Day Mode: in this mode you can click on a whole day of meals that you like and write it in your spreadsheet.  With another click you can print it out and take it with you.  This is a great way to use the meal maker after you find some meals you like or if you are in a hurry.

Meal Mode: in this mode you choose a single meal, such as Breakfast or a snack, with one click.  The meal is displayed so you can add or subtract foods from it.

Food Mode: in this mode you put together meals from scratch using individual foods.  We’re going to look at this function first because you really learn how to choose the right foods by putting meals together from scratch.  This way you can study how certain food choices affect the points and efficiency of your meals.  On the Meal Planner, find the three long narrow mode buttons marked, “Food”, “Meal”, and “Day”.  Click on, “Food”.

Take a look at the planner. At the upper right you’ll notice that the word “Breakfast is displayed on the form.  This is the first meal we’ll create.  To create a different meal, just click on one of the meals to the right of the word breakfast.  Try that now.  See how the Breakfast label changed to the meal you chose.  Now click it back to Breakfast.

Notice the tabs on the upper left.  They have names like, “free”, and “Protein”.  These are your different food lists.  “Fast”, means Fast Food.  “Supps”, means Dietary Supplements, and so on.  By the way, “Condim”, stands for Condiments.  “Veggie”, means vegetarian foods, while, “Veg”, means vegetables.  Try clicking on one of these tabs and you’ll see the list change accordingly. 

Now look above the tabs.  You’ll see a button marked, “Shrink>>”.  Click it.  The form rolls up.  This is so you will have more room to view your meals after you transfer them to the spreadsheet.  Move your mouse arrow over the blue bar then hold down the left mouse button while you move the mouse again.  This allows you to drag the Form around the screen for better viewing.

Before you un-shrink the Form, notice the labels that say, “scroll” and “pan” to the right of the button that says, “<<Show”.  Try clicking on the arrows and notice how you can scroll the worksheet behind the form.  This lets you check out your choices a little easier.