I stopped keeping my surgery a secret. I am totally honest if someone asks. 

The people who see me every day know about it. All my family live out of state so they only see me on Facebook when I post pictures and I do plan to post before and afters on Facebook and I know they will ask me if I had surgery and I don't want to lie but I don't want them to know because like I said up above, they can be very judging.

Totally understanding why you would not want to tell your extended family. I have posted pictures on myself on Facebook. I never posted that I had surgery.

If someone posts a question about my weight loss on the comments on the picture. I will private message them telling that I had WLS. 

Ironically, they people who I thought would be the most judgmental were some of the most supportive.  I almost didn't tell my 2 coworkers because I thought they would poo poo the idea because they are all natural health nuts and one of them lost weight and kept it off just by eating healthy and exercising..  Actually, they have been supportive and bring me recipes and healthy things to try.

After 8 years, being through the lap-band (twice, ugh) and hopefully being revised to a surgery that isn't the devil's tool, I've come to the conclusion that it isn't my responsibility to spread the joys of WLS to the masses.  My health is absolutely no one's business but mine, and I plan to only discuss it with my mother (with the restriction that she can't discuss it with anyone else), since I'll need someone to drive me to and from the hospital.  If I didn't need that assistance, I wouldn't even tell her.  

People in this country think that it is their right to shove their noses where they don't belong.  Once you let people believe that they have the right to know about your healthcare decisions, they also think that they have the right to give you input about how they feel about your decisions. 

Think about it this way:  If you suddenly got breast implants, would it be considered okay for someone to come up to you and say, "Your bazoombas are so big! You got implants, right?" No, it's rude, and us having surgery on another part of our body, causing an obvious change to our appearance, doesn't make comments like that any less rude and improper.

I didn't want anyone to know when  I started out. I didn't want to be judged or talked about. People are going to talk regardless. I think you need to be comfortable with the person you tell. 

I waited till after my surgery to tell people. It is your business if you tell or not. This is a topic that comes up often. So check out the search option also for comments people have left.

One thing I will say is don't be scared. You are doing this for your health. People will tell you horrible stories about people who have had it done. I just change the subject to something about them. 

Sorry for rambling. 

I share your concerns. Only my husband knows right now, and I'm not sure I want to tell anyone else until after the surgery. I plan to be more open after surgery, but I don't want anyone trying to talk me out of it before. Ultimately, you have to do what makes you comfortable, but I encourage you to share your story with others who would benefit from weight loss surgery. If a previous co-worker of mine didn't share her experience with me, I probably wouldn't be ready to have RNY now. Watching her go through it really changed my mind about it. At the time I didn't think I would do it, but a few more years of failed diets changed my mind.

I'm on the fence about telling people also.  For all of the same reasons mentioned above, but also because I have some additional guilt, because I've got good insurance, and some of my family who I know and love, would probably love to be able to follow suit, but financially it is not an option for them.  Im afraid its going to get a little weird, once they realize what I've done...

I also kept my surgery private, aside from my closest family members. 

My situation was a bit different in that my job allowed me to work from home, only going into the main office every couple of weeks for meetings. So yes, people noticed my weight loss but not anything specific about what I was eating, etc. 

When asked, I simply replied that I was working with my doctors, a dietitian, and a personal trainer. I had given up soda, caffeine, refined sugar, and refined carbs. I logged everything I ate (and have returned to that habit.)

This was about the time the HCG diet hit it big. What people wanted to hear, really, was that I had found a miracle cure. When they knew I was working hard at it....the questions stopped. 

After a few years, I moved to a new state. No one here knows or needs to know, aside from those in my support group.

I only told my immediate family, my fiancee, and people I knew would be supportive. The majority of my extended family, friends, and colleagues do not know.

I just didnt want to hear the judgement.  Do you have an upcoming life event that you can "blame it on?" Mine was my wedding. I told everyone it was just "bridal bliss" and that I was "thinking of the dress."  Everyone bought it hook-line-and sinker.

Maybe you could say "senior year excitement,"  "want to be thinner for college men" "the job search has me stressed out"  "loving the new job.." etc etc.