The Open Diary

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MichelleOnWheels
MichelleOnWheels Posts: 114 Member
in Motivation and Support
I decided to leave my diary open, so I could practice honesty with my food. I was/am concerned that it will lead to comparing, judging, restricting, etc. Last week I made a post about being surprised about a food content and was mentally scratching it off of my grocery list. A friend looked at my diary and suggested I recheck the numbers. She was right, it was a mistake in the database. Luckily I had left my diary open, or God only knows how long it would have been until I would be willing to eat another strawberry!

I have looked through several of my friends' diaries, and so far have not been triggered. I am surprised about how much some people restrict, and can tell from their posts that they don't have much peace of mind. Not judging them, but that is DEF not what I am looking for. I am also surprised by how much some exercises burn. I currently only walk my dog and am grateful for the extra 130 cals it burns. I find that I exercise the least of my friends. 2 walks with the dog every day. That's ok, I'm grateful to have a dog that needs walking.

One of my goals is to not eat less than 300 under my MFP suggested cal target. And of course I don't want to go OVER :D

I'm interested in what others have to say about the open or locked diary.

Replies

  • momofthreesons
    momofthreesons Posts: 162 Member
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    Mine's open. No need to close it. I ate it, I logged it, it HAPPENED, and my body shows the results of my actions good or bad. If I get comments I don't like.. just ignore it. No drama :-)
  • thebigcb
    thebigcb Posts: 2,210 Member
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    The problem with the open is you get freaks checking it and then telling you things they never asked.

    I had a strange individual comment on my diet because she didn;t agree with a comment I made in the forums, even gave it too her dietian?
  • branson101
    branson101 Posts: 173 Member
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    I keep mine open to keep me honest. To me it doesn't work if you don't find a way to hold yourself accountable for what you eat. I don't exercise as much as some do, but I also have a lot going on that keeps me from home. Like last night, I wanted to get on my bike but after working all day I had to take my son to his music lesson by the time we got home and ate dinner it was 9PM and I was exhausted. I ended up going straight to bed. I do count my walk from the parking garage to my office every day. Round trip takes me 20 min. You really have to take the entries here with a grain of salt, most of them are entered by users of the sight and like Wikipedia may/will contain errors.
  • embercakez
    embercakez Posts: 141
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    Doesn't matter if mine is closed or open...I am honest because it on affects me!
  • mariposa224
    mariposa224 Posts: 1,269 Member
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    I used to have my diary open to only friends, but recently opened it to everyone. I no longer care if people judge me over it. I know what works for me. I'm also in maintenance, so I need to eat more in order to maintain my weight. I've actually had to up my calories several times over the last couple of months.

    When I *do* look at others' diaries, I'm generally very surprised by how little they eat. I guess part of that is because I subscribe to the eat more to weigh less philosophy, and even when I was still trying to lose, my calories were set around 1500-1600 or so plus I ate back exercise calories. (ETA: I rarely comment on others' diaries unless they specifically ask.)

    You're right, though, leaving it open can be helpful, especially when you hit a plateau and can't figure out why. Keep up the good work! :smile:
  • vjrose
    vjrose Posts: 809 Member
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    Mines open always has been, I've had a few folks friend me and then leave because as a biologist I sometimes inquire as to the reasoning behind food choices. I too am often surprised by how little some folks eat but often the calorie content is high. Don't really care about comments really, it works for me and I can keep it up for the next few decades, lol.
  • dansls1
    dansls1 Posts: 309 Member
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    If somebody cares to check out my diary and see what I've been doing - more power to them. I've lost 60 pounds and am way healthier than I was at the beginning of the year - I know it's working so who cares ;)
  • RobinvdM
    RobinvdM Posts: 634 Member
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    My diary is open to the general public, my friends list is small and manageable, and all are welcome to comment on it. Thing is I have enough confidence in my food choices that I don't care if people think my kaas fondue 2 weeks ago that I ate half a baguette with (omg yay! so good!) was a terrible decision or whatever other hyper critical thing people can say is - cause Ive already accepted that the losing weight thing has to be able to happen with my life. You should adapt that too. Life is going to happen, youre going to be faced with circumstances that you cannot control some days and are going to have to just roll with it and not feel bad about the choice you made (even if it was a deliberate choice like mine.)

    Personally I like looking at other ppls diaries - for food ideas for myself, to see if they need encouragement to keep under their budget, or eat more to meet their budget (like me and mine yesterday erf!) Or just need a pat on the back for only having small portions at their favorite chinese restaurants. People who yell at you for poor food choices aren't friends and should be kicked off your friends list.. I don't know that Ive heard of random ppl posting on open diaries but if it ever happened, delete the post and move on :p They obviously have issues they need to work with if lashing out at someone else makes them feel better about themselves ;-)
  • lorrainzander
    lorrainzander Posts: 47 Member
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    I had the same thoughts as you. I just put my diary open for my friends and then I read your post. I will just have to see how I feel about it over time. I have struggled for close to twenty years with obesity and going up and down on the scale. I am an expert at losing weight and also an expert at gaining it back.:smile: I have finally come to the decision to not gain weight and if I lose a pound or two each week even better. It really is now about health and balance for me and if I can get a walk in too, great! Weight loss is really such an individual thing and means something different to each person. For me, I just don't base what I do on what others are doing, only because I finally know what I need to do for myself. But let me tell you, it was a long process to get here!
  • MichelleOnWheels
    MichelleOnWheels Posts: 114 Member
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    Thanks, I appreciate the feedback!
  • KipDrordy
    KipDrordy Posts: 169 Member
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    Open diary here. What's there to hide? I know I'm not a perfect eater, but I was a horrible eater before logging. I leave mine open for two reasons. One is to be accountable. Knowing that the people I'm doing this with can see my diary gives me further motivation to stay on track. The other is to show people that you don't have to cut out everything you like to lose weight. My log has plenty of visits to places like Taco Bell, Wendy's, and McDonalds. For the most part, I gave up very little. I just changed how I order in restaurants and the size of my portions at home.
  • sexikc
    sexikc Posts: 153 Member
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    Im so sorry but the comment about someone giving another person's diet to their dietician really has me laughing LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL that is just a bit of an obsession.....I only have my diary open to my friends btw I dont care waht they say...then know I eat what I want. I am sure that I have lost more than 18 lbs...I just dont have a scale but hey we know I have lost at least 18 eating whatever the heck I want!
  • ummuk
    ummuk Posts: 4
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    Mine is open and I am open to feedback about my entries.
  • MichelleOnWheels
    MichelleOnWheels Posts: 114 Member
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    Today I had a really 'different' kind of food day, because I went out of town. When I came home, the first thing I took care of was adding my food on MFP. I am sure that doing so is helping me to not just say '**** it' and keep eating more. I know that it would also have helped to add it as I was eating, but I didn't want to bring my iPad around on the farm and my phone doesn't go online. I have to accept how it went, and really it wasn't that bad :)

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