Why Hide Your Profile / Diary?!

Oy. I was just wondering when this question would come up again.

Please choose from one of the following options:
- I didn't know my diary was private
- I don't want people judging my eating habits
- My diary is open to friends (and no, I won't friend you)
- I don't care, anyone can see my diary
- I eat only the blood of live chickens

Sorta off topic here... but is mine open... I dont remember what i chose when i set it up, and I only have on friend... lol which is my wife. So yea. No hiding from her, no matter what i do.

jcmcdaniel, your diary is closed, breathe easy!

How do i open it? I dont care what people see and/or think?

Go to your own Home Page > settings (top right) > Diary Settings (sixth one down) - scroll to the bottom and you will find the option there

I left my profile open and the combined awesomeness between my diary and my profile would make mfp crash more than it does now.

Why do so many people hide their profile and food diary?

When I see things like "I lose 1-2 lbs a week and I'm eating this many colories, etc".. then I click on their page and nope, can't see what their stats are to compare myself.. or to see what they're eating to get ideas of how healthy they are eating to also compare...

:sad:

It helps me see the different variety of foods in others that are this journey as well, I like the open diary's!

Mine is set to private because I am in no way a clean eater. I do a lot better than I used to but I do still allow myself treats sometimes. Going through the forums for just a short time I saw way too much rude criticism on what people were eating. I dont need that from people, I already know its bad.

Yeah, but at the same time, everytime I see someone doing well, or a success story I don't want that to add up to 100's of friends, it'd be nice to be able to check quickly see what they're doing, and be on my marry way :drinker:

Right, but they're not here for you. They're here for themselves.

Mine is open, because I don't care either way. I keep private the things I need to keep private. My eating habits are not one of those things. But I don't have a problem with people who keep their diaries private. It's their journey, and it doesn't affect mine in the slightest. People have all kinds of reasons for keeping their profiles and food diaries private, and none of those reasons has anything to do with me. If somebody has a success story and I'm just DYING to know exactly how they did it, I'd probably shoot them a friend request with a message. But generally I don't do that, because it's really none of my business and I respect people's privacy. If you want to ask a question, ask it. But it's nobody's responsibility to inspire you.

I like to peruse through people's diaries randomly. So I appreciate when someone has it open. That's the only reason I really keep mine open - cuz I like to look at others; so I might as well offer the same. I'm never on the lookout to criticize anyone - it's not my business what anyone else eats... But it is nice to sneak a peak at someone who has, say, lost a bunch of weight in a short amount of time... I'm always curious "ok, what's your calorie intake like?". Sometimes i'm really suprised. Sometimes not.

I vary between open and closed. Right now I'm closed and that's because I was starting to feel a pressure to "perform" for my mfp buddies in my diary. Closing it temporarily is an experiment in self-sufficiency and to see if it helps me log better even on my bad days. When I feel comfortable I'll open it up again. I'm sure I'll go through similar peaks and troughs during my whole getting fit experience.

This is exactly why mine is private atm. People would comment on what I ate, and I felt judged. I started to feel the urge to lie or not log. I need to be honest with myself without unsolicited comments from other people.

I had mine private up until today, and I'm a little nervous to have it on friends-only. I know that my caloric intake is too low, but I'm working on it. That said, I don't want people to automatically get upset because I'm only eating X amount of calories a day.

I do love checking out other people's diaries though, because I know I can always find something creative to incorporate into my life. Plus, it helps to see that people can eat SO much and still be under their goals.

Sometimes I like to snoop too to see what has helped others -- but it would also be helpful if people asking for advice on forums would open up their diaries instead of having everyone playing guessing games. If you're going to ask for help, you're not going to get any real help unless people can see exactly what you're already doing to suggest effective changes. Otherwise, it doesn't make a difference to me if anyone else chooses to keep their diary locked or not.

I'm with all of the people who have it closed because of fear of judgment.

I used to stress eat, and one of the key times when I stress ate was when someone pointed out I was making bad food decisions. The fatter I felt, the more I ate. And now that I'm eating healthier and losing weight at a steady rate, I don't want anyone to mess that up, especially not someone who's just 'trying to help.' I don't need the constructive criticism. That's what I have my physician for.

And if I mess up, I don't want someone to tell me. I know I messed up. It's self-accountability. That's all I need. If someone random rubs it in, whether intentional or not, it's going to make me feel bad about myself. And I don't need that kind of pressure.

Obviously, something's working for me since I'm losing the weight, and if I have any questions or need any advice, I'll ask for it. And for anyone who wants to know how I'm losing my weight, they can feel free to message me. As people have done in the past. I have no qualms about sharing my general weight loss plan, because I'm proud of it, but I see no reason to give everyone a specific calorie-by-calorie recap.

I have no problem admitting I'm still on very fragile ground when it comes to food. And I'm sure I'm not the only one. Hell, even seeing people posting on friends' diary updates stuff like, 'don't you think you should be doing this instead?' makes me self-conscious.