Do you tell the the truth?

Kittenisspooky

When you have friends on here who way way underestimates their daily calories eaten and way way over estimates their workouts do you tell them or just congratulate them on being " under" their goal?

I do not mean this in a catty way but if you genuinely care for the person. Do you think they are just enjoying being delusional or do you think you should say something?

kissedbythesunshine

I personally don't say anything. In fact sometimes I chuckle to myself and move along (at burning 2000 calories doing house cleaning, etc). I'm here to support my friends when asked. It's not my place to just randomly tell them my thoughts. Besides, I'm too busy trying to make sure my own food and exercise is accurate to focus on someone else's log.

Lounmoun

Are they doing something dangerous? If yes say something.
Have they been complaining about their lack of progress or asking for advice? If yes then point out where they need to tighten up their logging or correct numbers. If no then say nothing at all.

Christine_72

I've never said anything. I just don't "like" or comment/congratulate on the obviously inaccurate ones.

mkakids

If they ask the 'why aren't I losing' question, I say something (gently).

If they dont ask, I keep silent.

sashayoung72

If it's a person I actually know I might try to help them out, but if it's a person i only met on here I probably don't comment unless they ask for help.

RoxieDawn

Unsolicited advice? Nope don't do that.

goldthistime

Not only do I not comment on others' poor estimations, I've wondered if some of mine have been way off, but not bothered investigating/correcting until months later. My calorie count for bread for instance should have been at least 70 calories higher, each and every day for more than six months. But because I was losing just fine, it didn't matter one bit. May not matter to them either.

viren19890

Aren't you on friend list to "Support" them ? observing silence is "supporting" ?

I've always inboxed them -suggesting what's good based on how much I know. So far I've had three people massively under-eating-it's just painful to watch 20 likes on massive under-eating sprees.

and so far I've been deleted by 2 people. YAY!

This is the reason why I try to maintain a small friends list-so I can actually check on them. If a "friend" on my list doesn't even reply back to comment or is getting 30-40 likes - I delete em because well clearly they have enough "support" and I rather save my energy and effort.

viren19890

goldthistime wrote: »

Not only do I not comment on others' poor estimations, I've wondered if some of mine have been way off, but not bothered investigating/correcting until months later. My calorie count for bread for instance should have been at least 70 calories higher, each and every day for more than six months. But because I was losing just fine, it didn't matter one bit. May not matter to them either.

This is too investigative- unless you have a hardcore stalker I doubt anyone would be able to pick up on that especially if you still end your day with 100-200 cals deficit. That's my take on it.

motivatedsister

I don't say anything! Lol sometimes I read things here on MFP and it does make me stop and scratch my head and wonder how did they come up with that number. But instead of focusing on what they say they burn I usually end up trying to challenge myself to see how much I burn doing the same activity (I have a Fitbit charge hr). And when I undoubtedly don't burn nearly the same..I just say man they were working hard lol.

Other than that if I see really out there numbers I just chalk it up to they used MFP which overestimates.

goldthistime

viren19890 wrote: »

Aren't you on friend list to "Support" them ? observing silence is "supporting" ?

I've always inboxed them -suggesting what's good based on how much I know. So far I've had three people massively under-eating-it's just painful to watch 20 likes on massive under-eating sprees.

and so far I've been deleted by 2 people. YAY!

This is the reason why I try to maintain a small friends list-so I can actually check on them. If a "friend" on my list doesn't even reply back to comment or is getting 30-40 likes - I delete em because well clearly they have enough "support" and I rather save my energy and effort.

Undereating is another matter. I'm not going to cheer on what looks to be an eating disorder in the making.

lorrpb

I agree that some calorie burns look crazy, but remember they are adjusted based on weight & I think age also. A 300 lb person burns a lot more than a 100 lb Person doing the same activity.

MissusMoon

Christine_72 wrote: »

I've never said anything. I just don't "like" or comment/congratulate on the obviously inaccurate ones.

Same here.

MissusMoon

I think it's safe to say that there are a lot things that go unsaid among friends here at MFP. I even had to backspace and delete a detailing of them. Makes ya want to vent, but...sigh.

JeromeBarry1

I'll squawk if I see someone log 1000 calories in 30 minutes, but generally I mentally calculate that the time and the burn they log are reasonable. On weekends, the "walking 2.5 mph" is a trip to Wal-Mart and it can take an hour.

JeromeBarry1

goldthistime wrote: »

Undereating is another matter. I'm not going to cheer on what looks to be an eating disorder in the making.

Amen. People don't find this site because they're in a healthy relationship with food and facts.

85Cardinals

I give them a heapin' helpin' of tough love and speak the truth, baby. Only way they'll learn.

MinimalistShoeAddict

I have some friends on here who want to lose weight and some who want to gain weight. However I would say the majority already have a healthy BMI and are primarily focused on improving and properly fueling their fitness programs.

Over time the issue you describe self corrects because those who constantly overestimate/underestimate tend to give up and leave the site before reaching their goal. I never offer advice unsolicited but have tried to help when people ask for reasons why they are not reaching their goals.

Merkavar

If they ask for help I'll offer help.

But generally I leave people to do it them selves.

But I haven't really seen anyone do anything too wrong. Like no "I burned 1000 calories running for 15min" posts, they all seem reasonable.