I made the mistake of announcing on Facebook that I was having this procedure, Lesson learned! Never again! I am "crazy" and Ive been lectured for weeks now about how I should "try Weight Watchers" or here's the best...wait for it...."just stop eating" hahahahhahahahahah I cant! what did you guys say when people tell you negative things about the sleeve procedure or weight loss surgery in general? my favorite thus far has been, "you don't have the will power, your going to over eat & be very sick the rest of your life"...nice right? thankfully my family is on board but friends & coworkers are brutal! ugh!

I always lead with my medical problems -- out of control diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. For me, it was either 85% of my stomach, or my feet in a few years.

When people ask how I lost the weight, my plan is to say I had metabolic surgery to fix my out of control diabetes. Haven't tried it yet as no one has asked yet.

If that doesn't work, well then, I'm old and grouchy, and I don't freakin' care what haters think. They don't live in my body, and they should get their own house in order before judging mine.

People seem to think that this is the easy way out when actually it's not. It's a tough road that reaps excellent benefits, but only if you are willing to change. Best of luck!

I only told my boss and a couple coworkers. One is having the procxedure as well. As far as friends I told my two besties. Both could benefit from WLS too. One has been talking about doing it too but has yet to commit. The other I expected to be super supportive but was disappointed when she started lecturing me about making sure I've tried everthing else first (like I haven't). But what suprised me the most was my Mom. When I told her I was thinking about it she went off about the risk and if I just applied myself a little more I could do it on my own. After making two different attempts to talk to her about it I decided that I am 39 yrs old and do not need any ones approval and decided that I would not talk to her about it again. Then out of the blue she asked if I was still thinking about doing it. When I tentatively told her yes she said ok. Then shocker, she started asking questions. Not giving negative feed back just requesting information. She's been supportive ever since.

As far as making an announcement I probably won't do it. As others have said every one has an opinion and will provide it if you want it or not. And in my case. I have family members on facebook that would love to gossip. No sense giving them the ammunition.

My favorite is "oh you don't need it". My sister knows someone who knows someone's uncles brothers babysitters dog walker had DIED! So I didn't tell her I was getting it done. Then I told my mother and I swear her response was " are you doing it to get back at us for moving". Not even kidding. So my response to everyone who said "it is dangerous" was " so is being FAT and out of breath walking up my stairs". Dah! People are stupid!

I didn't tell anyone other than my hubby and immediate family. I was visiting my parents Memorial Day and a family friend saw me out and immediately called my mom and told her that I had to be on drugs because I had lost 60 lbs since Easter. My mom just laughed and told her to mind her own business. So it's damned if you do tell, damn if you don't. You're either lectured and ridiculed or you're on drugs. My hometown thinks I'm a crack head now lol. Ahh. Gotta love small towns.

I was lurking on a body building forum and many say they have no respect for anyone getting the surgery and thinks they are MENTALLY ILL

It's the Roid Rage talking...

I've decided too many people SUCK... I deleted my FB page months ago because I decided I like people a lot better when I DONT know what they are thinking all the time.

Seriously, though. I am so sorry both to all of you that have had to deal with negativity from the ignorant and hateful folk and to those of you that feel inclined to "hide" it because of your expectation of receiving negative responses. I was fortunate to only have to deal with my dad's negativity, but he's negative about everything ("Hey dad, I get to go waterskiing with some friends today!" Initial response: "Don't let the tow rope get wrapped around your arm. It will get amputated!"), so I was fairly well prepared to roll my eyes and move on. All of my friends and coworkers have really been super and supportive. They've all known me for years and watched me start doing triathlons and lose 115 pounds (then gain 65 back...) and know that I have definitely busted my rear working on my weight for my entire life, so they are just happy for me at this point.

There is another post similar to this one that I responded with some fun snarky comments. I'll try to find it and repost it here.

So, how do you respond to the following?

"You could lose this weight if you really wanted to...you just need to have more discipline, not surgery!" You just need more discipline to stop wearing those hideous shirts... Ass.

"You shouldn't mess with what God gave you - he gave you a big stomach - that's what you should keep!" Pretty sure this 49" waist size didn't come out of my mom's va jay jay...

"It's all just a fad....hopefully, you'll 'come to your senses' before the surgery!" You're an idiot. Do you even read? Oh, you've got a little drool right there...

"Why would you want to do that - you could just go to Weight Watchers and get the same results!?!"

You ever been to a Weight Watcher's meeting? It's like a freaking class reunion! Every few years all the same people are back to try again because this time it's going to be different.

I've had some strange comments thrown at me in the last few weeks - I need some decent responses to shut these naysayers down!!!

**reposted from "Deal with what God Gave You and Other..."

OMG that video was great! Love it, thank you!!! "worry about yourself" hahahahahahhah out of the mouth's of babes! Thanks you guys! xo

A friend of mine of over 15 years is acting shady to me now too. She is against the surgery and is too scared to go through it herself. She's obese too and is afraid that she will be left all alone in the fight. Sorry but I have to do me.

This is dedicated to all of them:

Follow your heart and your spirit..it will never gear you in the wrong direction.

I've told only very close friends and immediate family b/c I know what kind of gruesome stories and opinions people shared during pregnancy!! I didn't want to hear stories of some distant person they had heard of who dies from some ancient WLS. So when we were out of town a few weeks ago and I was making small talk with a salesperson helping me, I felt OK to mention the surgery as a related topic came up. I don't know this person, so why do I care what they think?She immediately asked if I had ever tried Weight Watchers and then told me I looked just fine the way I was...blah, blah. I smoothly ended the convo and later told my husband that interaction confirmed my decision to keep it to myself!!!

My mother in law was the only one I had to deal with this from. I didn't even want her to know (needless to say I wasn't the one who told her).

She tried to convince me not to do it and to keep trying to lose weight. When I told her politely but firmly that I have done a lot of research and that my decision is finally she said "well just remember when your sick for the rest of your life that this was all your fault"

Anyway now I'm 30lbs from goal, wearing size 10 skinny jeans and feeling great and she is just bitter.

When she saw my before and after, her response was "yeah anyone can do that, even I could do that" (she is a lot more overweight then I ever was).

Anyway I say just ignore them. If you must respond tell them you have done a lot of research, you understand the risk and you have made your decision.

I made the mistake of announcing on Facebook that I was having this procedure, Lesson learned! Never again! I am "crazy" and Ive been lectured for weeks now about how I should "try Weight Watchers" or here's the best...wait for it...."just stop eating" hahahahhahahahahah I cant! what did you guys say when people tell you negative things about the sleeve procedure or weight loss surgery in general? my favorite thus far has been, "you don't have the will power, your going to over eat & be very sick the rest of your life"...nice right? thankfully my family is on board but friends & coworkers are brutal! ugh!

Sounds to me like a good ol' fashioned "Kiss my a$$" is in order! I'm just sayin'

My mother in law was the only one I had to deal with this from. I didn't even want her to know (needless to say I wasn't the one who told her).

She tried to convince me not to do it and to keep trying to lose weight. When I told her politely but firmly that I have done a lot of research and that my decision is finally she said "well just remember when your sick for the rest of your life that this was all your fault"

Anyway now I'm 30lbs from goal, wearing size 10 skinny jeans and feeling great and she is just bitter.

When she saw my before and after, her response was "yeah anyone can do that, even I could do that" (she is a lot more overweight then I ever was).

Anyway I say just ignore them. If you must respond tell them you have done a lot of research, you understand the risk and you have made your decision.

I'm feeling real feisty tonight I guess!! I think I'd tell your mother-in-law to "Take the easy way out like I did. Go see my doctor and have 85% of your tummy removed, then make good decisions for the rest of your life. The bright side is, fun clothes and not being the fattest girl in the room" Ok, this is not nice, but if she hits you at the wrong time and you're gutsy, you can be nasty nice, just smile pretty when you say it!! In Texas we'd follow it up with a 'Bless Your Heart'

I'm still pre-op and have only told 1 friend and 1 family member so far. My friend, who is overweight and has severe diabetes, continues to try talking me out of it.

I've stopped bringing it up and he may think he talked me out of it. Not sure if ill ever bring it up again or admit to it later.... I'll just tell him I took his advice with dieting and exercise and it worked!

When your friend starts in with trying to talk you OUT of it.....turn it around and start pressuring HER to join you, y'all can be "sleeve buddies" Put HER on the defensive rather than letting HER put you on the spot!!! LoL