What is advantage of keeping diary private?

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2

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  • ElliottTN
    ElliottTN Posts: 1,614 Member
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    I keep mine private as to not be a bad influence on people in my friend list.
  • llUndecidedll
    llUndecidedll Posts: 724 Member
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    So no one will know my shame.....


    But seriously, I'm no chef. You'll find no inspiration from my diary.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    I don't care what other people eat and assume they'd have no interest in what I eat

    I log religiously for me, my trainer has access but I seriously doubt he's ever bothered to look ...

    It's just dull

    Unless someone wants help
  • TheSatinPumpkin
    TheSatinPumpkin Posts: 948 Member
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    LAWoman72 wrote: »
    My diary is private because a) it defaulted that way and b) It's my business. :smiley:

    x2

  • abatonfan
    abatonfan Posts: 1,123 Member
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    levitateme wrote: »
    Kalikel wrote: »
    Because there are some creepy-weird people on MFP who like looking at what strangers eat and then make creepy-weird and nasty comments. I also don't want people saying, "OMG 950 calories! It's not enough!" or "OMG! 1450 calories! That's too much!"

    I used to keep my diary closed because of this. In the past I have had several users make comments to me about my food choices for literally no reason. I was in a thread giving advice to someone else and my diary was looked at and scrutinized by randos. "Your advice is invalid because you ate 2 mini magnums yesterday and went over your carbs." lmao okay

    My diary is wide open now and has been for a long time. Who cares what anyone thinks or says as long as I keep doing what I aim to do.

    This also happened to me. It's simply not worth it keeping my diary public when there are children (we're supposed to be adults, but some people act like kids) who determine the value of a person within the MFP community based on her food diary.
  • joanthemom8
    joanthemom8 Posts: 375 Member
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    I didn't read through the responses, but my reason is that I am afraid I will "fudge" (pardon the expression) if I know people will view my diary. Also, I'm pretty sensitive to criticism, and I'm very hard on myself. Logging is for me to evaluate myself.
  • Scott46617
    Scott46617 Posts: 23
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    I don't want my wife to know how many calories are in the Windsor Candian I'm consuming each night without her knowledge.
  • IsaCaliBel
    IsaCaliBel Posts: 99 Member
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    Keeps me honest. Besides, I log for ME ;)
  • Lourdesong
    Lourdesong Posts: 1,492 Member
    edited November 2014
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    When I first began on here and logging was new to me, I kept it closed because I was worried I might be tempted to be dishonest on the off-chance that anyone other than me might be paying attention to my diary.
    I opened my diary for a while after I got the hang of logging and felt confident about what I was doing. However, and this is kind of dumb but it is the reason I closed it again, I tend to eat the same things until I go grocery shopping and then suddenly my diary has all sorts of new foods logged, and it was driving me nuts that the possibility existed that people could put 2+2 together and know that I went grocery shopping on a specific day. I realize no one gives a crap that I went grocery shopping, and no one was probably paying any attention whatever to my diary to notice such a thing to begin with... but the mere possibility bugged me to no end and gave me anxiety that I frankly have no good reason to put up with.
  • SmartAlec03211988
    SmartAlec03211988 Posts: 1,896 Member
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    Because I don't need someone's unsolicited advice on what I'm eating.

    But then again its open, and I politely thank them for their advice but continue to go my own way.
  • JustAnotherGirlSuzanne
    JustAnotherGirlSuzanne Posts: 932 Member
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    My diary is open to my friends only. I have closed it a couple times before when I was embarrassed by all the ice cream and chocolate I had consumed over the course of the day... okay... over the course of a week. Then I decided to keep it open because I want others to realize that you can still be within your calorie goal* AND have ice cream. (And not the low fat junk either, the real super creamy and peanut buttery stuff).

    That said, I have seen on some of my friend's posts some nasty comments about how they're failing because the protein is too low/carbs too high/not enough veggies. I mean, you can say those things, but when it's not asked for and when it's said harshly it's not to anyone's advantage. Personally, if I were in that situation I'd just delete the "friend" but not everyone is willing to do that.

    *Note, I'm not always under my calorie goal... typically I just hit it or I sail past it, but I'm still losing for the most part.
  • GhostDahlia
    GhostDahlia Posts: 4
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    I keep mine private because I find it triggering when others judge me for my food choices. If I want to challenge myself and have something sweet I don't want anyone commenting negatively on it.
  • jasonmh630
    jasonmh630 Posts: 2,850 Member
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    tracyannk28 wrote: »
    A lot of people are willing to be more honest about their logging when it's not scrutinized by everyone on MFP. Like #diannethegeek, I'm considering setting mine to private because I'm beginning to develop a very unhealthy relationship with food.

    This is spot on.
  • uconnwinsnc1
    uconnwinsnc1 Posts: 902 Member
    edited November 2014
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    BARBnKS wrote: »
    I have noticed that some people keep their food diaries private & curious if there is an advantage to doing so? Personally I keep mine open so that it might help others to get ideas for different types of food to eat to help them stay within their calorie goal. Sometimes I go over but I think I'd be worse about eating more than I should if I didn't know people were noticing what I eat.

    I know how to eat. I know what to eat. I know how many calories are in specific meals so sometimes I just quick add it. I know exactly what I am doing.

    If I had it open, people would be commenting on it nonstop. I don't mind advice generally, but on the topic of nutrition, I know exactly what I am doing. It would be a waste of my time and everyone else's time if they were to comment on it.
  • kwantlen2051
    kwantlen2051 Posts: 455 Member
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    I was diagnosed with a metabolic disorder. My diet depends entirely on what I can eat. It might not make sense to some other people so I keep it private for now. But I would like to stay with the MFP community to stay healthy and keep my weight stable. I've been maintaining for the past 4-5 months.

  • Beploveshomer
    Beploveshomer Posts: 284 Member
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    pincushion14 wrote: »
    Mine is just for me. It's a mess, but it makes sense to me. Since I calorie cycle naturally, I don't want people seeing that some days yes I do only eat 800 calories (gasp!) and judging me for that. Or seeing that the next day I had 2300 and asking me if I enjoyed that triple serving of ice cream. I eat when I'm hungry, bank my calories if I'm not, and it all comes out in the wash at the end of the week. If I stall out I might try a "conventional" diet and open my diary for suggestions then, but other than that it's my business and mine alone. Good for you for thinking about others though and keeping yours open! Some people need to see that from others and it helps them.

    This makes so much sense that I just might close mine.
  • missdibs1
    missdibs1 Posts: 1,092 Member
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    In used tk keep mine locked but then I realized people can help more of they see it. Plus
    Now I encourage people to look so
    They can learn
  • jenny24012014
    jenny24012014 Posts: 83 Member
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    This subject seems to come up a lot - do people actually care what other people are eating? Unless it's someone posting a thread specifically asking with help because they are struggling to lose weight it wouldn't even occur to me to look at someone elses food diary. It's such a weird thing to get hung up on.
  • simplydelish2
    simplydelish2 Posts: 726 Member
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    I think there are so many more advantages of having an open diary than not. First, you give others ideas on things to eat that can come in under calories, you show others that you are human and have some great days - and some that aren't so great. I have found that those with open diaries (may be different for others) within my friends circle lose more weight, eat healthier, and have a better relationship with food and their bodies. I only have one friend that doesn't have an open diary, I no longer accept friend requests from those who don't. Caveat - mine is open to my friends, but not to MFP as a whole.

    20757594.png
  • Amanda4change
    Amanda4change Posts: 620 Member
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    I originally had mine public, I ended up making it friends only after asking a question about period changes after losing weight. Instead of answering my question I had someone go a little psycho (including private messaging me) that I was starving myself and my body was shutting down. They looked at two days of my dairy from when my husband was in the ICU and took it to mean that was my normal habits. I decided I didn't need the judgement from people who didn't have all the facts.

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