Why do so many people hide their food Diary?

Privacy sensitivities differ between countries and between say, rural and urban settings. People are entitled to keep private anything about themselves they are not prepared to share. I also think people's tastes and goals are so different that there is little benefit from trying to copy someone else's plan. For instance, on a crave day I rack up more calories, but I may not want to encourage readers to do the same. Listen to what your body is telling you! All food is lovely; enjoy it!

However, if someone posts for help wondering what they are doing wrong in their plan, they will get much better advice if their diary is open.

As a Canadian, I am shocked at the willingness of Americans to "give away the farm" so to speak.

Mine is set to be visible to friends.

PS.... I do essentially low carb too so if you'd like to friend me you're welcome too

The default on mine was closed. This works for me, though, because yes - privacy. I share so much on social media - I don't need to share everything I put in my mouth, too. But I do see the value in opening it up for others to glance over and offer advice. Or if you desire accountability from your friends. I don't question why people open their diaries, but I'm also not surprised that many of us keep them closed.

I think that some people are more accurate knowing that others can't judge their choices. They can admit to themselves that they had mostly cake that day, but they don't want others knowing they ate 1000 calories worth of cake.

My body burns fat and sugar, which is why I look the way I do. I keep an open diary to show that you can still enjoy sugar and "junk" food in moderation.

I think it's the fear of judgement. This is a process and a difficult one for most of us and we have slip ups and there are days where we make bad food choices or we just like a food that others want to ban. nobody wants to be picked a part and MFP has a community that can be very good at shoving their views and thoughts down your throat.

Sandcastles61 wrote: »

Mine is set as visible to friends too because I want the accountability.... And I do get positive reinforcement when I log a day or week of good healthy eating even if I didn't lose anything that week.....

But, to some this is a personal journey and I respect my MFP friends who don't have open diaries. I guess we all seek reinforcement in a different way

well said.. i agree

The default setting is private, and I guess a lot of people just don't bother digging into settings and changing that.

Mine is open for my friends.

I used to keep my diary completely private because I didn't want people to comment on it and tell me what they think I should or should not be eating, especially since I used to have a binge eating problem and was very sensitive to comments by ANYONE about what I was eating. I only recently made my diary viewable to my friends because I figured it would help keep me more accountable, and I also am no longer having binge eating problems, thank god.

I would think that, given the vast differences between people's metabolisms and genetic makeup (I'm an English major - I'm just sayin' that there are differences, but can't get all scientific about it) ... it wouldn't be terribly helpful to look at someone else's diary, except to see menu ideas. I'm 43. If I followed the diary of a 25 year old, I'd probably not be a happy camper.

natboosh69 wrote: »

usmcmp wrote: »

I think that some people are more accurate knowing that others can't judge their choices. They can admit to themselves that they had mostly cake that day, but they don't want others knowing they ate 1000 calories worth of cake.

This is why I keep mine hidden

That's what is important! Just logging and admitting to yourself. Now you have the numbers and trends and can see what is going on. Nobody else needs to know. Sometimes we eat 1000 calories worth of cake. It's far from the end of the world and it's not a failure. Getting healthy, losing weight and improving our fitness isn't going to be a perfect process and that's okay. Progress, not perfection.

usmcmp wrote: »

natboosh69 wrote: »

usmcmp wrote: »

I think that some people are more accurate knowing that others can't judge their choices. They can admit to themselves that they had mostly cake that day, but they don't want others knowing they ate 1000 calories worth of cake.

This is why I keep mine hidden

That's what is important! Just logging and admitting to yourself. Now you have the numbers and trends and can see what is going on. Nobody else needs to know. Sometimes we eat 1000 calories worth of cake. It's far from the end of the world and it's not a failure. Getting healthy, losing weight and improving our fitness isn't going to be a perfect process and that's okay. Progress, not perfection.

Love this.

I believe the reason why so many people are hiding their food diary because its their personal tools and they do not feel comfortable yet to share ... eventually with success it will horizon. It needs a burst of energy to get on board

Mine's private because I got tired of all the unsolicited advice I was receiving. I have numerous dietary restrictions for health reasons as well as religious reasons. I don't eat bacon for religious reasons, so I didn't care for the messages telling me to add bacon to my breakfast, and I don't eat grains for health reasons, so I didn't care for the messages from people telling me that "gluten-free is just a fad." I also have numerous allergies. I don't need messages telling me that I should be consuming milk instead of almond milk (I have a severe dairy allergy, so I don't think that would be a good idea...) or numerous messages from people telling me that I'm eating too much sodium (I have low blood pressure and am on a high sodium diet as per my doctor). I also don't need people telling me that I need to eat 2,000 calories a day since I'm only 4'11. Plus, if I want to have cake for breakfast, I'm going to do, and I don't care for the messages that will follow. Basically, my diary is private because it's none of your damn business.

PaulLester wrote: »

Now i don't want to moan about things. I don't have many friends on here and most of the friends that i do have don't share their food diary.
I believe that being able to look at someones diary and see what they eat would help many with ideas of what is working and what is not.

I personally am on a low carb diet and if anybody on a low fat diet saw what i was eating they would throw a fit. This is however working for me i have lost 10 plus lbs in the first couple of weeks and am still losing.
I am happy for people to look at what i eat. I am just amazed at the amount of secrecy others show.
If anybody wants a look at what i am eating and questions how i eat what i do and lose weight, its because my body is burning fat not sugar.

My diary is public take a look if you want.

Mine is open to my friends. I like that almost all my friends have open diaries-this way I can try to get ideas on food choices. Especially from those who do so well with consistent weight loss. Once in awhile I get quite a chuckle from the sincere honesty too; one friend's diary one day consisted of one entire box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. Nothing else.

But I can see how some people like to keep their food choices private. I've yet to get comments or private messages about my food-with the exception of a couple people asking for a recipe of something I posted.

Mine is open to my friends list with full disclosure when people add me that 1) I'm in recovery for disordered eating and 2) occasionally drink quite a bit. I used to be triggered by seeing someone's diary with low numbers in it, and I don't want to inadvertently trigger someone if they see one of my bad days or that I drank a whole bottle of wine. It also lets me focus on me. And half the time I don't log - I'm at a place where I don't really need to - so what's the point of it being open for random strangers to browse through? If people want to have a conversation with me about my eating habits and how I've been successful, they can ask.