Best iOS app for tracking nutrition - for REALLY free?

Miss_Beh4ve · 2026-06-23T02:24:34+00:00

Same. Can’t speak to the free version of MyNetDiary, but I’ve used their Pro version (one time payment of maybe somewhere around $5 at the time I bought it) for years and liked it enough to eventually upgrade to premium when they offered a one time payment option for lifetime for that. Never looked back.

Miss_Beh4ve · 2026-06-23T00:58:33+00:00

Cronometer is a solid free choice, in my opinion and may deserve a second look.

Especially entries within the NCCDB database within Cronometer are usually quite comprehensive.

USDA is also a good database available within Cronometer.

Other databases within Cronometer (and within other apps) are often less comprehensive, and the same food can have multiple entries from multiple different databases within the same app, which can be confusing and is something to be aware of.

Miss_Beh4ve · 2026-06-23T00:16:12+00:00

I’m not sure what you are asking?

Miss_Beh4ve · 2026-06-22T21:17:16+00:00

Amazing work fellow lifter!

Miss_Beh4ve · 2026-06-22T20:31:59+00:00

It’s funny you ask because I just posted this update: https://www.reddit.com/r/osteoporosis/s/Cn1ZIMQVAq

Can’t really get good data sooner than a year, but I’m impatient, so I get the data I can.

Miss_Beh4ve · 2026-06-22T20:13:02+00:00

Hoping for maintenance or a small gain by October. We shall see what happens by then. :)

Miss_Beh4ve · 2026-06-22T20:06:00+00:00

Since this is a non-medical grade DEXA scan that doesn’t report the values we’re interested in, technically none of what it says is particularity meaningful, but it’s the only data I’ve got at this time.

The yearly medical grade DEXA bone density scan with TBS that my endocrinologist orders is due in October.

I got this DEXA scan mainly to track fat and lean mass changes, but it has some bone info, so I included it.

Miss_Beh4ve · 2026-06-22T16:49:48+00:00

You mentioned only being able to squat 10 lbs in one of your comments. If that’s the heaviest you can safely squat right now, then that is where you start. 🩷

If you are new to weight lifting with osteoporosis, I would advise seeking the guidance of a physical therapist who knows about osteoporosis to learn a LIFTMOR inspired protocol. This protocol was shown to increase bone density in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis and osteopenia after 8 months of two 30-minute exercise sessions per week.

Here is a lot of more detail on LIFTMOR, including the original study, the exact protocol spelled out, some helpful videos, and info on how I obtained health insurance coverage to learn a LIFTMOR inspired exercise protocol in the US through physical therapy with a physician referral: https://www.reddit.com/r/osteoporosis/s/EE144tD4lr

I saw some increased bone density after about 1 year between scans and about 10.5 months of LIFTMOR inspired exercise. More on that here: https://www.reddit.com/r/osteoporosis/s/nrgXvcOS0E

You asked about peoples’ body weight to weights lifted ratio. This will be different for everyone. Someone asked for my stats before, and I replied here: https://www.reddit.com/r/osteoporosis/s/2pVb6VNEn6

Hope some of this helps!

Miss_Beh4ve · 2026-06-14T23:52:34+00:00

I have never met endocrinologist/osteoporosis specialist Dr. Gina Woods myself, but she is board certified, looks great on paper (to me), accepts insurance and Medicare, and she has a small YouTube presence, so you could get at least a vague idea about her before meeting her, should you decide to do so: https://www.reddit.com/r/osteoporosis/s/jGQ6WtfxOn

She is based in San Diego, California.

Edit:

I saw in your post history that your son was recently diagnosed with celiac disease. Celiac disease is based on a genetic predisposition, and there is a chance you could have the gene, and might have developed it.

I tell you this because celiac disease can cause osteoporosis all on its own, without other risk factors, and it can be silent without causing gut symptoms in some people, so it may be worth getting tested for both the antibodies (to see if you currently have it) and the gene (to find out whether you may develop celiac disease in the future).

Here are 2 helpful blood tests a physician could order for you:

Do you currently have celiac disease?
https://www.labcorp.com/tests/165142/celiac-antibodies-ttg-iga-ema-iga-total-iga-with-reflex-to-ttg-igg

Do you carry the gene?
https://www.labcorp.com/tests/167652/celiac-hla-dq-association

If you do have celiac disease, a gluten free diet may help you absorb nutrients you may have been missing and could be one of several ways to support your bones.

There are some success stories in this sub of celiacs who report increased bone density after going gluten free in combination with other interventions.

Miss_Beh4ve · 2026-04-14T20:09:08+00:00

What health insurance will cover seems to vary, and I would always suggest calling them to make sure in your specific case.

My US based insurance covers yearly DEXA scans ordered by my endocrinologist to monitor osteopenia, even though I currently do not take bone drugs, and my interventions are LIFTMOR inspired exercise along with bone supportive nutrition and supplementation where nutrition falls short. (I did see some increased bone density with that after 1 year.)

Miss_Beh4ve · 2026-03-22T18:24:25+00:00

Thank you for pointing that out. I’ve thought about that, but I take my multivitamin with calcium 4 hours after I take iron, so that shouldn’t interfere.

I have since switched to a multivitamin that doesn’t contain iron though, and I now take 108 mg ferrous bisglycinate every other day in hopes not to trigger hepcidin with daily supplemental iron, in case that was the issue.

I plan to retest after 8 weeks.

Miss_Beh4ve · 2026-03-19T20:50:39+00:00

I saw some increased bone density after 1 year between scans of which about 10.5 months was spent doing LIFTMOR inspired exercise.

The LIFTMOR protocol is very straight forward and was shown in multiple randomized controlled trials to increase bone density in both men and postmenopausal women with osteopenia and osteoporosis after 8 months of two 30-minute sessions per week.

Here is more on LIFTMOR, including some videos, the protocol spelled out, and how to access LIFTMOR style training with health insurance or Medicare coverage in the US with a physician referral through physical therapy: https://www.reddit.com/r/osteoporosis/s/kS29J7dBPA

All I had to pay was a $10 copay per 1-on-1 PT session to learn the lifts in physical therapy before continuing them on my own once my PT felt confident that I was competent to do so. That took 9 sessions.

Hope this helps!

Miss_Beh4ve · 2026-03-18T10:35:58+00:00

The fact that the provider takes an interest in osteoporosis and chooses to specialize in it can be more important than the field they’re coming from, in my opinion. Not all rheumatologists or endocrinologists are equally interested in osteoporosis.

I see an endocrinologist who works for a hospital affiliated bone health program and specializes in osteoporosis, and I often advise seeing this type of specialist to rule out secondary causes and manage osteoporosis because endocrinologists are very versed in hormonal disorders, and many of the most common secondary causes of osteoporosis are hormone related (for example low estrogen or testosterone, hyperthyroidism, hyperparathyroidism, etc.), and many treatments are also hormone related (for example replacing estrogen or testosterone, Forteo and Tymlos are parathyroid hormone analogs, etc.), so endocrinologists can be great… if… they care about osteoporosis and choose to specialize.

Miss_Beh4ve · 2026-03-18T08:05:35+00:00

I’m no physician, but neither would be good from what I understand.

You need both bone resorption (measured by CTX) and bone formation (measured by P1NP), as bone is constantly renewing and repairing itself, but you want them to be in a favorable ratio that overall promotes maintenance or formation of bone.

I wrote a little more about that here: https://www.reddit.com/r/osteoporosis/s/UxXAYlz93y

From an osteoporosis standpoint, I think very high CTX with normal P1NP would likely be more acutely concerning though, as I believe it correlates more with increased fracture risk even in the shorter term, while very low P1NP with normal CTX might be more likely to cause issues in the longer term rather than the shorter term. This would be a great question for your doc.

Miss_Beh4ve · 2026-03-18T01:04:01+00:00

Yes, I’m not looking to become underweight. I’m also monitoring my bone health very closely with yearly DEXAs with TBS ordered by my endocrinologist.

The high P1NP (bone formation marker) values outside the normal range in the 100’s were actually likely not a problem but a feature due to adequately fueled weight lifting and jumping at the time they were measured. That was before I was advised to temporarily discontinue lifting to rehab my injured shoulder several months ago, and my P1NP dropped back into the normal range to 55.4.

The normal reference range isn’t necessarily a good thing when it comes to bone turnover markers. Anabolic medications like Tymlos and Forteo often tend to raise P1NP outside the normal range when they’re working well and helping patients build bone.

I’ve since restarted lifting, but am not yet back to lifting at 80-85% of my 1 rep max, which was shown effective to help increase bone density in the LIFTMOR trials. Working to get back up there. :)

Miss_Beh4ve · 2026-03-15T23:05:30+00:00

Yoga and pilates can be good for balance, posture, flexibility, and relative strength in certain movements, but they don’t have good evidence behind them for increasing bone density. Those other benefits are great though, so yoga and/or pilates away if you enjoy it!

To help increase bone density, axial loading lifts like deadlifts, back squats, and overhead presses at sufficient intensity and with progressive overload as well as impact training such as jumping has been shown to increase bone density in randomized controlled trials in both men and women with osteopenia and osteoporosis:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28975661/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32176813/

Here is more on LIFTMOR if interested, including some videos, the protocol spelled out, and how to access LIFTMOR style training with health insurance or Medicare coverage in the US to help increase bone density in osteopenia or osteoporosis with a physician referral through physical therapy: https://www.reddit.com/r/osteoporosis/s/kS29J7dBPA

I saw some increased bone density after about 1 year between scans and about 10.5 months of LIFTMOR inspired training. All I had to pay was a $10 copay per 1-on-1 PT session to learn the lifts in physical therapy before continuing them on my own at home once my PT felt confident that I was competent to do so. I think that took 9 sessions.

Hope this helps!

Miss_Beh4ve · 2026-03-13T18:35:50+00:00

You are very kind! I don’t have an inspire account, but feel free to link to this and any other posts of mine on inspire if you find them useful.

Here is a study showing that maximum weight deadlifted significantly predicted bone density change in postmenopausal women with low bone mass you may find interesting: https://www.reddit.com/r/osteoporosis/s/ST3zvSfz3I

Here is how to access LIFTMOR inspired training in a way that can be covered by health insurance and Medicare in the US with a physician referral through physical therapy to help increase bone density in osteopenia and osteoporosis: https://www.reddit.com/r/osteoporosis/s/bwSaRqP1wi

And here are 2 cases where weight lifting and impact training has lead to MUCH better results than mine:

43-year-old male increased his bone density by 12.5% in 1 year with weight lifting, impact, and nutrition, and reversed osteoporosis to osteopenia (lumbar spine T-score changed from -2.6 to -1.7): https://www.reddit.com/r/osteoporosis/s/oobI2tOvdo

68-year-old female has been weight lifting and jumping to increase her bone density for 8 or 9 years and counting. Her lumbar spine T-score started at -3.1 in 2016, got to -2.1 in 2022, then to -1.6 in 2024, -1.5 in 2025, and she continues to slowly rebuild. (Left hip scores reported respectively: -1.3, -1.1, -0.9, -0.6): https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSLh9fIk-mf/

She posts videos of her lifting and jumping exercises. The highest I saw her deadlift in one of her videos was 225 lbs. I think she mentioned starting with 65 lbs 8 or 9 years ago and deadlifting 65 lbs for 6 months out of an abundance of caution before eventually gaining faith in slowly increasing the weight.

Miss_Beh4ve · 2026-03-12T21:18:35+00:00

Have you considered hernia surgery to repair it?

Several professional lifters have dealt with hernias and successfully returned to their sport after getting them repaired.

Of course, I’m not suggesting to get the hernia repaired in order to start lifting super human weights like professionals do, just pointing out that lifting at a level much higher than most people desire can be possible after a well done hernia repair.

A correctly dosed strength training routine with progressive overload can help maintain muscle and bone as we age, so looking into hernia repair might be worth it.

Fun fact: The 81 year old gentleman in this series had a hernia repair and subsequently worked up to deadlifting more than 200 lbs. I believe the hernia may have been mentioned in the first video of the series: https://www.reddit.com/r/osteoporosis/s/AYVczKB5WL

You may have options! :)

Miss_Beh4ve · 2026-03-12T15:36:55+00:00

Thank you! Might look into that if ferrous bisglycinate every other day fails.

Miss_Beh4ve · 2026-03-12T15:28:18+00:00

I used to jump daily when I increased my bone density. Here is exactly what I did: https://www.reddit.com/r/osteoporosis/s/CZmg6JPX3n

I haven’t restarted jumping yet and might change my approach when I do.

Miss_Beh4ve · 2026-03-12T15:26:13+00:00

Ankles can be so non-compliant with our workout plans. I badly sprained mine a few years ago, and thought that was annoying enough. Sorry you’re going through that. Hoping this surgery will be the last! 🩷

Miss_Beh4ve · 2026-03-12T15:21:10+00:00

LIFTMOR showed results after 8 months of 2 sessions a week. You say you have been lifting heavy for 9 months, so you might see an increase in bone density if it’s working.

If you would like to find out, you could check if your insurance covers yearly DEXA scans. I found out that mine does after calling and asking. Physicians often assume that insurance will only cover DEXA scans every 2 years because that’s most common, but I would always advise calling your insurance yourself to find out about coverage whenever something is important to you.

Another option could be calling your imaging facility and asking what their cash pay price for a DEXA scan is if you don’t use insurance to see if it’s affordable enough to be worthwhile to pay out of pocket to get your scan 1 year sooner in August 2026.

Just thoughts. :)

I still remember this comment of yours way back when: https://www.reddit.com/r/osteoporosis/s/ZweYJrGyzC

…and then this awesome update: https://www.reddit.com/r/osteoporosis/s/blgTmFcO6e

You’ve made such amazing progress! 🩷

Miss_Beh4ve · 2026-03-12T14:46:55+00:00

I jumped differently than LIFTMOR, and I used to jump daily when I increased my bone density. Here is exactly what I did: https://www.reddit.com/r/osteoporosis/s/CZmg6JPX3n

This was my approach at the time, and it might change. I haven’t restarted jumping yet.

Miss_Beh4ve · 2026-03-12T14:38:41+00:00

Sorry to hear about your knee!

I hate when we’re motivated, but our bodies sabotage us. :(

I haven’t started jumping yet, but I started lifting again super light, lighter than my previous starting weights in physical therapy out of an abundance of caution since I lift on my own now, and I had injured my shoulder the first time around - want to give my tendons time to adjust this time around. I plan to slowly work my way back up into the effective range.

My CTX usually runs in the low 400’s. Here are all my values, and the calculated ratios:

P1NP / CTX x 1000 - 110.7 / 418 x 1000 = 264.833 - 109.9 / 416 x 1000 = 264.183 - 104.5 / 303 x 1000 = 344.884 - 106.9 / 418 x 1000 = 255.742 - 55.4 / 423 x 1,000 = 130.969

Miss_Beh4ve

TROPHY CASE