Secret Sleever

 Yep, I had half written something like this and then realized you covered all the bases.  I only had the surgery 3 weeks ago, I've been completely open about it and have had at least 4 people either come to me because they've had WLS surgery and want a support person or because they are interested.  I think when we hide it we buy into the stigma that others try to place on us.  I won't own that.

I guess I'm the opposite -

If I'm asked, I tell people, and tell them right away, and gladly.  I think part of this is as a gay man, there's pretty much no more "closets" for me in my life, whether it's about my sexuality or need for weight loss surgery.  I refuse to hide anything about myself.

The other driver is that I'm proud of my decision - I made a tough choice and committed to a complete lifestyle change, and I carry that pride around.  I also hope that by sharing my story, more people will come to understand the surgery, see the positive results, and it suggest it to their family members who could benefit from it as well.  Again, taking from my experiences as a gay man, I've learned that visibiliity is quite important for education.

You mentioned that you're not ashamed but not wanting to 'go public' at the moment - what is the driver of this for you at the moment?  What are you hoping to avoid?

 Not going public at the moment is just that. When I decide to share my story with strangers I will until then I've decided to keep it in the family. I'm not trying to avoid anything....just don't deem it important at this time!

Yeah, I get that - I understand what you're saying, but still trying to figure out what your driver is.  So, when your coworkers ask what diet you're on, you're choosing to remain private/deceptive.  I don't think that it's a case that it's not important - your surgery is so very important to you!  Very very important!  So I'm not sure that saying you deem it unimportant at this time is the heart of the matter.  So it falls to the question of what drives you to not disclose more truthful answers when people ask you about your diet. 

Not trying to push you - I like looking into ourselves so we understand what it is that actual drivers our behaviors.  If we are afraid to share, is it because of fear of rejection?  Is it fear of judgement?  Lack of confidence?  I believe that when we understand our drivers, we become stronger humans and more in touch with our humanity.

Let's say you did tell your coworkers today about your surgery - how would you guess they would react?  Would they say "you took the easy way out!" or would they say "wow, you're brave and congratulations"?  Or some mixture?

 Are you sure you aren't a therapist?

I am a molecular biologist which is a bit on the other side of the spectrum - but I have taken this really fascinating class recently about human dynamics in work teams.  A lot of the class was devoted to determining both your own drivers, and the drivers of those you work with.  The gist being that if you understand what is driving people, you can cut through a lot of the emotion and posturing that sometimes holds us back from progress. 

So know, I'm all about understand what makes people tick - including myself!

Helps keep up the mental health as well, so-to-speak.

Am I being annoying?

I'm pretty sure Ruggie is not "The Rapist"...Sorry I couldn't resist.
That's from the classic SNL skit where Sean Connery is on Jeopardy...
He say's "I'll take THE RAPIST" for 200.00 Alex -
Trebec (played by Will Ferrel) of course say's do you mean "Therapists" Mr. Connery? NO, THE RAPIST! Great stuff

A therapist would also question why you feel the need to tell when you don't want to. You don't owe anyone.

 I think you reading to deep into what I am saying. When I said unimportant I mean that it is not important for me to share my personal business with strangers. That's it, point blank and period. I appreciate your 'concern' but I don't need to be psychoanalyzed about why I choose not to tell people about my surgery. This post was merely to get a general consensus from the people who have also kept their wls private as to how they respond. If you don't agree that's fine, I respect that. I just ask that you show the same by respecting my decision minus your opinions.

 I'm not accusing you of lying.  That was the word you used in your post.  My point still stands tha you may want to look at the reasons you aren't comfortable being upfront about your surgery.