To share or not to share your food journal

sunshyncatra

Mine is open to friends. I don't see much of a benefit to keeping it private or sharing, except that others might use it for ideas??? I don't know. No one has judged what I eat I get really sad when people eat way too little, so I rarely look at diaries myself.

dlionsmane

Meh, mine is open. I haven't gotten one unsolicited message and I eat quite dirty and often over calories.

Same here... I think I left mine open once when there was someone asking about what a 1400-1600 calorie intake looked like and just left it that way. I don't care about anyone who wants to judge me, I am often way over 1600 and that's okay with me.

eksero2k

Share cause if you are doing well it can help to motivate someone else.

I like to look at diaries so that I can see what other combinations of food that might work for me. Mine is open too!

This! ^ I look around at other people's diaries quite often, just to get food ideas and so on.

That said, mine is open, and I don't really care what people think about the food I eat as long as it works for me

Courtneyann0148

Hey Michelle,
I was worried about sharing mine too... Do I really want to add those two extra drinks I had a t happy hour.??... But the app is made for us to improve. And the tediousness of adding things sometimes will steer me away from eating some things and this carries over to publicity as well. The added pressure has helped me make better choices.
I mean its not great everyday but if you are serious about improving your health then put yourself out there!
We are all learning one day at a time!
Courtney

Ideabaker

Personally, I look into others on occasion for 2 reasons. 1) I love new ideas and this is a great way! 2) I like to see what kind of macros and calories others have who in particular who are lifting and/or have fabulous results. Personally I never judge, and I hope that people don't judge me. I am brutally honest in my journal and it's open. If I eat a bag of m&m's or have a few beers, I throw it in there. We're all human and it helps me when I say,"why am I not losing weight?" to look back and say "oh...yeahhhh...." :drinker: My opinion is that we're all here for the same basic reasons so why judge and why keep it closed? If someone chooses to be vegetaian, paleo, some form of fasting, or some other "diet" it's their choice and it shouldn't matter to others.

^^
This. I keep mine open for friends only, because I like the fact that they look at it and can give their thoughts. Positive feedback keeps me moving forward in making nutritious choices, and constructive criticism helps me get "friendly feedback" on ways I can improve to better meet my goals. I like friends with open diaries because I get great ideas for ways to switch up my diet (I have a tendency to eat the same things over and over again... so I often see my friends eating a new sort of cuisine and think "Oh yeah! I forgot I could mix these ingredients a certain way, or use these kinds of spices."

I'm not here to judge or be judged, but with friends, it is easier to provide full support when we all have the information. So far, an open diary has been fine, and nobody has smashed me, even on days when I don't eat as well as I could. I'd say, try opening your diary to friends only and see how it goes!

sarah456s

Mine's public.

Even if I track an item of food or not, my body knows that I ate it. It's more important to me to keep my intake down to a moderate level than to worry what others think. But, being truthful, sometimes its the worry about what others will think that STOPS me stuffing my face, lol. Having the diary public at least sometimes makes me stop and think first.

bcattoes

If you share it and spend much time on the forums, you will be judged at some point. So, if you care about that, I'd say keep it private. If having it open helps you be more honest, then you can open it only to friends. If a friend becomes too judgemental, delete them.

xombiebite

i don't share. mine is for me personally and to know where i went wrong. i don't need other peoples 2 cents when everyone is different.

VpinkLotus

I Share it with friends. If you're gonna do this may as well put it out there. Makes me accountable and I really do like constructive advice and input. Sometimes I am crazy busy and not looking at my diet with clear eyes. I like people to be able to kick my butt if I need it, which is often. Plus I love to look at people's diary for snack ideas, and well...food porn

Hornsby

Nope, no one else's business in my opinion.

Cindyinpg

@Rhon - You are headed down the road to a path of misery and despair and pizza LOL :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :flowerforyou:

Can we put bacon on the pizza??? :laugh:

@Oh Yeah - That is a given! - Also Wait until you see one of my famous Spaghetti-O's sandwhiches on White Bread next month too! :drinker:

Is that gonna be our daily challenge for next month instead of pizza and/or ice cream everyday? :laugh:

sunfirelynn

i don't share. mine is for me personally and to know where i went wrong. i don't need other peoples 2 cents when everyone is different.

^^^^^I keep mine private also ^^^^^

ames105

I share mine. I don't have any friends who judge (luckily for me). I also think it helps keep me more honest... I don't want anyone to see me fall off the wagon. It took me a while to decide to do it, but its worked out ok. If you don't like sharing, you can always change it back to private.

JAyers27

I have gone back and forth on this. I am about 3 months into my weight loss journey on MFP. At first I thought it was no one's business but my own and I would never comment or look at other diaries. I go over quite often, don't eat perfect, and I like to have a drink or three occasionally. Then I got curious about what others were logging and interested in how open they were with their food. So, I stared checking out their food diaries. That's when I decided to open mine to friends. It felt like I was hiding or cheating keeping it closed and I am trying to change my feelings about food. No one is perfect and we are all doing this for ourselves, if you feel like having it closed than that is your business. When you feel comfortable about it, open it up. I have not gotten any feedback but positive and if I did get some, I think, as stated by others, I would just delete them as my 'friends". Good luck!

MissDeeDee78

I share mine. I love getting new ideas from open journals.

emhunter

I say log it all and keep your diary open. You can also lock it with a key and only give the key to people you feel like you trust. For me, if you are really serious about losing weight or getting healthy, there's not a lot of reason to hide it. If you have friends that are judgmental, delete them!

I personally won't add people who have closed diaries. I am putting my heart and soul in my diaries...good, bad, and ugly. I feel cheated if my friend can't share with me their struggles like I am sharing mine.

dlkingsbury

Mine is open to my MFP friends, which include my BFF, BF and two coworkers. this really keeps me accountable. i do like to get new meal ideas from their journals.

Andibenni

I share mine. It helps to get ideas for menus from other people and if I'm looking at theirs I don't mind if they see mine :blushing: I know I've shared recipes etc after people have viewed my diary and vice versa. No-one judges but if they do everyone's entitled to their opinion however it's my decision at the end of the day to let their judgements get to me...and I choose not to.

robinmmurphy3

Mine is visible to my friends. It doesn't bother me either way. I eat some weird breakfast food (Michelina's salisbury steak and mashed potatoes is one of my faves), so I'm sure that I raise some eyebrows with my food choices.
I like to look at other people's diaries to get ideas for different meals. However, I never judge and I would never say anything harsh to anyone.

ryske

You don't have to share if you're scared. But you need to learn not to care what others think. Particularly most people don't care what we eat anyways.

Chevy_Quest

@Oh Yeah - That is a given! - Also Wait until you see one of my famous Spaghetti-O's sandwhiches on White Bread next month too! :drinker:

Is that gonna be our daily challenge for next month instead of pizza and/or ice cream everyday? :laugh:
[/quote]

Of course with alternating days of the 10 worst foods LOL! :drinker:

IanBee93

Screw what other people think, as long as you're sticking to your calorie goal, you're winning

nutmegoreo

I share mine with my friends. Should there come a time when I stall and need advice of other users, I will open it to the public. I do this for several reasons. The main one simply being that I can get ideas from other people's journals and they from mine. Although there are times when I look at an entry and start drooling on my computer. I don't expect my friends to share theirs with me, and if they never look at mine, it doesn't affect my day. If they are overly critical in a non-helpful manor, they may get de-friended. Bottom line it is your journey, it is your life and at the end of the day, you are the only one that will win, lose, or draw from this endeavor.

Swiftdogs

I keep mine private. I prefer to be brutally honest with myself, and don't want the temptation to omit or fudge less-wise items. If I eat it, I log it. I also log quickly from my phone when I'm traveling. Some of those entries may be the first thing that comes up and I go back later and find better matches.

LittleonebeforethethroneofGod

I have decided not to share it because there are days in which I fast which is going to make the numbers look really low. I'm also really shy and very aware of what I am eating. Though if I do get to know someone and there's a positive connection established over time, I do release my journal for feedback by giving out the password to the journal. That way I can still share it and get positive and constructive feedback, without feeling "exposed."

lynn_glenmont

Mine is only open to my friends, not because I'm worried about what people will say about what I eat, but because I've already received a few disturbing messages through MFP in just a couple of months on the site, so I don't see any need to be more open.

More importantly, I think we're all prone to sharing TMI on the Internet without realizing how it can be used. Many people on MFP have a user name that appears to include parts of their actual names, many reveal in message board posts what country, state, or city they live in, and many have photos that could be used to identify them through facial recognition technology (the kind that Facebook uses to automatically tag you in photos on other people's pages). There are companies that are in the business of gathering every scrap of data they can about individuals online and off, connecting the information about you from all these sources, and reselling it. Do you want current and future employers knowing how often, how much, and when you drink? Do you want insurance companies knowing exactly what you're eating, any health concerns you might have mentioned anywhere on MFP, etc.? Then there are less reputable data miners who can make good guesses about when you're traveling based on changes in your eating pattern. Are you someone who generally only logs one or two meals a week of restaurant food, and now all of a sudden you're logging three meals a day from restaurants? Now they know your house is empty. (Or maybe you save them the detective work by mentioning that you're going on vacation and asking for advice in the message boards on how to stay on course with your calories and macros.)

quiltlovinlisa

I share. It's not perfect and sometimes (this weekend, cough, cough) it's awful but it's open. I don't ask for opinions on my eating though, well at least here on the boards. I'd maybe ask my friends but I don't open myself up by asking for public opinion. When my loss slows down, I know what I need to change or tweak.

my100plan

I'm on a high protein, vlcd. I'm skipping the peanut gallery and keeping mine private I would love more friends though because I do enjoy seeing other's success!

lilbearzmom

Mine is open- I feel like it keeps me more accountable. I think twice about eating something when I know I have to log it and other critical eyes might be looking.

Kevalicious99

I have nothing to hide. Anyone can look at my food diary. They will quickly become bored and leave.