WHY keep your food diary hidden?

A lot of people don't even realize its private lol When you first set up your account you have to put it as not private...when I ask my friends why theirs is private they always say they didnt realize it was and didnt know you could make it public to friends.

Mine is going to be private for a while because I'm using it to track an elimination diet prescribed by my GP and my bodily reactions to certain foods over the next month or two. None of my friends should have to read the things I'm going to be writing down. Haha!

I'm doing okay keeping myself accountable.

I have it set to password for noobs who specifically ask me for help.

I keep it hidden cause I simply don't really want feedback on what I eat or how I eat it or whether I track consistently or not. That's more my tool to use as I feel fit and if/when I get to a point where I'm not losing or I feel I need a kick in the butt in that area I'll share it but until then I use it more to get me in a pattern and more in control:-) I tend to eat a lot of the same sorts of things and often I don't eat enough, in most people's eyes, but I don't want to be told to mix it up & get in those calories all the time. I also eat some things I shouldn't and I don't really want to be scolded for it cause I have to learn to allow for that stuff in moderation. It's all about personal prefrence really and where you think you will get the most benefit from this site:-)

Rant mode on.
Maybe I'm a little paranoid about stuff I put on the net, but I have this nagging thought that someday, insurance companies will be able to get this kind of information about me, and if they see I've eaten too many twinkies, my rates will go up, or I'll be turned down for medical coverage completely. Google's desire is to make ALL information accessible. This includes everything that you say in any forum, any pictures you post anywhere, and anything else that exists on the internet. Remember, the internet is permanent. There are archive sites that allow you to retrieve any website that ever existed, at anytime (though, there are some gaps). If your information doesn't turn up in a search, it probably will someday. Try googling yourself and see what pops up...
Rant mode off.

Mine is open to the world. It's pretty boring. I figure if people want to look at my diary it's either out of boredom or to get ideas.

If someone gives me unsolicited advice on my nutrition I'll do the same here as I do whenever I get unsolicited advice in the real world... tell them exactly where they can shove it.

Because I do not wish for the whole internet to see that I ate ribs for lunch. I want to have the right to complain about my muffin top without people judging my poor will.

I think I've been scared of people judging me. Like, even if I am within the right limits of calories ~ will they judge me for not eating the right sort of food etc.

^This! I finally opened mine up but I was afraid at first that people were going to judge me because I didn't eat as "healthy" as they think I should.

haha it's funny how people get so offended, wonder what they are hiding or who they're trying to kid. You can lie to the world but not to yourself.

Maybe they aren't lying to anyone, and they just find it creepy that random strangers pore over their food choices...

I'm just curious.....I understand if you want your page to be private. However, why keep your food diary private???? Do you do this....if so what's your reasoning? I personally think by making it viewable to friends that it hold you accountable.

I didn't join MFP to be held accountable by other people. I joined because the food diary had a reasonably large database, as compared to Spark, and made it easy to journal my food. I don't feel the need to get other people's opinions on what I'm eating at this time. If I ever do, I will most likely take it to a nutritionist or my doctor. Not a bunch of strangers on the internet.

Cause if she wanna be a freak and sell it on the weekend, it's none of yo business?

i didn't have time to read all the pages, i'm at work, but wanted to post because this is a question i've gone round and round with. Not because i wonder, but because my Mom who is on here also, and I, have very different viewpoints about it and had an interesting discussion, so I will share the basics of it.
When my diary was public (it is now, but i've gone off and on), sometimes my mom would comment on something...tell me in an encouraging way that i should have eaten more veggies, or give me advice on eating.... and other mfp friends would cheer me on (even if I’d had a big mac but stayed under calories LOL), etc.
I ended up having a convo with my mom because honestly, I felt a bit nose out of joint that she would “advise” me without being asked to give her advice! It made me not want to be public because if i didn’t have a perfect day, people would be looking and analyzing and commenting....which leads to me feeling worse, not better, about myself and my efforts even when the criticism was constructive. I felt that I was fine with people looking and the supportive comments were great, whether I ate a big mac or not, but that I didn’t expect advice or criticism unless I had specifically asked for it…that seemed strange to me.
What was interesting is that when we talked about it, i found that my mom and I thought very differently about diaries….about how they were useful and what we were "supposed" to do to be supportive of our mfp friends, etc. When we joined up, we naturally came to a conclusion about what diaries meant for us, and we proceeded accordingly (never knowing there were so many ideas, opinions or convos about it!).
My mom said that she felt a duty (not in a negative way) to review people's diary when they showed up as completed and she and was very loyal to her mfp friends in doing so, making sure to comment in some way, offer advice, give support etc. She felt this is why people had their diary open; that they wanted all their friends to look at it every day and offer helpful comments and/or support. It seemed very obvious to her that diaries were intended for that.
On the other hand, I considered diaries my own private tool. To help teach myself how my calories add up based on different food combos, how my nutrition is affected, etc....mostly, I found diaries helpful to me because when I’d see someone with success, I could look at their food intake and garner some tips and tricks, learn what worked for them, etc. When one of my mfp friends completes for the day, if i'm able I take a look and give a supportive comment, but I never thought that I “should” or that people who had friended me “wanted me to”. Of course when someone posted a thread asking for advice, I did expect them to have an open diary…but otherwise, I just didn’t think much about whether diaries were open or closed.
So basically what I'm saying (in an oh so long winded fashion!) is that it wasn't really about whether i wanted to be accountable, etc. or whether my mom felt it was a "duty" (she doesn't, it's a pleasure, but for lack of a better word), but more about how we each perceived diaries individually. After all, there were no official instructions about how to use MFP; you sign up, explore, and move forward in the way that seems right to you! Eventually you learn how other people use the features and you find the methods of using MFP that really work with your personality/desires/habits/goals and you have success.
That’s my story, and I’m stickin’ with it!! LOL

I have mine set to friends only because, I don't want the world in my business. Havingit set this way means I track everything. If it is public I get self conscious. Tracking is knowing what I put in my mouth so I am not eating mindlessly.

Mine is private. I eat extremely clean, and already with family and friends, they tell me I should add fruit...or veggies I don't eat, they simply do not understand the diet of a bodybuilder, it is much different from the average person who ets to stay healthy or to cut a few calories here or there. I don't want to explain it over and over again. I don't have an issue with my weight, I use the site to track, so I figured why do I need to justify my eating to anyone? Just the way I feel....and I actually won't look at any of my friends diaries that are public unless they ask me too, I almost feel like i'm invading their privacy....just me? I dunno.

BRAVO!

Mine is open to friends only. My friends know my issues-- that I have lupus and am sick a lot, that I just had my wisdom teeth out, etc. I don't like the idea of strangers who don't know what's going on with me giving unsolicited advice based on nothing but my diary. Plus I've found that there are lots of ideas of what makes a good diary and I was getting so much conflicting info that I made it private for awhile, and then later opened it up to friends to keep myself accountable. Personally I find that I'm much more likely to be honest if I'm not worried about someone jumping on me about too many carbs or too much processed food or whatever. I do the best I can, my friends hold me accountable, and that's good enough for me.