Closed diary's

Interesting. I have mine open. I know I'm not the best eater but honestly couldn't care less what people think about what I eat. Honestly I think if people just sit around going through people's diaries to criticize what they eat they need to get a life. I wish I had that much free time.

i always used this as a personal tool until I recently went out on the msg boards to make some new buddies. Mine is open now, because through the boards I learned I could (always used the app on my phone prior, didn't know about this whole community). I think in some cases, people might not know

What I eat isn't anyone else's business. If I had a question regarding my intake I would open it, but other than that I prefer to keep it private. I mean, just look at the number of posts talking about people eating "junk food" and how horrible it is. Lots of folks love to give unsolicited advice and I don't have time for that.

When I joined last month, my intention was to keep my food diary closed. I opened it to friends, though, because I'm new and trying to make new friends on MFP. I noticed a lot of people saying that they prefer friends with open diaries, so I thought I'd give it a whirl.

I got a comment last night when I closed the day out that was toeing the line of being judgy. I drink wine. So there. I log it to show myself how many calories and sugars I'm spending, just like someone else's cupcake.

Last night's comment and this thread are helping me realize that I really don't want comments or advice unless I ask for it. But also, I realize that judgy comments aren't really going to affect me unless I let them. If I get to the point where comments do affect me, I'll have to shut it down.

I'm on here to help myself primary, not other people! Also, I don't track most days - because I'm in a good eating routine eating mainly cottage cheese, turkey and a variety of fruits and veggies. I know if I've eaten enough or too much. I also don't fancy smart alecs, people who don't know my training and eating schedule making comments about how I only track one or two days a week and that I'm wayy over my budget for the day - this is my higher calorie day, which I do track because it contains different foods each week.

The good thing about MFP is that you can use it how YOU want to, not how other people want you to.

ditto! even though mine is open now, (I did have it closed for a while for this exact reason)

Only time it bugs me is when people ask for specific help with their intake or whatever, but they have a closed diary.

Mine is open, and I log everything, the good, the bad and the ugly. I've never had anyone criticize me for my food choices, but I don't think it would bother me if they did. I like to leave it open for other people to get food ideas, and to see that I eat a lot of "normal" food and still lose the fat, even going over my calorie goal on a regular basis.

Mines closed and will stay that way ...3 reasons

1.... Judgemental people...and actually any form of commentary on my choices will irritate me because

2.... Keeping my ED in control means keeping my control and i feel that an open diary jeopardises that

3.... Noone else on here has my assortment of needs and tastes. i get sick of answering questions about food and drink habits

^^^ Ditto!

When my diary is closed, I log /everything/ - even my binges. When it's open, I feel the need (not something I seem able to control) to make it look nice and presentable. If I'm to be successful, I need to be honest and so closed it is.

I find myself on the opposite end (somewhat) of this. If my diary is open, I wont tend to binge because I think .. oh man, I'm gonna have to log that. nope. can't eat it. someone will see!!

Mine's open because I figure if I'm gonna participate in the message boards and I'm out here talking some talk, I should be willing to back it up... or at least allow people to see where I'm coming from, if they want to. I'm secure in my choices. I think it actually keeps me more honest than if it were closed. It's like... here, I've laid all out... Now come at me, bro! :laugh: If it were closed, I think I would be more inclined to skip logging something like 'a smidge of cooking oil' or whatever.

S'cool that we can all do it and use it in ways that work for us

Just a quick observation , I love looking at the success stories . And the one thing that sticks out is 2/3 of the people have closed diary's ? Why is this ? Surely an open diary would help other MFP people ?
Is there a reason why ?

Why is it my job to help other MFP people? Just because I'm using the site doesn't obligate me to help anyone.

^^^this! I am not here to support, help or motivate anyone but myself. I use MFP in a way that benifits my lifestyle.

because i don't want anyone to know about my addiction to eating chalk and laundry soap.

You jest sir!
I actually do eat paper and have been known to suck on rocks. I have PICA.

I am mainly only friends with people on here that I also know in my everyday life. So, I have my diary open, it helps us all hold each other accountable. But, I can also understand why other people don't. I log almost every day, good or bad because it helps me more than anything. I can understand why people go either way. This site is to help yourself, not necessarily put your eating habits on display to help others.

My boring diary is open. No one really 'knows' me here, my friends and family don't know I have an account here, so it really doesn't matter if anyone sees my diary. It would be rather amusing if someone at work who knows my eating habits came across me here and realized it was me.

Sad that there are people here that spend their time criticizing others' food choices.

People don't like to be judged and often can't take criticism.

I can take being judged and can take criticism... just don't look at or talk about my food!

This topic should be banned. It comes up at least once a week, and you always get the same responses. On one side of the fence are the "it's none of your business what I eat" and on the other side of the fence it's "I have nothing to hide".

I delete any friend who does not have an open diary, not because I want to inspect every element of their progress and critique their food choices, but simply because this is a Fitness site (if you don't believe me look at the name of this site) and if we are "friends" here it is because we share the same aspiration for success. If I can not see what you are doing then I can not support your efforts or your success. What? Why Not? Well here is why..a closed diary statement of "JohnMessmer completed his food and exercise diary for 03/01/2013 and was under his calorie goal." Does not tell you anything useful. Did I eat a piece of cheese all day long and truly believe that success through starvation is the best method? Did I eat with balance and sustainability? Perhaps I don't know that potassium is the natural anti agent to sodium and when you look at my diary and see I eat a lot of processed high sodium food you could tell me that little tid bit of info? Perhaps not, who knows? What I do know is that I have friends on this site so that I can try to support their goals and they can try to support my goals, it is a mutually beneficial friendship by choice. If you can not see what I am eating, or the amount of Exercise I am accomplishing, then you can not help me at all and therefore there is no need for us to be friends on this site.

Now the type of "help" depends on the person and that is where choosing your friends becomes more of a personality choice then a random friend collector. Personally, I prefer honesty and bluntness. No, you don't have to tell me that eating that Double Meal from Wendy's is not good for me, but when I weigh in on Friday and I post that I am dissatisfied with the results for the week...You should tell me that the Double from Wendy's probably did not help matters. I prefer the friends that say what I already know, just try to make excuses for. I prefer friends that will say "Holy ****, Why Did you Eat so much?" not the BS friends that will say "It's ok, we all need a cheat day and tomorrow is a new start", I have had 43 Years of believing "it's only one meal, one day, one bad choice, and all that has gotten me is obese. Now I believe that it all counts, make no excuses and plan for the worst while hoping for the best, get up , get out, and move, and if you are going to have that birthday cake, ice cream, fast food crap that most of us love...then work harder to be able to fit that bad choice into your established goals for the day. This relatively new thinking has led to 94 pounds of weight loss in the past 6 months, I don't know everything and until I do...I will take the sarcasm, criticism, and at the very least listen to advice from anyone who wishes to offer it, simply because they may turn out to be right, or even better yet, they may inadvertently have led me to discover something I had not been aware of.

One last tidbit to think about; why is it that people that have been on this site for Years are generally the people that have no progress bar and a closed diary? For a year and a half, back in 95, I paid for Gym Membership and went to that gym, twice. Having your diary open, putting yourself out on display, being held accountable by others, it is one of the scariest and greatest motivators there are, and once you are ready to make a change and truly hold yourself accountable for what you do, I don't believe there is a viable reason not to have your diary open to your friends. So what if some ask you questions, or insist on telling you that liquor is drinking your calories away, or that your deep fried Oreo cookies are a terrible choice, "if" that is shocking and upsetting for you to hear then you may have bigger issues then your weight.