Why do so many people hide their food Diary?
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To me, having the diary closed is lying to yourself. Its like eating a piece of cake in hiding, when nobody can see you, so you can lie to yourself that you didn't cheat and act like nothing has happened...
Of course putting everybody in the same bag and generalizing is wrong, not everybody is like that, but I know a fair share of people do that and then wonder why they are not losing weight.
So, I like to keep my diary open not for other people to see but for me. Its a way of being accountable with myself, if that makes any sense. The day I start hiding my diary, guesstimating what I eat or simply not log it, is the day that I'll fell off the wagon.0 -
dechelonian wrote: »To me, having the diary closed is lying to yourself. Its like eating a piece of cake in hiding, when nobody can see you, so you can lie to yourself that you didn't cheat and act like nothing has happened...
Of course putting everybody in the same bag and generalizing is wrong, not everybody is like that, but I know a fair share of people do that and then wonder why they are not losing weight.
So, I like to keep my diary open not for other people to see but for me. Its a way of being accountable with myself, if that makes any sense. The day I start hiding my diary, guesstimating what I eat or simply not log it, is the day that I'll fell off the wagon.
I appreciate that you mention generalizing is wrong. I think many, many people may disagree with you here. The "sustainability" objective has to do with personal responsibility. At age 43, if I need others to keep me accountable or else I'll cheat, I'm in real trouble for the long road ahead ...0 -
I will be 100% honest in my food diary if no one else can see it.0
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Exactly, that's why I started with "to me", because its only my opinion based on my experiences. On accountability, its what I end up saying that for me, having the diary as public is a way to being accountable to myself. That, along with measuring absolutely everything I eat, kind of proves me that I'm not hiding and that I'm taking this seriously. I'm not sure this will make sense for someone other than my, after all everybody its a world in themself and have its own thoughts and way of seeing things. If having my diary public helps other people with ideas or cheer me up, that's an added bonusI appreciate that you mention generalizing is wrong. I think many, many people may disagree with you here. The "sustainability" objective has to do with personal responsibility. At age 43, if I need others to keep me accountable or else I'll cheat, I'm in real trouble for the long road ahead ...
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My food diary was automatically private & I never felt the need to change that. Maybe I'd be less likely to log things if I knew it would be public, at least on my bad days. Also foodies would judge the hell out of my exceptionally basic meals
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Live in Japan so more than half of my entries for anything packaged or eaten at a restaurant are in Japanese. I use quick calories a lot for anything that's packaged, not in the database on MFP, but I have the calorie information for. Calorie banking, basic meals and disorded eating habits.0
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I stay under my calorie goal most days, but the quality of the calories are downright embarrassing sometimes. I'm too embarrassed for people to see!0
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MindySaysWhaaat wrote: »About a week after I started on My Fitness Pal, I got a notification that I had a message. Someone had looked at what I had been eating on my FIRST week starting here where I was just trying to get a hang of tracking, and they judged me for it. They wrote me a four paragraph essay about how I needed to "cut the crap" out of my diet and how I needed to basically stop eating so much sodium and processed
BINGO. It's no one's business if I haven't friended them, and I'm not to interested in having a ton of friends on MFP.
For much of my life, my mom dogged me about what I had eaten each day. Needless to say, her obsession backfired. So I have issues with sharing my food diary. I only feel accountable to myself. If people want to keep their diaries public, fine. No one needs to judge our personal preferences.
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I never ever look at other people's diaries. Unless a specific meal is mentionned on my newsfeed and I want to try it or someone is questioning whether or not they're doing right. I check to see if my opinion on their diaries might be valuable.
I don't know how many of my friends here have open diaries. Mine is closed because it's not always accurate but mainly because I use MFP as a support system. I like people's STORIES and there's is way more to that than what, how and when they eat.
When I struggle it's a mindset problem. Food is a symptom, never the roots of anything.0 -
Mine is private because it's no one's business and I'm not accountable to anyone but myself for what I put in my mouth. Eating is neither performance art nor a spectator sport, unless you have extraordinarily specialized preferences.
Also, I'm old enough to remember when not publicly airing every tiny detail of your life, no matter how mundane or irrelevant, was actually considered normal, not something to be viewed with indignation and suspicion.0 -
Thank you all for your responses, I was a little presumptuous with assuming that everyone would be like myself "an open book" so to speak.
Of course some people would want privacy And I respect that. As many of you have said you don't necessarily want others knowing what you eat and if you have strayed from your dietary paths, again you don't necessarily want others knowing.
I did not mean to be offensive towards anybody. Mine was just a question as to why so many people have their diaries closed. I believe that I have had many different viewpoints and now appreciate why so many do not share theirs.
I also would like to thank the many people who sent friends requests on the back of the post.
My friends list has grown because of it. I believe that this will help myself with support even if we are on totally different diets.0 -
I'd say mostly because its the default setting you are reading way too much into it. Mine is an open book feel free to take a look or add me as a friend.0
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Shows you're SERIOUS about helping others along with yourself and also that you're not ashamed to gain feedback from others when you can let people see what you're doing. This is not easy for some, especially introverted or people who shy away from being in the spotlight.Low carb is better than low fat if you're doing endurance and aerobic activity. Nice work0
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Fat is not a bad thing in moderation though. Carbs seem to be good if you are lifting everything is ok in moderation except fructose which is evil.0
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I must admit i did not know i was going to open such a can of worms with this question.
I really do appreciate what people have said about keeping their diaries closed and the reasons behind that.
I also understand that many people are on different diets so looking at what a person eats on any given day may not help me whatsoever.
I have mine open so I can be accountable to myself. I have been overweight for so long and want to make this work, so if i can get support from any of my friends it is gratefully accepted.
Once again thanks for all the responses
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PaulLester wrote: »I must admit i did not know i was going to open such a can of worms with this question.
I really do appreciate what people have said about keeping their diaries closed and the reasons behind that.
I also understand that many people are on different diets so looking at what a person eats on any given day may not help me whatsoever.
I have mine open so I can be accountable to myself. I have been overweight for so long and want to make this work, so if i can get support from any of my friends it is gratefully accepted.
Once again thanks for all the responses
It was definitely worth discussing! Thanks for bringing it up.
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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.
This is why so many people keep it private - because you don't know why someone eats what they do and it's really none of our business. Like Lynn - I would love to add milk to my list of foods but I can't - the end 0 -
PaulLester wrote: »I must admit i did not know i was going to open such a can of worms with this question.
It was definitely worth discussing! Thanks for bringing it up.
I am amazed by the strong view of many ref the question.
I respect the privacy of others and did not want to come across as somebody who wants to look at others diaries and criticize, that was not my intention.
I believe in a support structure and want to help and support those who require it. I include myself in that number.
I would not offer unsolicited advice as i know nothing of the specialised dietary requirements of other people. It just a pat on the back so to speak. Encouragement helps 0 -
If your diary is bad enough to be private then you're only cheating yourself!0
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This is a tool for me. It keeps me on track! I am not interested in what anyone else eats so why would someone who doesn't know me be interested in what I eat? And yes I log the bad days as well as the good.0
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Because it's my diary. If I want advice, I will open it.0
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PaulLester wrote: »PaulLester wrote: »I must admit i did not know i was going to open such a can of worms with this question.
It was definitely worth discussing! Thanks for bringing it up.
I am amazed by the strong view of many ref the question.
I respect the privacy of others and did not want to come across as somebody who wants to look at others diaries and criticize, that was not my intention.
I believe in a support structure and want to help and support those who require it. I include myself in that number.
I would not offer unsolicited advice as i know nothing of the specialised dietary requirements of other people. It just a pat on the back so to speak. Encouragement helps
These threads tend to take on a life of their own.0 -
tesha_chandler wrote: »I will be 100% honest in my food diary if no one else can see it.
^ This. My diary was public for a long time when I first started but I found that if I had a bad day food-wise or whatever, I just wouldn't log it. So I closed it and now I log the good, the bad, and the ugly. It keeps me on track better.
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kmccann357 wrote: »If your diary is bad enough to be private then you're only cheating yourself!
I've lost 20 pounds in three months - I'm not sure that would have changed if someone else was looking at my diary? Personally I don't see losing 20 pounds as cheating myself - I am actually very proud of myself!0 -
I recently set mine from Private to Open for friends. My reason for Private was to be able to be honest with myself on logging without being held back by feelings of shame or judgment on a bad eating day ("Did you really eat a whole box of Girl Scout cookies??"). I don't like being affected by anyone else's thoughts or comments even to the smallest degree, but I have to admit that I am, and I don't want anything negative to stand in my way, so I will remove the problem, whatever it is, if I can. I moved it to Open for friends recenlty though to hold myself accountable. So far, I have been successful at being honest and it has helped me to make good choices.0
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kmccann357 wrote: »If your diary is bad enough to be private then you're only cheating yourself!
Just because my diary is closed doesn't mean my choices are bad. It just means they are my choices.
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PaulLester wrote: »PaulLester wrote: »I must admit i did not know i was going to open such a can of worms with this question.
It was definitely worth discussing! Thanks for bringing it up.
I am amazed by the strong view of many ref the question.
I respect the privacy of others and did not want to come across as somebody who wants to look at others diaries and criticize, that was not my intention.
I believe in a support structure and want to help and support those who require it. I include myself in that number.
I would not offer unsolicited advice as i know nothing of the specialised dietary requirements of other people. It just a pat on the back so to speak. Encouragement helps
I think your question led to a really awesome discussion! Yes, a lot of strong views, but its enlightening! Just goes to show, what appears to be a simple question, actually can be of real meaning to other people... I learned a lot myself here, reading about how others feel about it, how it affects their journey and what it means to them.
This sort of knowledge only helps with being more sensitive to where others are coming from, an awareness of viewpoints that differ from my own....which is something I always see as a good thing!0 -
kmccann357 wrote: »If your diary is bad enough to be private then you're only cheating yourself!
Right. Because only "bad" diaries are private. *eyeroll*
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When some days look like this:
and other days look like this:
and others look like this:
people won't understand what the heck is going on and may start giving unnecessary comments.
Not to mention the ones that look like this
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I don't enjoy the feeling that I may be being spied on. (Unlikely but not impossible) Like some creeper might put it together that I went grocery shopping recently or eat at Subway on Wednesdays or deduce anything specific about me.
I log for me, I'm not here to fascinate members of MFP. I post whatever food ideas I have on the forums, and get ideas from others on the forums.
I don't participate on social media like Facebook for the same reason. Being an open book and risking (however unlikely) being spied or creeped on gives me anxiety, and I don't feel obligated to anybody to suffer that.
When I did the friend-thing on here I kept my diary open to friends as a courtesy. But I didn't enjoy it for the same reasons as outlined above, and I didn't enjoy feeling obligated to people to comment or like their activities or be supportive or whatever, and I didn't enjoy feeling like I was putting an obligation on anyone else to support me. I have a hard enough time keeping up with my RL obligations to my RL friends/family.
I'm just not the type of person that gets pleasure out of being an open book, or supporting people and getting support, and so on. I realize that being private makes me less interesting, but I'm not interested in being interesting.
In short, everything I do here is for me.0
This discussion has been closed.
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