Why do people hide their diaries?

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  • KeriA
    KeriA Posts: 3,275 Member
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    I love MFP but there are a few MFPisms I don't agree with. 1 is that you shouldn't weigh-in daily when clearly the evidence is that daily weigh-ins are effective in weight loss. However if someone has a problem with weighing in daily they shouldn't do it. 2. Another is public diaries. It is great if 1. you need the accountability 2. You are a great resource for others. 3. Don't have another reason for having it private which there are many. I do not feel the need for accountability. Often my diary would be a great resource for others but not always. I don't have it private because it would be more counter productive to me than helpful to others. I find that by logging daily which I do, I improve the quality of my food. I grew up with a critical mother who was into health food. I have had all the food advice I need for one lifetime and still get some. What I didn't get growing up was a chance to learn to manage treats since I never had any. That is what I am doing now. My kids are great with this and so is my husband. It is because they were available to them on occaision. So I need to find a way to not feel deprived but not go overboard either. I eat really healthily. To me the tools on MFP should help you get healthier. I support alot of friends. I moderate a group and a challenge. What I am not willing to do is open my diary up to comment. It just wouldn't help me and after so many years of putting my family first I am now putting my health on the front burner and am not going to let any MFPisms stop me. So if you don't want friends who keep their diaries private that is fine with me I have plenty of friends here and I am great at supporting them. I think looking at other peoples diaries can be both enlightening but also sometimes distressing. I won't offer comment on peoples diaries unless asked since I don't have mine public. Once a year we go on a family camping trip. So I hand log and put it into MFP after the fact. So each year my days log resets. But I log daily. Accuracy and logging daily trumps opening my diary for public or even friend comment.
  • Akimajuktuq
    Akimajuktuq Posts: 3,037 Member
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    I like when people have theirs open because sometimes I just want meal ideas or when I see someone who has done really well I am curious to see how they have been eating so that maybe I can learn something.

    And that's why I leave mine open. I eat for health, not weight loss.
  • rm7161
    rm7161 Posts: 505
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    In my case, it's because I'm doing this for myself and diaries / logs are the best way for me to assess my situation. I did not really come to MFP for the community aspect. I came here because I can access the site from any computer and it has the food database, which makes things easier than having to make sure I carry a notebook around and having to guess the nutrition information if I didn't get it off of a label.

    Honestly, I feel no more desire to leave my diary open here than I felt to leave my old paper and pen logs out in public. I've got nothing to hide, but I just don't feel any great urge to share. It's simply not an important part of my path.

    This is my reason in a nutshell. I enjoy sharing on the forums from time to time, but really I use MFP mainly on my iphone when not at the computer, and I do not use the community aspects when on a mobile device. Just too annoying to type, and I am not much into dictating posts either.

    I am happy to share tips on gluten free diet, but not interested in giving people who do not need a gluten free diet the wrong impression that this works for weight loss. People gain weight on GF diet, without other factors like portion and calorie control and exercise. Gluten free works to control my celiac disease, but I managed to gain quite a bit of weight being gluten free too! I have to be extra careful about any sort of commercially prepared products that they are gluten free, so the latest fad powders and shakes are zero use for me when they are not gluten free. I've seen enough judgmental people in the forums that I have no desire to share information that is likely to be misunderstood by someone who doesn't understand my medical condition.
  • ceannesjourney
    ceannesjourney Posts: 250
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    I keep mine closed because, unfortunately, there are a LOT of opinionated people who tend to want to go into other's diaries and criticize. I don't want people to make comments about too much this, or not enough that. I am doing the best I can and have some great resources for what I should be and what I am eating. This is a very personal journey for me.
  • laylaness
    laylaness Posts: 262 Member
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    My food diary is open to MFP members, but I hadn't thought of my vodka or rum intake on Friday and Saturday being googled! As I think about it, some may be surprised, but I suspect not many! I like to look at other diaries for the same reason that someone else mentioned - if someone is doing really well, I'd like to get a peek at it and see wth they're eating!

    You have a valid point, but it reminds me of my mom (who normally recycles everything) who won't put her wine bottles in the recycle bin because she doesn't want the city workers to see how much she drinks!

    I mean, I know that someone isn't likely to Google my name and look at my MFP diary in practice, but I know that employers and recruiters HAVE Googled my name. The likelihood of an employer looking at my food diary isn't great, just like they probably wouldn't come to my house and look in my recycle bin for empty bottles, but all the same, I am hyperaware of information about me available on the internet.

    P.S. FUTURE EMPLOYERS OR OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES, I DO NOT ACTUALLY DRINK 5 GLASSES OF WINE A NIGHT.
  • FabMrFox
    FabMrFox Posts: 259 Member
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    Because 57 Oreo's for a snack looks bad? are you going to finish that Oreo?
  • healthybabs
    healthybabs Posts: 600 Member
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    If you don't want every Tom, **** or Harry or creepy profile crawler viewing and commenting on your diary then just set it to be viewed to your friends only.

    I also wish that people who do block their food diary would change their setting so it does not show up on the News Feed, why do I care if you ate within your calorie range if you are not willing to show me what or how much you ate??? It cracks me up how people comment on those by saying "Good Job" or something like that when you have no idea of what they are doing....just saying!

    Me personally have mine open to friends. I like to look at my friends logs so I can get ideas for different meal ideas. Alot of people also ask me for my recipes that they see on my log since they know I love to cook and create healthier recreations from some of our favorite things.
  • yoovie
    yoovie Posts: 17,121 Member
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    I love MFP but there are a few MFPisms I don't agree with.

    1 is that you shouldn't weigh-in daily when clearly the evidence is that daily weigh-ins are effective in weight loss. However if someone has a problem with weighing in daily they shouldn't do it.

    MFP says you have to weigh in every day?
  • hollyk57
    hollyk57 Posts: 520 Member
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  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    I love MFP but there are a few MFPisms I don't agree with.

    1 is that you shouldn't weigh-in daily when clearly the evidence is that daily weigh-ins are effective in weight loss. However if someone has a problem with weighing in daily they shouldn't do it.

    MFP says you have to weigh in every day?

    O.O Huh? Really?
  • AllonsYtotheTardis
    AllonsYtotheTardis Posts: 16,947 Member
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    It's set for friends only right now.

    If I set it to public, than anyone on the internet can view it - even if they are not members of MFP. I don't want that.
  • MsMuniz
    MsMuniz Posts: 399 Member
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    I don't keep mine open because I don't want any advice or accountability for my diet.

    ^^same.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    It's set for friends only right now.

    If I set it to public, than anyone on the internet can view it - even if they are not members of MFP. I don't want that.

    Go into your Settings..then Diary Settings and you can see the options. There is public, friends only, private and locked with a key options.

    And if you go into profile privacy settings - you can make it for MFP members only, which I think also makes the diary (if public) only for MFP members only. I think.
  • skellyness
    skellyness Posts: 165 Member
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    Because I like some privacy and don't want random strangers browsing it.
  • LassoOfTruth
    LassoOfTruth Posts: 735 Member
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    I think it's mostly for shame of what they eat. Mine's public and I eat crap half the time. But, I've lost 60+ pounds, so I'm doing something right. There are stellar days for me, and not so stellar days (like yesterday's Taco Bell fiasco), but i'm one of the few that could care less if an "unsolicited comment" comes my way. No one is perfect.
  • lunglady
    lunglady Posts: 526 Member
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    Because I didn't join MFP for anyone else's advice or opinions. I simply needed a food diary. For myself.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    Because I didn't join MFP for anyone else's advice or opinions. I simply needed a food diary. For myself.

    So why even have friends then?
  • ParkerH47
    ParkerH47 Posts: 463 Member
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    I had mine open for a while, but I found because I knew people could look at it, I was always underestimating, and not being completely honest. It sounds silly but I do better when I know I'm the only one looking at it

    Having said that I agree that it is awesome to go on other peoples diaries and see what they are eating.. especially those that have been really successful!
  • darloeye
    darloeye Posts: 22
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    I Don't understand why people want to know what other people are eatting to be honest. Never signed up for someone else on the otherside of the world to tell me off for what i'm eating or not eating.
  • mariposa224
    mariposa224 Posts: 1,269 Member
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    Mine used to be open to just friends, but a while back I made it open to all. I'm in maintenance. I've always been a believer of "all things in moderation," and since being in maintenance, sometimes I have even had to go over my goal purposely to regain weight that I didn't want to lose. The reason I had it closed, then open to just friends was because I was afraid of people criticizing me. Now I don't really care and I've been fortunate enough that no one has.

    But, in all honesty, to each their own. It doesn't really make a big difference to me one way or the other if people have their diaries open since I don't look all that often anyway. I track everything, as much as possible anyway, because I feel that I need to be accountable to MYSELF, not anyone else.

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