Don't be a stranger!

I thought I'd just tap off, "I agree", but I read some good points. For me, I need to journal to keep track of what I'm doing, and I also need to be accountable to people I've "outted" myself to. That probably makes me sound needy; however, it is a neuroscientific fact that 'will power' is actually about making choices before you are in crisis, so my choice is for everyone to see my fat ass (used for humor, guys. humor...) and to read what I'm doing about it. Good or bad.

I have a pic... I have many pics on here. I am committed to loosing this weight and i really enjoy my buddies, their support, strength, motivation, education, experience and yes I do like seeing people face to um pic lol . I do creep peoples profiles- only to identify with them and see it as someone i can learn from or teach... it really is about being real with myself. If i eat bad, im not embarassed. if i gain a pound i dont feel bad- geeze guys we're not on this site because we are all fitness masters and healthy eating machines. We are on here cus we are all in the same place with a common goal.
im sorry for those who have had people in their "real life" use info from here to hurt them. But im not sure how that happens- this is my "real life" I tell everyone i know who asks how Ive lost the weight and have had 4 or 5 friends from work join FS and Im not changing a thing...Im proud of FS and proud of who i am and where ive been. Makes where im gonna end up so much sweeter!
Go on and be blessed all of you- photo or no photo! But never be ashamed of who you are - God dont make no junk as my mom would say

AND i dont know how to make my little line ticker thingy appear?! help! lol

Sarahduke... under "my toolbox" click on "my signature". You will find a section "add a ticker". It's just a copy and paste exercise

OK THANKS!!!!

I haven't visited this thread in a little while, and I think it's been such an interesting one to read.
OF COURSE my original post was meant as an invitation, not a demand. OF COURSE it's totally up to you whether you'd like to follow my suggestion. OF COURSE it's up to you whether you're interested in sharing information, giving or taking advice or anything else here. We are here for many reasons.
I feel that I am better off using FatScret with all channels open, as I get MANY great suggestions, comments, advice and general life quality from little things like posting pictures, journals, comments and the other activities that goes on here. If you don't participate in those, you are gonna miss out on a lot of little "weight loss gold nuggets" along the way. I'd say that 20-25% of my weight loss success is due to the tools here. The rest is due to the brother/sisterhood of the crazy gang of FatSecreteers here. You've made it fun to lose weight. You've made it a priority to go here EVERY single day. You've made it neccessary for me to commit, because I keep babbling about how "I can do it", and once it's written in an open journal, I know I will have a small army of buddies holding me accountable on it.
I would fear, if I cut ALL that out, that it would be MUCH harder to do this. It would be harder because I wouldn't get all the bonus facts and info that is spread amongst buddies chit-chatting, and it would be harder because I don't share my experiences.
I hope this all makes sense. If not, try reading my first post again, but picture me smiling from ear to ear while I am typing it out. It's all about happyness - that's where the success is hiding.
Life is good!

Like with everything, I don't think you can assume that everyone who does not post an image of themselves as their avatar, is doing it just for security reasons or not wanting to share.

For me it was less about security and more about insecurity. It was a huge step for me to post a pic of myself, due to my own insecurities of people seeing me. The buddies that now know me, know that I am so over that now!!! lol!!!

I do try and encourage others to post a pic as and when they are ready, because I do believe it is part of the healing process of accepting yourself and putting yourself out there to be accepted by others.

But hey ho, that is my humble opinion

Well put, Tracy. I fully agree.

Here, here Tracey.... You are absolutely right. It was hard for me to post that first pic (in the end I had to, due to hassle from a certain person lmao). In the end I only posted it on my journal, but am pleased I took that first step. I believe insecurity is a BIG reason for not posting, you wonder if people will say eeeew... Or not want to be your buddy anymore, or think less of you. Silly, I know, as most FS people do not make judgements like that, we are all here for the same reason - too loose - or some to gain weight.

Oh Sk1nny, and there I thought I was being really subtle!!! lmao!!! I only push when I know you are ready (like a mamma bird)

I know when you do feel insecure about it, when you finally pick up the courage to post your pic, it is very liberating to discover that people don't run away screaming..........or at least I did not witness them doing it

I like to have my profile accessible and my picture public so I can be held accountable for my actions. I do feel it is each their own decision to share, however, it does seem easier to get support from others when you share your info.

Actually... In my defence, I am rather new here and am totally confused about the profile thingy. I'm still not sure if it's on private or not. Can someone please check my profile and find out for me. Please. I'd be ever so grateful.

Maggie, you are public.

Oh thanks Les319522... I'm all over the place at the moment. I'll learn it all soon.
Thanks again.
MM

Interesting topic. I know it's a little older, but I stumbled across it while looking for something else.

I have been pretty open about everything on here so far. Honestly, the only reason I don't have a real picture posted yet is that I don't have a relatively current photo.

It was kind of surprising to realize that I don't have any recent photos of myself! It's not like I hide from cameras...I'm sure my family or friends have some. Guess I just haven't obtained copies for whatever reason.

I probably should get on that though - can't actually see my progress if there aren't any "before" pictures to compare!

I have had my profile public since I started here until I recently goggled my userID & found every forum post & journal entry right on google's 1st page for EVERYONE to see. Then I promptly decided to change my settings to private. So sad because I like being "held accountable" which is what I feel showing my food diary, journal & weight history does. I contacted customer support about the privacy issue & they merely stated they could change my username if I liked???
Both sides make good points, however I when I feel strongly about an issue, I don't really care what others will think, because at the end of the day, I am at home with me.) Respectfully

Indeed, Bella is correct. Not only do your posts appear on a search, an image search of your user names will also reveal avatars. For instance, my cow appears first on Google image search.

Many years ago as a community manager for a large Internet portal, I dealt with many people who found themselves in awkward situations by revealing a bit too much information which was in turn disseminated via search engines.

... just some food for thought (pun intended).

the google thing is pretty disturbing. a lot of social sites have privacy settings to keep that from happening while still sharing with members of the community. i didn't see a privacy setting here in my account. does anyone know if there is one? if there isn't, there should be FS.

I've been careful just because with linkedin and facebook profiles out there, I really don't want people from my day-to-day work world to find out how much I'm eating and drinking. I don't mind sharing these facts with you guys, but gosh, a guy from work looked over my shoulder at my fitbit entry and said, "Wow, 1800 calories! You eat a lot!"

That coworker seems to be a moron. But my reason for not sharing an image is the same. The rest of my information is public and as no real-life colleague or friend actually knows my username, I don't care about the google search thing.

My image is a different story altogether. I don't have a recent photo of myself and combined with the privacy thingy, I don't really want to share a photo either.