What are the reasons behind a private food diary?

WanabeHotMama

I am wondering why some people choose to keep their food diaries private? The only reason I can think of is that when you have a day you "overindulged" it may feel embarrassing to tell the whole world, yes, I ate 5 pieces of pizza and went over my calorie goal. We are all human and have "bad eating days" but aren't we here to support each other? If you can't be honest and open with those who are in the same boat and trying to help you achieve your goals, I highly doubt you are being honest with yourself. I love having mine to share with my friends so that I can get advice or just to keep me thinking during the day, "do I really want to put that I ate a huge bag of M&M's for dinner?". I also enjoy reading others for ideas to help my own meals and ways to keep my calories down. So, maybe it comes down to each individual person, and I respect that, I just feel it would do more good to make the food diaries public to keep you in check but maybe I'm missing something!?

erikblock

Agreed.

eyt2003

Amen!! Now let me check my profile to be sure mine isn't private. LOL

FearAnLoathing

I dont care if anyone sees my bad days,but when I get unsolicited advice thats I didnt want or ask for it gets on my nerves so I keep mine viewable to friends only

alingle77

I totally agree ! I love seeing what food ideas I can use too...

hpsnickers1

I keep mine viewable to friends only. I just feel more comfortable doing it this way. If I'm looking for meal ideas I just head to Recipes on the Message Boards.

ItsOn130

Maybe some people aren't aware that it is set to private?

MamaReebs

I don't keep mine public, but I do allow my friends to see it. I think that it is way more encouraging that way. I like to be able to comment on specific stuff my friends ate that was good and I like my friends to do the same for me. I don't think I need all of MFP seeing my eating habits though.

Naomi91

Mine is open :]

but some people do not liked to be judged for what they eat and when. Its their own business :]

lodro

Not in my case. I eat relatively few calories and i don't want going on about "starvation mode". I think the "reasons" given in the opening post say more about the OPs mindset than about those who keep their food diary private.

WanabeHotMama

Amen!! Now let me check my profile to be sure mine isn't private. LOL

LOL!!!

PrincessLacey

yeah it's embarassment -shrugs-
or at least it is for me.
i don't even tell my mom what i eat,i sneak just about everything
awful i know but i feel ashamed to eat especially junk.

MamaReebs

Maybe some people aren't aware that it is set to private?

That is true. I did not know that was the default until someone pointed it out to me so I could change it.

bethrs

You make a point, but... I too do not like unsolicited advice and it was like yesterday that I saw someone copy and past the calorie totals froma friend's diary into a post to get folks to try to help her with her "eating disorder." There are days I don't log, days I go over, and sometimes I eat a cookie or something. I'm not interested in hearing other people talk about it unless I ask them to and invite them to see it.

misscristie

I think some people just want to track their calories to track their calories. Some folks are just here for information and support. To each their own

qtwells82

There was a topic floating around yesterday about someone bashing another girls food diary. This is why i want mine private. I'm not ashamed of what I eat...just too many trolls out there looking for drama

melleyd

I had mine open but now I'm trying the calorie zig zagging and when you change your goals, it changes everything and looks like you went over, etc. I don't have time to explain it to everyone! They see if I stayed under on the newsfeed. I eat very healthy though, maybe I should open it to my friends to give them some good ideas.

CalorieNinja

I dont care if anyone sees my bad days,but when I get unsolicited advice thats I didnt want or ask for it gets on my nerves so I keep mine viewable to friends only

My sentiments exactly

WanabeHotMama

I guess I should've also stated that I mean people that are strictly private, not even allowing their friends to view. So far I haven't received any negative comments about my diary (although comments could definitely be made!) I'm in no way claiming that I eat perfectly or that I am where I should be by any means, I just think it helps to keep us all on track & be really honest with yourself!

Maztastic

I'm using my phone primarily to access the site. I'm not sure whether my diary is private or not.

rebecky27

I dont care if anyone sees my bad days,but when I get unsolicited advice thats I didnt want or ask for it gets on my nerves so I keep mine viewable to friends only

agree with this! there are some people who do great with whole foods and like to lecture those of us who do turn to packaged foods for healthy eating while super busy (my daily lunch at work is usually a lean cuisine meal). It's my choice. My diary is open to friends only.

bzmom

I have mine only for my friends to see it. I avoid trolls that like to linger.....

NoAdditives

I used to have mine private because I didn't want other people looking at it. I didn't need the accountability or support from others. This is my thing to deal with, not anyone else's. I don't like it when my husband asks if I'm going to the gym, I certainly don't need other people asking the same kinds of questions.

I eventually opened it because I realized I didn't care what other people thought. I'm not perfect every day, but I'm always honest in my diary.

edorice

Mine are viewable to friends only. Some random person on this board that is eating 500 calories a day in celery is not going to understand my 1,700 calories. I don't want their viewpoint.

WanabeHotMama

These are all great points! I'm thinking about making mine private but viewable to friends. Thank you to everyone for the feedback!

jdrop

I don't know why but I would assume it's the same as a private blog entry or a private section of Facebook. Sometimes people just don't feel comfortable sharing all that with the world, only themselves and a few select people.

heidiberr

I understand what you are saying, but there are people who are extremely critical of other people's food diary and try to push their views (whether it's veganism, clean eating, etc, etc) at someone.


Plus if I'm holding my own self accountable, why I do need someone else prying into my diary?

WanabeHotMama

Mine are viewable to friends only. Some random person on this board that is eating 500 calories a day in celery is not going to understand my 1,700 calories. I don't want their viewpoint.

That's a great point too! I guess I have yet to experience a negative MFP friend! I'm on the lookout now!

kettlewitch

I got a bit fed up of people saying I wasn't eating enough. I'm not getting into the "eating my exercise calories" thing but I do what works for me and that's enough for me ( and my doctor) I eat about the same every day regardless unless I feel like I need more, or indeed less.

WanabeHotMama

I got a bit fed up of people saying I wasn't eating enough. I'm not getting into the "eating my exercise calories" thing but I do what works for me and that's enough for me ( and my doctor) I eat about the same every day regardless unless I feel like I need more, or indeed less.

Good for you! You definitely know your body best and I understand your comment! I want helpful advice, not advice that sounds like criticism.

brandicockrum

I have mine viewable to friends. There have been a few times I was so ashamed of what I ate that I regretted not setting it to private. But I think it's okay to show that it's okay to have a bad day. Not every day is going to be perfect on Calories, Fat and everything else. That being said, I'm sure there are some people out there that are very private people that just don't share anything really.