To allow view or not to allow views...

melissatacker

I have been on MFP for 31 days now and have lost 17 lbs. I see that there is about an equal division between those who allow their food diary to be viewed by others and those who do not. I am wondering if people find that allowing others to view their diary somehow keeps them more motivated to eat right? I admit that even though I am always a few hundred calories or more below my daily calorie intake, it is kind of embarrassing to let others see what type of food I am mostly eating (i.e. all the pasta ) What is everyone's opinion on the matter?

jltodd99

Personal choice I guess. You have to take people's comments with a grain of salt sometimes.

Pandorian

mine's open to my friends on here, outside of that I don't need random nitpicks of my meal when what I'm doing is working, I'm making healthier choices than I did prior to coming here and logging everything.

but I've not actually had comments either way on my meals

yoghurtand

No one comments on what I eat, which is probably a good thing as I'd likely disregard their advice :P I just keep it public so that if anyone out there wants ideas for a meal they can possibly get some from mine That's what I use other people's for if I happen to click on them.

patattheshire

well i leave mine open as it keeps me striving to be better although if i have a drink i hate posting it so i think it keeps things in moderation

louloup

Mine is open to friends only. None of my frinds have judged me on my food diary and I log food that is good and not so good.

jaxcpotter

I keep it open to friends, to keep it honest. If I start losing too fast, my friends can see that I have been eating. For the friends that are having a rough time sticking to it, they can look at my diary and see that I am eating the foods I crave within my calorie limits and balance them out with lean proteins and fresh produce. It works for me. I do like to check out other people's diaries to see if they maybe onto something that would work for me, too.

melissatacker

Thanks for all the opinions. I agree I like to look at other people's diaries for ideas but then it makes me feel bad seeing all the healthy diet foods and mine is full of carbs lol.

JulieTX86

Mine is public. I was actually just talking to my friend about this. My diary is public because.... no matter what kind of day I have... good or bad, letting other people see it won't change the number on the scale... So I say why not leave it open.

Plus, I have some really awesome friends on here that call me out on my $h!t. For example, I STRUGGLE with eating way to much sodium. Some of my friends will point it out. However, it's good in the fact that people can offer advice on things they are doing differently so that I could learn from them.

It's all personal preference really, but my thought is, just because you know what I eat doesn't make the number on the scale change... and by you knowing what I weigh doesn't make me look any different. That's why I have my diary open, and you can see my weight on my ticker.

t1981

I have my diary open to the publc and it helps me to watch what I eat a little more, but I still have plenty of "bad" stuff anyways! But I'm not planning on eating 100% healthy while I'm maintaining so I don't do that now as well. Feel free to take a look at mine if it makes you feel better

ffemtchris

I had mine set to friends but since only people on MFP can see it and I have many friends that are not on MFP, I changed it to public. Like someone else said, no matter whether it's posted or not, the real results are all on me (in more ways than one).

katschi

Mine's public. It's just food.

I love peeking at others' diaries so it's only fair that I have mine public as well.

Don't understand what the big secret is. We're all fat here (for the most part). We've all been there, done that.

Nigel99

I allow views for friends. Occasionally, I will look at some other diaries just to see what other people are eating, how their eating routine goes, and maybe get some ideas. I hope friends do the same, but I'm not really looking to just make it public any more than I'm dying to post about my daily life on Facebook. I log everything, and am accountable to myself, so I don't need that aspect from others.

Ultimately, everybody just needs to do what is right for them. There is no right or wrong way.

TonysMiss

I actually just marked mine public today. I have only been on here a week but I decided to because I would like constructive criticism and also would like to view others for ideas!!

gryheyl

Good or bad calories are calories yes you lose more weight eating healthier calories. But at the end of the day if the calories in do not match the calories out. You will most likely lose weight. If your no because of sodium or believe it or not eating enough calories. then you can adjust your diet. Because you can see what you are up too. the thing is be honest with your food dairy I boils down to. to your life your choice of food. If you eat to many carbohydrates or to much sodium it will matter. But you have to flex out food you love to eat frankly. We all know what is healthy but I love food. A diet that is to restrictive will never work for me.

susiewusie

I love looking at other peoples diarys often get some great ideas for some new meals .
As long as your happy with what you eat thats the main thing .

kimbo73

I feel more accountable allowing my food diary to be visible (please ignore the Jim Beam & Cola cans hehehe) At the end of the day though, my diary is all about me, I'm not fussed who knows what I'm eating which was originally part of the reason I stacked on all this extra weight in the first place... sneaky snacking!! I account for everything I eat now, down to the very last string bean.

backinthenines

Mine is open to friends. A lot of my friends on here are also very active and it's always interesting to see how people fuel their training etc.

missduffbug

My food diay is now public - Im interested to know what people think of my food diary as I feel like I am eating SO much - but I am usually always under my calorie goal. I never feel hungry - admittedly I have only been doing it 6 days haha.
I dont mind if people see what I am eating - I dont feel like I am eating anything sinful but I guess we shall see when I next weigh myself if it is working or not!!
:0)

zorbaru

i have mine open to my friends.

if i lose weight, they can see how im doing it
if i dont , i can asked them to check if i can improve.

backinthenines

My food diay is now public - Im interested to know what people think of my food diary as I feel like I am eating SO much - but I am usually always under my calorie goal. I never feel hungry - admittedly I have only been doing it 6 days haha.

It's looking pretty good I would say. :flowerforyou: I'm assuming todays coco pops brekkie is a weekend treat as all your previous brekkies were nice and healthy. Some things you can eat a lot of (lean protein, veggies etc), so there's no need to go hungry because that stuff is filling esp protein and fibrous carbs.

My only suggestion would be that you may find it beneficial to track sugar, only because some products have a lot of hidden sugars in it. I changed my cereal as a result of how much sugar it had in it.

Keep it up. :drinker: