New: too low on calories
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@kpk54 - I agree, and me, too, on the streak without closing diary... But some people need to have that check mark checked off to help them maintain compliance with their plan, so it's helpful for them to have the option open...0
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@KnitOrMiss. Yes. Everyone has their own motivation for doing things and their individual ways to achieve being an active participant. If part of my plan were to announce my food diary to my newsfeed (for kudos or to be an active participant or whatever) I'd probably title a "meal" category as "Fudge Factor" or "Calorie Shortfall" and do a Quick Add if I were at a shortfall of 1200 calories or whatever the number is that MFP requires for completion.
Ultimately though, I don't see the purpose. If you do the quick add so MFP will allow announcement of completion to your newsfeed, what your announcing is actually false. I guess it does say, "I tracked today".
If you don't announce to the newsfeed, what's the sense in doing the quick add, closing then deleting? Is there some place in MFP that gives "credit" of some sort for "completion" of diary? I'm not being snarky. It's a serious question. Maybe some of the challenges require completion? I've not participated in those so wouldn't know.
The only point to my previous post was to let folks know that not completing a diary does not have an effect on "streaks". Some of the folks new to MFP are not aware of that.
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Thank you for telling us that! I would add snacks that I didn't eat just to complete my diary because I thought I wouldn't be able to move onto the next day!2
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I've been toying around with various trackers while keeping my focus on MFP for the last 1616 days. LOL. That 1616 means I like to get that "checkpoint" since it seems to keep me motivated (or provides some sort of reward) so I do understand what @KnitOrMiss means about "maintaining compliance with their plan". I guess part of my plan is to check in everyday as a reminder that MFP helped me get where I am and it's in my best interest to continue in some fashion.
All of September and part of October, I logged my foods elsewhere. This Wednesday I started logging again on MFP. No previously entered data was lost and I didn't have to re-start anything to resume logging in my food diary.Jigglypuff9363 wrote: »Thank you for telling us that! I would add snacks that I didn't eat just to complete my diary because I thought I wouldn't be able to move onto the next day!
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Ah, ha, I thought it sort of kicked you out of the number of days you have logged in and recorded your food, if it doesn't then I'll start just to use it accurately, which would be much easier. Thanks to all who explained.2
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@KnitOrMiss. Yes. Everyone has their own motivation for doing things and their individual ways to achieve being an active participant. If part of my plan were to announce my food diary to my newsfeed (for kudos or to be an active participant or whatever) I'd probably title a "meal" category as "Fudge Factor" or "Calorie Shortfall" and do a Quick Add if I were at a shortfall of 1200 calories or whatever the number is that MFP requires for completion.
Ultimately though, I don't see the purpose. If you do the quick add so MFP will allow announcement of completion to your newsfeed, what your announcing is actually false. I guess it does say, "I tracked today".
If you don't announce to the newsfeed, what's the sense in doing the quick add, closing then deleting? Is there some place in MFP that gives "credit" of some sort for "completion" of diary? I'm not being snarky. It's a serious question. Maybe some of the challenges require completion? I've not participated in those so wouldn't know.
The only point to my previous post was to let folks know that not completing a diary does not have an effect on "streaks". Some of the folks new to MFP are not aware of that.
@kpk54 - If you aren't intending to post your closed diary to your newsfeed, then you are absolutely correct. There really isn't much point.
However, for many folks with eating disorders or troubles, or mental hiccups, compliance, posting, transparency, etc., may be very important to how someone's frame of mind works, especially in the beginning. We all KNOW that losing weight and gaining or re-gaining health are more of a mental game than a physical one. Sometimes we essentially have to game the system or fake it until we make it.
For those of us struggling most, whether we're just starting, struggling, rebooting, or just having a rough day, sometimes just being able to close a post or keep a streak is enough to keep us going.
So, while long term mental and physical health mean that these things really don't matter in the grand scheme of everything, for some folks, at any stage in their process, can be just the push or achievement that keeps them compliant or keeps them going.
And since most of us know that calorie deficits are really more helpful on a 7-10 day average rather than exact each day because our natural hunger level changes every day, being able to have accurate calorie counts, even on the lower days, to look back on, can be quite educational. Also, with many folks being on the relatively useless app, if you're intentionally wanting to share out your food diary to someone, having that link readily available can be useful...it's not always easy to bounce over to someone's page and then to their diary without losing the ability to type a response and all of that.
And for you, personally, none of these things seem particularly advantageous, as you've been at this a while and have likely dispatched most of your mental demons, so to speak, had you ever had them. There is absolutely no place on MFP that I know of that gives any sort of credit for diary completion. As for the challenges, most of them seem to pointless, just "to be counted," and/or phishing... I don't do them anymore - I think I did 2-3 before they became more trouble than they were worth to me personally. I tend to get neurotic, obsessive, and self destructive by "eating" to the "test" so to speak, rather than to my whole health...when I track too tightly or too long - or even get involved in an ongoing challenge. So I can't speak as to challenge requirements either.
So TL;DR - I was more thinking of using the closing of the diary as a motivational tool for someone in need of that boost and/or compliance helping progress, etc.
BUT, all that said, you are 100% correct. The "login streak" is for the number of days in a row LOGGED IN...not FOOD LOGGED days. The diary is a tool some use and some don't - for some it's private, for others public, and so on... Thanks for making sure everyone knew that, as you're right - it's definitely not anything I remember reading in the terms/instructions when starting!0
