What you 'should' be eating...

I' m surprised that so many people read other diaries. I rarely do. I couldn't care less about them, a lot of my MFP-friends are on a different continent anyway and I wouoldn't know half the food on their diaries. Besides, what business is it of me to see what someone else eats?
I'm delighted for them if they get nearer their weight target, or if they did a good workout. But whether they eat lettuce or a mars bar, who cares?

My main purpose for looking at others diaries is to possibly gain new meal ideas! It is wonderful to see tickers going down and being able to see what they are eating to get there!

This... and I've also been able to send one of my MFP friends some of my recipes based on what she's seen in the diary... it's a nice aspect of the social side of things....

I agree with you. Earlier I had pasta. However, unlike how I used to eat pasta, I only had a cup's worth of it, and I did not add any Parmesan cheese to it at all. I don't deprive myself of foods that I like. I just eat a proper serving size. I try to eat healthier, but if I'm in the mood for a brownie, I will have one if it's in the house. I find myself not craving "bad foods" as much because I know I can have it, just in moderation. I'm not on a diet because diets don't work. This is a lifestyle change.

Not everyone works the same...so you have to do what works for you. If everything was true for everyone, there would only be 1 way. I hear people say you have to eat 5-6 small meals a day...and others eat a real meal once a day and a shake for the other 2. But, what works for your goals is what you stick with...when its not working...then change it up if you want. Its always YOUR choice.

This is pure truth, and it's sad that so few people realize it. As I've said before, finding the perfect balance that works for you as an individual is more art than science, even when it comes to macro balancing. Taking the advice of someone you have never met (this is an assumption on my part in this case, and could be wrong), when what you are doing is obviously working would just be ridiculous.

Why is cheese not okay, but Mars Bars are? :huh: If somebody is going to congratulate you on a fitness website for having a mars bar for lunch then that is a website I'd rather not be part of, to be honest! Weight loss and healthy go hand in hand, and if somebody suggests that you stick to natural foods instead of eating processed empty calories that wont fill you up and carry a whole host of negative health implications, then send them my way and I'LL be friends with them. I just don't understand people like you. It is fine to include treats in your diet, but seriously, a mars bar for lunch? And you think you'll get the body & health you're after by doing that?

:embarassed:

She's not asking someone to congratulate her for it but not to pick on her. If I have chocolate every day that's my choice and I don't expect anyone to comment, if I have chocolate every day and am saying 'I'm not sure why I'm struggling' THEN and only then would I appreciate comments that it may be the chocolate.

I think perhaps sometimes the point people who are losing weight forget that food is something we ingest for energy and nutrients. That's how we got fat in the first place: by forgetting what food is FOR. Rice cakes and lettuce may be low cal but they don't offer a lot in the way of nutrients either, but neither do many of the processed foods we eat to "fill us up" or "reward ourselves." I would literally like to get to the point where I only eat for fuel and nutrition, not for taste or emotional appeal so any time I add something as a treat in my diet with little nutrition, I'm missing the natural point of eating. I'm only saying that because there are two different philosophies on dieting and/or the role of eating, and maybe each person should be clear about theirs when they add friends.

I see some people who are under calories everyday but who have consumed very little in terms of vitamins and nutrients. What's the point of being thin if you're going to have a myriad of other health issues?

I think this is the best point yet.

For everyone else- You'll get what you put in. If you want to eat junk, go ahead and eat junk.

My diary is private because although I really eat very well most of the time, I allow myself the odd treats here and there, and I don't preach that how I eat is how everyone should eat. I don't want to hold myself up as an example. I know the way I should be eating and I do try to do that most of the time.

But I'm astounded by how people live on very bland, pre-packaged foods/snacks for much of their diet, and eat far less than they should - and then publicly show it in their diary. I'm even more amazed by people congratulating them on it when it's clearly not a very healthy way to live long term.

I am answerable to myself, no-one else, so no-one else needs to see my diary. It's very useful for me when I want to see where I might be going wrong, because like I said, I am not the example of the best way to eat. But I've learned enough to know that real food is the best way to fuel my body.

That's why I keep my diary private...it's no one's business but my own what I eat! If I want to eat 3 cupcakes in a day damn if I'm not going to do it! As of today I've lost almost 27lbs and it's not because I had people looking over my shoulder. I'm doing this for ME, for my life and no one else.

Why is cheese not okay, but Mars Bars are? :huh: If somebody is going to congratulate you on a fitness website for having a mars bar for lunch then that is a website I'd rather not be part of, to be honest! Weight loss and healthy go hand in hand, and if somebody suggests that you stick to natural foods instead of eating processed empty calories that wont fill you up and carry a whole host of negative health implications, then send them my way and I'LL be friends with them. I just don't understand people like you. It is fine to include treats in your diet, but seriously, a mars bar for lunch? And you think you'll get the body & health you're after by doing that?

:embarassed:

She very well could get a rocking hot body while eating a Mars bar for lunch occasionally. She didn't say she ate Mars bars for lunch everyday. Though it is possible to have a candy bar everyday and still be hot and healthy. It's all about balance.

There is no evidence that eating clean 100% of the time will make you prettier or healthier than eating a well balanced diet that includes treats.

If I could get drunk off of lettuce then fine, but if I want to go out and dance with my friends than I'm going to drink my empty alcohol calories. I'm losing weight faster than MFP calculations, and I've been drinking at least once every week since I joined. I try to stay within my calorie goals, but even if I don't, then it'll even out in the end.

Being healthy and being thin is great and all, but if I'm going to sacrifice ALL the things and people I love to get there, than what's the point. Whatever works for you works!

Totally agree that you don't need to close your diary, just ditch/ignore the nitpickers.

I allow treats and what other people would call "bad foods" all the time. Cookies, candy bars, pizza, pasta. Chocolate milk just about every night as a bedtime snack. I have from the get-go, and it's what works for me.

I've had very few people criticize my choices. In fact, I can only think of two.

One was a guy who said I shouldn't eat a donut.... the donut that I ate after running my first 5k. It's become a tradition for me... if there's post-race donuts, I'm going to eat them. If there's no donuts, I'm a sad panda. :frown: It's also the only time I eat donuts. I don't buy them.

Another was a woman who criticized my food diary in a success story thread for eating a Snickers bar for breakfast every day. Something like, "How can you say she's doing a good job when she eats candy bars every day?!" What she failed to notice was that it was a Snickers Marathon Bar, with over 20g of protein, not really a "candy bar."

Meh. Don't care. I know what I'm doing works for me. I know having my diary open has helped others, because they can see that you don't need to eat perfect and clean to have results.

An open diary is good for two reasons... it allows others to help you if you have problems, and it allows you to help others by being an example. And that's the whole point of having a community on this site, so we can all help each other.