I feel very guilty when someone asks about my weight-loss!

When I started this whole process, I decided I wasn't going to tell anyone.  The only people who know are my husband, my Docs and you guys.  I didn't feel like I wanted to deal with everyone else's issues, just focus on my own and I have.

Now, I am almost 6 months out and 66lbs. down.  I have less than 30lbs to go to my goal.  Its awesome and I am soooooooo grateful!  But of course people are noticing and everyone asks HOW I did it.  I usually say something like "I eat a lot of protein and exercise" which is true, or skirt the issue by saying I hit bottom, had diabetes, high cholesterol, etc. and needed to do something, which is also true.  But truly the DS is a miracle worker!  For my entire adult life I was never able to lose and keep off any substantial weight until now, and it makes me feel so guilty!  I would love to share this blessing with the world but I never told anyone about it before, and everyone has an opinion which I don't care to hear.  So I guess I will just keep my secret and be grateful with the luck that has been bestowed upon me.

Just thought I'd share.
Thanks,
Ann

 Well to feel guilty you must feel as if you've done something "wrong."

Have you? 

No. 

It's ultimately not anyone's business how you lost weight whether you wanted to or why. You have good reasons for not telling anyone, it's your personal and private business, you can say as little or as much as you like. 

Thank you!  I needed to hear that.

Hi,
I don't intend this as a judgement of you, but, I can't "pay it forward" if people don't know that I had the Awesome DS.
I do get those "knowing" looks from people who, I can tell, are thinking that surgery is the easy way out.  They are free to go pound sand, in my most humble opinion.  I know for a fact that I would never have been able to lose the weight and keep it off without this surgery.  I had tried too many times.
I still haven't gotten my first toaster, but I'm working on it!

I get what you're saying and I think the guilt comes from knowing that you dieted and exercised all your life and it ultimately didn't work, so telling others that's what you're doing now causes that guilty feeling. Kind of like you're giving them that false hope that it will work for them. I'm not saying that diet and exercise doesn't work. We all know that for a few it does, but the statistics on that speak for themselves. It's a personal choice to tell or not to tell. I had no problems telling people and I love sharing the miracle of the DS with whoever asks me.

You hit the nail on the head!!!  Its the false hope!  I've done it my whole life, dieted and hoped "this time" would be the time, and the odds were so far off my side I barely had a chance.  The DS wasn't as easy as everyone thinks and we do have our daily issues, but now at least the odds are in my favor and I guess that's where the guilt is from.  Thank you, you've given me something to think about. 

Ann

Oh what tangled webs we weave and such. I say scream it out loud and be happy with your choice! To each their own, but this is one of the reasons I decided to let everyone and anyone know about my decision to have the DS. I'm not ashamed at all, have nothing to 'hide' and as a bonus, I get to tout the wonderful DS to others.

I respect your decision but if you feel guilty for lying by omission then you can start telling the truth.  I tell everyone who asks and a lot of people who don't ask that I had the DS.  The ladies who work at Curves actually looked it up!  Of course they are in the weight loss business, but I was still proud of them for educating themselves.

I would like to tell every obese person I see that they have OPTIONS.  But that's my issue.

I have to agree, everytime I see an obese person I want to pull them aside and tell them about the DS.  Not that its easy, but that it works!  I guess strangely enough its easier to tell a stranger than someone who you are close to. 

You weren't bestowed with good "luck."   Luck implies random chance.  You made a choice, did your research, and went for the best.   You might reach a point where you want to "come out," and some people might feel like they've been deceived.  Oh well, it's your surgery, and you decide how you want to handle it.   I'm like the others - I did not keep my surgery a secret, and everyone I worked with, went to church with, etc., knew I'd had WLS.    Nowadays, at four years out, I don't broadcast it from the rooftop either.   I moved 250 miles away just before I had my DS, so most people I encounter nowadays never knew me as an MO.    I don't say "Hi, my name is Julie, I used to weight 282 pounds."    Even if someone comments on "how lucky I am to be thin," while watching me shovel in a plate of food, I won't pipe up "I used to be fat, but I had this surgery and now I'm not."    I only tell someone now I've had WLS unless they express an interest in talking about their obesity, or ask specifically.    But early on, I was very candid with those who knew me well - my colleagues, friends of mine and family.