Sharing your food diary

amzelda
amzelda Posts: 9
edited September 22 in Health and Weight Loss
Ok, in all honesty...does sharing your food diary make you more accountable with what you eat, or more likely to lie so you're not embarrassed when other people see it??

Replies

  • bobspdx
    bobspdx Posts: 198 Member
    I made it public so I would be more accountable. I am probably 95% honest on my diary. I sometimes forget to add things because I close out my diary the next day.
  • Zuznana
    Zuznana Posts: 284 Member
    I'm not sure. I share it, but I still put everything in there. I try to plan the meals a day ahead to see how many calories there is, rather then eat and then put it in. That way, i can adjust the portions to be still in a green and not red. If I ate first and put them in later, I would be massively in red. And that would apply even if I wasn't sharing. :smile:
  • blel0906
    blel0906 Posts: 89
    I share it with my friends...because when I am having issues its nice to have someone look it over and pick out things that might be causing me problems. I am honest with it but more for me than anyone else
  • amzelda
    amzelda Posts: 9
    I'm not sure. I share it, but I still put everything in there. I try to plan the meals a day ahead to see how many calories there is, rather then eat and then put it in. That way, i can adjust the portions to be still in a green and not red. If I ate first and put them in later, I would be massively in red. And that would apply even if I wasn't sharing. :smile:

    That's a great tip! I can see where it would make things much easier, calorie and decision-wise, to put it in early. I eat then put it in and it's always disappointing. I'm going to try your way for the next week and see how it goes!
  • JMun
    JMun Posts: 409
    I share mine..

    mostly because I like snooping in everyone else's diaries so I figure I should leave mines open too.

    I like finding friends with long term weight loss success and then taking a look at how they eat. I'm also pescetarian so I have several vegetarian/vegan friends so I can see what kinda animal free products they eat.
  • monoxidechick
    monoxidechick Posts: 339
    Mine is open to friends, it seems to keep me thinking about what im going to eat. I dont see any point in lying, its not going to benefit my goals any. I just seem to think before I order something crazy that I wouldnt want to log. I tend to make smarter choices and smaller portion sizes, and I feel its partly due to the fact that I will have to type it in and log it and that others could go in and see and I dont want them to see what a mess my eating habits are. So I would say yes, it seems to keep me on track and making smarter choices.
  • MissAnjy
    MissAnjy Posts: 2,480 Member
    I think it depends on the person. It MAY hold SOME people accountable, but not all. Others might be more tempted to hide the truth when it's public knowledge. It really does depend on the person.
  • ksimmons19
    ksimmons19 Posts: 223 Member
    totally for accountability. I doubt anyone really looks at mine anyway, but I look at other people's to get good ideas for meals and such. I like being able to see what people who have been successful are eating, and like someone else said, if i'm looking at theirs they should be able to look at mine :)
  • Krizzle4Rizzle
    Krizzle4Rizzle Posts: 2,704 Member
    I like reading people's food diaries because it gives me ideas on some yummy lo-cal food to eat. So keep sharin them peeps!
  • eillamarie
    eillamarie Posts: 862 Member
    I put everything that goes into my mouth in my diary. As embarasing as it is 95% of ppl on this site are going thru the exact same thing!
  • marniehodges
    marniehodges Posts: 264
    Mine is public and I put in EVERYTHING, even spices. I feel more accountable and I like the feedback I get. And I too like to look at other peoples food diaries, not to criticize, but to get ideas for meals and snacks. And, you definately should be honest and not feel one bit embarrassed, even if you go way over on everything. There is a reason we all joined this website-we are not as healthy as we would like to be and most of us are overweight. We are all in this together and I feel like my friends on here are really supportive and a big reason I am doing as good as I am doing! Good luck to you!
  • kelsully
    kelsully Posts: 1,008 Member
    Ok, in all honesty...does sharing your food diary make you more accountable with what you eat, or more likely to lie so you're not embarrassed when other people see it??

    Nope...you are either honest with your tracking or you are not. I am not even sure if mine is public but I am recording for my knowledge. If I were asking for advice I would make sure it is public for the time but it kind of creeps me out to think that random people are looking at my food choices.
  • schro151
    schro151 Posts: 23 Member
    I share mine, not necessarily to be more accountable but to give other people ideas for foods to eat and because I wish more people had their diaries public so I could get food ideas from them in return.
  • kelsully
    kelsully Posts: 1,008 Member
    Ok, in all honesty...does sharing your food diary make you more accountable with what you eat, or more likely to lie so you're not embarrassed when other people see it??

    Nope...you are either honest with your tracking or you are not. I am not even sure if mine is public but I am recording for my knowledge. If I were asking for advice I would make sure it is public for the time but it kind of creeps me out to think that random people are looking at my food choices.
    I have no issue however with people I have friended looking at it as I have nothing to hide but I can't imagine someone who has no history with me looking at it.
  • sherylhs
    sherylhs Posts: 141 Member
    You know I never even thought about sharing mine. I log my food here as a tool for myself so there is no sense in lying about it... I would only be lying to myself.

    It never really occurred to me that I could be sharing meal ideas ... or finding them.


    hmmmm.... maybe I should make mine public.

    ~S
  • sallyLunn
    sallyLunn Posts: 381
    I don't. But I'm pretty sure its because I get too many calories from beer. See I just shared that. I may as well make it public, and yet, I will not.
  • maurap26
    maurap26 Posts: 90 Member
    I usually record food before I eat, if it turns out to be too many calories then I may change my meal or the portion size. I have it all figured out before I eat. (although I'm not working right now, so I have the time for that) The only time I'm not honest is when I log off for the night, then get tempted to eat something else later. So, I guess I'm 95% accurate.
    I have looked at other people's diaries who have already lost weight to see where I'm going wrong. I guess that's why I have mine open. If I look at others diaries then they should be able to look at mine. I doubt anyone is looking since I've just started though :)
  • raindancer
    raindancer Posts: 993 Member
    I don't share. I tend to get my feeling hurt easily and some responses aren't very kind... No, I don't eat only whole and organic foods.
    Yes, I had turkey sloppy joes on 1 slice of 35 calorie bread and 7 tostito scoops with 1/4 cup of Bushes baked beans...but hey I am all green all the way across.
    I garden every year and we do eat fair. I eat very few processed foods. No boxed or bagged mixes, but we still like our fast foods also.

    LIKE I SAY I'M A WORK IN PROGRESS:laugh:
  • Beach_Chica
    Beach_Chica Posts: 111
    As you've read, to each his/her own. I have mine viewable by friends. I like the input I receive. If I have a rough day, it's easy to track and see where I went wrong. Let me rephrase that. It's easier for my friends to see where I went wrong and how I can adjust my eating habits. I am pretty open on there, but I sometimes forget to track when I eat cool whip. Ha.
  • selbyhutch
    selbyhutch Posts: 531 Member
    I love it when food diaries are viewable... I steal menu ideas! Mine's viewable to all... I'll take the good w/ the bad comments. Today for example... I had a small peice of chocolate cake & it's there. No use hiding it. I also changed my lunch salad to a sandwich. And, I had spaghetti for dinner.. white pasta at that *gasp*. Eh, it was a carb day today!! Way over! No use lying about anything.

    I also try to plan my meals ahead. I like to know what I'm getting into.
  • blel0906
    blel0906 Posts: 89
    I do like looking at others diaries for ideas on what to eat...someone posted they take it personal I have to say sometimes i'm a bit embarassed after viewing some of my friends diaries..I've had friends comment on some of the foods I've eaten but NEVER has anyone been nasty or judgemental about anything...I take everything as a suggestion and a way to improve my diet
  • doublexhelix
    doublexhelix Posts: 199 Member
    i have mine viewable, but i doubt anybody actually looks at it! hahaha. i like to look at other peoples though to see what sort of things they're eating and maybe find new food?
  • ashley0616
    ashley0616 Posts: 579 Member
    I'm forcing myself to have it make me accountable. I could have lied about the McDonald's double cheeseburger I had for lunch. Instead, I put it in there and forced myself to take credit. No one made me eat it. No one told me there was no other choice. I decided I wanted it and that's what I had. And, yes, it's embarassing. And I felt gross after it. And next time, I will choose something else or another place to eat BECAUSE I know people can see every time I do it and I don't want anyone tut-tutting me. And I hope someone is right now, because it's deserved! :happy:
  • somigliana
    somigliana Posts: 314 Member
    Ok, in all honesty...does sharing your food diary make you more accountable with what you eat, or more likely to lie so you're not embarrassed when other people see it??

    No, for both. I like looking at other diaries for ideas for meals. I leave mine open for the same reason, and for anybody who is curious about seeing what a person in maintenance eats :)
  • kate205gti
    kate205gti Posts: 84 Member
    i leave mine open and log everything - even the 3000 calories i guzzled the other saturday! (mostly cake! :blushing:) - theres no point lying on here, everyone is more concerned with their own journey than yours so youre only really lying to yourself, and if I hit a plateau and ask for advice i'd like to be able to get other opinions on my diary from people who can help :smile:
  • mrsltobe
    mrsltobe Posts: 25
    Granted it's only my first day logging, but I'm still sharing with everyone, partly to keep track and partly so if I need some advice others can look at what I'm eating/activity I'm doing and comment on it. I'm going to be compeltely honest, don't want ot lie to myself!
  • rayfromtx
    rayfromtx Posts: 111
    My weight loss is all about the food I eat. If you want to know what works for me, then look at my diary. This only works for me because I eat lots of food. I can only eat lots of food if I make the right choices. My meals are all delicious. I eat small at bfast and lunch during the week and a large awesome home cooked meal at night. That way I'm not obsessing about food all evening. 12 years ago I lost weight by eating only soup for dinner. That was not maintainable for several reasons both personal and social.

    This strategy is working and the easiest way to share it with others is to make my diary public. If I eat something I shouldn't, of course it goes in too. The onlly things I don't log are my vitamins(50 calories) and my water(I drink about 12 glasses per day) and I don't usually log my exercise unless it was enough that it meant I needed to go over on calories.
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