Reasons for making (or not) your food diary public?

GremlinJenny

In the beginning, I kept my food diary private. I was "embarrassed" by what made the list each day and scared that my friends might "tsk, tsk" me.

After I lost my initial 14-lbs in 4 wks, I realized, however, that what I was doing.... was working! And I realized that my food diary looked very different from everyone else's. Mine had a slice of Domino's Pizza on there (ONE slice). I had the occasional bag of chips (usually only 1/2 individual sized bag). I had Taco Bell in there (2 tacos fresco style). And I also realized that this was all OKAY. lol.... Moderation works for me. I take that first bite and my craving is almost immediately satisfied. I don't need to finish the rest.

I understand that I have an ultimate goal of how I want to eat and how I'd like to fuel my body. Specifically, I have serious health concerns that require me to be very cognizant of my HEALTH (not to be confused with my desire to lose weight/be thin). In an ideal world, it would be all local, organic, freshly cooked meals 24/7. I would save money by buying everything fresh and in bulk, pre-make my meals, chop my own veggies, etc.... honestly??? Not gonna happen. Um, that head of lettuce will just sit in the crisper drawer and wilt. Pre-made, on-the-go salad kits are what work for me.

I started out eating Quaker Instant Oatmeal. It's better than all the croissant ham & cheese sandwiches I used to get, w/ side of breakfast fried potatoes! After weeks of the instant oatmeal, my trainer said I should really start eating the Steel Cut Oats w/ Flax Seed Oil. I made that once and while it was fine to my tastebuds, I just never got around to doing it again. Whatever the reasons, it doesn't fit my lifestyle right now. So then after that 1x, the rest of that week I ended up at work without a readily available breakfast, and back I went to ordering in.... croissant sandwiches. Duh. I went back to my Quaker Instant Oatmeal. And I'm FINE. Eventually... someday.... the steel cut oats will work into my life. But right now? Not so much.

I decided to open my diary bc I realized there is more than one way to do this, and thought others might want to know that. You don't have to eat "bird food" all the time. lol.... Yes, there is an ideal and we should work towards that... especially when we all know how processed foods affect your arteries and how your body processes the artifical crap, etc etc.... But, it's just so easy to get caught up in the ALL OR NOTHING mindset. You can go to the birthday party and have champagne and eat a bit of cake. You can live your life in a normal social way without feeling deprived or obsessed with the numbers and the counting and the watching and the planning.

This may not work for "you", but it works for me. Because of my unique health situation, I talk to my doctor at least once a week. She is completely onboard with my plan and my progress. So, I leave my diary open to those on my friends list just to give others a different idea of the numerous options out there.

slimmerchick

Just opened mine - didn't realise there was an option!!

loupammac

I don't really see the need to put my food diary under lock and key. Oh no, someone will say "YOU ATE CHIPS?! HOW DARE YOU!!" and I'll feel horrible about myself. I put explanations in my notes because sometimes I forget why I ate certain things. I put in if I miss lunch due to work being super busy or a big dinner because I went to a friend's party. We're all in this together, for different reasons but we're all here.

More on accountability and such:
My boyfriend is not so much my accountability partner as he is my motivator. He asks me how my gym classes are and how my workout program is going for me. He's very supportive I tell him what he wants to know, and if I was under / over my calories. If I'm having an off day and not wanting to work out, he'll call me "tubby" which happens to be my trigger. I'll get all mad and go to the gym being all "I'll show him! I'm not tubby!" It might be tough love, but hey, it works for us. You don't call somebody you love names with malicious intent.

Lyadeia

I made my diary public so that I could receive tips or suggestions from anyone who looked at it. I also have a lot of recipes in mine, and I love to share them with people who want them. It's a great way to make new friends on here, I think. I personally just think it keeps me more accountable. I am less likely to fill it out when I am the only one who can see it. And if I cheat and don't put on there what I really ate, I am only hurting myself.

taletreader

I made mine public after keeping it private for two reasons:

- I like looking at other people's diaries for inspiration. It's also interesting to see how different we eat. So out of fairness and reciprocity, I should allow the same scrutiny for myself.
- Often new posters ask vague questions (why am I not losing weight? how much sugar is too much? am I doing anything wrong?) that would be much easier to give an intelligent answer to if you could see their bloody diary! So to encourage this kind of transparency I keep mine open, and it gives me more credibility when I ask someone to show theirs.

I haven't been stalked and stupid negative remarks would not make me change the above. I AM however pseudonymous here, while I see that a lot of other posters would be extremely easy to identify by their meatspace friends and neighbours, which would probably make me hesitate a little.

BigBoneSista

Mine is public but it really doesn't matter to me one way or the other. What I do is what I do and I'm only accountable to myself. I'm honest about what I eat. I log everything I put in my mouth that has calories...ok I'm not extreme though. If I eat one berry I'm not running up here logging that. But meals, snacks, drinks; they are all added. If I cheat I'm the only person that harm is done to so that is even an option yanno. So if someone wants to peek they can. Its not like its my social security number and bank info. Not that serious to me.

Ellavemia

Mine is private because I am going to have days I'm not proud of and I want to be honest with myself about them. With others looking, I'm not sure I'd tell the world I ate an entire medium pizza for dinner, but I'd defintiely track it privately.

I have no problem holding myself accountable and I've been into fitness and nutrition for many years now. I don't need a support group but I understand that many do and that's awesome because it's really about whatever works for you personally. I also don't want to open mine up because the workouts I do aren't listed and are too difficult to calculate and add. Perhaps I'll do the math and add them one day but so far I haven't had the time. Since they're not tracked, the whole thing is really inaccurate for me.

I'm primarily here for the amazing food tracking functions that work better than my personal spreadsheets.

jessieinblue

I'm a rather private person in general, but when it comes to food I am very open and vocal. I have helped people (not on the internet) change their lives for the better just by talking to them about their diets. They notice my weight loss or see me eating well and ask me for advice. I know what I'm talking about, so I don't mind sharing. It's a win-win.

So I keep my diary open. My own diet isn't perfect. Like yesterday, I ate way too many sweets. But that's just how my day was yesterday. It's all about the big picture.

catherine1979

I decided to keep mine open recently because:

a) nobody's perfect, we all have bad food days
b) I like looking at other diaries for ideas and I think maybe someone might look at mine and find a new meal idea
c) it creates accountability

kidtechnical

I was private, then public, now private again. There's no one reason for it. I don't look at other peoples food diarys, I find a lot of processed food is eaten and I don't eat that way so I wouldn't find it useful, we're scattered across the globe so I don't have access to brands (and even a brand I do have access to could have different ingredients/calorie content here). I think anyone else looking at mines would be of limited value - the best thing people could take away from my diary would be the home cooked non processed meals I make every day... however... they'll only have a list of ingredients, no method, so what use is that to anyone else? I've found I don't need to be accountable to anyone but me either, I'm doing good enough logging for my own benefit. Perhaps if I hit a wall I'll make it public again for suggestions, but right now I'm happy with it being private and don't need specific feedback on my intake.

Randee75

I have mine open.....I am not going to hide what I ate. And I have to say I get some great ideas from others when theirs is public. Just bought some almond butter yesterday can't wait to try it(not a fan at all of Peanut Butter).

_eislek_

I keep mine open because most of the time I am proud of what I chose to eat. I don't flaunt it and say hey go look at how many calories I didn't eat, but it's there if someone wants to look. I'm an open person.

vaavamom1

because its harder to cheat when everyone can see what your eating! i need someone to keep me in line!

Exactly!!! :laugh:

:flowerforyou:

riley711

My diary is open to friends. It may give them ideas on what to eat. I certainly get meal ideas from my friends. This counting calories was new to me, and I need to learn more food options. But at the same time, I am enjoying some success with my eating and weight loss, so by leaving my food diary open, others may be able to get ideas from me. And if I become less successful, friends would be able to take an objective look and give me their thoughts. Sharing, education, encouragement.