Entering Data
This section explains how to record your data in Diabetes Pilot. Diabetes Pilot can track your glucose, food, medication, exercise, and nearly any other type of information that you'd like to record.
Recording and Editing Data on the Details Screen
Creating a new entry
To record a new data item, simply click on one of the buttons at the bottom of the main screen:
- Tap the "Gluc" button to record a new glucose (blood sugar) measurement
- Tap the "Food" button to record a new food or meal
- Tap the "Med" button to enter a medication or insulin dose.
- Tap the "Exer" button to enter a new exercise activity
- Tap the "BP" button to enter a new blood pressure and pulse reading
- Tap the "Note" button to record any other type of data. The text that you enter for a note entry will be displayed in the list on the main screen. You can use this type of entry to record nearly anything. You might use it to record HbA1C measurements, blood pressure, other test results, notes about how you're feeling, or anything else you'd like.
For more information on entering the details of these items see Recording and Editing Data below.
To edit an existing item, tap on the record:
- Tapping on the date allows you to edit the date
- Tapping on the time allows you to edit the time
- Tapping on the value allows you to edit the value
- Tapping elsewhere in the record will take you to the Details screen where you can edit or delete the record (see Recording and Editing Data below)
When you enter a new item change an existing one, it may or may not be immediately visible in the list on the main screen. The display on the main screen depends on the filter settings that you have set - see Displaying Your Data for more information.
Recording and Editing Data on the Details Screen
Diabetes Pilot allows you to record information in as much or as little detail as you would like - it provides for both quick data entry as well as the ability to record additional details when needed.
When you create a new record, a detail screen will appear. The date and time will be set to the current time, and the value field will be highlighted. Enter the value for the item:
- For glucose records, enter your blood sugar reading. You can choose to use either mg/dL units (typically used in the United States) or mmol/L units (typically used throughout the world) by setting the desired units in from the preferences menu - see Setting Preferences for more information.
- For medication records, enter the amount of insulin or medication, and select the type from the drop-down list next to the value. The list remembers the medications that you commonly use. Try to select an item from the list first - if the item you want isn't in the list, simply type it in the box (tap in the box and write what you want) and it will be added to the list for next time.
- For food records, enter the amount of carbohydrates (grams) in the meal. You can also enter the details of the meal, and add up the carbohydrate content of the meal using the food database. See Food Records below for details.
- For exercise records, enter the amount of exercise and select the type of exercise from the drop-down list next to the value. Use the "amount" to record whatever units are most useful to you - you might, for example, choose to record "minutes of exercise", "miles walked", "number of situps" or any other measure that you find convenient. As with the medication list, the exercise list remembers the exercises that you commonly enter. Try to select an item from the list first - if the item you want isn't in the list, simply type it in the box (tap in the box and write what you want) and it will be added to the list for next time.
- For blood pressure records, enter your blood pressure and pulse reading.
- For note records, just enter the note that you'd like to make.
If you've set Diabetes Pilot to calculate insulin requirements (See Setting Preferences), the insulin calculation will be displayed when entering a glucose or food record. The calculation is updated when you change the value on the data entry screen.
You can enter notes in the space provided. If you are entering a note record, the first portion of the note will be displayed in the list on the main screen.
A category for each record can be also be selected. This category can be use to categorize records in any manner that is useful to you. You may want to use the category to identify records by time of day (breakfast, lunch, dinner, etc). The category list can be customized however you would like. To customize the category list, finish entering your record. Then, click on the "Tools" menu on the main screen and select "Edit Categories...".
Tap "OK" when you are done making your entry. You will return to the main screen. Tapping on "Cancel" returns you to the previous screen without saving your changes.
Tapping on the "Delete" button will delete the displayed record.
Food Records
When adding a food record, a button labeled "Build meal..." will appear on the details screen. Tapping on this button takes you to the Meal Details screen, where individual food items can be entered and the total carbohydrate content of the meal will be calculated for you.
To build a meal, add a new food by using one of the tools at the top of the screen:
An extensive food reference is available by tapping on the "Lookup..." button. Tapping this button takes you to the food database. Find the food that you are looking for, select it from the list and tap "Use Food". You will be returned to the Meal Details form and the food will added to the meal. Then, just adjust the number of servings for the food as necessary. See Using the Food Database for more information about the food database and how to use and personalize it. Many of the food descriptions are abbreviated. This conserves your handheld's memory and allows the food descriptions to fit in the available screen space. You can get a list of the abbreviations here.
To see more of a food description that's larger than the screen, tap and hold the stylus on the item.
Foods can be quickly entered by selecting them from the "Favorites" dropdown list near the top of the screen. To use this feature, you'll need to mark some of the foods in the database as favorites. See Using the Food Database for more information.
Use the "Quick" button to quickly add a food to the list. (If you do this, you'll need to enter in the nutrition information yourself.)
After adding a food to the meal, adjust the number of servings by tapping on the food in the list, and writing a new value in the space provided or by using the "+", "-", and "+0.5" buttons. You can enter a decimal value ("0.5", "0.3", etc) for the values if needed. You can also edit the nutritional information as necessary by writing in new values.
To remove a food, tap on the food in the list, then choose "remove" from the "Meal" menu at the bottom of the screen.
There are three different views available in the "build meal" screen. Select the view by choosing an option from the "Meal" menu at the bottom of the screen:
- The "Selected Item (per serving)" view shows the nutrition content and servings for the selected item in the meal. Tap on the foods in the meal to select a different item. You must be in this view to edit an individual food item in the meal.
- The "Selected Item (total)" shows you the total nutrition content for the selected food.
- The "Meal Total" shows you the total nutrition content for the entire meal.
The nutrition information related to the selected view is displayed near the bottom of the screen. The following information is shown at all times:
- Carbs: Carbohydrates (grams)
- Calories: Calories
- Prot: Protein (grams)
- Fat: Total Fat (grams)
In addition, a drop-down list provides access to additional nutrition information. Use the drop-down list to select the additional nutrition information for viewing or editing. The following items are available:
- Fiber: Total fiber (grams)
- Fat Cal: Calories from fat
- Sat Fat: Saturated fat (grams)
- Cholesterol: Cholesterol (mg)
- Sodium: Sodium (mg)
- Sugars: Sugars (g)
To save a meal for future use:
- Tap on the "Meal" menu at the bottom of the screen.
- Select "Save this Meal" from the menu.
- Enter a name for the meal, then tap the "OK" button.
To recall a previously saved meal:
- Tap on the "Meal" menu at the bottom of the screen.
- Select "Load a saved meal" from the menu.
- Select the meal you wish to recall, then tap the "Use" button.
To delete a previously saved meal:
- Tap on the "Meal" menu at the bottom of the screen.
- Select "Load a saved meal" from the popup menu.
- Select the meal you wish to delete, then from the menu at the bottom of the screen, choose "Delete"