My one year anniversary is coming up on 12 June. I'm down 178 pounds. I want to post pictures on Facebook (something I NEVER do of myself) but am torn about telling people about the surgery. There are literally only about a dozen people that know I've had surgery. My own mother and siblings don't know. I don't lie about it, I tell the truth if asked directly (which I have been ).

What are y'all's thoughts? Do you "fly the flag" or are you discreet about it? I'm not ashamed - it's one of the smartest things I've ever done. It's just that I have worked VERY hard and I see how people act about weight loss surgery as it's some form of cheating or taking the "easy way out". I don't want that diminished.

I just want to really Celebrate on the 12th and wondering if it's time to "come out of the closet". Thoughts?

I'm very open about it. When I hit my goal it'll be all over facebook and this forum..

Maybe someone else can benefit by you saying that it was this that got your healthy life style back or that you wouldn't know much longer to live because you did try all of whatever you had tried and it didn't work so if they want to see that you did it with exercise and eating right and if they ask or say it's easy tell them know we still have to work at it and that it is hard we just needed a little assistance , if they can't accept that well then , don't worry because you and only you know what you have done , there will be skeptics but if you show them different pics and say you are the same person just less of you for Family , hopefully they will except it , Family is harder on us , but when it comes to friends if they are real friends thy loved you when you were big , they will still love you now and I am sure they have noticed so shout it out Loud and proud , let me tell you I always tell people and they ask me all kinds of questions and I will inform the and educate them.

Before and during is these pictures I have 50lbs. more to go for my goal, and it will be 150 lbs I will have lost when I get there.

I have been open about my weight loss surgery. I have had a few who made comments about being the "easy" way and I challenge them to see if they could do it. I have had several people who are friends that are obese contact me about my surgery . I hope by being honest and showing people my before and after on facebook that I will be instrumental in others getting healthier and happier.

Before

After

178 pounds, wow! Congratulations on turning your life around. You have a lot to be proud of and that is something you have inside -- you own that. You deserve this success and you're working hard for it. I'm so happy for you! What we tell or don't tell others is such a personal thing. I am a little shy and definitely don't enjoy scrutiny, so I am just going to stick with this forum and my small posse of the people I elected to tell. There are a couple in that category I wish now I had not included, not because they aren't supportive but because I see that my loss has created a kind of tension between us. They are both women who struggle with their own weight issues. Who knows, maybe they will decide in WLS as a result, but for now I am losing so well while they are gaining and I know that's very hard -- because of course that was me for years and years working so hard with no result. Not anymore!

I have been fairly open about my surgery except on Facebook. Like you, if asked directly, I answer truthfully. I only recently put a current picture on Facebook. I got a lot of "wows" and "you look great" but no direct questions about how or what I am doing. So, ultimately you have to do what makes you happy. I say celebrate. Put those pictures out there. You have nothing to be ashamed of and no reason not to show off your hard work.

I'll tell you why I am open about my lapband surgery.

Before I had lapband surgery, I would read "success" stories by bloggers who lost their weight by non-surgical methods. It made me feel so bad about myself, as I could never sustain any kind of substantial weight loss. (Never mind that every single one of those "high traffic" weight loss bloggers is now fat again. Every single one of them.) I'd just beat myself up and think to myself how weak I was that I could not stay the course.

I do not EVER want anyone to look at my weight loss and think I did this by sheer willpower, and then have them feel badly that they can't do this on their own.

Anyone who reads anything about obesity research knows the data. There are ::perhaps:: five individuals who have lost 100 pounds or more through traditional dieting and exercise and kept those pounds off for over five years. And those five individuals' work at this 100% each and every day. They seem like a rather joyless bunch, too, always gritting their teeth and scheduling their lives around what they can and cannot eat.

(I'm not saying that us bandsters don't make an effort. But I know first hand the power of turning down one's appetite + reduced stomach capacity and how much easier it is to make good choices when one has had weight loss surgery.)

So to not tell people how I lost weight would be misrepresenting how I did this. I think it is especially important to give an honest full response when the person asking is overweight him/herself. I totally understand their despair at their physical state, and I would not wish to add to their feeling of being a failure because they can't stick to a traditional (non-surgically enhanced) weight loss plan.

Really great points. Thanks!