Why do people lock their diaries?

feesha27

i'm just curious, because I'm looking to see what people who have successfully lost weight are eating. I have my own solid foundation of what I should and shouldn't be eating, but it gets boring sometimes. Is it something people are afraid to share??

KaneNLN

it's the deafult setting that your diary is hidden to non-friends, majority of people like myself just havent changed it

Alatariel75

Why do people think they have a right to see what other people eat? I don't get this sense of entitlement, or the idea there's something to hide if it is locked up. My food diary is for me to track my food. Be grateful for the open ones, sure, but don't make assumptions about the locked ones.

999tigger

Some people are private. Some feel they can be more honest having a private diary because they might not log things like binges and they wouldnt welcome undue criticism from others who judge them about what they are eating. That cna have a negative effect. There was a big thread on this a few weeks ago. its a personal choice and they can get very defensive about it.

Why not ask for friends with open diaries and then you will get what you want?

scottacular

For many people eating is a private thing that they don't wish to be the topic of discussion or viewing by anyone else.

lemurcat12

The lock allows you just to share with selected people, I guess because you trust them or want their comments.

Mine is open, but some people probably feel more comfortable being honest about everything if it's private. Since being able to be honest and log everything is the most important thing--you probably don't need other people telling you if you made good choices or not, as you know if you did under your judgment, which is what usually matters (some people of course may have messed up ideas of what appropriate calories are and so on)--I think it makes sense to keep it private if it's going to affect how comfortable you feel logging.

For the record, I've never personally had anyone say anything negative to me since I've been keeping mine open, so I think the fear of that that is sometimes expressed may be overstated. (I usually add a note explaining if my calories are extra low, though.) But that's not the only reason people might feel uncomfortable--some just feel like it's private.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

Mine is open now but it used to be closed to anyone not on my friend list. For one thing, it's super creepy to me that people I don't know would want to go through and see what I eat. It's a privacy thing. For another thing, I've had problems with eating enough calories on and off over the past few months (health issues) and I didn't want to a.) give the impression that that's a good idea or b.) have to explain it to a bunch of people. Every time one of these threads comes up there will be people in it who say they've gotten PMs from complete strangers judging their diary. I wasn't really looking to explain myself.

But most importantly, people should be able to participate on this site to the degree that they are comfortable, period. It's no one's business why a stranger's diary is locked.

markiend

default set to private for starters , for others it's personal

and the last group are those who say they eat clean ( blegh ) and are downright liars

if you really wanted to be nosey and check through other peoples diaries.. why not ask them nicely ?

Capt_Apollo

mine is locked to anyone not on my friends list. why? because when i'm giving advice to someone in the forum about proper nutrition, i don't need some jerk-face i don't know coming in and nitpicking my diary because i have splenda in my coffee.

redpandora56

999tigger wrote: »

Some people are private. Some feel they can be more honest having a private diary because they might not log things like binges and they wouldnt welcome undue criticism from others who judge them about what they are eating. That cna have a negative effect.

I'll admit to this one - I have my diary open to friends as I thought it would make me more accountable, and to an extent, it has. But I'm too embarrassed to log when I've had a binge, so if I know I'm going to be over by more than 10% of my calorie limit, I just don't log it. At this point I'm not sure I would even if it was hidden - I think I'm even too embarrassed to see it just for myself!

OP - as has been suggested by others, if you want to have friends with diaries you can see, it may be best to seek out others with a similar opinion on diaries rather than worry about those who prefer to remain private.

lemurcat12

Capt_Apollo wrote: »

mine is locked to anyone not on my friends list. why? because when i'm giving advice to someone in the forum about proper nutrition, i don't need some jerk-face i don't know coming in and nitpicking my diary because i have splenda in my coffee.

I decided that I didn't really care if someone did, since I admit I'm not perfect and also am willing to defend the choices I make that others may think are never acceptable. That's one reason I opened (although I'm not saying anyone else should).

I also admit that I think people who get on a high horse about never eating "processed" things or whatever and DON'T have their diaries open are almost certainly lying or mistaken and I discount them more than if they were willing to stand by their words by having open diaries.

This is not directed at you, as I at least don't recall you having done that specific thing, but just something that I find generally irritating in the forums.

81Katz

Mine is closed for privacy purposes. I figure nobody really needs to know what I am eating, being not meeting my calorie goals for the day or a day or two where I go excessively over my calorie goals. It's a personal preference for me. I have looked at other peoples diaries, they wish to share them publicly though.

To each their own ..

beemerphile1

My diary is open to all. I really don't care what anyone thinks, it is working for me.

CrabNebula

I haven't needed to log on MFP for many months now. So I could unlock my diary, but nothing would be there.

Camo_xxx

because I list how much crack I smoke each day on mine and don't want my probation officer to read it.

ForeverSunshine09

Mine is open to friends only because a bunch of strangers don't need to message me about the consequences of a cheat day which I have once a week instead od a cheat meal.(Actually happened) The only person I owe explanations to is myself and I still lose consistently.

BicepsAndBows

I think it's really just a personal preference. Some people prefer to use the app more as a private way of tracking and some people don't mind others being able to see what they eat. Also, as someone above me mentioned, the diary being private is the default setting so some people simply either aren't aware of that or just haven't gone in and changed it.

isulo_kura

Because they want to

rybo

This topic fascinates me. Its the ultimate puzzle that I can't understand either side. Locking a diary so random peeps on the interwebs don't see it and make comments. Looking at some random food diary on the interwebs and making comments about it. Mind blown!

RoxieDawn

Creepyness!

For example, mine was open to friends only.

I closed it to private and a MFP "friend" sent me a message and stated, why can't I access your diary, the other day your profile and diary were open? Did I do something wrong??

I actually felt violated that there was someone on my friends list going into my diary every day or week.. I decided that I would get over that and open it..

But none the less, freakin creeeeeeeeeeeeeppppppppy...

Altagracia220

some people in the forums like to judge. If I leave it open, I feel like I'm going to post in a forum, someone is going to make a comment as to why I'm wrong and bring up my diary in some way. My friends can see what I eat, however.

Altagracia220

Capt_Apollo wrote: »

mine is locked to anyone not on my friends list. why? because when i'm giving advice to someone in the forum about proper nutrition, i don't need some jerk-face i don't know coming in and nitpicking my diary because i have splenda in my coffee.

Yep, pretty much how I feel!

beemerphile1

Not just diary, why do people make their profile private? There is nothing in my profile that will enable someone to show up at my house or work so there is no need for privacy.

When people post on here I will sometimes look at their profile to figure out where they are at in this journey. Weight, age, sex, height, can all be pertinent information to understanding the person's post.

glevinso

Even if I did log what I ate, nobody needs to see that.

dakotababy

I have seen a friend I had on MFP get torn to shreds every day by people commenting on his food. This was painful to watch, and the guy eventually fell off the face of the planet after he expressed frustration to his "Friends" (which come on - this is MFP). I told him to block his diary, but I think he already had enough with MFP.

I have enough judgement to deal with in real life.

If I want to share what I eat, I will post it in the foodie pic thread or the recipe section.

ShannonMpls

Because they log for themselves, and don't care what anyone else thinks.

jgnatca

Because privacy is a right, and people get to choose how much they share and with whom.

I also doubt the value in trying to imitate other people's diets. My cravings, preferences, and goals are very personal. It's kind of like trying to buy the same car as someone else, or the same clothes, and expecting to get the same life. For instance, did you run with me this morning? Need an extra calorie boost like I did?

I do love the food threads where ideas are shared. I have incorporated many new foods in to my diet because of this forum. Who knew that marinated mushrooms were a thing?

ana3067

beemerphile1 wrote: »

My diary is open to all. I really don't care what anyone thinks, it is working for me.

Same. I've also never gotten PMs from people judging my diary. If I have low days, the next day will make up for it. If there are circumstances I write a note on my diary. I don't really need to explain to strangers about why Monday was only 1500 calories when Tuesday winds up being 2500 calories.. they can do the math themselves! Plus my profile is pretty specific about my food/weight loss philosophy, so for anyone to assume that I don't practice what I preach from some "bad" days or something isn't really worth my time.

glevinso

This is a phenomenon I was unaware of. If your diary is open do people really look at it and send you unsolicited PMs about stuff you ate they deem is "bad"?

Wow... That would elicit a strong "Go F- Yourself" from me.

DawnieB1977

Mine is open and you're welcome to have a look.

It's a personal thing though, not everyone wants people looking. We're losing weight and getting heathy for ourselves, so really who cares whether someone can see your diary or not? I think the main purpose of them is to share ideas and meals, not to pull people to pieces because they ate a McDonald's or had Splenda in their coffee!

rosnigetsfit

I have my own right to lock it because it's MY diary. In short, for privacy issues.