Need to vent about food diaries.

MNA76

I know it's been a topic many times, but it drives me nuts when people comment on others' food diaries without actually opening them to see what the person is consuming. It's not necessarily good that they are under calories when they finish for the day. For instance, a posting on my wall showed me that a friend had completed their diary for today and was under their recommended calories. When I opened it to look at it (yes, I do that), all that was posted was their breakfast of about 300 + calories. I'm assuming they hit complete by accident. However, their other friends were saying 'That's great' or 'Way to go'. Did they even look at it? Positive reinforcement is great, but in my opinion, it's best when deserved. I don't think that you're helping someone if you're encouraging their bad habits.

Staying close or within your calorie goals is great, but I think it's also important to consider how far under your goal and what your diary is consisting of. If the majority of your diary is still junk food, only less junk food than you normally eat, you may lose weight but your not taking care of your body. I think a big part of a major weight loss and keeping it off is changing our relationship with food.

I am trying to lose quite a bit of weight. I know that in order to accomplish this I have to change how I think about food and what I've been eating. These are things that made me overweight. It's hard. I'm not perfect. I ate crap food for a long time. I still do occasionally. Unfortunately, I still have cravings for it, but I'm trying to change that. I'm trying to replace most of my bad habits with better ones. I also know that I need to continue to improve upon what I'm currently doing. When I do opt for something less healthy, I really try to consider how this will fit into my day or what I can do to burn the extra calories. I also know that it's my choice to consume these things, therefore I'm not going to feel guilty about it. I'm just going to try to do better next time. I'm a food-obsessed person, but I unless I make these changes I will continue on the same miserable path that I've been on for a long time.

Right now, I don't usually comment on someone's diary if I feel like what they're eating isn't helping them. It's hard to tell someone that they need to change. Maybe this is not helpful, but who am I to judge?

I want to see my friends succeed as much as I want to succeed. But in the end, we are only responsible for ourselves.

This is the end of my complaining.

MNA76

Ok. Just one more complaint. I hate when I don't catch my grammatical errors before posting.

ElizabethRoad

You can edit your post.

tubbstattsyrup

Well said.

MNA76

You can edit your post.

Good call. That would probably be what the word EDIT is there for. ; )

Qarol

Do you feel better now? :flowerforyou:

MNA76

Do you feel better now? :flowerforyou:

Much better. Thank you. I feel about 3 lbs lighter.

CoryIda

Do you feel better now? :flowerforyou:

Much better. Thank you. I feel about 3 lbs lighter.

I ate a whole bunch of protein last week, but then I chased it with a bunch of fiber and lots of water.

The next day, after my morning constitutional, I didn't just *feel* 5 pounds lighter, I *was* 5 pounds lighter.

MNA76

Fiber has been known to do that.

nerdyandilikeit

Do you feel better now? :flowerforyou:

Much better. Thank you. I feel about 3 lbs lighter.

Hot air.

MNA76

Yep. Just trying to do my part for global warming.

jenrod1118

i hate food diaries in general. Most of the time i'm using the mobile app so i cant view their diaries but i want to provide feedback so i just add a comment, although when i can view it and see they ate bad food i also comment on those days. I personally struggle with typing in my food daily. Either I'll get in breakfast or lunch but then forget dinner. Its been hard for me to get back on track.

MNA76

I choose to publish mine because it helps me be accountable. If I know that someone is going to be looking at it, I'm less likely to eat junk (even though I want to).

burg1801

I can't necessarily see the food diaries on my phone so I can see why a lot of people give support before critiquing. But I can see how that would get annoying, especially when those blanket comments support someone who's in starvation mode.

trysha1231

I choose to publish mine because it helps me be accountable. If I know that someone is going to be looking at it, I'm less likely to eat junk (even though I want to).

I am finding the same thing. Having it all public keeps me from cheating.

susannamarie

I really wish that instead it published 'X completed their food diary and was within 10% of calorie goal for the day!' or something similar.

I would much rather be +5 calories than -500.

tripitena

Guilty. I dont always read everyone's diary but I do try to comment as often as I can with some kind of words of support. I never thought about it from the angle you are suggesting.

cmriverside

Do you feel better now? :flowerforyou:

Much better. Thank you. I feel about 3 lbs lighter.

You would have felt even better if you had written this privately. Oh, wait. WE would have felt better.


.

MNA76

Do you feel better now? :flowerforyou:

Much better. Thank you. I feel about 3 lbs lighter.

You would have felt even better if you had written this privately. Oh, wait. WE would have felt better.

You chose to read it. You could have passed on opening it. Your problem. Not mine.
.

JoolieW68

I really wish that instead it published 'X completed their food diary and was within 10% of calorie goal for the day!' or something similar.

I would much rather be +5 calories than -500.

This is an excellent idea. You should post this as a suggestion.

MNA76

I really wish that instead it published 'X completed their food diary and was within 10% of calorie goal for the day!' or something similar.

I would much rather be +5 calories than -500.

This is an excellent idea. You should post this as a suggestion.

I totally agree. Also, Juwaack68 - I saw your post in the Success Stories forum and WOW!! Stories like yours help so much when I'm losing motivation.

SarahMorganP

Posts like these are why my diary is private to only friends. And if any of my friends don't like how I eat they are free to unfriend me at anytime.

I am not a healthy eater. I will never be a healthy eater. I am the pickiest eater you will ever find. I only eat 3 veggies and 4 fruits. And I really don't even like most of those, they are just the ones I can eat without gagging and throwing up. So when a "friend" kept commenting on how few fruits and veggies I was eating (even after I explained) instead of either not saying anything or commenting on how good it was I had one fruit and one veggie that day, I unfriended her. To me, one serving of a fruit and one of a veggie a day is a HUGE deal and I am very proud of myself for doing it! I have come a long way from the rest of my life when I was lucky to eat a serving or fruit/veggie once a year!

I also still eat a lot of fast food and a lot of candy bars and other such junk. When I say a lot, I mean a lot to most other people on here. For me, I am eating very little of it. And again, I am very proud of myself for eating less of it. I don't need someone yelling at me for it.

skygoddess86

Yeah, I never comment on the diarys unless it is very specific, like" hey I had Taco Bell today too", Lol! Yesterday my diet was a little janky and I got some "great jobs!" Funny.

AnnaCVeach

Posts like these are why my diary is private to only friends. And if any of my friends don't like how I eat they are free to unfriend me at anytime.

I am not a healthy eater. I will never be a healthy eater. I am the pickiest eater you will ever find. I only eat 3 veggies and 4 fruits. And I really don't even like most of those, they are just the ones I can eat without gagging and throwing up. So when a "friend" kept commenting on how few fruits and veggies I was eating (even after I explained) instead of either not saying anything or commenting on how good it was I had one fruit and one veggie that day, I unfriended her. To me, one serving of a fruit and one of a veggie a day is a HUGE deal and I am very proud of myself for doing it! I have come a long way from the rest of my life when I was lucky to eat a serving or fruit/veggie once a year!

I also still eat a lot of fast food and a lot of candy bars and other such junk. When I say a lot, I mean a lot to most other people on here. For me, I am eating very little of it. And again, I am very proud of myself for eating less of it. I don't need someone yelling at me for it.

Agreed. I, too, am a picky eater. And it seems that it has been magnified by my steo-son being a picky eater as well. It gives me an "excuse" to not eat the fruits and veggies.

skygoddess86

Rude, and unnecessary.

Do you feel better now? :flowerforyou:

Much better. Thank you. I feel about 3 lbs lighter.

You would have felt even better if you had written this privately. Oh, wait. WE would have felt better.

You chose to read it. You could have passed on opening it. Your problem. Not mine.
.

CookieCrumble

I don't post responses to any food diary updates at all - whether they're under or over the calorie target. I always comment on the exercise achieved though, and in a positive way. It's a real boost when somebody does that for me and I'm happy to return the favour.

I don't comment on my friends' diaries unless a) they've asked for comments or b) I've spied something fascinating and want to know what it is. I have friends in the US and Canada and I'm in the UK... the food choices are really interesting because I've never heard of some of the foods.

I always assume that my friends are doing the best they can and they arrange their food to fit in with that. If comments are asked for, I'm happy to give them, but not in a dismissive or pompous manner. I suppose it depends on what somebody wants to get out of the MFP experience... support, motivation and friendship or the mean-spirited ego-bolstering of an inadequate and miserable person.

Vegetablearian

Id love people to read mine and tell me off when I eat junk and congratulate me when I eat well but I get congrats if I am below my cals but once day I ate a whole bag of roast potatos which is not good food!

CookieCrumble

Id love people to read mine and tell me off when I eat junk and congratulate me when I eat well but I get congrats if I am below my cals but once day I ate a whole bag of roast potatos which is not good food!

Oh I definitely hear you about the roast potatoes... some brands are just so delicious! If I make them myself, I never eat more than one or two as they're so-so, but shop-bought ones... yum!

MNA76

I definitely leave positive comments on my friends wall about their exercise. I leave positive comments when they found an awesome song to work out to or found a cute shirt or are just in a good mood or get a raise or watched a great movie. I don't ever leave negative comments about what they are or aren't doing. If they post that they totally blew their whole diet/goal over the weekend and they are feeling badly, I tell them that it's not a big deal. It's a new day. I really only give positive feed back, not negative. If I don't have anything positive to leave in the comments, I don't say anything.

What I was saying about my diary was strictly about what I'm doing to try to change my bad habits, because I have many (like writing opinionated posts when I should probably bite my tongue : )

I don't post responses to any food diary updates at all - whether they're under or over the calorie target. I always comment on the exercise achieved though, and in a positive way. It's a real boost when somebody does that for me and I'm happy to return the favour.

I don't comment on my friends' diaries unless a) they've asked for comments or b) I've spied something fascinating and want to know what it is. I have friends in the US and Canada and I'm in the UK... the food choices are really interesting because I've never heard of some of the foods.

I always assume that my friends are doing the best they can and they arrange their food to fit in with that. If comments are asked for, I'm happy to give them, but not in a dismissive or pompous manner. I suppose it depends on what somebody wants to get out of the MFP experience... support, motivation and friendship or the mean-spirited ego-bolstering of an inadequate and miserable person.

paisley2288

Do you feel better now? :flowerforyou:

Much better. Thank you. I feel about 3 lbs lighter.

You would have felt even better if you had written this privately. Oh, wait. WE would have felt better.

You chose to read it. You could have passed on opening it. Your problem. Not mine.
.

I think some people get on here just to find something to ***** about. With that being said, I definitely understand why you would be annoyed by these comments. I have it posted on my MFP profile that if I see people are constantly eating less than 1200 calories I delete them as a friend because there is no easy way to lose weight. You have to eat healthy. Sure, you might lose weight--- until your body goes into starvation mode. Then your body will start burning lean tissues and muscles to gain energy.

1dce

that's a good idea, mine is private but if I make it public maybe i would eat better hmmmmm