why people shy of sharing their diary?

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Replies

  • scrapjen
    scrapjen Posts: 387 Member
    I opened mine up for a few days, and while I didn't receive any judgmental remarks (which would not have been undeserved) just knowing someone might be looking made me think about fudging my numbers and not being truthful. Just a personal failing on my part.I decided it was better to stay private and stay honest! I figure my diary is NOT inspirational in any way. I keep a blog where I post my daily total ... just not exactly how I got there.
  • Grumpsandwich
    Grumpsandwich Posts: 368 Member
    Mostly my diary i keep for my own personal use and tracking. I don't think its anyone's business what im doing or eating unless i ask for help. I think too many people "over share" on the internet. But hey if you want the entire world knowing your business so be it. They dont need to know mine :D
  • GimmieDatSalad
    GimmieDatSalad Posts: 44
    Because I woke up at 2PM and had a Pot Noodle for "breakfast" that's why.
  • craftywitch_63
    craftywitch_63 Posts: 829 Member
    Because I don't believe random strangers on the Internet need to know that much about me. It's one thing if you're on my FL and you kind of know me, but I don't need such a big part of my life being public to everyone. I'm not afraid of being judged, I just believe having personal connections with people is important before they know all about me. I don't post on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram for similar reasons - I like my life being private and only shared with the people I choose to share it with.

    Beautifully said. I write personal thoughts in my blog and I am uncomfortable with my friends knowing that much about me, why would I want random strangers knowing my thoughts? Which brings me to the question: Why would random strangers WANT to know that much about me? That's why I don't have a pic of me on this website, either. My loved ones and friends already know what I look like, no one else matters.

    My facebook account is private, too, and I don't post on Twitter or Instagram, either.
  • kdhamner
    kdhamner Posts: 309 Member
    Honestly, when I first started on my journey, I was very large. I was able to eat a large amount of calories, and I was embarrassed by it. I'm still able to eat 1450 calories even though I've lost 60 lbs. Plus, I follow the Herbalife system, and I get so sick of people bashing me for the lifestyle I have chosen. I know people say Herbalife is a scam, but I've lost 60 lbs since July with this lifestyle, so it works for me. I finally developed thicken enough skin over the course of my journey to handle the bashes and the negativity from others that I was finally able to open my diary about 2 weeks ago. It took a long time for me to be able to open my diary.
  • ghostparty
    ghostparty Posts: 10
    I can understand some of the reasoning behind not making it totally public, but if it's set to friends only and you're getting harassed/unsolicited advice/annoying posts/etc.... why not just remove the offending person(s) from your friends list instead? I personally think there are a lot more benefits to having an open diary (mostly accountability) than negatives, but keeping it private because you're getting nasty posts from people you willingly added is just... strange, to me.
  • craftywitch_63
    craftywitch_63 Posts: 829 Member
    Mine's private because I find it incredibly invasive. I don't want advice or comments on my eating, good or bad. It's one thing to be like "Good workout! that showed up on my activity stream" and another thing to be like "Oh, I did the extra click to nose into your food journal and see what you're eating and I found your calorie count to be [judgement]." Really? Why do people even want to read other's food diaries other than nosiness and a chance to judge?

    My question exactly!!
  • drummer_lady
    drummer_lady Posts: 150 Member
    I opened mine up for a few days, and while I didn't receive any judgmental remarks (which would not have been undeserved) just knowing someone might be looking made me think about fudging my numbers and not being truthful. Just a personal failing on my part.I decided it was better to stay private and stay honest! I figure my diary is NOT inspirational in any way. I keep a blog where I post my daily total ... just not exactly how I got there.

    I closed mine for the same reason. Mine was open to my friends for quite some time which was fine when I was doing great, but when I would slip up I was reluctant to log truthfully because I knew some people might see it and I was embarrassed. I ended up closing it to encourage myself to be 100% truthful in my logging. I might open it up again in the future when I feel more comfortable with my eating habits.

    As for people who are wondering why anyone would look at someone else's diary - I know some people like to get meal ideas from looking at what other people are eating.
  • chelseascounter
    chelseascounter Posts: 1,283 Member
    I don't need anyone's two-cents on my food choices. Comments like "you ate too little" "that's too much sodium" are annoying.
  • GothicaAdore
    GothicaAdore Posts: 82 Member
    Mine is open. You are all strangers who I will never meet. Why do I care if you approve or disapprove of me?

    As a trade off, I won't put up any pictures.

    We all have our quirks.
  • MonicaA2013
    MonicaA2013 Posts: 753 Member
    My diary has always been open. I don't care what people see on it. I log everything i eat and don't worry about what others may think of it. I do look at my friends diaries when they post them because there are times they have something on their menu that sounds like something i may want to try myself. If they had a bad day, witch we all do, then i am able to let them know that its no big deal and just keep trying. I have family members on here who started off public at least to friends and for what ever reason they have changed that periodically. One day they are open the next they are not. What ever they choose. It's no ones business if they want to keep it to them selves. Everyone has their own level of privacy and that's that. My FL is about 50/50 on open diaries.
  • tworthen79
    tworthen79 Posts: 1,173 Member
    Mine's private because I find it incredibly invasive. I don't want advice or comments on my eating, good or bad. It's one thing to be like "Good workout! that showed up on my activity stream" and another thing to be like "Oh, I did the extra click to nose into your food journal and see what you're eating and I found your calorie count to be [judgement]." Really? Why do people even want to read other's food diaries other than nosiness and a chance to judge?

    I look at others diaries for ideas/inspiration. Not to judge. If I see someone losing weight each week, I look to see what types of foods they are eating. It's not always about others wanting to judge.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
    Mine is closed because I want to be honest with myself, but I don't want my employer or health insurance provider to have easy access to what I eat. If a medical issue comes up and I need to let my doctor know about my diet, that's one thing, but I would prefer to keep things private until then.
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
    Mine's private because I find it incredibly invasive. I don't want advice or comments on my eating, good or bad. It's one thing to be like "Good workout! that showed up on my activity stream" and another thing to be like "Oh, I did the extra click to nose into your food journal and see what you're eating and I found your calorie count to be [judgement]." Really? Why do people even want to read other's food diaries other than nosiness and a chance to judge?

    My question exactly!!

    That has never happened to me once. I have always kept mine open and have not gotten one comment on my diary, and Lord knows I eat as dirty as they come. :drinker: :drinker: :smokin: :devil:
  • 123stefania
    123stefania Posts: 167 Member
    Because I'm shy of what I eat...one day I will put in public...When I'm ready :)
  • dauvis
    dauvis Posts: 57
    My is private because that is the default setting.
  • BetterThanExpected
    BetterThanExpected Posts: 104 Member
    Mostly because I'm embarrassed and am more unlikely to log my binges if it's public. Also, I've noticed that people like to tell other people that they're not eating enough or to tell them they should eat this or that. I'll probably unlock my diary when I've got healthy eating habits under control, though.
  • cheripugh1
    cheripugh1 Posts: 357 Member
    I have no idea... because often they will post how they aren't doing well and ask what can I be doing wrong... well how can their friends help them if they can't see the diary? Anyway I leave mine open and it has actually helped me because one gal looked and noticed what the problem was for my sodium issue... So far I have not gotten any negatives on it.

    Some don't want to share what they eat, or like one gal said she is more honest about listing the foods knowing she is the only one seeing it... I had a friend that weighed 600 lbs. I never ever saw her over eat! Some things we keep private...
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    For me personally it is because I can be VERY competitive in some ways. I don't really CARE if others say "Oh you shouldn't ever eat a piece of pie" but I would feel like, if people are going to look at my diary I want it to be the healthiest yummiest perfect log of foods anyone ever had. And that's just not realistic or sustainable. Having it private allows me to be "competitive" only with myself and to be 100% brutally honest on the less than perfect choices. That is why I use MFP in the first place and it's working well for me.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    Mine's private because I find it incredibly invasive. I don't want advice or comments on my eating, good or bad. It's one thing to be like "Good workout! that showed up on my activity stream" and another thing to be like "Oh, I did the extra click to nose into your food journal and see what you're eating and I found your calorie count to be [judgement]." Really? Why do people even want to read other's food diaries other than nosiness and a chance to judge?

    I have a similar view.

    I don't share my exercise updates either and I've had 3 MFP friends private message me to see if I am EVER exercising. Umm yes, just don't want that on my wall because I put in like 2 min aerobics or 20 min leisurely pace walking etc (I am set to sedentary and under-log exercise, personal preference)

    I DO sometimes look at others' diaries, but it's mainly just two women I've known for years who motivated me initially to join the site. One of them is a normal size very healthy woman and I enjoy seeing what she eats. The other lost way over 100 lb and she eats pretty similarly to the way I eat so I use hers for both motivation and justification (for example she might have 4 kinds of Halloween candy in her snacks, but the rest of the day is very healthy and nutritious food...makes me feel ok with a similar day now and then).
  • SymphonynSonata
    SymphonynSonata Posts: 533 Member
    I hide mine because I'm really bad about using it and it makes me feel kinda bad. :P I've seen a lot of threads where someone is advocating a somewhat extreme way of eating but won't show their diary - probably because they've slipped up and gone against what they're pushing (e.g. no sugar, no carbs, whatever)

    Also, yeah, I prefer eating a really limited diet and I don't want people throwing their 2 cents at me when I'm just fine and don't want their opinions. :P
  • liftsforchocolate
    liftsforchocolate Posts: 273
    When I had my diary locked it was because I was in denial of how tiny amount of cals I was eating and the excessive amounts of sugars/fat.

    It's open now though
  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
    I had mine private because I really couldn't figure why anyone would care what I was logging and I didn't do FR for quite awhile. Once I started getting a friends list I made it friends only and finally just said screw it and opened it up. It puts out what I eat, how I log or forget to log, and such so I don't deal with someone sending a friend request, taking one look at my diary, and then running.
  • obsidianwings
    obsidianwings Posts: 1,237 Member
    I don't need or want unsolicited advice.
  • QueenBishOTUniverse
    QueenBishOTUniverse Posts: 14,121 Member
    For those of you who feel self conscious about your food choices etc. please feel free to go take a look at my diary. I seriously doubt mine looks anything close to perfect, but I'm still losing! I've also never received ANY sort of comment on my food choices except one friend who complemented my milk intake. What you do with your diary is totally a personal choice, just thought it might be helpful to know that in my experience, people are NOT going to be out there rifling through your entries and guilt tripping you for not living up to some arbitrary standard they've set...
  • Ely82010
    Ely82010 Posts: 1,998 Member
    Because I don't believe random strangers on the Internet need to know that much about me. It's one thing if you're on my FL and you kind of know me, but I don't need such a big part of my life being public to everyone. I'm not afraid of being judged, I just believe having personal connections with people is important before they know all about me. I don't post on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram for similar reasons - I like my life being private and only shared with the people I choose to share it with.


    Exactly and the same reasons why my food log is only open to the people in my friends' list and why I am not part of Facebook and what ever else is considered social media..
  • coolraul07
    coolraul07 Posts: 1,606 Member
    ...Why do people even want to read other's food diaries other than nosiness and a chance to judge?

    My question exactly!!
    #TEHO
    I sometimes look at other people's diaries for ideas. I have a couple of MFPals that I (initially) friended just so I could see how they were getting 200g of protein/day without supplements! I rarely look now, but I don't judge either way.

    Mine's open to the world, friend or foe! Don't like what I eat...?
    Come-at-me-bro-random-26657165-500-392.png
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
    I share with my friends if they care to look. I don't share with the public. It just feels like personal information to put out for anyone. Not for any specific reason, other than it's personal. Just like I don't share my real name in the forums. I also don't post photos in the forums. Those are my choices (for now, I could always change my mind about stuff).

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