For a video walk-through go here 👈

Setting Food targets

In your food reports page you can set daily targets for calories, protein and fiber, which display at the top of your food reports page like this:

Step 1: Go to your goals page by pressing the hamburger icon at the top right of your Latest tab

Step 2: Select goals

Step 3: Set targets for total calories, protein and fiber

Whilst you can set more detailed targets for all nutrients, we’ve chosen to put these three at the forefront of tracking for a few reasons…

Calories

Calories sit at the top because, while they don’t necessarily correlate with nutrients (1000 calories of sugary sweets are not going to be as beneficial to your body as 1000 calories of nutrient dense whole foods, for example) they are still the driving force behind weight loss and weight gain. This is known as energy balance; the balance of energy in (food and drink) against energy out (movement, exercise, bodily functions etc.)

However, while calories do count, you don’t need to count your calories if you choose not to. Your needs will change from day to day, and will go up and down over time too. So if you do choose to set a calorie target - optional, but generally recommended if you have any serious weight loss or weight gain goals - then see them as a rough target.

It is your average over the weeks that will bring results, not any one day or two in isolation.

As such it is ok if you’re a bit under some days, ok if you’re a bit over, and if you’re not getting the results you’re after once you’ve consistently hit them (roughly) for 2-3 weeks, it is also ok to tweak them accordingly until you do.

Protein

Protein is the one macronutrient that we track here, as unlike fats and carbs (the other two macronutrients) we recommend you try to stay and consistent with this every day, as best you can.

Protein is essential for healthy body composition by helping you build and maintain healthy muscle tissue, as well as other connective tissues that keep you supple and strong. It is also an essential nutrient for every cellular function and reaction that takes place in the body.

Proteins are made of different amino acids that all serve different purposes, so we recommend consuming a variety of protein sources as well as enough for your body’s needs.

As well as the above, protein is the most satiating nutrient by far, so it will help keep you more full if you’re trying to eat less, and it has a significantly higher thermic effect on your body than fats and carbs.

In fact, while around 20-30% of the calories from protein will be lost as heat during digestion, only 5-15% can be said for carbs and 0-3% for fats!

Fiber

Last but not least, fiber.

While not a nutrient, and also not “essential”, the vast majority of research to date shows that consuming more fiber will probably lead to a longer and healthier lifespan.

The general guidelines to aim for are 14 grams of fiber per 1000 calories eaten, but more is OK too.

There are different types of fiber, and many different ways you can include more in your diet, but if you need extra guidance here our dedicated fiber program in the eating tab can help further.

We also like to add this to the tracking bars, as it tends to correlate well with an increased intake of fruits and vegetables, which is almost always a good thing!

Vision Analysis

There are various features at your disposal in the new Food XRAY system, but the primary method we suggest you use is by uploading photos and taking advantage of AI Vision: a cutting edge technology that can analyze photos and provide information about what is within them. In this case, food and drink.

For best results, we suggest adding a photo and including a detailed caption, as the AI will look at what is in the photo as well as what you write in your caption and provide a detailed analysis of calories and macronutrients. The better the photo and the more detailed you can make the caption, the better, as it can help account for things like quantities of ingredients and hidden calories.

However, even if you just add a photo and no caption, the AI will still analyze what it sees in the photo to impressive effect.

Step 1: Take or upload a photo

Step 2: Add a caption (optional, but recommended, the more detailed, the better)

Step 3: Press on the written food item or the food photo

Step 4: Wait a few moments for the analysis

That’s it!

The data generated will be automatically added to your day and if you check the target bars in your daily food report, you can immediately see how that has affected your target quota of calories, protein and fiber for the day.

Caption Only Analysis

Whilst we recommend using Vision when possible, you can also add just a description of what you have eaten to receive immediate analysis.

As always, the more detailed you are in your description the better.

• Add brand names if you know them
• Mention quantities if you know them
• Mention every ingredient you know of

Step 1: Press the + button in your food tab to open the food input screen

Step 2: Press Describe to open up the text input box

Step 3: Type your description

Step 4: Press the text of the written food item to receive immediate analysis

Food Coach

Beyond the hard data of calories and macronutrients, once your food and drink has been analyzed, you now have the option to delve deeper and receive coaching and feedback on the quality of the meal itself.

Underneath the analyzed meal you will see three menus: data, grades and coach.

Data

This has been mentioned above, covering the amount of calories and macronutrients in the analyzed meal. Water and sodium are also accounted for.

Grades

Grades provides a meal grade that takes into account the overall balance and nutrient density of the meal, breaking it down into six important sections:

Calories

How much is this meal likely to contribute to a calorie deficit, maintenance or surplus?

Processing

How processed is this meal as opposed to it comprising of complete whole foods?

Muscle

How much will the protein content of this meal contribute to muscle protein synthesis, the biological process through which new muscle is built and maintained?

Nutrients

How high in vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients is this meal?

Hunger

How likely is this meal to keep you satiated?

Glucose

How well will this meal help you metabolize glucose?

Coach

Coach lets you ask your AI coach some preset questions in order to find out ways you could improve the balance of the meal.

Repeat Meals

To save time when you eat or drink something more than once, you also have an extensive repeat meals feature that allows you to add items at the press of a button.

Step 1: Press the + button in your food tab to open the food input screen

Step 2: Press Repeat to go to the repeat meals screen

Step 3: Browse the lists of meals you’ve had and choose the one you would like to add

• You have various options to choose from:
• Latest foods
• Foods eaten often
• Food eaten at the time you press the button
• Recent meals you’ve repeated
• Your meals with the highest grades

You can also choose at what time you would like the meal to be added. For example, if it is 5pm but you want to add a meal for breakfast of that day, press Dinner in the top right corner and select breakfast.

Barcode Scanner

The barcode scanner will allow you to quickly scan and input a food item if is has a barcode attached. The database doesn’t contain everything, but its pretty comprehensive, and if its in there this can be the fastest way to add items for immediate analysis.

Step 1: Press the + button in your food tab to open the food input screen

Step 2: Press Barcode to open the scanner

Step 3: Scan your barcode

Step4: Adjust the quantity if needed, then add

The data will be added to your food target bars immediately and if its an item you’ll be repeating you can access to even faster next time from the repeat meals feature.

Fasting Tracker

If you want to track your fasting, our fasting tracker allows you to do this from start to finish, with a timer that shows you exactly how far you are into your fast along with a dynamic and linear display of where you are in terms of energy use as you go, from digestion to ketosis and more.

Step 1: Go to your Food Sub-Tab and press Start Fast to begin

Step 3: Let the timer and tracker do it’s thing

Step 4: Press End Fast to finish

This will let you log a new food that will end your fast.

Human Team Support

The AI is good, and will only get better, but the real power behind Gyroscope is the combination of AI coaching and human support.

We have a dedicated and fully qualified team of nutritionists working tirelessly behind the scenes to keep on eye on things and jump in if ever required.

If Vision analysis seems slightly off, it will be swiftly picked up and fixed by a human nutritionist.

If you feel like something needs to be checked, then our team is there to take a look for you and make any adjustments that may be needed.

Or if you want to just add photos of your food and forget about them (ie: not spend time pressing buttons for the AI analysis) then our team will also pick up your photo and analyze it themselves.

So really, all bases are covered for a fully comprehensive food tracking system that demands as much or as little time and attention as you want to give it.

Apple Health Export

You can also export all your food data to Apple Health. Simply scroll to the bottom of your main food report page and either export all or export individual foods.

Other Tracking Apps

We also understand that you may already use other food tracking apps and would like to sync your calories from there instead of using our food tracker.

Using the native system will generally results in better data and tracking in the long run and is necessary for using the Food Coach feature to get insights about your meals.

But if you would prefer to continue with what you already do, then simply make sure that all your permissions to read and write between Gyroscope and Apple Health are fully activated, as well as the export into Apple Health from your preferred tracking app. Then you will be able to review and import that data from the Pro Sync in the food section. This will include the name and time of the food (if the app tracks it), the calories, and the main macronutrients of protein, fat and carbohydrates.

Please note that MyFitnessPal and some apps do not save good quality data to Apple Health (including the name or time it was eaten) and so are not recommended to import nutrition info, however many other apps like Lifesum, LoseIt, FoodNoms, etc. can be used that support exporting to Apple Health.