Open diary -vs- closed diary

Janehds0284

I open mine I don't think who will spend time looking at mine anyway. I think people usually go through others diary when they run out of idea what to eat (low calories) but I had never came across someone PM me or comment on what I eat in a negative way.

brower47

Not for me. Yesterday for me was a flop. I still logged every bite. The day I let go of those sorts of connotations with my food choices and amounts was a breakthrough for me. Some days I'm on point some days I'm not; it's not a source of embarrassment. That's over for me.

booksandchocolate12

Another thing about my diary:

I am a big believer in food scales, weighing things in grams. But my diary doesn't always reflect that. For example, for the granola I use, the serving size is "1/4 cup (33g)".

When I pour myself a serving, I weight out 33g. But the entry I found in MFP says "1/4 cup". I know I'm doing it correctly (weighing it on a scale instead of using a measuring cup) but anyone looking at my diary might say, "Oh, I see you use measuring cups. You should use a scale".

Even though they would mean well, I know that, and I'm doing that. And I don't feel like explaining it over and over.

JoJo0921

I have to have mine open so my coaches can go in and see it and tweak my macros to my goals accordingly. But I've always had it open regardless, I don't really care if people see or not. But I like when others have theirs open so I can get ideas from other people. Helps me get new ideas and think outside my box.

WholeFoods4Lyfe

I like to keep my diary open. We all make mistakes and I don't mind logging mine. When someone is struggling or looking for new ideas, I like to be able to refer them to my diary to see the types of things that I'm eating on a daily basis.

booksandchocolate12

michelle172415 wrote: »

I like to keep my diary open. We all make mistakes and I don't mind logging mine. When someone is struggling or looking for new ideas, I like to be able to refer them to my diary to see the types of things that I'm eating on a daily basis.

What do you mean by "mistakes"? Eating too much/going beyond your calories for the day? Yes, we all do that, and yes, I log it. The fact that my diary is closed doesn't mean I'm not being 100% honest. It just means that I don't feel the need to report it to the world. I look at my diary as a tool for me.

toe1226

I keep mine open because I DO look at my friends' diaries and I think if I'm using their diary it is only fair to offer mine- A lot of my friends are either in my height / weight range, have a body comp similar to my goals, or are wise brilliant women who puke great advice on these forums, so i look at their diaries because it tends to give me a good idea of goals - esp when it comes to how to get sufficient protein or how to use alcohol wisely!

abatonfan

I keep mine closed. There's been times where people would try to pathetically win an argument by bringing in data from my food diary. There's also been times where people would offer unsolicited advice about what I'm eating, which is honestly none of their business to suggest (If I'm concerned about my diet, I'll bring it up with my NP/endo/dietitian)

Literally, if I keep my diary open, this often happens:
OP: How do I lose weight?
DetoxNoob101: You need to go on an all kale and lemon water detox
Me: No... you don't need to detox (your liver and kidneys do it for you). All you need is to maintain a calorie deficit, yaddy yaddy yah, though many people find that eating more nutrient-dense food (like fruits and vegetables) help them to achieve a calorie deficit.
DetoxNoob101: Well you ate over your calorie goal three weeks ago and had a Big Mac last Sunday, so you don't follow your claims that you need to eat healthy.
Me: ((Facelaptop))

TKDGirl22

Right now I have mine open to the public. It's empty at the moment. I have fallen out of habbit, and I'm starting up again Monday. I'm keeping it public because I like to see others' diaries for ideas and inspiration. I'm also doing it as a way to stay accountable. Help me out by friending me

whmscll

positivepowers wrote: »

Closed. That way I will log everything, otherwise I would be tempted to withhold some foods and because I am a very private person. I don't look at others' diaries either. One of the reasons I left MFP a couple of years ago is because a faction of the users became aggressive about opening everyone's diaries.

On the other hand, those who open their diaries should have that choice for whatever their reasons.

These are my reasons, also.

peaceout_aly

Orphia wrote: »

I've had my food diary set to "Public" ever since I started at MFP. I've lost 32 kg (70 lbs) since April.

I think having your diary viewable, even if just to friends, makes you less likely to do things you're ashamed of.

(I've never had anyone criticise my diary. But I've had one person ask me if they could have a printed version, since they liked it so much! )

Anyone else think having an open diary makes them more accountable?

Or are there weight loss benefits in a closed diary, and I just can't see them?

Weigh in!

I absolutely agree! Helps me stick more strictly to my macros

kimny72

I don't keep a food log here to make me accountable to other people. I do it for the data, and to keep me accountable to me.

BoaRestrictor

I track everything, it's closed because I don't want the internet knowing every time i do my boyfriend a "service". Calories are calories...

frankiesgirlie

booksandchocolate12 wrote: »

Forgot to add, re: accountability:

You guys are great, but I don't feel a responsibility to any of you to log accurately or make good choices. I have a responsibility to myself to do that and I don't need an open diary to fulfill that responsibility.

Thank you. Thank you. Never got that "accountability" crap. I'm accountable to myself only. I'm doing this for ME.

JeromeBarry1

I keep mine open and occasionally ask my friends to open theirs. When someone asks what appears to be a sincere question about my diary, I try to answer as best I can manage. I imagine that someone is watching my diary and that motivates me to prompt, accurate, and truthful.

The_Original_Beauty

melonaulait wrote: »

Alatariel75 wrote: »

I've actually thought about this a bit, because I've seen it asked a bit and I don't think I'd be any less or more honest if it were open. I just don't like explaining myself haaaha. "Why was your lunch half a cup of jello, three dill pickles, 2 sips of an ice tea, a tin of tuna and half a hot cross bun?" "....... *blank look...."

Funny! But I agree, I do not want to explain my choices, either. (Why does there even need to be an MFP diary police on duty?)

This is why my diary is F.O. No one should have to explain their food choices, you never know when you see someone else's diary is they are having an off day?

Ruatine

My diary is public and has been since I started last year. I have yet to have someone ask me anything about what I'm eating even on days when I'm over goal or days that are just plain weird. *shrug* I log everything, am 69 lbs down and have more good days than bad. I don't really care one way or the other in terms of whether someone comments on my diary, but I think I actually feel more of an impetus to make sure I log everything because it's open.

Christine_72

JeromeBarry1 wrote: »

I keep mine open and occasionally ask my friends to open theirs. When someone asks what appears to be a sincere question about my diary, I try to answer as best I can manage. I imagine that someone is watching my diary and that motivates me to prompt, accurate, and truthful.

Haha same here, when in reality:

1 )Nobody is (probably) looking anyway

2) Nobody gives a *kitten*

ericatoday

I keep mine open to people so they can have ideas and because it does help my accountability. Especially when i work out i try to do better so my workout doesnt look lame haha.

nvmomketo

I had my diary open for the first few months. I didn't really care if people looked, ad invited some to look to see what a ketogenic diet can look like.

Then I had someone go into my diary and try to make me look bad by posting it o threads to mock. He mistakenly took two days I logged that were not of my diet; the first was a typical high carb day for me when I was gaining, and the second was a day of my husband's that I logged so he could get an idea of what he was eating. The fact that someone was going into my diary to try and find something in it to negatively impact me made me change it to private. I don't need that, and others don't need to see what I eat.

If it hadn't happened, my diary probably would still be public.

AlabasterVerve

Same as nvmomketo. I had my diary public for years but I decided to close it earlier this year due to a streak of unsolicited comments -- it was pretty outrageous.

Christine_72

nvmomketo wrote: »

I had my diary open for the first few months. I didn't really care if people looked, ad invited some to look to see what a ketogenic diet can look like.

Then I had someone go into my diary and try to make me look bad by posting it o threads to mock. He mistakenly took two days I logged that were not of my diet; the first was a typical high carb day for me when I was gaining, and the second was a day of my husband's that I logged so he could get an idea of what he was eating. The fact that someone was going into my diary to try and find something in it to negatively impact me made me change it to private. I don't need that, and others don't need to see what I eat.

If it hadn't happened, my diary probably would still be public.

OMG i remember that. There was a pm involved, right?

Merkavar

Christine_72 wrote: »

I think some people are more honest if their diary is closed. They may be to embarrassed to log certain things or overages if they know it's there for all to see, so they might not log those things at all, so end up cheating themselves..

That's my thinking. If you have it open you might be less inclined to log that you ate something a bit extreme, which means your logging is inaccurate and if something isn't working you can't see if you over ate etc

The goal should be accurate logging, if that is helped by a closed or open diary, that is the option you should pick.

Mine is closed as far as I am aware. For me I am already counting calories and macros, I don't need to add calculating real or imagine criticism to my calculations or food choices.

amusedmonkey

I open it when I'm dieting normally, and close it when I'm doing IF, logging multilingual foods, going on a low calorie stretch for a few days due to sickness/lack of appetite, or lazy-logging (like logging a bunch of quick adds or logging a 3 days' recipe or ingredient in one day). Keeping it open in these cases may confuse my friends or attract unwanted comments.

Example 1 : This was 3 days ago, no I did not eat 17 squares of chocolate in one day, I was just prelogging 3 bars (minus a square) and might take 3-7 days to actually eat them. I still have about 1.5 bars. If I was logging properly and did eat 3 bars of chocolate, it is what it is and I don't shy away from having it public, but when the whole logging thing is made up of similar mess to where it's not useful or doesn't make sense, it would only confuse or generate unnecessary chatter.



Example 2: This was yesterday. Most people wouldn't be able to make sense of it.



I only have my diary open when I'm going through a phase where I'm logging things that make sense, like for a whole week three weeks ago: