Calorie count vs. Actually doing it right

Naomi91

I am going to write this as nicely as I can. Whether or not a member makes their food diary public is their choice. That being said, I find it discouraging that members are being judged on their food choices. That stuff goes on out in public enough. This is supposed to be a supportive group, not a place for members to be berated. What they choose to eat is their business and whatever works for them is also their business. Live and let live. Believe it or not, members are not on here to help you or anyone else make food choices. They are here for their own personal reasons. If you are not getting healthy ideas from those people, then please look elsewhere. Shaming them in public is only repeating cruelties they have suffered from countless others.

agree 100% very well put

HeartsTurtle

Ok.. I'm going to take step back from this topic b/c I agree that it's everyone's personal choice as to what they eat.

I just want to say, that one of the reasons why I don't agree with people who starve themselves and then binge on pizza for their one meal is because it is very reminiscent of eating disorders. I witnessed my sister suffer for over 8 years with anorexia and then bulimia. She would often starve herself all day and then stuff her face with food for dinner. It created a very unhealthy pattern in her lifestyle that has not only lead to many other health problems, but almost always lead her into a cycle of losing weight and then quickly gaining it all back.

I'm not saying that everyone who eats pizza for dinner is going to develop an eating disorder. I just hope people realize that it's not about getting as skinny as they possible can, but eating foods that will not only make them look better, but help improve their energy levels, etc.

Ok...end rant :-)

misty1208

Trust me I knew full well before posting this that i would get lots of varied opinions. And i truly did not mean to "shame" anyone. And I fully understand that everyone here has days where they will eat pizza or drink soda... i did say that i know my diet is not perfect.
But my personal opinion is that its not healthy to eat all your calories in one sitting, and starve yourself the rest of the day. is that so wrong to say out loud?

inskydiamonds

I am going to write this as nicely as I can. Whether or not a member makes their food diary public is their choice. That being said, I find it discouraging that members are being judged on their food choices. That stuff goes on out in public enough. This is supposed to be a supportive group, not a place for members to be berated. What they choose to eat is their business and whatever works for them is also their business. Live and let live. Believe it or not, members are not on here to help you or anyone else make food choices. They are here for their own personal reasons. If you are not getting healthy ideas from those people, then please look elsewhere. Shaming them in public is only repeating cruelties they have suffered from countless others.

I completely agree with this. The best we can give to members of the community who may not be doing it in a way that you personally thinks works or think is healthy or whatever, is the support that I know I received from this website. It's the support that makes the days when I'm really craving something bad but knowing that I CAN DO IT because I have people on MFP who believe in me doing it.

With that said, I will reiterate what other people have already said on here - we all have our different ways. If you looked at my food diary today you could totally judge me and my food choices. Do I do this everyday? No. But I do have days when I want to pig out, and I do. And I've almost lost 40 pounds doing what I've been doing, so I hardly think anyone can tell me I'm doing it wrong. If I wanted to eat a whole pizza one day, I don't see why I shouldn't be able to do that. Worrying about getting judged on here isn't something I should have to deal with and it isn't something any of us should be doing.

The biggest thing about this too is thought like this will discourage people from using MFP for the fear of being ridiculed. This site works if you use it. And if you need to eat half a pizza and log it and see how many calories it is and how it effects you for the rest of the day, you're probably NOT going to do that everyday. MFP is about logging the good days AND the bad.

Frankly, if you don't like how someone else is approaching their weightloss struggle, don't look at their diary.

Naomi91

Trust me I knew full well before posting this that i would get lots of varied opinions. And i truly did not mean to "shame" anyone. And I fully understand that everyone here has days where they will eat pizza or drink soda... i did say that i know my diet is not perfect.
But my personal opinion is that its not healthy to eat all your calories in one sitting, and starve yourself the rest of the day. is that so wrong to say out loud?

well since this is supposed to be a site full of support i would say that you do have to take into consideration others insecurities. It definately felt like you were calling people out directly to hurt. I agree with an above poster, that some people get **** for what they eat all the time and dont want to come to their support site and see people bashing on their eating habits. could lead to a binge, you just never know.

Just because you have an opinion doesnt make it appropriate to express

WildcatMom82

Meh, when I first started out back in college I knew nothing about healthy foods, etc. The only change I made was I counted calories and I lost 75 lbs, so yes you can lose weight that way - I ate a ton of ice cream and drank a ton of alcohol, but I was under cals. I thought I was eating better by the time I'd lost all that weight, but really I was eating a bunch of low-fat processed crap and sweets full of artificial sweeteners. However, it was better than what I'd done before KWIM? Some people just aren't educated OR just don't care. It's their body, I think it's harsh to judge if they're making an effort.

Lexie71

My food diary is not public because I do not diet and I know there are many people who would judge me for what I eat. Listening to those judgements is part of what got me where I am. It is not their fault for judging, it is my fault for listening.
Is it ok for you to say out loud that you don't think someone's food choices are healthy? Yes, I think so. We are all responsible for ourselves and how we do or do not let other's comments affect us.
I am very, VERY happy with what I am doing and the results I am seeing. Nutritionists woud have a hay day with my food journal!!! But I have to laugh....because years of dieting have not gotten me where I am today. Years of "healthy eating" (according to whatever expert was most popular at the time) did not get me to a better place. No one knows my body and mind better than me.
Bad habits are hard to break and if I can slowly change my thoughts and my actions (including nutrition) and lose weight at the same time....that is where I want to be!!!
Thank god we are all individuals!!! Uniquely created. Find what works for you and do it!! And express your opinion with respect. Maybe it will help someone else. I wouldn't play it fast and loose with the word "right" though.....that is more of a judgement call than an opinion, I think! Your "right" is someone else's "impossible" and your "wrong" might be someone else's progress!

craft338

if you don't get good ideas from one log, then just move on to a different one. if they didn't ask you for your opinion, then you shouldn't be judging. no need to make people feel bad or insecure, cuz then you're going against the whole reason for this website. they're not shoving the pizza in your mouth. so what if they're doing it wrong?

misty1208

OH for crying out loud people! Im not trying to be mean or say that im RIGHT. Obviously since im here I have the same issues as everyone else here.... and thats i want/need to lose weight.

honestly if i came across as a jugmental B i truly did not mean to. THe people that know me, know im a nice person. I am just like the rest of you.

This is obviously a extreamly touchy subject, one that was meant for a blog and not posting. One that i recived alot of private messages about already.

SO im sorry if i offended anyone here. That was not my intention at all.

MrsSassyPants

I'm too lazy to divide everything into breakfast lunch and dinner so my lunch could look like I ate everything at once. And you are right. It really isn't any of your business what other people do. Everyone has their own battles. We reap what we sow.

craft338

if you want to find good examples of logs, putting up a topic like "does anybody have a healthy log they wouldn't ming sharing?" rather than this whole thing probably would have been more productive.

Scidoc

I agree with Misty: I like to go to peoples diary's and get ideas...especially from people who have been successful. Most of the points disagreeing with you were more on the lines of "too each there own" and "they can do whatever works for them"...which is true to an extent, but being on this website members should learn to face criticism if they leave their diary open and are not eating healthfully. The whole point of having a diary and deciding to leave it open is for 1) to be held accountable for what you eat and 2) Give others a chance to get ideas that could benefit them. This is a community and is the way of community spirit.

Sure we all mess up and have good days and bad days, it happens to everyone. But if you are honest with yourself, then you will know that eating in this way is what led us to being overweight and/or unhealthy in the first place.

We are all here because we want to get slim and trim AND be healthy...not skinny fat with high cholesterol, bad skin, and scurvy.

poisongirl6485

Seems that you just can't win. If you keep your diary private, then that means you're not being honest or are 'cheating' on what you're logging/not logging. If it's public, then somehow people take that to mean it's open season if they aren't eating what certain viewers deem as 'healthy' or 'acceptable.'

I don't understand the mindset that a public diary = inviting criticism. we're not supposed to be on here to criticize, but to support each other in our weight loss goals. However people choose to strive for those goals is subject to opinion and I find it sad that people who are honest about logging their choices and leaving their diary public are being smashed because said choices aren't 'healthy' enough for others to gain ideas from. Diaries aren't just for obtaining ideas for your own eating habits, they're for use by the owner of said diary as a way to track their own consumption. However else they want to use that diary is up to them and it's silly to knock them because their personal choices aren't up to your own standards. If a diary isn't to your liking for ideas, look at another one. It's their DIARY, not an advice column.

Tomhusker

Maybe we should have our food diary approved for release first....... :laugh:

Laceylala

Trust me I knew full well before posting this that i would get lots of varied opinions. And i truly did not mean to "shame" anyone. And I fully understand that everyone here has days where they will eat pizza or drink soda... i did say that i know my diet is not perfect.
But my personal opinion is that its not healthy to eat all your calories in one sitting, and starve yourself the rest of the day. is that so wrong to say out loud?

The onlY input I have to offer up another viewpoint here is that I can eat a subway 6" with a bag of chips for lunch and not eat again until the next day sometimes because I am simply not hungry. So perhaps when you see a person eating 2000 cals of junk and that being their only meal, maybe that was enough for them that day? Who knows. It is most definitely possible. Perhaps they aren't starving because they are so full?

And it is definitely not healthy to do that on a daily basis, thats for sure. I think one of the things overweight people have to learn is to not keep eating when they are full or have overeaten at a meal. We mess up and eat too mich not realizing the cal count, we choose to eat a huge meal, etc etc. And then, hopefully, if we are learning anything on this site, the rest of the day we make sure that we aren't doing it again...

DangerRanger

OKAY, "someone" has been looking at my food diary. *points at Misty1208* ....... Just kidding (i hope)

I understand your frustration, but like a few have mentioned, there are several people here that are trying to maintain a lifestyle change, which includes, McDonald's, Wendy's, etc. So they may eat out every so often. Personally, I eat out at least 2-3 times a week, but I try to never eat 1200 calories in one meal. If I do, well, it's on me..

But, again, I do understand where you are coming from. So for those who are eating 1200 calories in ONE MEAL, lock your darn diary. LOL:drinker:

lodro

I Feel the same way! as you know, healthy eating is eating smaller meals but more of them.. and of course not eating foods that are fried or heavily processed.. well.. maybe on occasion

I beg to differ: eating small meals often is not healthier than eating one large meal a day. I'd also like to add, that as a person who does daily intermittent fasting (ie I have a 4 hour time window in which I will eat every day, so "one large meal") I find that if you only eat once a day there's more of a tendency to be really careful in what you eat, because you need to make that one meal count, nutrition-wise. So, in the "one pizza daily" scenario, the operative word is "intention". I can junk-eat my way through 6 small meals, and I can eat one meal a day in a healthy manner. Eating many frequent meals is overrated.

Also: most people underreport the calories they use. I know because I did too until i bought a precision scale and started weighing my food properly. I was off sometimes by 300-500 calories/day.

lodro

I agree with you and I would say to those people that they are doing it wrong. Because living that type of lifestyle will almost certainly lead to failure. Eating 3 well balanced meals with a few small snacks is the best way.

actually it has been proven that 6 evenly spaced meals is the best way.

No, that has not been proven. The reverse might actually be true in managing hunger and appetite.

lodro

Trust me I knew full well before posting this that i would get lots of varied opinions. And i truly did not mean to "shame" anyone. And I fully understand that everyone here has days where they will eat pizza or drink soda... i did say that i know my diet is not perfect.
But my personal opinion is that its not healthy to eat all your calories in one sitting, and starve yourself the rest of the day. is that so wrong to say out loud?

Well it's a personal opinion, and one not based in fact.

misty1208

Trust me I knew full well before posting this that i would get lots of varied opinions. And i truly did not mean to "shame" anyone. And I fully understand that everyone here has days where they will eat pizza or drink soda... i did say that i know my diet is not perfect.
But my personal opinion is that its not healthy to eat all your calories in one sitting, and starve yourself the rest of the day. is that so wrong to say out loud?

Well it's a personal opinion, and one not based in fact.

thanks. thats why i said it was my personal opinion.