Beginning Nov 1, 2019, the free version of the diary will only save data for last two years

kshama2001

Thanks to @boldknee for mentioning this to me - I was not otherwise alerted to it so thought I would start a thread.

https://myfitnesspal.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360034402872-The-free-version-of-the-diary-will-only-save-data-for-last-two-years?withinApp=true

Beginning Nov 1, 2019, MyFitnessPal users have a two year look-back on their diary data. While data older than two years will no longer be accessible (including food, exercise and water entries), you will continue to have the last two years of your diary entries. You will still have access to all other information on your account including your weight and other measurements logged.

MikePTY

Is this something that people found beneficial? I understand wanting to have access to your old measurements and weigh ins, but I am unsure of how helpful knowing what you ate 3 years ago today is.

iheartmyyorkie

It doesn't matter to me. I always delete the day's entries at the end of the day anyway, as I usually end up screwing up my eating by 9pm or so.

PAV8888

As you probably know, I am someone who kept fairly meticulous records while losing weight. And I often went back and reviewed what I did. Including finding out how many vanilla cones I consumed while losing 72.5lbs my first year on MFP

But for the past year and a half I have stopped. Not, initially, because I wanted to, but because MFP made it harder and harder to access the data.

First you couldn't get more than a year of data at a time. Then you couldn't get more than 60 something days at a time. Then you couldn't get more than 40 something (some weird in between number more than a month and less than 1.5) days at a time. All without an announcement. All without a response to say that it was by design or decision when bringing it up with tech support.

Do I think that MFP should give us access to our own data stored on their servers in an *easy to export-single action needed-format* before they choose to delete them after having us sign up with the understanding that we would store and access said data during the lifetime of our relationship?

Yes, I think that this is an after the fact change to the terms and conditions that were in place when I chose to use MFP instead of the alternatives that were available at the time based on what each was offering.

If MFP were to make a change moving forward affecting new users and new data, that would be one thing.

This is not what is happening though, and MFP should not unilaterally delete personal data that were shared with them and which they had an understanding with us that they would keep safe and available.

AnnPT77

MikePTY wrote: »

Is this something that people found beneficial? I understand wanting to have access to your old measurements and weigh ins, but I am unsure of how helpful knowing what you ate 3 years ago today is.

I did/do. I've looked back to check on my macro goals or food selections made while losing (2015) before replying to certain more-recent threads or MFP friends' questions.

PAV8888

MikePTY wrote: »

but I am unsure of how helpful knowing what you ate 3 years ago today is.

It allows for things such as this:



and for things such as this:

poisonesse

Hmm, I never even knew I could look back that far, in all honesty. If I was paying for the site, then maybe I'd be a little bit upset, but for a free site? Too many users, not enough servers, and with no money coming in from all the free users, I think 2 years is a wonderful amount of time. But since the farthest back I've ever searched was a week or two, what do I know?

puffbrat

Good to know. I don't tend to look back that far in my diary so it probably won't affect me as long as they don't also delete my recipes that are older than 2 years.

@iheartmyyorkie I know you didn't ask for advice here but have you tried logging everything for the day and not deleting it. A common piece of advice here for bad days is to log it and move on. Don't beat yourself up but acknowledge it happened and then learn from it. For me, I find that when I don't log those off days is when I start slipping into old habits and start regaining weight or at least stop losing.

neldabg

That's very unfortunate. I DO look back at very old entries I vote for the idea for the chance to export everything easily before the access is disabled.

kshama2001

MikePTY wrote: »

Is this something that people found beneficial? I understand wanting to have access to your old measurements and weigh ins, but I am unsure of how helpful knowing what you ate 3 years ago today is.

Sure, it's helpful if someone has a period of "why were things different three years ago?"

imvandeen

I'd like a chance to be able to export & save my data as well.

I know that other people who I have inspired to use the MFP tool have benefited from being able to see where I started from & what I ate & how I exercised to get to where I am now.

I'd also like to know if I became a premium member at a later date would the info be available again?

NB Just tried to export everything now & see that feature is locked except for premium members already :-(

kshama2001

neldabg wrote: »

That's very unfortunate. I DO look back at very old entries I vote for the idea for the chance to export everything easily before the access is disabled.

This seems to indicate that whatever report you chose to Export you will get additional data as well. I've done a test export but haven't received my email yet.

https://myfitnesspal.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032273352-Data-Export-FAQs#h_1e4e3565-3b38-4e1c-a1b6-d8de93be4286

...We send you three different files enclosed within your zip file.

• Meal Level Nutrition Details - Calories, Macro And Micronutrients of logged foods summarized at the meal level
• Progress History - Logged measurement entries such as weight, neck, waist and hip measurements.
• Exercise History​ - Individual workouts, along with steps counts and all daily calorie burns (if you are using a tracker)​

kshama2001

imvandeen wrote: »

I'd like a chance to be able to export & save my data as well.

I know that other people who I have inspired to use the MFP tool have benefited from being able to see where I started from & what I ate & how I exercised to get to where I am now.

I'd also like to know if I became a premium member at a later date would the info be available again?

NB Just tried to export everything now & see that feature is locked except for premium members already :-(

Hmm, I'm not getting any indication that it is locked already. I do get a promo for Premium afterwards, but it's not clear that I need to upgrade first. Of course, I haven't received my data yet.

PAV8888

You see the little lock to the right? You're not going to get any data!

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10768872/november-1-2019-food-diary-change/p1?new=1

is my "suggestion" post in the suggestions forum. Feel free to up-vote / discuss.

While MFP staff MIGHT consider a crowd supported suggestion in that section, threads like this are guaranteed to be completely ignored unless a moderator decides we're too rowdy!

imvandeen

kshama2001 wrote: »

imvandeen wrote: »

I'd like a chance to be able to export & save my data as well.

I know that other people who I have inspired to use the MFP tool have benefited from being able to see where I started from & what I ate & how I exercised to get to where I am now.

I'd also like to know if I became a premium member at a later date would the info be available again?

NB Just tried to export everything now & see that feature is locked except for premium members already :-(

Hmm, I'm not getting any indication that it is locked already. I do get a promo for Premium afterwards, but it's not clear that I need to upgrade first. Of course, I haven't received my data yet.

Yep same here :-( the fact that there's a little yellow padlock combined with neither of us receiving the e-mail certainly makes me think it's locked :-|

NorthCascades

poisonesse wrote: »

Hmm, I never even knew I could look back that far, in all honesty. If I was paying for the site, then maybe I'd be a little bit upset, but for a free site? Too many users, not enough servers, and with no money coming in from all the free users, I think 2 years is a wonderful amount of time. But since the farthest back I've ever searched was a week or two, what do I know?

Um, that's not how it works, this app isn't a charity. It sells advertising, and in all likelihood our data.

kshama2001

NorthCascades wrote: »

poisonesse wrote: »

Hmm, I never even knew I could look back that far, in all honesty. If I was paying for the site, then maybe I'd be a little bit upset, but for a free site? Too many users, not enough servers, and with no money coming in from all the free users, I think 2 years is a wonderful amount of time. But since the farthest back I've ever searched was a week or two, what do I know?

Um, that's not how it works, this app isn't a charity. It sells advertising, and in all likelihood our data.

Yes, we users are the product in the free version. Our eyeballs are sold to advertisers.

collectingblues

PAV8888 wrote: »

As you probably know, I am someone who kept fairly meticulous records while losing weight. And I often went back and reviewed what I did. Including finding out how many vanilla cones I consumed while losing 72.5lbs my first year on MFP

But for the past year and a half I have stopped. Not, initially, because I wanted to, but because MFP made it harder and harder to access the data.

First you couldn't get more than a year of data at a time. Then you couldn't get more than 60 something days at a time. Then you couldn't get more than 40 something (some weird in between number more than a month and less than 1.5) days at a time. All without an announcement. All without a response to say that it was by design or decision when bringing it up with tech support.

Do I think that MFP should give us access to our own data stored on their servers in an *easy to export-single action needed-format* before they choose to delete them after having us sign up with the understanding that we would store and access said data during the lifetime of our relationship?

Yes, I think that this is an after the fact change to the terms and conditions that were in place when I chose to use MFP instead of the alternatives that were available at the time based on what each was offering.

If MFP were to make a change moving forward affecting new users and new data, that would be one thing.

This is not what is happening though, and MFP should not unilaterally delete personal data that were shared with them and which they had an understanding with us that they would keep safe and available.

Agree entirely.

I wish they would grandfather in those of us who have more than 670 consistent days of data. But it’s not going to happen. Or make it something that’s effective moving forward.

So I’m now importing over 7 years of data to my own spreadsheet. Absolute pain in the *kitten*.

Largely because I do want my data, and as much as I’d rather take my ball and go home, the reality is that they’ve got the best database for carbs and menu planning. (LoseIt and Losertown don’t have the functionality I need.) But until they actually fix the app and website bugs, and actually come up with good customer support, there is absolutely no way I’m paying for premium.

collectingblues

kshama2001 wrote: »

imvandeen wrote: »

I'd like a chance to be able to export & save my data as well.

I know that other people who I have inspired to use the MFP tool have benefited from being able to see where I started from & what I ate & how I exercised to get to where I am now.

I'd also like to know if I became a premium member at a later date would the info be available again?

NB Just tried to export everything now & see that feature is locked except for premium members already :-(

Hmm, I'm not getting any indication that it is locked already. I do get a promo for Premium afterwards, but it's not clear that I need to upgrade first. Of course, I haven't received my data yet.

The PITA way to go around this on web is to go to Food, and then from your current diary page, scroll down and click “View Full Report”. You can then copy and paste based on a date range.

But you can’t do the full thing at one time, and the period of time you can do in one setting is inconsistent. At one point it was letting me do 4 months at a time, and then in the same evening, it took it to less than a week.

Aka: yet another reason why I won’t pay for premium.

kimny72

I guess too many of us old timers, painfully aware of the tech and customer service shortcomings, are ignoring Premium. So they had to try to find another way to force us in.

I think it stinks, but having that data isn't worth the price of Premium to me, so they are welcome to lock it behind the paywall. They're gonna need to show an at least marginal effort to maintain the quality of the app for me to pay for it. Stinks extra for those of you who legit use that data

collectingblues

kimny72 wrote: »

I guess too many of us old timers, painfully aware of the tech and customer service shortcomings, are ignoring Premium. So they had to try to find another way to force us in.

I think it stinks, but having that data isn't worth the price of Premium to me, so they are welcome to lock it behind the paywall. They're gonna need to show an at least marginal effort to maintain the quality of the app for me to pay for it. Stinks extra for those of you who legit use that data

I had a similar feeling -- that they were losing money/not being as profitable as they wanted, so they found a way to force people to do Premium.

The funny thing is that I've done Premium before, for a couple of months at a time. The app and web were *still* buggy, and I refuse to pay that level of money for a sub-Premium product.

It's like Runkeeper Pro and Clue. I happily toss money at those paid subscriptions because even with the apps' flaws, they still *work*, and they're not super expensive. The cost of MFP Premium is ludicrous when you look at the deliverable.