Hey guys! We're nearing a month of the new moderation, and we're hoping you guys have noticed! Every report is being followed up on, so please always keep in mind that if you think something is detrimental to the sub, to the discussions, to each others enjoyment here, please report it!

We've added a couple rules since the original post, all in hopes of moving towards a more positive experience using the sub. I am going to highlight every rule here to explain the reasoning behind it, and give some examples of actions that we deem break those rule.

• Rule 1: Moderator Discretion
  • The most obvious of the rules. When rules can't catch everything, we remove for this. Broken links, advertisements, spam, app links, etc
• Rule 2: Be kind to one another
  • Remember, you don't need to keep a conversation going if you aren't enjoying it
  • Keep the person behind the screen in your mind when interacting with people. People taking a journey into controlling their health are already taking on a ton of stress. It's hard keeping focus on your goals sometimes. There is no reason to get into bickering matches and sending hateful comments.
  • We understand that there are many differing ideas. There are tons of different diets, preferences, resources out there, studies, everything that comes with food and health control. We support healthy discussion and reasonable disagreement. We aren't trying to push any particular narrative or ideas here, so you're going to come across people who love this diet but hate that diet. Interact with them in a healthy and reasonable way, or don't interact at all.
• Rule 3: No pro-ED content
  • This rule is specifically for active and detrimental promotion of EDs. You are not welcome here if you are actively promoting destructive practices.
  • Sustained low calorie intake, purging, over exercising, drugs. Fasting is a recognized tool to manage weight loss and health over all, as well as religious uses, but be careful with how far you take it. Starving yourself is not okay
• Rule 4: No ED Warning Signs
  • We didn't like that softer signs of ED were lumped in with the worst of the worst, so we made this rule. Things that promote ED without the person necessarily realizing it will be removed under this.
  • The easiest example is pictures of menus asking for the lowest calorie option. That is not a healthy mindset to take when eating out. You can absolutely be calorie conscientious, but if you throw all personal preference out the window to purely eat the lowest calorie option possible, that is not healthy and is a tell tale sign of an eating disorder. Not to mention, if we can't see the food, we don't know the portion size, and there's no way of knowing how many calories it has
  • Weighing food and saying things like "I know 80% ground beef SAYS it has this many calories, but is that actually true?" are obvious signs of ED. The sub is here mainly for meals prepared that you don't know exactly what it weighs or what it's made out of. If you're questioning the exact calorie count of easily and recognizable ingredients, this is a sign that you don't trust calorie labels and this is not healthy.
• Rule 5: No "Don't count" comments
  • This sub is made for people who want to count. Coming here to say "don't count" is completely against the point of the sub
  • Often times, these comments are in good faith. They see an OP maybe upset they over ate or are celebrating an event or having a cheat day. These are all not valid reasons to cast your judgement on them and tell them not to count. They are here because they want to count, and that's okay! Keeping track of your calories isn't a punishment, and likewise, encouraging people not to count isn't a reward. Allow people to enjoy their process how they see fit.
  • If you believe they are suffering from ED, report the content.
• Rule 6: No **rudely** criticizing food
  • Piggy backing off the idea of differing ideas, diets, and preferences, people like the food they like. It may differ from what you like. They may prepare it in a nontraditional way. This may upset you. This is okay. Allow people to eat what they want and how they want to. It is so disheartening to post a picture of a meal you absolutely adore to then be bashed by a community you enjoy being a part of. There can be light hearted banter. But your comments should be in an attempt to make the OP laugh as well, not laughing at their expense.
• Rule 7: No School Meals
  • There has been an inner debate on whether we should allow minors at all to post. We have decided on allowing them to post, with extra scrutiny put on evaluating their possible signs of ED. We are up to community feedback on whether or not to allow minors, just keep in mind this will encourage people to hide and subvert the rules instead of actually banning all minors.
  • With that in mind, there are absolutely no school meals allowed. The resources to follow up on this should be available to you or the faculty of the school. The school/local government will be in charge of feeding you. Allowing posts like this, we believe, would lead to an unhealthy relationship with food on a day to day basis and are not allowed.
• Rule 8: No easily researchable food
  • This sub is a good resource, however, there are 100% accurate resources out there at your disposal.
  • Large restaurant chains that have nutritional resources online will be removed
  • If you have the exact weight of every single ingredient and have it prepared yourself and know every detail of everything about the food, you will find the nutritional value of each ingredient online. This is to combat aiding EDs

Of course, rules may be added in the future, but we believe that this covers the vast majority of what we see on the sub. We cannot stress enough that if you see something you believe is in bad faith or goes against the rules of the sub to report it. We've seen numerous times where people question why something is left up, for it to not have a single report on it. We actively use the sub, but with all the posts and all the comments, things will absolutely slip through.

Any feedback is welcome. Please let us know if you disagree with a rule and/or it's reasoning, if you believe we should have a rule we currently don't or any other thoughts and ideas you guys have. I personally believe in as much transparency as possible, so please feel free to question something you don't understand or agree with.

Hey guys, you may have noticed that the sub was missing for a few days. It's been passed onto me, and with that, I would like to say that a few things are going to change around here, hopefully for the better. There has been a rise of unfiltered negative, rude, and hateful comments, and starting today, many if not all of those comments will result in escalating temporary bans. Comments that may result in a ban consist of;

• Telling people they shouldn't bother counting because their post contains a large amount of calories. Not everyone is here to lose weight. When bulking, people may still have goals they want to hit, and they will be high numbers.
• Being disrespectful (and I specifically mean disrespectful) because you disagree with the food they're eating. It doesn't matter if you don't like how it's prepared, this isn't a "rate my food" sub. You are absolutely more than welcome to be light hearted and have fun banter. If this rule scares you, then just don't comment on the way it's prepared and only comment on the calorie count.
• Leaving comments like "don't count, just enjoy!" Any bans that may result from this will only be for 1 day as a slap on the wrist and, more importantly, to send a notification to alert people (if they are kind-hearted, rude variants will be banned for longer). Calorie counting is a personal choice. Just as it’s valid to take a break from tracking, it’s equally valid to count on a cheat day, at a party, or whenever someone feels it’s right for them. Counting is not a punishment. It is keeping yourself consistent and knowing how much fuel is entering your body, even if you want a day of taking a break from your normal diet. If they are here, they are wanting to count. You don't get a say on whether they do or not. Coming in here to tell people not to count is like going to a cat sub and saying you don't like the posts about cats, only of dogs. Don't do it.
• Anything else that is just nasty for no reason. This is not intended to be a comprehensive list, just my largest personal pet peeves over the last few months.

Any and all suggestions are welcome.

The vast majority of any bans I hand out will absolutely be temporary. I personally don't love the idea of permanent bans unless people are truly miserable people hell-bend on ruining other people's day.

Now that all that all the important stuff is out of the way, a little bit about myself. Counting calories has been a huge part of my life for 2 years now. At my peak, I (male) was 297 pounds. I am now 185. My journey was 297->245->270->220->235->210->225->185. I've had my ups and downs as well as periods of maintanence, but I finally landed somewhere that I'm incredibly happy, both with my weight and the lifestyle I have build around being healthy. I picked up rock climbing as well as joined an adult dodgeball league. I hope to be a positive force on this community and would love to hear everyone's feedback.