Question about wording...

EA4488

So I don't know how you all feel about this but I just wanted to kind of vent about something that was bothering me a bit.

I will just be frank: it kind of bothers me that when, after a day of eating and watching my diet, I enter in my last log of the day and the post on my wall reads that I was "under my calorie goal." I often feel badly commenting on other people's walls, writing "CONGRATS!" because I have learned through being in medical school and taking nutrition classes, that not reaching a certain calorie goal that is necessary for my body is NOT a good thing.

I know that if I want to lose the weight, I have to adjust my calories needed per day to something less. I am fine with that. But I guess I just don't want to be promoting bad eating habits and starvation for those who feel it is okay to not eat anything and be on outrageous diets to get thin. One should not be congratulated on being "under a calorie goal;" rather, one should be congratulated when they did well during the day, met their healthy standards, or even if they went over their calorie goal, should be congratulated for maybe something they were proud about during the day.

Maybe it is all just semantics and syntax, but I guess I just want to promote a healthy lifestyle and often feel badly saying "way to go!" just bc/ someone was below what caloies they may be needing to function.

hewhoiscd

I agree. I stopped commenting on completed diary status updates for exactly this reason. With out knowing their height/weight/bf%, what their BMR is, what their activity level is, and not knowing how many pounds per week they set on the MFP goals...it's impossible to make an informed comment. So I don't. Unless someone specifically asks me to look at their diary, then I will usually comment on macros and the specifics of what types of food they are eating.

I save most of my comments for exercise updates and weight loss notices. On the weight loss, depending on the person, if it is too large in too short of a time, then I will comment about making sure they aren't losing too quickly. I wish MFP would say "Lost 1 pound since last week" or something like that. Without the time stamp, it doesn't tell the whole story.

p0stdramatic

I feel the same way. Our goal is to eat those calories; no less.

AZKristi

I wouldn't worry about this too much, MFP will automatically chastise you if you fall below the minimum guidelines for caloric intake.

The reason I am frequently "under my calorie goal" is because I don't eat back all of my exercise calories. I usually eat about half of them back, sometimes all of them, sometimes only a few of them. I've only ever gone below the minimum recommended caloric intake (1200 calories per day for women) a few times and that was because I was sick.

I would be a lot more worried about people on the HGC diets where "doctors" are telling them they should only be eating 500 calories per day. At least people on MFP are mostly making an effort to loose weight by improving their nutrition!

TavistockToad

I only comment when i have actually looked at the diary. i find that i sometimes look and then DONT comment for exactly the reasons you have said - too few cals or a lot of bad food.

limismith

Good point! At least MFP tells you if you go too far under your goal (I've done that on days where I sleep in past breakfast, or go to bed without dinner), but occasionally I see a diary that is soooo questionable. I don't like to judge, everyones life is diffferent, but still...

On that note, don't look at my diary today. I am dead broke and everything I am eating is random!