Why Would You Keep Your Food Diary Private?

StartingAnewDay

In the beginning my diary was open, then i started seeing horrible posts on here about people wanting to unfriend people because of their eating habits and not "listening to their advice" and messages etc: that was enough for me.. PRIVATE!!

Everyone on here is on their own journey and at different places in it, do you really NOT know your not getting in enough veggies?? Do you really NOT know that entire half a chocolate cake was not a good idea that day?? Perhaps I had PMS or my dog died, perhaps thats something thats bieng worked on and struggling with,, perhaps seeing a small fry on their meal plan every day is a bad idea to you but they used to do a large everyday and are baby stepping their way down..

I see WAY more judging and co signing and back slapping on the negativity than anything, i have nothing to hide, but at the same time I don't need to feel judged. If there becomes someone I trust enough to offer constructive criticism and is coming from a good place, then I will password it and share the password..

bxbutterfly

i'm quite surprised at the number of people who say they've been criticized for what they eat. if not solicited a polite or not so polite "your critique is not welcomed" would be in order.

i think having the diary public is a great idea because when i see peoples success stories i like to look at that persons diary to see what they are eating and maybe get some ideas on different foods to incorporate into my diet. i also like to see that people are not restricting their diet for the sake of losing weight and still having success but that is the beauty of MFP we have the choice to make it public and private and we have to respect one's choices to do what they want with their account.

Cold_Steel

Oh I love being judged by what I eat I find it hilarious with such gems as -

"You know, you would be a lot more successful if you stopped having ice cream at night" so says the user who no longer has a profile.

"If you actually lowered your sodium you might live a little longer" so said the 350 lb woman who only quick added calories and it was always exactly meeting her calorie goal

"I cant believe you eat like that and lose weight, its no wonder you are fat " so said the "life fitness" guy who last I saw binged like 6k calories - posted a rant about how much he hates life and is over with it and then became an unregistered user.

Yeah I welcome it. Its fun and delightful for all.

Remember kids when you point a finger you have 3 pointing right back at you, unless you had terrible luck with a wood chipper.

DiannaMoorer

Well said Gargwin82!!!!

whitneyas

I definitely get the benefits to sharing my food diary... but I'm scared! I feel like that's something I'm working my way up to, and will probably open it up to the public within the next couple weeks. Just got to get that confidence up and really get used to this lifestyle change! Never been so open with my eating/dieting habits before. It's a lot to get used to!

I couldn't have said it better!

doonesbury

My diary is to keep me accountable to ME! Only!

I1ahunt

Because I am doing this for me and not for anyone else .................if I want someones advice or opinion, I will ask on the message boards.......

FitLink

Hi hi;

When I first joined MFP I kept my food/exercise diary private. One of my friends advised me that by making it open people would be able to give more constructive compliments and advice. It's true! I never reazlized how few vegetables I ate until every time I added one people were patting me on the back for getting them in. Same with other friends who have open diaries, it's neat seeing different meal ideas, exercise programs, ect. When people "go over" their calories it's easy to look and see if it's something minor like they had an apple and reassure them it isn't the end of the world. The other hand if friends aren't eating nearly enough calories you can drop a bug in their ears trying to find out why they have suddenly dropped off the ammount they're eating. Most times it simply comes down to illness.

I know it's scary having people viewing your habits. Fearing that you're going to be judged is hard to cope with. However after opening my diary up I can say it has been a huge help. It is nice to know friends are actually paying attention to what you're doing and not just typing, "Good Job" everytime (In no way am I saying a Good Job is a bad thing, I appreciate those very much as well ) I feel guilty I'm not able to give more imput than a Good Job to my friends with private diaries, that I'm not able to share greater in their success and possibly learn from their changing habits.

ANYWAYS that's all I really wanted to say. I can understand completely that some people just don't want to share that much information about themselves. However in the end I would like to believe nobody is on hear to judge or put down others :flowerforyou:

I'm glad it's been a huge help for you. I have seen the ugly, judgmental, self-involved side of this website, and the MANY people who judge without knowing any circumstances. I lost 100 pounds without the support of these self-important people. I joined MFP only because it has a better calorie database than FitBit's has without MFP. Forums are great, and it's great to ask questions and get other people's ideas, but my diary is private because you don't know my circumstances and because of that are not qualified to advise me anyway, so why open myself up to the judgment of the know-it-alls?

TheUnwritten

Well I decided to open mine. I enjoy what I eat and if it fits into my daily intake I eat it.

herdthinner

Because I don't want anyone making comments about what I eat. Ever.

Blessedmommy_2x

I keep mine private because its what works for me. I've seen MANY times others criticizing each others diaries and I don't like it. I LOVE it on MFP and I don't want anything ruining it for me. So keeping it private works best for me. I share my foods, calories etc. when my friends ask...I just don't put it all out there. IF and when I get in a plateau and think I need the assistance then maybe I will share it with friends for a day...but for now it remains private.

FitLink

I am fairly new to the site.....how do you put your diary private or public? I have no idea if mine is or isn't.

Yours is public. To change it go to the My Home Tab, Settings, Diary Settings. Privacy is near the bottom. To make your whole profile private as well: My Home, Settings, Profile Privacy Settings.

carlie_carl

Mine is private, I havnt joined MFP as a social network to make friends to judge or advise on my diet, Im happy to make friends and I have met some lovley people, but I know what Im doing works and Ive researched and talked to people who work in a health and nutritional environment so I dont feel I need to share what Im eating with others, If people ask what Ive eaten Im happy to tell them but I used MFP mainly as a calculator

but totally get the main point of the original post, not trying to contradict it or anything

D446

Because I want to. Hasn't there been enough threads about this? I often see people comment on their friends diaries all the time, giving them advise that they difn't even ask for. No thanks, that's annoying.

FitLink

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.

The nerd world? Trust me, you have enough here for a halfway decent cracker to "mine." And I'm sure you'll be joining anonymous next week, you nerd you. Riiiiight.

FitLink

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

First of all, lots of people using MFP are overweight and European. Secondly, correlation does not imply causation. Even if all Americans were fat and all Europeans were thin AND they really DID eat as you suggest in Europe, it wouldn't prove eating a large lunch and small supper causes you to be thinner. Correlation doesn't work that way.

It doesn't matter what time you eat.

avalonms

My diary is open to my MFP "friends" and to date I have gotten zero comments about it.

Malaika946

i would really like to open it but likenyou said, scared of judgement. i hope i will get over it and open it for support.

1Timothy4v8

I started with my food dairy puplic, but it is kinda stressing me out now, even if I don't go over my cals I will have people say I need to do this I should stop doing that, then I have freinds post how they unfreinded some one cuz the bad food choices, and I just came to the relizastion its no ones buisness what I eat and how I eat, it became not so supportive as it was deconstructive, I am the type that If I feel like I will fail I will just give up

ToBeCountry

I find knowing that other people can see what I eat motivates me to make better choices. . . . most of the time anyway.

Agree. I need to see some options when I am stuck in my food routine.
I have mine open to friends. It holds be accountable for what I eat. Although, I guess you could like about it either way. Not log all your intake or make up stuff.
I would make it private if I was getting rude comments made.

stfuriada

It's none of anyone's business.

Bobby__Clerici

I get more wtf how are you eating that and losing weight comments about it...
I don't care
Because it is working

^^^^^
Same here; people need to know that one need not go food Nazi to reach optimal health.
Life is to be lived!

devilwhiterose

I get good breakfast/lunch/dinner ideas by peeking at others' diaries!

Topher1978

I think that if you are looking for support from others, or supporting others yourself, you owe it to you and your support circle to keep it open. You also may be helping a lot of people without knowing it. Perhaps you are giving people good ideas. Now, if you are eating like fat you, and you do not want others to know (which is still lying to self) then it is what it is. My .02

Mlkmaid

I just started and for some reason it seems too personal. I'm sure after I'm here a while and know the ropes I'll be oversharing because that's the REAL me! LOL.

Quiggs1982

I keep mine private. The way I eat is based on what works for me. I don't care what other people think about my eating since what I am doing is working.

yoovie

cause its usually a lot of alcohol and coffee and I would prefer to be a good example to others. There should be bacon in there too.

PicklePlum

My diary is open to MFP friends, but just turned off the announcement. I feel like I can be more accurate and honest if less attention was drawn to my diary each day. But I don't want to close it off completely just in case someone actually does find it a good read lol. I doubt I'm a good example :drinker: but I'm satisfied with my eating habits.

I have yet to receive any criticism on my diary. Probably someone deleted me for eating a cupcake...but oh well.

ahviendha

it's because i eat children, and dog food. ya caught me.

weird_me2

I keep mine private because I don't want or need any advice or encouragement on my food choices. I don't want to be told "it's okay, tomorrow will be a better day" because I logged a loaded baked potato for dinner and had cheesecake with extra,extra, extra whipped cream for dessert. No, TODAY was a great day because I worked out and planned for the foods that I ate and I was still under calories.

I know how many servings of fruits and veggies I should eat, how much dairy I aim for, how much protein, etc. and I do a good job of getting those nutrients in and still enjoy plenty of treats. Actually, I'm sure I enjoy way more treats than most people do because my base calorie goal is 2230 and with exercise I can usually go up to 2800+ most days, so I have lots of room to eat lots of good healthy stuff and lots of junk, too. It works for me, it makes me happy, and I just don't like dealing with people who don't understand that, even friends and family.