why would people feel the need to keep their food diary priv

CharityEaton

mine's open to friends but unelss there is a food police I really don't care what people say about what I eat! Some days I eat really good and other days I eat as much processed, refined "fake" crap as I want. It is about balance. You can eat whatever you want whenever you want you just have to be prepared for the consequences it will have on your body and you better as heck not complain about it or someone will have something to tell you for sure! None of my MFP's have ever said anything negative about what I eat and I have logged my fair share of "junk"
Besides, who says that is what they REALLY eat in their log any way...even if it isn't private?
Just for the heck of it I might log ice cream every meal for a week just to see if any of my friends comment!

Photoology

The out of the blue comments on their diaries are outright strange. I wonder if the ignore feature would work to curb that?

The ignore feature does work but its hard when its multiple people do kind of the same thing to you and assume you are just pigging out and eating poorly. It is just the nature of the beast of online communities...

polarlove

Probably b/c they don't want unsolicited advice. If your diary is public or open to your friends, you're inviting comments. Some people just don't want those comments. ;-)

yep that's exactly why mine is private. I know myself when I've had a bad day and ate too much rubbish, I don't need anyone else to comment on it and make me feel worse. I come here for support and motivation, and unfortunately criticism, however constructive and well-meaning it is, doesn't motivate me like it does for some people, it actually has the opposite effect. I'd be too scared to be completely honest if my dairy was public or even friends only.

daydream58

My question would be - Why do people that don't want feedback post their diary was under for the day at all?

Maybe people think the "complete this entry" button on the bottom of the diary is how to build continuous days streaks, however, it's only function seems to be to post calories to the news feed, which your friends see.

So in a way - closing out your diary comes across a lot like asking for feedback because you could just disable the diary from the news feed in My Home - Settings - Automatic News Feed update settings. Then you wouldn't be drawing attention to your diary if it's private.

Drawing attention to your private diary at the end of every day is a lot like saying COME SEE MY COOL NEW CAR! but then refusing to open the garage door. If you want congratulations on your new car, you've got to open the garage door and let them see it, or they are congratulating you blindly, and what real use is blind feedback?

You could argue that you like blind feedback and it makes you feel good, and I'm sure there are people like that on every forum on the internet, and there's not much the rest of us can do about that, it's just how it is. But building up a huge friend base for support and then wanting most of the support to be given blindly would naturally confuse a lot of people that don't operate like that.

Saying you don't ask for feedback and then clicking your under-calorie diary to your news feed is contradictory though. Just sayin'.

Roni_M

I don't understand why it matters so much to people to see what the calories are made up of. If they're under - they're under. Doesn't the fact that they'vemade significant changes to get under the calories everyday matter?

I'm extremely repetitive in my foods. I also don't always eat over 1200. I am losing weight so at this point if I am at 1000 three days of the week I don't care. I only manage two meals a day most of the time and I'm not a snacker. I even had one day that my net intake was negative. Imagine the comments of the "well wishers" that are only concerned about my health (i am under a family doctor, nutritionist and rhuematologists care).

The problem with it is that people look at them without understanding the persons circumstances. I used to drink alot of calories (milk due to stomach problems from meds). I've never had a big appetite and would probably still be underweight if I didn't have PsA. I struggle to eat because I have stomach problems which will likely get worse soon when the doctors add my new meds. This is where the problem is... How can someone offer constructive criticism if you don't know the whole story.

Of course it's a different story if I was looking for input. Then I would open it up for all to see and seriously consider all advise given. I don't think the majority are mean spirited...quite the opposite...I think they are well intentioned and just want to share what worked for them.

Justjoshin

Because why do you care what I eat?

Assuming you were on my friends list...

Because I want to be able to help you when you ask questions about if your getting enough of X, or why you aren't losing weight, etc.


I actually posed this question to my friends last night, so its funny it comes up today.
It seems a few of them HAVE had unsolicited comments/pms about their eating habits, and they don't enjoy people being rude.

I feel that I had a bad day today, but I still logged everything, and I know my diary is public.
This is just another motivator to make sure its perfect tomorrow.

Savemyshannon

My question would be - Why do people that don't want feedback post their diary was under for the day at all?

Maybe people think the "complete this entry" button on the bottom of the diary is how to build continuous days streaks, however, it's only function seems to be to post calories to the news feed, which your friends see.

So in a way - closing out your diary comes across a lot like asking for feedback because you could just disable the diary from the news feed in My Home - Settings - Automatic News Feed update settings. Then you wouldn't be drawing attention to your diary if it's private.

Drawing attention to your private diary at the end of every day is a lot like saying COME SEE MY COOL NEW CAR! but then refusing to open the garage door. If you want congratulations on your new car, you've got to open the garage door and let them see it, or they are congratulating you blindly, and what real use is blind feedback?

You could argue that you like blind feedback and it makes you feel good, and I'm sure there are people like that on every forum on the internet, and there's not much the rest of us can do about that, it's just how it is. But building up a huge friend base for support and then wanting most of the support to be given blindly would naturally confuse a lot of people that don't operate like that.

Saying you don't ask for feedback and then clicking your under-calorie diary to your news feed is contradictory though. Just sayin'.

Not necessarily--I hit the "Finish Entry" button because I like to see the "If every day were like today..." which you dont get to see unless you close the entry manually.

Edit: Reading is fundamental. I didn't see the notice about the settings, but that's just something I never knew about until just now. So maybe some people really are hitting it to give themselves a pat on the back, and some people (like myself) didn't know you could keep it off the feed. Either way, I still see why some people would keep the diary hidden, like myself.

I just like my privacy.

Jeff92se

There's alot of ways to skin a cat to get to your caloric limits. People have very interesting ways of getting there.

catshark209

I keep mine private because I don't believe there is anyone here who can offer better insight into what I need to be eating than me.

THIS.

kb455

...because then my friends will know that I eat things like lucky charms and scooby snacks. And that I NEVER drink water

IronmanPanda

...because then my friends will know that I eat things like lucky charms and scooby snacks. And that I NEVER drink water

Don't forget the fruit roll ups.

Tangerine302

I keep mine private because I don't believe there is anyone here who can offer better insight into what I need to be eating than me.

This and I pretty much know that when I eat something like a cookie it should have been something other than a cookie.

Tjarvi

Probably b/c they don't want unsolicited advice. If your diary is public or open to your friends, you're inviting comments. Some people just don't want those comments. ;-)

I agree with this statement. I have had my share of criticisms on my diary. I'm on here for encouragement not critique' .

kb455

...because then my friends will know that I eat things like lucky charms and scooby snacks. And that I NEVER drink water

Don't forget the fruit roll ups.

Oh yeah. Fruit roll-ups totally count as fruit

hecanfly

My reasoning is that I don't have any interest in looking at other peoples diaries so why would anyone want to look at mine? I don't ask any food related questions so it's kind of moot. And I am 100% honest with myself regardless so I don't need others to hold me accountable. I also didn't know it defaulted to private, you learn something new every day! I wondered why "view this diary" didn't show up for me XD

whisperingdragon

A friend of mine was attacked pretty horribly one day when she ate some chocolate. All her friends (not me) were being so mean to her and telling her how much she shouldn't have been eating that chocolate. She deleted her account. I've kept mine private from day one knowing that would probably happen to me sometime. I don't need that, this is hard enough to handle daily.

laughingdani

I keep mine private because I don't believe there is anyone here who can offer better insight into what I need to be eating than me.

This! I've been on MFP for 2 years. My diary has been private the entire time and it hasn't hendered me in any way or kept me from losing weight. I know when I should be eating better. I don't need anyone to tell me. If others want ideas on meals or healthy recipes they are always free to ask. The rest of my profile is public. Let me have something to myself.

AshDHart

Mine is currently open to my friends but when I started it was private. Why? I was dealing with kicking my emotional reasons for being overweight and if one person had made a comment on the amount of crap I was eating I would have deleted my account over it. What I was eating was about gazillon times better than what I had been but it was still crap. And, honestly, it still is today. But I've lost almost 77 lbs (need to update my ticker) so I don't want any unsolicited advice about the 200 calories worth of brownies I might eat every day. I have turned off my diary and exercise from updating in the feed.

My daughter finally got active again on the site. She has lost about 37 lbs but she has her locked so I am the only one looking at it. Trust me the last thing an emotionally vulnerable teenage girl needs is some snarky remark about her food diary. I would say that goes for most woman of any age.

That said if you are going to ask for advice about why you aren't losing weight you need to be prepared to have it open. Otherwise, keep it open or not since it's your diary.

Those are my reasons.

numberscolors

Mine is wide open for all to see. I invite comments but honestly, I don't think anyone has anything to say other than 'that sounds good' or 'yummy'. I like to see other diaries to get ideas on things to eat in the future.

Or "You are a slave to Trader Joe".

my food diary is a Trader Joe's shopping list, essentially...

DawnDawn2011

I like to look at what people eat, so I can learn from what works for them, just today one of my friends was talking about how she upped her protein intake to stay fuller longer, great idea! I am here to learn, and if someone comments on what I am eating, I will look at the advice they give, if I can use it great, if not I will move on and do what works for me! I have only lost 5 pounds, but at least the scale is moving in the right directions now! :flowerforyou:

unsuspectingfish

Because it's nobody's business what I eat. It has nothing to do with shame. For the record, I eat a 95% clean, pescetarian diet. I get enough flac from people outside the internet about what I do and don't eat, and I don't need that judgement from here, as well. In the end, I'm an adult, and only I can hold myself accountable for how and what I eat. I know what works for me, and I don't need people telling me what should work for me. Frankly, I've always wondered why people would want to make their diaries public, unless they're asking for a public opinion on their diary in the forum.

Scorpioangel

I don't know how to make mine public! LOL

branflake5

I don't know how to make mine public! LOL

lol its in your privacy settings, I'd love to creep on your food diary.... stealing your meal plans

psmd

My mother, sister, cousin and aunt are all on here now, and they looooooove to give their (unsolicited) input. It's actually not that big of a deal, just gets kinda annoying to hear about it all the time. My sister is okay but no one else really Hopefully they don't see this!!! :bigsmile: :bigsmile:

claire_xox

mines public but if I don't like the comments I delete the friends lol

AI1108

I keep mine private because I don't believe there is anyone here who can offer better insight into what I need to be eating than me.

Agreed. Why does it matter to someone else what I'm tracking in my diary anyway? Is it affecting anyone else's body in any way?

servilia

I keep mine open to friends because maybe some of them might find it useful to see what I'm doing.. what I'm eating, my macros, meal ideas, etc. For the same reason I'd prefer if my friends kept theirs open too (at least to friends), but at the end of the day it's their right to keep it private. =

xxxTiaxxx

Mines on private. I have good days and bad days.

I can understand why. Especially if you are suffering with an eating disorder of any kind. You don't need people seeing when you're binging or when you're under eating and then of course making comments about it.

ctalimenti

alcohol maybe

chrisdavey

Privacy for sure. Everyone has a right to it.

If they are asking why they are not achieving their goals & it is private then there is probably an issue there

Mine is public & because of this thread I thought I'd see what people thought of it actually. At the end of the day, I eat what I want when I want because that is what works for me.