Do you keep your food diary open?

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Replies

  • emmylouise25
    emmylouise25 Posts: 6
    I understand why people keep their diaries open but personally I keep mine set to private, I only hold myself accountable for my eating, I don't want/need other people to do it for me (that's not meant in a snobby way, it's just what works for me :wink: )
  • KnM0107
    KnM0107 Posts: 355 Member
    Mine is closed. I wouldn't ask for advice here. I also wouldn't think my diary would be of any help to anyone. I work around food allergies, intolerances and medical issues I control with diet and exercise. I would not suggest my diet to the average person. I would feel irresponsible leaving if open to the public for those reasons.
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  • wyattj99
    wyattj99 Posts: 454 Member
    I'm an open book. I also like for people too see my calories burned as well.
  • wyattj99
    wyattj99 Posts: 454 Member
    Mine is closed. I wouldn't ask for advice here. I also wouldn't think my diary would be of any help to anyone. I work around food allergies, intolerances and medical issues I control with diet and exercise. I would not suggest my diet to the average person. I would feel irresponsible leaving if open to the public for those reasons.

    But one if 1 out of that 5th person have an allergy related to yours? It would be helpful I think.
  • mbilling
    mbilling Posts: 30 Member
    I've tried it both way, and in the end found that it works better FOR ME to keep it private. I don't need any commentary on my diet, I know what works for me and what doesn't. The idea of somebody "judging" my food choices is more detrimental to me than helpful.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    for those who keep it closed because they don't want the judgment...if someone actually looked at a strangers diary and commented in a negative way...wow...i can't imagine.

    If they were friends easy delete them.

    But to each their own. It is very hard however when people do ask for advice on why am I not losing help me and refuse to open their diary...annoying as a matter of fact and counter productive.

    If a poster does that I leave the thread because they are hiding something and don't really want help they are just after people who will tell them eat more to lose.
  • KnM0107
    KnM0107 Posts: 355 Member
    Mine is closed. I wouldn't ask for advice here. I also wouldn't think my diary would be of any help to anyone. I work around food allergies, intolerances and medical issues I control with diet and exercise. I would not suggest my diet to the average person. I would feel irresponsible leaving if open to the public for those reasons.

    But one if 1 out of that 5th person have an allergy related to yours? It would be helpful I think.

    If it were only food allergies that would be one thing, but I have to omit a lot of foods from diet for reasons other than allergies. As I said, I work around medical issues also and would not suggest my diet to anyone who does not have my specific issues as it would not be sustainable for the average person.
  • nicolen160
    nicolen160 Posts: 197 Member
    Mine is open, however it is not pretty sometimes... :) I warned my friends when I opened it that I don't like many fruits and veggies and I am super picky so I eat what I want and there are days that I go over, but you know what at least I logged it so I know what I have done.
  • badshocker
    badshocker Posts: 6
    I leave mine open because I feel I am less inclined to cheat if I think people may see it.
  • thatpixichick
    thatpixichick Posts: 77 Member
    I have mine open because I like looking at other peoples for food ideas and to see how others go about things, so I figure I may as well return the favour. Though I doubt my diary would inspire anyone :laugh:
  • ashleycde
    ashleycde Posts: 622 Member
    Other than sharing with others who may be looking for meal ideas, it helps keep you accountable knowing that others will see if you are consistently going over your goals. You can also receive motivation from others when you consistently meet your goals.
  • MoniYum
    MoniYum Posts: 10
    I agree with the person who said she was a secret eater, totally me! I'm home with my food all day long, and my kitchen is in the middle of my house, so I constantly walk through it... And I'd stop and grab and Oreo, then back through and a little dish of ice cream, then again for another Oreo and maybe a handful of chips. I'd take so little that I'd justify it, but what I was doing was lying to myself. If you look at my food diary, you'll find I'm not a terrible eater. But the snacks would always keep my weight climbing.

    Letting others see it makes me feel more honest and helps me not to eat all that cra*, because I feel like everyone's watching me. And I need others to watch me right now because I was hiding a lot of what I ate from my family, but worst of all, I was lying to myself that I'm a healthy eater.
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  • A_Fit_Mom
    A_Fit_Mom Posts: 602 Member
    I do not, because I do a lot of quick add calories and just add the calories. I keep a diary really just for a total of my calories and so I can add my exercise and see where I end up for the day. So I keep it private.
  • Skittle_BoomBoom
    Skittle_BoomBoom Posts: 72
    Thank you guys for your input! I never thought of it that way. I had MFP when there wasn't an option for public diary and I never thought to turn it off! But I suppose I'll open for everyone to see! Though I personally don't like looking in people's diary's because it makes me hungry :P
  • SugaryLynx
    SugaryLynx Posts: 2,640 Member
    Yep, I've actually gotten some great ideas for different macro options from people with open diaries. So I always keep mine open, just in case someone gets nosey and likes an idea ;)
  • msunat97
    msunat97 Posts: 516 Member
    Open for my friends to see...I'll take some help / advice on it always
  • tegalicious
    tegalicious Posts: 629
    So people can see all the delicious noms I eats and tell me how awesome I am! Where else will I get my ego fix??






    But seriously... I keep it open because I am accountable to my choices and like to be an example to others that you don't have to eat very low calories calories to lose weight.
  • pspetralia
    pspetralia Posts: 963 Member
    I just made mine private. I find myself looking at people's diaries less and less. when I first started out it was really helpful for me to look at what others were eating. Now I need to focus on being more accurate with my food log, so I made it private to see if that helped me.
  • LoriCARoberts
    LoriCARoberts Posts: 32 Member
    I have mine open because I like looking at other peoples for food ideas and to see how others go about things, so I figure I may as well return the favour. Though I doubt my diary would inspire anyone :laugh:

    My thoughts exactly!
  • notthatNaomi
    notthatNaomi Posts: 50
    My diary is private and would make no sense/not be helpful to anyone anyway if it was open. I write down what I eat everyday and then add it to the diary every 3 or 4 days so there are a lot of days of 0 calories then there may be day with 8000 calories. I just kind of look at the total # of calories and divide by how many days it's been to get an average of how many calories/day I'm eating.
    I only have a few more lbs to lose so this way works for me as I am still losing every week. I wouldn't recommend it for most people.
  • lautour
    lautour Posts: 89 Member
    Mine is open to everyone but I'm not sure why. I eat wacky and probably going to keep eating that way.
  • shegrif
    shegrif Posts: 30 Member
    When I first joined I had my diary open for all to see. I like getting ideas from others as well.

    However, after reading a very long post recently with unbelievably judgmental posts about what people log in their food diary s and what they log for exercise I made mine private.

    I was new here and it was very discouraging. Some people were saying that if they saw something logged in a persons diary they disagreed with, they would un friend them!

    Now I am rethinking my decision to make my diary private because I realize those judgmental people are in the minority and who cares if I get judged and un friended.
    There are awesome people here and I believe an open diary can be helpful.
  • ruqayyahsmum
    ruqayyahsmum Posts: 1,513 Member
    i keep mine closed purely because ive had gastric bypass this year and obviously my calories are low (im working them up but still struggling to get over 800 cals)

    i dont have the energy to repeatedly explain to folks why my cals are so low and that im not starving to death
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    I have mine open because I like looking at other peoples for food ideas and to see how others go about things, so I figure I may as well return the favour. Though I doubt my diary would inspire anyone :laugh:

    My thoughts exactly!

    Yep I used to look a lot too when I first understood the MFP concept. How do I eat just XX calories a day, I wondered. At the time it would have been a god send to have found one of those "Post here if you have an open diary" thread

    Also some who have posted here as having and open diary do not have one. :wink: Yeah, I got curious about creative eating patterns described and snooped :laugh:
  • FindingAmy77
    FindingAmy77 Posts: 1,268 Member
    I don't because... I don't see the point. Can someone please explain to me why letting other people see what you eat is beneficial?

    I guess its a personal choice and only is a big deal when you post a food or exercise related question and then don't have your diary public. I see that quite often. I keep mine open because I have nothing to hide for one, and for two it may help others to see what I eat, when I eat, how I eat. I always write in the food notes for the day, I save foods and meals and recipes. I snack, I eat tacos, pizza etc but find ways to make those choices healtier and/or low cal so maybe just one person can get an inspiration or idea from me and it may help them if they are in a rut. If I choose to accept a friend request on here, I don't take it lightly.. I want to share things with my mfp friends and show them I am losing on a regular basis eating like a normal person. But hey its up to you if you want to keep what you are eating a secret. :flowerforyou:
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    One thing for those that think they are oddballs and eat weirdo meals. Hello?! That could be a new idea for someone right there!! :)
  • Nyx2012
    Nyx2012 Posts: 11 Member
    I have to admit I keep mine closed. At the moment illness prevents me from excercising at all and from eating a lot, although yes u do need to lose weight, and also prevents me from eating a lot of foods such as fruit, anything with yeast in it and most dairy. So I keep it locked because after looking at some of the forums I don't feel that some of the feedback I would get would benefit me when my illness can already be depressing enough.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,285 Member
    I've tried it both way, and in the end found that it works better FOR ME to keep it private. I don't need any commentary on my diet, I know what works for me and what doesn't. The idea of somebody "judging" my food choices is more detrimental to me than helpful.

    This. This this this.

    I had someone comment about what I was eating, telling me that my chai tea "better be worth it" for 80 calories, and that what I eat is "crap" and it's no wonder I want to snack in the evening.

    Umm, no. I want to snack because it's been a habit of mine for at least a decade, if not longer. As for my chai tea - if it wasn't worth the calories, I wouldn't have it most mornings. And crap? I thought their porridge made with water and salt sounded pretty awful, but it wasn't my place to comment since I wasn't the one who had to put it in my mouth.

    It annoyed me so I ended up deactivating my account, because I forgot how to remove people and I didn't want to argue with them. But yeah, unsolicited negative comments can be hugely demotivating. There is an insane amount of conflicting information regarding what people should eat, so it's no one's business if someone chooses to eat cleanly or if they want to consume 1500 calories a day in cake*. A deficit is a deficit.

    *I may or may not be drawing on recent personal experience regarding copious amounts of cake.

    Yes I know what you mean.

    I keep mine open, no reason really and I haven't asked for any help with it.

    But I did once make a comment in a thread about how it wasn't too hard to fit a small treat into a 1700 calorie allowance - and had someone post I've checked your diary and that would be easy enough if I ate crap like you.

    righto then.

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