The Dreaded "How are you losing the weight" question at work

Interesting point...how did those people eventually confess to the WLS?

I don't really understand why people feel the need to suppress the truth about having WLS...it's nothing to be ashamed of. I'm grateful I chose to do it. It's a legitimate option...not feeling like I ha pave something to hide gives me one less thing to stress about...let the truth fly. Who cares what they think? Different strokes, I guess. We're as sick as our secrets (R. M. Brown).

Good for you! Nobody's business but yours and people don't understand the surgery and never will. I tell very few people. The smaller you get the more you will just want the weight loss to be a distant memory. I don't have a lot to lose and just revised to sleeve but I've found people didn't understand my reasons for revision eve n more

I know what you mean. I have not been secretive about surgery and if people ask I tell. However, my mom feels like she needs to tell every relative,even those I have not seen in years. I am sure my surgery will be hot topic in her Christmas letter and probably with the poor person that gets behind her in the grocery line. I would love to tell her to back off, but I know she means well, just too overboard.

I completely understand.  I just keep the answer quick and simple.  Lots of water and exercise, what the calories, (low carb/high protein).  That is the standard answer.  It's completely truthful without all the details.

I agree with the majority here who say it's not anyone's business but yours. No reason to put yourself in the position to have to defend your well thought out decision to save your life.

I respect those who have decided to keep their surgery private - not everyone is comfortable with sharing.

I made the decision to put it out there to everyone.  Part of why I did this was because of attitudes people have about obesity and what it really takes to manage it.  95% of the time standard diets fail.  My personal success rate with them was zero - I never kept it off.  I am not ashamed of doing what it takes to manage my health and if more people knew folks who have had surgery they might change their minds about the whole equation.   Maybe, maybe not.  And to those who say I've taken the easy way out I ask if they still wash their clothes in the river, or do they use a washing machine?  I'm using a tool that's proven to work, beats the success rates of most other alternatives, and why not use all the tools you can?

 

I love what you wrote. 

I'm with you on this.

I decided to use my experience as a way to inform and educate rather than to be secretive about it. I also wanted to be able to control as much as possible the information about me that was going out there. As the weight came off, I didn't want people to speculate about the cause and spread untrue information about why I was getting smaller. It's like I said to my students, "I need you to understand why I will eat in class sometimes and why you will notice that I will be smaller and smaller as the school year goes on. I don't want you to think I'm sick or have cancer or something like that."

Hmmm.. Let me be a bit clearer on why I choose to keep my surgery private for the most part.  It is NOT because I am not comfortable sharing.  Its simply because I could share my experience and weight loss stats with them all day long and they will never understand.  Naturally skinny people and even some fat people, just dont get it.  They don't have the addiction called obesity so they never will.  Just like I will never understand why or how a person can be a cocaine addict.  People don't get it.  I've had WLS for 5 years now and I just don't feel its worth my time or effort to explain why I made a choice to save my own life and especially now that I am smaller, why I chose to have a revision.