Not Telling People

I only told my husband,three adult daughters,my sister(nurse) and a close friend(nurse). I started on this journey in nov,started dieting and working out to prepare for surgery. Had my wls in jan. Waited my two weeks before working out again. I have told anyone who asks about my weightloss that i have been working out and working with a nut. That seems to end it because most of my friends have seen me working out at the local gym.I'm through the liquid,pureed,mushie stages and now eat small amounts of healthy foods and people really don't comment. I'm glad I didn't tell many people because this is really about what I needed to do to become and stay healthy for me!! I work from my home and when I was drinking/eating according to plan it was during the cold winter months when everyone tends to hibernate!! I am very happy with the sleeve and as many others stated wish I could have done it years ago!! Good luck in your journey!!

Common responses;

I already ate
I lost the weight by eating less and exercising
I'm not hungry
I'm watching my weight
I'm eating better
Carbs hate me so I'm not going to eat that cookie/cake/pizza
One serving is more than enough, thanks

I have some friends who have not told many people about their sleeve  surgery and they tell me that most people don't notice. Order an appetizer at lunch or a soup at dinner and no one notices how much you're eating or not eating. Always ge****er with meals, even if you don't drink it, or the waiter will come around all evening asking if you want something to drink.

I told everyone about my sleeve surgery. My success has inspired a few people to look into WLS and two co-workers have already gotten the sleeve.

Good luck,
George

For me, it was a no shame game. I workout with a dance fitness group in my area called UJAM Fitness. A lot of us are all very close. They knew how often I worked out and how hard. My knees held me back and I was always getting an injury from my weight. I did a secret page on Facebook and tagged only those people I wanted to know. I was overwhelmed and overjoyed at the support I rec'd from people I thought would be most judgemental. They brought me care packages of foods I could eat the 1st 2 weeks. They called, visited and 1 of them even took me to the hospital for surgery. I am pretty much an open book bc I don't care if poeple judge me. I am who I am, and I am a grown ass woman and I will make my own decisions no matter what someone says. One of them wrote on my page and I put it on my blog.....VSG stands for VERY SUPERFLY GIRL! It touched my heart. The point is...I didn't feel right not sharing this with those closest to me, I figured those who matter won't care and those who care, don't matter.
Good Luck.
Linda B

I tell everyone  lol  even strangers  but i'm a little odd.  I did this for health reasons not vanity, but i'm delighted with my results.   Just tell people that you are changing your diet and exercising because its definitly the truth.  The sleeve gave me a head start but i still have to work at it.   Good luck :o) Jeani

I'm kinda like you, Jeani! I talk to strangers, clerks, etc... My family was not for me getting this done, but who cares? Lol! I didn't do it for THEM, I did this for me!

This is how I deal with people I didn't tell:

I'm dieting.
I want to lose weight.
I'm not overeating anymore.
I'm allergic to that thing you want me to eat. It makes me feel bad/fat/allergic/wakes up my carb monster/etc.
I need knee replacement and that thing you want me to eat will set my surgeon-mandated weight loss back up to a week, which means I'll be living in excruciating pain for an extra, unnecessary week, so no thank you.
How am I doing it? I'm pretty much eating about 900 calories a day of only meat, fish, eggs, greek yogurt and some veggies. What's that? How do I manage that? I'm trying to save my life, that's how. I view this as a life or death situation. In case you hadn't noticed, I weighed 330 pounds and was dying.

Now, if someone I've told gives me **** about how people who have surgery always gain their weight back, I tell them I didn't have the procedure they're thinking of, that I had a stomach reduction, which renders me unable to eat more than 4 oz. at a time, and they shut up. I don't go into other aspects unless they genuinely want the info.

Here's the thing: you'll be successful. In the first month after surgery, you'll go through some difficult times, you might wonder what the hell you did and your weight might not start really coming off until your body has stabilized from the trauma of major surgery and sudden, drastic calorie restriction. Know this now and you'll save yourself a lot of frustration later. Once your body has figured things out, you'll start to lose. I stalled at two and a half weeks for THREE WEEKS. Didn't lose an ounce. Yet, I've still managed to lose more than 100 pounds and I'm not quite at six months (next Wednesday). Follow the rules, and your sleeve will work for you.

Over time, your fear of failure will be replaced by the tangible rewards of success and your psyche will switch from anxiety about what to tell people to saying THANK YOU! when everybody's jaws drop when they see how much progress you've made.

Im actually having my surgery at the hospital where  I work so pretty much my whole world knows lol. It's been very nice and helpfull very supportive so i put it on face book as well ...

Thanks so much, guys!!  I'm just scared.  I want to be successful for the long term.

 Because I've lost and gained weight so many times, I have been a bit embarrassed to admit to anyone except family members that I'm having this surgery. Really, I just don't feel like telling very many people because I don't want to explain over and over the whys and whats about it. But when I started on pre-op protein shakes, a couple of co-workers guessed because they have family members who have had WLS. They are very supportive. Of course, I had to make arrangements with my boss to take some time off, and he's 100% behind me on this. I suspect I'll tell people after the surgery and when they notice the weight loss, and I probably won't mind at all talking about it.

Good luck in your journey.

Well, I was pretty "up in the air" about telling people before I had surgery too. I told my close friends and family only. As someone posted before me, I didn't want to hear any negativity going into this. I KNEW what I had to do.  But after surgery, I've decided that if people ask, I just tell them and I must say, it's been a HUGE relief! I know me too well to know that I couldn't "hide" it from people if they ask. I'm sort of like an open book. =) And I also must say that EVERYONE'S reaction as has been nothing but supportive and inquisitive! I get lots of questions about what I had done, how it works, the diet I'm currently following etc. And I find that by them asking questions I get understanding.
And if I feel even a little bit of unapproval, I just say.."I know me too well. I CAN lose weight without the help of this surgery. I can't KEEP it off. So I need help with that part. And this is the tool that I chose to do that."