from the site are tasked with vetting each new item or item edit for accuracy. During peak times, this can mean several thousand user contributions per day.
If you've waited longer than 4-5 days for your change to appear on the site, you may want to post in our message boards. One of our staffers or moderators will likely be able to update you on the situation with your particular contribution.
The Daily Plate - MyPlate
Q: How do I adjust my serving size?
A: Just like on a nutrition label, each food we include lists its serving size. But if you only ate, say, half of that hamburger, or if you drank two cups of coffee and not just one, you'll want to adjust the number of servings you consumed.
By clicking inside that text box next to "Servings consumed," you can enter the number of servings you actually had. Once you've entered the correct amount of servings, just click the orange "Update" button (or press "return" on your keyboard).
If you want to adjust the servings you consumed for another food on your MyPlate page, and the form to do so isn't yet visible, simply click on the number of servings currently listed (as shown below), and the form will expand for you to edit that value.
Q: Why are my foods being added to the wrong day?
A: When you add foods to your MyPlate page, you can use the "today" and "yesterday" shortcuts, instead of manually entering in the date you ate the food.
If you're adding a food to "today," but it's somehow showing up as having been eaten yesterday or tomorrow, it's most likely a time zone issue. Our servers are located in the Pacific time zone, and you might not be.
You can update your time zone on the preferences page. We'll respect your time zone and use it when you're adding foods to your MyPlate page, from then on.
Q: How do I add foods to MyPlate in the past or future, beyond "today" and "yesterday"?
A: Great question!
First, search for the food you'd like to add to your MyPlate page. (You can use the search box right at the top of every page on the site.)
Once you find the food you want to track, click the big, green "I ate this!" button.
By default, the "I ate this!" button lets you add foods to your MyPlate tracking for "today" or "yesterday." But there's a third option that appears as well -- "other."
If you choose "other," you'll be prompted to type in the date you'd like to add the food to. It's easy!
Q: How can I group the foods I usually eat together?
A: The Daily Plate makes it very easy to track foods. But if you regularly eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on rye bread width a soda and a bag of potato chips for lunch, it can get a bit taxing to enter the same list of foods onto your MyPlate page day after day.
Instead, you can just create a Meal. Meals, like you'd expect, are combinations of foods that you eat together, and they're a snap to set up -- just follow the directions on the Meals page!
Q: How can I quickly search only the foods I've eaten before?
A: There's a small search box halfway down the right column on your MyPlate page.
The search form searches only your personal food history - and it even suggests items you've eaten before, as you type.
Q: Can I track my BMI?
A: Yes!
Our BMI tracker is located under the My Weight section of your MyPlate page!
Q: How can I calculate my daily calorie goal?
A: You can set your calorie goal manually, or calculate it based on your height, weight, age, activity level, and overall weight goals.
The Daily Plate - Misc/Other
Q: Who owns this site?
A:The Daily Plate is owned by Demand Media. The site was originally founded by Joe, Jeremy, and Lex.
Q: What is Gold?
A:Since The Daily Plate is a free service that's growing more and more popular every day, we introduced two different approaches to help us defray our costs and keep the site running smoothly.
The first, of course, is advertising. We try to keep ads as non-invasive as possible.
The second piece is our Gold membership program We offer a variety of extra features listed (here and here) on top of our basic free offering, in exchange for paid Gold membership. Gold members gain access to these bonus features, and help support the site as well -- a true win-win!
Q: Who and What are moderators?
A: From time to time, the TDP staff will invite a member to join our team as a volunteer moderator. Moderators (mods) help out on the message boards and in groups, and they also help go through the never-ending queue of user-submitted foods and changes to existing foods that are submitted each day.
Q: What if my question isn't in the FAQ?
A:If your question isn't answered in the FAQ, your best bet is to post a question in our message boards. A moderator or staffer will respond in no time!
Q: Do you have a mobile version?
A:We sure do!
TDP Mobile lets you look up nutrition facts for everything you're eating when you're on the go, away from your computer! Most cellphones and PDAs should find the mobile version automatically when you point your browser to http://www.thedailyplate.com/. If yours doesn't, the direct url is /thedailyplate/mobile/.
Gold members can even track with TDP Mobile! You can login to your account from your phone or PDA and click "I ate this!" on the foods you're eating!
Q: What are badges?
A:Badges are a fun way that The Daily Plate rewards you for staying focused on your goal of healthy eating. When you track foods or fitness consistently, log in regularly, add new foods, and the like, you'll earn badges to reward your accomplishment.
Your badges will appear on your profile.
Here is a sampling of the badges that you can earn:
Logged In: 3 Days in a Row
Logged In: 7 Days in a Row
Logged In: 14 Days in a Row
Logged In: 21 Days in a Row
Logged In: 30 Days in a Row
Logged In: 60 Days in a Row
Logged In: 100 Days in a Row
Logged In: 150 Days in a Row
Logged In: 300 Days in a Row
Logged In: 365 Days in a Row
Spooky! Logged in on Halloween 2007
Turkey Time! Logged in on Thanksgiving 2007
Jolly! Logged in on Christmas 2007
Tracked Foods on MyPlate 30 Consecutive Days
Tracked Foods on MyPlate 21 Consecutive Days
Tracked Foods on MyPlate 14 Consecutive Days
Tracked Foods on MyPlate 10 Consecutive Days
Tracked Foods on MyPlate 5 Consecutive Days
Tracked Foods on MyPlate 2 Consecutive Days
Tracked Foods on MyPlate 100 Consecutive Days
Tracked Food on MyPlate Once
Logged Fitness 30 Consecutive Days
Logged Fitness 21 Consecutive Days
Logged Fitness 14 Consecutive Days
Logged Fitness 10 Consecutive Days
Logged Fitness 5 Consecutive Days
Logged Fitness 2 Consecutive Days
Logged Fitness 100 Consecutive Days
Logged Fitness Once
More to come!
Q: Who is Demand Media?
A:Demand Media is a leading social media company that was founded by Richard Rosenblatt, the former Chairman and CEO at MySpace. Founded in May 2006, the privately-held company provides an interactive and personalized media experience for more than 64 million unique users.
Q: What will happen to my TDP account now that the site is owned by Demand Media?
A:Rest assured. Not only will your account continue to function as it does today, but also the tracking tools and customer service will get even better with a large company behind us. Free accounts will remain free. Gold accounts will remain unchanged for now, but look for new features and exciting updates to come.
Q: Will the founding team still be around now that the site is owned by Demand Media?
A:Yes. Lex, Jeremy and Joe will continue to be part of the TDP team at Demand Media. Their goal when they started the site was to help as many people as possible learn to eat smarter and achieve their weight and health goals. They feel that this deal with Demand Media will not only accelerate their plans, but will also help them impact more people.
Q: Why is the Demand Media acquisition of TDP good for me?
A:With the backing of a bigger company, The Daily Plate will have better servers (meaning faster browsing) and more dedicated resources helping to grow the site. By rolling out features faster and servicing the community better, this means a better experience for our members.
