Getting closer/to tell or not to tell...

I have told only my family. Once I reach goal I think I will be ready to share my WLS info. I need privacy during my WL. People have noticed my weight loss. I tell them I am on a medically supervised diet of protein and no carbs. At work, most co-workers are very distant. I travel a lot and don't have close relationships with. Co-workers. Good luck

My personal feelings on this, right now, at this point (might change later LOL) is, this is MY journey, and it's personal to me. I am not sharing this with anyone who hasn't been through it. I have told 3 people. My husband, my lifelong best friend, and one co-worker, who I am very close to, and I trust that she will not tell a soul. The only reason I told them is because they are my support system. I trust them, and they are not going to try to sway my decision one way or the other.

I got my referral from my family doctor in June of 2012. I was doing weigh****chers at that time with not much success. In October of 2012, I switched to a high protein/low carb diet, and started losing weight. In Jan of 2013, I started training for a 10k, and continued to lose weight. I ended up losing 55 pounds in 5 months, and I felt amazing. My weighloss was noticeable, and I had a lot of people comment. I told them the truth, diet & excersise. I did my 10k in April of 2013, and then I stopped exercising. I ended up gaining back 25 of the 55 I lost :(

I just went for my WLS information session last week, and have just started all my tests etc. I'm thinking it's going to be about 6 months until I get an actual surgery date. In that time, I have decided to get back on my diet, and i'm training for a 5k, so i'm excising daily again.

I am hoping to start dropping weight again. I am sure that people will start to notice again, and I can honestly say "diet & excersise". When I have my surgery, i'm hoping that people will just assume i'm being good on my diet LOL
I may tell certain people that I had WLS (as a tool to help me in my journey, and explain it to them), but it will depend on who it is, why they are asking, and if they could benefit from knowing. I'm not going to just tell everyone, because i'm not interested in defending my choices, and having that discussion with people. It's really nobody's business.

I am lucky in that I am a teacher, so I get 12 weeks off from June-Sept. I'm hoping to have my surgery in that time so I don't have to take 4 weeks off to recover.

Since starting this journey last week, i've had to schedule appts for meetings, ultrasounds, tests, and so on. I've had to take one day off so far. I just told my immediate supervisor that my doc suspects my gallbladder needs to come out. That explains the u/s, tests and appts. Also, if I DO end up having the surgery during work time, it'll explain the surgery and recovery time. (they don't know I don't have a gallbladder LOL)

I have another close friend (who also knows) that has had the surgery. She is very open about it. I have heard the comments that people say, and i'm not interested in telling those people. Not everyone "gets it" They figure if I can lose the weight, then why the surgery. They think it's crazy and drastic, blah blah blah. I know I CAN lose the weight, I just can't keep it off!

That's just my opinion on this topic!

Im struggling with the same thing. My family knows, and thats it. I want to tell my friends- obviously they know I am overweight- but I am kind of embarassed as well. I plan on telling my boss in the next few weeks-as surgery should be in late March

I am struggling with this as well. I can't get over feeling ashamed about this even though I keep telling myself that there is nothing to be ashamed of and I should be proud of myself. My surgery date is getting closer and I haven;t figured out what to tell people. I work in a very close knit enviornment also, so my gut feeling is not to tell people because I don't want everyone in my business giving me advice I don't want, etc. Right now I'm just planning on telling my immediate boss that I will be out for surgery for 2 weeks and not volunteer any info. about it, and hope she will leave it at that. If people are pushy, I might just tell them I'm having my gallbladder out. I feel bad for lying but I don't know if I feel comfortable with everyone knowing.

I have personally found it better to not tell people until after you have the surgery. They're less likely to say anything rude once you've already undergone the procedure. Good luck!

OH is a very accepting community of people who understand what you are going through and support and respect your decision to have weight loss surgery.

The majority of other people in the world are not like that.  They see weight loss surgery as the lazy and cheating way for a fat person to get skinny.  I personally do not care to spend my life trying to educate them or change their thinking.

Once you announce your surgery, many people will be extremely supportive to your face, but inwardly lose a lot of respect for you and will enjoy gossiping about you.  Many will secretly hope that you fail.  As another poster stated more people know about your surgery than the few that you have told.

People are already watching and judging you.  You can have your surgery and explain your absence from work as simply personal.  You are not obligated to tell them anything.  My advise is to get your surgery, work your tool correctly, and  decide whether or not to talk about your surgery after you have been successful with it.

It is perfectly fine to tell people about your diet and exercise plan, without adding in VSG.  You are inviting an invasion of food police and people giving you well meaning but unwanted advise.  When someone directly confronts you about the surgery, just shrug and say it has helped but only worked because I did the diet and exercise.