Why do you care if people read your food diary?

13

Replies

  • angelexperiment
    angelexperiment Posts: 1,917 Member
    This is a question for the people who have their food diary set to private. I'm just wondering why you care if people read it?

    I guess I would see this other way round , why do you care if you can't read it?

    I don't need help on my food intake ( I do think it is helpful if people seeking help open their diaries) and I don't see how my diary is of any benefit or interest to anyone else and I don't need everything about me available for people to idly peruse.

    The reason I look at others diaries is for guidance I find it helpful to see an example of what a healthy proportionate meal may look like especially if we are eating a similar diet or to get ideas on foods or meal prep.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    eatyogarun wrote: »
    This is a question for the people who have their food diary set to private. I'm just wondering why you care if people read it?

    And I wonder why people care that I have it private. So we're even.

    Edited to add: thank you to all of the other people saying they'd be more likely to fudge if it was public. I'm the same way. There was a thing here for a while where people insisted you were hiding/lying if your diary wasn't open. Weird hill to die on.

    Yes there was too.

    Along with that other thing that bothers some people : if your avatar is not a photo of yourself.

    It has happened to me once when my diary was open, in a thread about daylights saving or doctors being overweight or people wearing make up to the gym or something* and someone posted why should I value your opinion when you only eat x amounts protein per day. :*:*



    * can't remember exact thread topic but absolutely nothing to do with my diary or how I eat or anything about me personally.

    @paperpudding

    I am so disillusioned. I thought you were a credible source of input. Now I find out your protein is inadequate.

    That same person reading mine would likely think I wrote the book on all things overweight doctors and saving daylight time. My protein intake is too high lately which is another good reason not to share:

    Just because someone is engaged in an overall successful system does not mean the diary snapshot you are looking at is part of it. There are a lot of things that I put in my 20 percent bucket which means this is my moderated category. Things like fast food, processed food, and desserts. I also do not like days of highly unbalanced macros or extraordinarily high fiber.

    However, I do not live in a system of strict requirements unless it is something that really makes me feel bad. I live in a system of optimal guidelines. Optimal value for calories. Optimal nutrition. Optimal macros. Optimal fiber. Optimal satiation. Optimal sodium control to keep my scale from singing soprano more than needed.

    If you looked at yesterday and the day before I have not been eating optimally. Halloween snuck up on us and in favor of getting a lot of things done fast we have eaten out more than normal then followed it up with party food. On top of all that I am over my calories. I have noted a slight deviation in a few areas but nothing uncomfortable... just different. I do not believe our bodies need nonstop super regulated eating including nutrition. I believe we are designed well for detours. So snapshots, even an entire week, can fail to tell the whole story.
  • LiftandSkate
    LiftandSkate Posts: 148 Member
    It never occurred to me that someone would want to see mine. Why would they? It has never once occurred to me to look at someone else's diary.
  • IronIsMyTherapy
    IronIsMyTherapy Posts: 482 Member
    Because no one needs to know that I drink half a liter of wine on a friday. Oh wait.....crap.....might as well open it up now.

    What happened to the other half?
  • deputy_randolph
    deputy_randolph Posts: 940 Member
    I think mine is set to "Friends" or something like that. Someone asked on the forums once about ideas on how to get more protein in diet. Instead of typing out ideas in the forum, I just opened diary and told the person to look. It was quicker, and I have nothing to hide. I'm not exactly a "private person"...I'm more like an "open book."

    I've never gotten rude messages...and I would just delete and delete the person anyway. Judgmental comments about what I eat or drink (maybe a few beers) would say more about the judgey troll than me.
  • Courtscan2
    Courtscan2 Posts: 499 Member
    Because no one needs to know that I drink half a liter of wine on a friday. Oh wait.....crap.....might as well open it up now.

    What happened to the other half?

    Challenge accepted.
  • TonyB0588
    TonyB0588 Posts: 9,520 Member
    I don't worry about it. I've only once had someone ask me to explain what an item on my list was, but never any rude comments.

    Personally I found it quite an eye opener to see how people's eating was affected by cultural and perhaps socio-economic differences, but I would never comment on it. And some people list every meal of the day as a restaurant brand, with never a home prepared meal.

    But after a while it gets boring. I really don't look any more. Apart from the diary though, I really don't like to accept a Friend Request from a person whose whole profile is locked.
  • Katmary71
    Katmary71 Posts: 7,145 Member
    Katmary71 wrote: »
    I don't mind people looking at my diary, I think it's pretty interesting seeing what people eat but I get hungry doing it and I'm normally (not the last couple weeks) eating an anti-inflammatory diet so all the sweets give me cravings for things I can't have! The comments every once and awhile throw me, I think I'm so used to thinking of what I do as private that when someone notices little things it surprises me. My favorite comment in the last two years was after I had a major sugar craving and only had apples in the house and ate like 4 in a row, I logged it as one apple and someone commented that I ate huge apples. I weigh everything so it was like a 600 gram apple! That had to be a sarcastic comment, right? That would be like a watermelon!

    Wait, was that me? That sounds like the kind of joke I would make! 😁

    I don't remember who said it, that's the funny thing!
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,304 Member
    @psychod787 what do you mean it's open to friends? I could be learning from a master and I've been ignoring it due to being too lazy to click!?!

    I had some happy times when we were doing 10+ Bunnie a day contests (850+g of fruits and vegetables) and Dutch girl would clean out with 20+😹

    And while @fernt21 was around she used to call me out on my Halloween 20+ fun bars and talk me into bunnies!!😹

    I switched from public to friends after a couple of @paperpudding type comments including a major blow up by someone who was not losing weight as desired and was looking at inputs while failing to grasp that the caloric balance part of caloric balance is where the rubber meets the road.

    But, I sure that @paperpudding is "hiding" her diary only because it is full of.... oh you know I'm going to say it... It is full of protein stealing cucumbers, dill pickles, and other cucurbits!!!!😹😹😹

  • sal10851
    sal10851 Posts: 171 Member
    I keep it public since lying to myself has not worked for me in the past. I've got nothing to hide and I'm not ashamed of what I eat or drink. For so many years I was embarrassed of my diet but since making healhier choices I found that's not the case anymore.
  • Oliveciabatta
    Oliveciabatta Posts: 294 Member
    I only recently realised you could take it off the default private setting. I've set it to friends for now as for me that makes more sense if someone in my bubble can see it if I wanted any feedback on it. I'm not bothered really who knows what I've eaten but at the same time its not really the business of every man and his dog to know what brand of tea I drink.

  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,304 Member
    But, I sure that @paperpudding is "hiding" her diary only because it is full of.... oh you know I'm going to say it... It is full of protein stealing cucumbers, dill pickles, and other cucurbits!!!!

    You and your obsession with cucumbers :o:*B):D

    far more likely it is full of cheesecake, pavlova,chocolate muffins..... h3727.gif
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,099 Member
    edited November 2020
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    @psychod787 what do you mean it's open to friends? I could be learning from a master and I've been ignoring it due to being too lazy to click!?!

    I had some happy times when we were doing 10+ Bunnie a day contests (850+g of fruits and vegetables) and Dutch girl would clean out with 20+😹

    And while @fernt21 was around she used to call me out on my Halloween 20+ fun bars and talk me into bunnies!!😹

    I switched from public to friends after a couple of @paperpudding type comments including a major blow up by someone who was not losing weight as desired and was looking at inputs while failing to grasp that the caloric balance part of caloric balance is where the rubber meets the road.

    But, I sure that @paperpudding is "hiding" her diary only because it is full of.... oh you know I'm going to say it... It is full of protein stealing cucumbers, dill pickles, and other cucurbits!!!!😹😹😹

    @PAV8888 yes sir. Mine has the option to have it open to friends. Easy on @fernt21 , she only does it because she loves you. Love ya to bro...😗
  • xodreamariexo
    xodreamariexo Posts: 63 Member
    Just a PSA I never judge when I look at diaries I just look for ideas of what to eat!
  • Maacydon
    Maacydon Posts: 4 Member
    I have been away from MFP for a long while, I would like to clear my history and start over, rather than slog through page after page of old meals. I know 2 years ago MFP said they were working this, has it happened?
  • minstrelofsarcasm
    minstrelofsarcasm Posts: 2,627 Member
    I think I've only ever looked at someone else's diary when someone else commented about how good a meal looked in the discussion under the completed diary for the day. And I think I've only ever looked back through mine when I was convinced that I had a food allergy and I wanted to investigate.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    Maacydon wrote: »
    I have been away from MFP for a long while, I would like to clear my history and start over, rather than slog through page after page of old meals. I know 2 years ago MFP said they were working this, has it happened?


    Wouldnt it be easier just to re join under a different name?

    THIS is exactly what I thought. Saves a lot of hassel.
  • Snugbug6
    Snugbug6 Posts: 30 Member
    Why do you feel entitled to know what anyone else is eating? If they don't see the benefit of changing to public, that's their decision and they don't need to justify it to anyone.