Why Would You Keep Your Food Diary Private?

mrscruikshank

Personally I found that when my diary was public I tended to skip logging. Sometimes because I was going over. Other times I would just forget. I went almost 2 weeks without logging. As soon as I made it private again I stuck with it. I can't explain the reasoning. For the first time in my life I'm doing this for me and I just need to feel comfortable judging me. I am only accountable to myself. Keeping my diary private helps me do that. I share my ups and downs in statuses, messages and boards. But my tracking is for my own accountability.

ohnuts14

I keep mine open to people I'm friends with on here, I just don't like keeping mine open to the public. I fear people I know finding me, and being able to see what I'm eating. Not that it's really anything to be ashamed of, I'm just a little paranoid. I know that sounds silly, but I have been found on here by people I know several times before, so it's something I can rightfully be paranoid about haha. Especially if it's work related someone's. I try to keep my e-life somewhat private for that purpose.

cramernh

Honestly speaking - because its nobody's business. Im under the care of specialty physicians and they are the folks I answer to. I have a strict calorie restriction minimum and maximum that they have me following, along with a carbohydrate restriction.

I also will not comment on other folks' diaries unless they ask me to. Its not my place to assume that friending someone is a free-ticket to comment on anything....

aprildawn81

It's just a personal preference. I'm a naturally private person and I've seen people on here who have their diary open, get criticized about eating too much, not enough, etc. Not that I'm eating a ton of junk food but, I'm doing fine without sharing it.

OtakuEngineer

Maybe if I had an issue losing weight and I thought it had something to do with diet and I was reaching out to the boards I would open it up.. but at the moment what I'm eating is working for me, and I don't really care to have anyone peeking into my food diary and offering up unsolicited advice.

Opening it up to everyone isn't a big "moment of facing the music" like some have written... I myself am the biggest music I have to face...

In short through, if I was looking for advice, I'd certainly open it up, otherwise I see no real reason to.

minnesota

I keep mine private, because I don't feel like people need to know exactly what I consume. I mean everyone already knows my weight why do they need to know what I ate? I eat very healthy so I'm not hiding anything. I work at night so for breakfast I usually have salad and dinner is oatmeal which I sure would throw people off. I don't really look at anyone's diary unless they are stating they aren't making progress so then I peek to see if their food is the culprit otherwise I don't care what others eat and they shouldn't care what I eat. As long as I'm reaching my goals I don't think it matters.

LenaMena87

I keep mines open to friends...I personally could care less who sees it. I know I'm losing weight so really I don't care if someone wants to critique me...just saying...nobody ever comments on what I eat anyways so......

hausofnichele

Mine is closed but looks good. It's not because I'm ashamed or anything. I just think it's a private thing. I've debated on opening it in the future when I've perhaps gained more confidence in myself. For now I'm cool with keeping my food to myself. I already have enough info about my diet and medications in my bio and I'm very active here so I think my friends realize I'm not sitting around eating cheesecake to meet my diary/dietary goals.

Kudos to those who have opened up and are willing to share.

TinaS88

Mine is open, but personally if I wanted to close it, I would. It's no ones business what I eat.

ariant23

for the same reason I dont have a facebook / myspace / twitter / etc account (and i have no profile picture or info). I dont think all that info needs to be out there for the world to see. There's a ton of data out there to be "mined", it really is called data mining in the nerd world. I know, i'm one of them. my eating habits aren't there for anyone but me. plus, i dont track everythign perfectly, i only add in things w/ real calories. i dont count my 20 calories worth of lettuce or bell peppers. it's too much effort for me.

tfancey

Mine's friends only - Those people know that I eat a lot of junk, even if I'm under calories.
I like that they can look at it and that they can comment on it but no one is going to change what I eat. lol

stevewynjones

Mine's locked shut and staying that way!

..I do really well and then something happens and I'm 1000cals over on a day!!! OMG it's always something really stupid.

Today: 400 cals free at dinnertime (evening meal) pasta or jacket potato on the horizon....

........BANG!!! get mugged by cheese burger! WTF!!!

Difficult to say no to a very persuasive customer...expect them to use "fugedaboudid" in one of our conversations

Bermudabarbie

Mine is private at this time. The main reason for this is that I have been on Maintenance for over a year. When I was in the weight loss mode, I kept it public.

Have cut almost all of my feeds as I am really trying to "wing it" on my own at this time! I wish I could say that I eat "clean" and that I have eliminated 95% of my fast food habit. I have not. But I do a fairly decent job in reaching my weekly goals. But I have lots more calories on maintenance than most others on MFP -- 1770 a day!

I try to read and understand the open diaries of my MFP friends. Generally, I get jealous that some of my friends do such an extraordinary job in reaching and excelling on their protein and fiber goals.

May make mine Open again in the future. Both Open and Closed Diaries have pluses and minuses. If you are doing great keeping yours Open or Closed, just continue. If not, make a change. See what works best for you!

_Christine_

Judged?! On this site?! NO WAY!!

KimbersNewLife

I do better when it is private. I am a liar with an open food diary because I get embarrased with my choices. I can not explain it and it's almost like as soon as I make it public I start making worst choices it is so weird. I guess it's psychological but to each their own. :flowerforyou:

nz_deevaa

Just to annoy the people who make topics like this.

No one ever posts "Why would you keep your food diary open" threads.

Elzecat

I don't want people to know I'm really a zombie and only eat braaaaaaaaiiiiinnnnnssss.

And this is why you're on my friends list, I needed more friends with "exotic" eating habits...j/k :flowerforyou:

CarmenSandiegoInVA

I just opened my up to be read by my friends. And, I have to tell you that people are going to be like, Really? You can eat all that and lose weight? Yup, I sure can... 78 pounds down!

LngHrDntCr13

Mine is closed b/c as much as I appreciate constructive criticism, I don't want folks telling me what to eat or telling me where I messed up, especially if I already know what works for me. Maybe one day I'll open it. . . :grumble:

2hungariangirls

Mine is private because I don't want the comments/criticisms. I know that some people do feel the need to be held accountable in order to meet their goals - I am not one of them. I come here every day and log what I ate and how much I worked out at the gym - mostly to learn how many calories is in that meal I just ate and to keep track of my progress. I am happy enough with my own progress and do not need to be held accountable in regard to what/how much I eat. I know when I screw up and I feel bad enough about it without having people point it out to me.
Like econut2000 said: I do what works best for ME and that isn't what necessarily works for other people.

Couldn't have typed this better for myself.

2hungariangirls

Judged?! On this site?! NO WAY!!

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Elzecat

Once again, when I read these kinds of threads, I feel very fortunate because I don't have these "judgemental" MFPals that would make snarky comments about my food diary. If someone did...they probably would not be my friend any longer.

pamperedhen

Judged?! On this site?! NO WAY!!

^this!!

LenaMena87

Once again, when I read these kinds of threads, I feel very fortunate because I don't have these "judgemental" MFPals that would make snarky comments about my food diary. If someone did...they probably would not be my friend any longer.

I totally agree with you ^^^

Artemis_Acorn

Mine has been open to friends since I joined, but am thinking about closing it. I have had a couple of occasions where I regretted that it was open and it invited unwelcome and unneeded analysis.

I am not stupid - if I didn't eat many vegetables on a given day, I am fully aware of it - made some other food choices that day and for good or bad, it was what it was. I don't need someone to notice it and call me on it.

Having an open diary has it's pros and cons, just as keeping it private does. I think that it's cool either way a person decides to use it.

Elzecat

Mine's locked shut and staying that way!

..I do really well and then something happens and I'm 1000cals over on a day!!! OMG it's always something really stupid.

Today: 400 cals free at dinnertime (evening meal) pasta or jacket potato on the horizon....

........BANG!!! get mugged by cheese burger! WTF!!!

Difficult to say no to a very persuasive customer...expect them to use "fugedaboudid" in one of our conversations

The thought of getting mugged by a cheeseburger made me laugh out loud because I have SO been there! :laugh:

laurenlind

I changed my diary to be public as well. Even though I don't really have any friends on here that I do not know in real life, it was very scary to open it at first because the people seeing it really are part of my every day life, so I was afraid that I wouldn't want them to see. But what it has done is required me to be open and honest, with others and myself. I do think about a second helping now, because I have to count it AND because everyone is going to see it. So if I am sitting around complaining that I am unhappy with my weight and shoving brownies in my mouth, I know that others will know it's MY fault. It helps me to stay accountable. I am glad I made the change. I am surprised to hear that some people get negative comments from others. That would be frustrating to me.... guess I would probably de-friend people that do that.

lilchicksta94

Mine is open, but I am seriously thinking about closing it. I can't have a large lunch and a small dinner without having people tell me I need to eat more dinner. Can't you have a late lunch and eat more and then have a smaller dinner before bed? If I am late for work and miss breakfast, I hear about it. Then, I feel the need to explain why I ate the meals I ate and when and I feel I have to defend my choices. To me, it is becoming a lot of negative energy. I need positive energy right now.

It's actually good to eat that way... that's how they eat in Europe and they're not like us overweight Americans lol

TheUnwritten

hmmm dont wanna get judged by what I eat I guess.

fatzombiegirl

Awesome.

Send more paramedics.