Okay now that I have lost over 50 pounds lots of people are starting to ask me how I have lost so much weight. I never planned on telling people I had lap band so I will tell them I eat less and run 3 to 4 miles every other day. Then they will say what else did you do or did you do somthing to get kick started? Ummmmm.........well I started off doing the couch to 5k and worked my way up to running as much as I do now and I did a liquid diet for about 10 days. Then I always just want to say oh and I had lapband. So am I lying by not telling that part?

I stil havent told many people. I just tell them I am working out like crazy and watching what I eat. I think WLS has such a bad rap that people think you just have surgery and boom your skinny and dont have to work for it. I have worked my ass off at the gym and make sure I am eating what I should. So I dont want my hard work over shadowed by the band. Thats just how I feel.

I just had a tummy tuck and have told 3 people plus online people here. I just dont feel as if what I do is anyone's business but my own.

Would you feel as though you were lied to if you were the one asking the question?

I think when you answer that question, you will have your answer to yours.

SO, if I ask a contractor HOW he built a house and he replied, "With a lot of hard work and effort on my part", this would be a lie? I tend to think not! The contractor used many tools and resources to reach his goals and I would not expect him to explain to me the importance of using a hammer, versus using a nail gun, to accomplish those goals. At the end of the day, you are totally responsible for your weight loss and the band was simply a tool. Tell 'em what you want them to know and simply be proud of your accompishments, because I know we are!

Dennis

I stil havent told many people. I just tell them I am working out like crazy and watching what I eat. I think WLS has such a bad rap that people think you just have surgery and boom your skinny and dont have to work for it. I have worked my ass off at the gym and make sure I am eating what I should. So I dont want my hard work over shadowed by the band. Thats just how I feel.

I just had a tummy tuck and have told 3 people plus online people here. I just dont feel as if what I do is anyone's business but my own.

WOW, Everyone take a moment to check out this young lady's weight loss success! I just got a new inspiration and hero! Congratulations on losing 170 pounds! With that kind of success, you tell 'em what ever you want them to hear, because you are doing awesome!

Dennis

SO, if I ask a contractor HOW he built a house and he replied, "With a lot of hard work and effort on my part", this would be a lie? I tend to think not! The contractor used many tools and resources to reach his goals and I would not expect him to explain to me the importance of using a hammer, versus using a nail gun, to accomplish those goals. At the end of the day, you are totally responsible for your weight loss and the band was simply a tool. Tell 'em what you want them to know and simply be proud of your accompishments, because I know we are!

Dennis

This is the best logic I've seen yet. You are so right!! Excellent point!

WOW, Everyone take a moment to check out this young lady's weight loss success! I just got a new inspiration and hero! Congratulations on losing 170 pounds! With that kind of success, you tell 'em what ever you want them to hear, because you are doing awesome!

Dennis

Awww, thank you! Can I add I got pregnant 4 months after being banded? He is now 20 months old and even though I had to take a year off, it didnt deter me to get back on that wagon!

You are doing a fantastic job as well! It is so worth all the hard work and determination!

Today I was at post office puck up mail I had held from vacation. The postmaster was staring at me for a good ten minutes while I waited on the long line. When it was my turn , I asked for my mail and she was amazed. She said, I thought that was you but you look like a total different person. She is heavy set and asked in front if very long line of people what I was did. If the i other ten or so people weren't all listening I would have given her more details maybe . but I just said, it was time for a change so I made a comitment to myself and made the change happen. It not easy but I'm worth it. -So not a lie but not the whole story.

I asked before I had the surgery how people felt about WLS. I was surprised by all the negative feedback. Some people thought if you get surgery, you don't appreciate your accomplishments. I knew after posting that question, that I would not tell a lot of people I was having surgery. My Dad, partner, and a couple of friends are extremely supportive. Once they realized the band was a tool, and not the ultimate answer they began to understand. My Dad is even considering getting the surgery. One of my friends has been obese her whole life, she was against it until I told her insurance covers it. Now she wants to get the surgery. Like another user on here said, you really never know who is going to support you. My vegan, all natural, yoga, ballerina teacher is extremely supportive of the surgery. She can't wait to see how it changes me. My Mother is not happy about the surgery, but I don't care. When I was fasting, I just told people I was detoxing my body getting rid of all the toxins for a month. I probably will not share that I have been banded with anybody unless they are obese like me, and are at wits end.

I always just say things about "restricting my intake."

Complete honesty.... I don't need to tell how my intake is "restricted."

Your choice to share or not to share it is your story to tell or not tell!

Continued success in your journey....yes you can!

Well said everyone ???Š many of us have lots of support and some of us have none, but there's one place we will always find support... Here!

If we don't loose weight the negative people judge us, when we do loose weight no matter how we do it those same people will have something to say. It's your business who you choose to tell. I have only told a few people and they have been nothing but encouraging and supportive. There are others I have not told like my mother in law. She will constantly be on your back to loose weight and when you do she is constantly trying to feed you and saying oh just once won't hurt. God help me if I tell her I have a lapband. If down the track as I loose more if someone asks me I may tell them or I may just say im watching my food intake and exercising, depends how I feel at the time and on the person asking. The lapband once finally tuned is a tool to help us stay on track and hopefully not go backwards but as you have all said we still need to watch what we eat and exercise. So yes we all are working our butts off as that is the way to shed the kilos and it certainly is not the easy way out.

I had a conversation with a patient yesterday about this (I work in dental office). This conversation lead to me telling her I had a lapband. She said, "wow, you don't even look like you need it." Well, I'm 3 years post-op and have dropped well over 100 pounds and kept it off. She told me she works with someone who everyone at work knows had some sort of WLS, but when asked how she is dropping so much weight has the same responses I see here. "I wanted a change..... I eat less and exercise....".

She said everyone that works with this gal knows...... there is a point when it is pretty clear. She thinks the gal might be embarased about having WLS. "Everyone is so happy for her and thinks she looks so great." But, she continues to lie about it.

I told her how some people who have had WLS try to keep it to themselves .....listed the reasons we see here ...."easy way" and "cheating" comments...... I told her to just be happy for the gal that is rapidly dropping all the weight and let her keep her little secret. She said "Oh, we are. She looks so great and everyone is so happy for her!"

Bottom line is........if the band is working properly, many people around you will know you had something done. Will they think less of you if you lie about it? Maybe, maybe not.

SO, if I ask a contractor HOW he built a house and he replied, "With a lot of hard work and effort on my part", this would be a lie? I tend to think not! The contractor used many tools and resources to reach his goals and I would not expect him to explain to me the importance of using a hammer, versus using a nail gun, to accomplish those goals. At the end of the day, you are totally responsible for your weight loss and the band was simply a tool. Tell 'em what you want them to know and simply be proud of your accompishments, because I know we are!

Dennis

It is a great way to think about the "tool" aspect of it all, but the house doesn't go back to being morbidly obese when the tools go away.

I do understand why someone would lie or omit about WLS. They are the ones who know people in their lives and people can be cruel. At some point they may have to figure out if people will be more respectful of a liar or a WLS patient. We are the ones who make choices throughout our own lives. Choose it and live with it.

It is a great way to think about the "tool" aspect of it all, but the house doesn't go back to being morbidly obese when the tools go away.

I do understand why someone would lie or omit about WLS. They are the ones who know people in their lives and people can be cruel. At some point they may have to figure out if people will be more respectful of a liar or a WLS patient. We are the ones who make choices throughout our own lives. Choose it and live with it.

Good morning Humming Bird!

Having spent a majority of my career as a contractor, trust me, if a house is not maintained with the proper tools and a lot of hard work, it will most certainly fall into a state of disrepair. Our bodies are essentially the same in many ways! As long as we are committed to ourselves and using the right tools, we enjoy much healthier and happier lifestyles. Very much like the house analogy, if we become less committed to ourselves, and don't use the proper tools, we also fall into a state of disrepair (obese, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sugar diabetes, and other issues).

I've been asked many times how I am losing my weight and I usually tell them exactly what I am doing and the amount of hard work that goes into it. I also take the opportunity to teach people about obesity, genetics, and the other realities related to our conditions. For the majority of us, losing weight and keeping it off, is a daily battle against life-long habits and genetics, which unfortunately many people simply do not understand!