why would people feel the need to keep their food diary priv

mine's open to friends but unelss there is a food police I really don't care what people say about what I eat! Some days I eat really good and other days I eat as much processed, refined "fake" crap as I want. It is about balance. You can eat whatever you want whenever you want you just have to be prepared for the consequences it will have on your body and you better as heck not complain about it or someone will have something to tell you for sure! None of my MFP's have ever said anything negative about what I eat and I have logged my fair share of "junk"
Besides, who says that is what they REALLY eat in their log any way...even if it isn't private?
Just for the heck of it I might log ice cream every meal for a week just to see if any of my friends comment!

Probably b/c they don't want unsolicited advice. If your diary is public or open to your friends, you're inviting comments. Some people just don't want those comments. ;-)

yep that's exactly why mine is private. I know myself when I've had a bad day and ate too much rubbish, I don't need anyone else to comment on it and make me feel worse. I come here for support and motivation, and unfortunately criticism, however constructive and well-meaning it is, doesn't motivate me like it does for some people, it actually has the opposite effect. I'd be too scared to be completely honest if my dairy was public or even friends only.

I don't understand why it matters so much to people to see what the calories are made up of. If they're under - they're under. Doesn't the fact that they'vemade significant changes to get under the calories everyday matter?

I'm extremely repetitive in my foods. I also don't always eat over 1200. I am losing weight so at this point if I am at 1000 three days of the week I don't care. I only manage two meals a day most of the time and I'm not a snacker. I even had one day that my net intake was negative. Imagine the comments of the "well wishers" that are only concerned about my health (i am under a family doctor, nutritionist and rhuematologists care).

The problem with it is that people look at them without understanding the persons circumstances. I used to drink alot of calories (milk due to stomach problems from meds). I've never had a big appetite and would probably still be underweight if I didn't have PsA. I struggle to eat because I have stomach problems which will likely get worse soon when the doctors add my new meds. This is where the problem is... How can someone offer constructive criticism if you don't know the whole story.

Of course it's a different story if I was looking for input. Then I would open it up for all to see and seriously consider all advise given. I don't think the majority are mean spirited...quite the opposite...I think they are well intentioned and just want to share what worked for them.

My question would be - Why do people that don't want feedback post their diary was under for the day at all?

Maybe people think the "complete this entry" button on the bottom of the diary is how to build continuous days streaks, however, it's only function seems to be to post calories to the news feed, which your friends see.

So in a way - closing out your diary comes across a lot like asking for feedback because you could just disable the diary from the news feed in My Home - Settings - Automatic News Feed update settings. Then you wouldn't be drawing attention to your diary if it's private.

Drawing attention to your private diary at the end of every day is a lot like saying COME SEE MY COOL NEW CAR! but then refusing to open the garage door. If you want congratulations on your new car, you've got to open the garage door and let them see it, or they are congratulating you blindly, and what real use is blind feedback?

You could argue that you like blind feedback and it makes you feel good, and I'm sure there are people like that on every forum on the internet, and there's not much the rest of us can do about that, it's just how it is. But building up a huge friend base for support and then wanting most of the support to be given blindly would naturally confuse a lot of people that don't operate like that.

Saying you don't ask for feedback and then clicking your under-calorie diary to your news feed is contradictory though. Just sayin'.

Not necessarily--I hit the "Finish Entry" button because I like to see the "If every day were like today..." which you dont get to see unless you close the entry manually.

Edit: Reading is fundamental. I didn't see the notice about the settings, but that's just something I never knew about until just now. So maybe some people really are hitting it to give themselves a pat on the back, and some people (like myself) didn't know you could keep it off the feed. Either way, I still see why some people would keep the diary hidden, like myself.

I just like my privacy.

I keep mine private because I don't believe there is anyone here who can offer better insight into what I need to be eating than me.

THIS.

...because then my friends will know that I eat things like lucky charms and scooby snacks. And that I NEVER drink water

Don't forget the fruit roll ups.

Probably b/c they don't want unsolicited advice. If your diary is public or open to your friends, you're inviting comments. Some people just don't want those comments. ;-)

I agree with this statement. I have had my share of criticisms on my diary. I'm on here for encouragement not critique' .

My reasoning is that I don't have any interest in looking at other peoples diaries so why would anyone want to look at mine? I don't ask any food related questions so it's kind of moot. And I am 100% honest with myself regardless so I don't need others to hold me accountable. I also didn't know it defaulted to private, you learn something new every day! I wondered why "view this diary" didn't show up for me XD

I keep mine private because I don't believe there is anyone here who can offer better insight into what I need to be eating than me.

This! I've been on MFP for 2 years. My diary has been private the entire time and it hasn't hendered me in any way or kept me from losing weight. I know when I should be eating better. I don't need anyone to tell me. If others want ideas on meals or healthy recipes they are always free to ask. The rest of my profile is public. Let me have something to myself.

Mine is wide open for all to see. I invite comments but honestly, I don't think anyone has anything to say other than 'that sounds good' or 'yummy'. I like to see other diaries to get ideas on things to eat in the future.

Or "You are a slave to Trader Joe".

my food diary is a Trader Joe's shopping list, essentially...

Because it's nobody's business what I eat. It has nothing to do with shame. For the record, I eat a 95% clean, pescetarian diet. I get enough flac from people outside the internet about what I do and don't eat, and I don't need that judgement from here, as well. In the end, I'm an adult, and only I can hold myself accountable for how and what I eat. I know what works for me, and I don't need people telling me what should work for me. Frankly, I've always wondered why people would want to make their diaries public, unless they're asking for a public opinion on their diary in the forum.

I don't know how to make mine public! LOL

lol its in your privacy settings, I'd love to creep on your food diary.... stealing your meal plans

mines public but if I don't like the comments I delete the friends lol

I keep mine open to friends because maybe some of them might find it useful to see what I'm doing.. what I'm eating, my macros, meal ideas, etc. For the same reason I'd prefer if my friends kept theirs open too (at least to friends), but at the end of the day it's their right to keep it private. =

alcohol maybe