I had my bypass about 7 weeks ago. I lost about 50 pounds leading up to surgery and 20 pounds after. I also choose not to tell people I had surgery.

Now that it's noticeable, I've had people comment on my weight loss. Most people just say something like "You lost weight! You look great!" However....there are those people that want to know "How much weight did you lose?" I really don't want to give a number - for a lot of reasons. Usually I just say something like "a lot". Just wondering how other people respond to that question.

Thanks!

"My, my. What a rude question!"

Good luck,

Tek

I’ve been lucky that not a lot of people have asked but there is no reason you can’t just say your seeing a nutritionists and meal planning/ cutting portion sizes and calories, protein first, etc and just leave out the surgery part.

"a lot" was pretty much my standard answer the first year or two after surgery. I didn't want them silently calculating in their heads what I must have weighed before. Now I often say "over 100 lbs" (although at over six years out, it almost never comes up anymore). To most people, 100 lbs seems like an outrageous amount of weight, so they're satisfied with that answer. The real answer is over 200 lbs. I don't think people without a serious weight problem could wrap their head around that. Plus I don't really want people to know that I once weighed that much.

Edited September 27, 20214 yr by catwoman7

My responses are pretty similar to everyone else. When asked how much I usually say "a lot" or "more than I weigh." If they insist on a number I just say "more than 100 lbs." When they ask how I say "a lot of hard work" or "complete lifestyle change." When they ask about diet, it's "high protein, low carb, small portions." And for those people that insist, "one donut isn't going to hurt you," I say, "no thank you, I broke my sugar addiction and I'm never going back there...I know what it does to me!"

I think ‘a lot’ is a good answer to give. I honestly can’t think of something better to say. In the past I’d sometimes say I didn’t know exactly, just to avoid further questions.
Thinking about is, it’s actually really rude to ask someone how much they’ve lost or how much they still have to lose. Fortunately most people just compliment me. I do get an occasional question asking how I’m losing the weight. I’ll answer that I’m eating less, eating more frequent and doing low carb (which is not a lie).
I do get comments on how little I’m eating sometimes from colleagues (“Are you only eating soup? Again?” (I was still in puréed and soup was easy!)). Those I find really hard to dodge. Sometimes I’ll take twice the amount of food with me and just leave half, just to avoid any questions. I’ve also gotten non see through plastic containers, so they can’t see the amount of food in my container unless standing next to me. Oh, the struggles keeping wls a secret, lol.

15 hours ago, TinDE said:

"How much weight did you lose?"

I think "A lot" is an excellent answer; it's true without being specific. But if you're hoping to squelch them, you could try "Oh, you want to talk numbers? Let's start with your salary." That should give them a hint that their question was rude, and the number is none of their business.

Edited September 28, 20214 yr by FutureSylph

Tell them you’ll compare your weight loss to theirs and when they say “zero” yell “divide by zero error!!!” and run off.

I'm generally pretty sarcastic and also don't like these types of personal questions....so I say things like..

'You know...no one would ever tell me I was fat when I was fat...but now that I've lost weight...everyone wants to let me know how fat I used to be. Weird huh' Or something like that...and no one asks me again after that lol.

58 minutes ago, Officially Not Fatty Matty said:

Tell them you’ll compare your weight loss to theirs and when they say “zero” yell “divide by zero error!!!” and run off.

This made me snort. For real, we don't owe anyone an explanation.

Thanks for your replies!!! I'm pretty sarcastic...so sometimes " a lot" just doesn't give me the satisfaction!!! LOL

I would probably tell them a general number but if pressed on how, I'd respond a VLCD, which is what we are all on. I don't blame you for not telling them anything though.

I literally just ignore the question. Totally pretend I don't hear it. (I have hearing loss anyway so it's believable.)

People don't generally persist.

Yeah, rude personal questions like that will get a dismissive "I've lost the weight I've lost next subject" with a tight-smile-that-doesn't-reach-my-eyes from me.

22 hours ago, muffin.x said:

I think ‘a lot’ is a good answer to give. I honestly can’t think of something better to say. In the past I’d sometimes say I didn’t know exactly, just to avoid further questions.
Thinking about is, it’s actually really rude to ask someone how much they’ve lost or how much they still have to lose. Fortunately most people just compliment me. I do get an occasional question asking how I’m losing the weight. I’ll answer that I’m eating less, eating more frequent and doing low carb (which is not a lie).
I do get comments on how little I’m eating sometimes from colleagues (“Are you only eating Soup? Again?” (I was still in puréed and soup was easy!)). Those I find really hard to dodge. Sometimes I’ll take twice the amount of food with me and just leave half, just to avoid any questions. I’ve also gotten non see through plastic containers, so they can’t see the amount of food in my container unless standing next to me. Oh, the struggles keeping wls a secret, lol.

I've learned a few things when eating around coworkers. I have my "decoy" water bottle that I put on the table, knowing I'm not going to drink it, because I got tired of "hey, I'm running downstairs to get something do you want me to pick up a drink for you?" Also, I work 12 hr shifts so I pack extra snacks. I just unload 1/2 of my lunchbag and no one notices how much I eat or not eat. The people that matter to me know I eat small portions.

Throw it right back to them. Say "why do you ask?"
They say- because you look so great, so thin, so healthy.
You say- thank you! And how are YOU feeling??

It can be a fun cat and mouse game. And frankly, pressuring you is rude and NYB (Not your business.)