Do you tell people in your real life that you are trying to lose weight?

kgirlhart

Thanks y'all. This has really made me feel better. I get that he wants to brag on me and I don't want to deprive him of that, but I'm not really all that comfortable bragging on myself. I am proud of the weight I have lost so far. I am really just trying to be healthy. If people notice that I am losing and comment then that is great, but I don't want to feel like they are saying it just to be nice. And I don't want to hear negatives or bad advice either.

CariJean64

I did much better before I said anything to anyone. I'd lost 50 pounds before my husband even asked, and was halfway to my goal before I started discussing it with other people. Now I wish I hadn't! People began looking at me as some kind of expert, even though I didn't offer any advice other than to join MFP. Then I had a really rough summer (funeral, hospice, funeral) and regained about half of what I'd lost. I feel like I'm almost starting over now and I'm going to try to keep it to myself as much as possible, and answer questions briefly, and see if that helps.

jmedee21

I think you should do whatever works for you! I tell certain people but I don't post about it on Facebook or other social media sites (other than fitness pal). I like talking about it with people who are doing the same thing because it motivates me. If it makes you uncomfortable, you shouldn't do it.

Great job on the loss so far! You are awesome!

gsnow597

I usually wait until someone ask about weight loss. That's the true motivation for me! I try not to judge someone that is really overweight but it does serve as a reminder that I could get that way too...easily!!! As far as your Hubby is concerned, Just ask him to not volunteer info until someone else brags about you because that is his male libido booster for him and should be a female libido booster for you!

sullus

In the end, I will make ONE facebook post: AFTER I lose 100lbs I will post a before and after with the caption 100lbs gone. That is the only time I will ever mention weight loss on facebook.

WyldRoots

I generally don't. I don't like people knowing my struggles, and I don't want to feel like I'm being judged, either positively or negatively. If it comes up, where I'm in a position that I need to decline a food because of my calorie limit, I'll simply say I ate recently, and I'm just not feeling it.

sanfromny

For the most part no. My husband knows, my close friend and her husband because the four of us are always together and share similar fitness goals. I shared a few years ago with some co-workers and at one point they kept telling me that I was getting too small (5'2" 150). I felt like when they saw how much weight i was losing and they weren't the sabotage began..."C'mon San, a slice of pizza won't kill you". or "you're getting too small, you're starting to look sick" blah blah blah...so anyway I learned to just chat with others who have similar goals and interests...

sunnybeaches105

Yes. Usually over a couple of donuts, a cheeseburger, and several beers

LizaDK914

I don't think you're being unreasonable. I actually lost a lot of weight about a year ago, and I recently put almost all of it back on. When I lost it, it felt GREAT that people noticed. I "ate" up every positive comment, enjoyed every "you're doing so great," etc.

Sometimes, I wish I'd been more private about it the first time. Because, now I feel like I let a lot of people down - not just myself. I moved away for my husband's job, and was afraid to see some of my friends from back home because I felt like they'd be super disappointed in me because I'd gained weight. Surely, I mean more to them than a number on a scale, right?

Sometimes (unfortunately A LOT of times) things happen and people gain weight back. I hope you're one of the people who reaches your goal and maintains! I'm 100% rooting for you! But, I also understand that little voice in the back of your head that says "but what if I fail?" Others might try to say don't listen to it. I'll agree. Don't let it get in the way, but maybe listen to it enough so that IF you gain some (or God forbid all) of the weight back, all the positive comments you got along the way don't make you HATE yourself when you realize the numbers of the scale have slowly crept back up.

So, eat up the positive comments, share if you want to, but don't let it become who you are. You're more than just the number on that scale, and either way - you're amazing for starting the journey toward being healthier.

Congrats on your success so far!

seltzermint555

Generally I would rather not talk about it. I don't judge people who constantly post their workouts and pounds lost and before/after pics on social media...but I inwardly cringe if thinking of myself doing so. I would never feel comfortable doing that so openly and frequently. We're all different!

One thing I have noticed, too, is that people get really touchy about their approach to weight loss versus what other people are doing. I have a pretty close friend who has lost a lot of weight and always talks about how she is starving, miserable, etc. A couple of times I've mentioned logging my food and she gets super weird about it like she thinks it's crazy or wrong. She regularly loses weight as she eats as little as possible while working out as much as possible and then she goes on a weeklong fast food spree and rapidly gains back the weight. Every time. But she thinks I am the nutty one and "must have a crazy metabolism to be eating a donut AND a sandwich in the same day and all you did was walk 7 miles?". So I'd rather not talk about this stuff at all with her!

alisfitgoal

I told my significant other because I need him to know why I can't do cheat meals with him or why I'm eating less. He always tells me I look beautiful anyways (d'awwww) but I need him on board. I am in a challenge with my co worker so we discuss it a lot - but we are both avg weight and have the same goals so it works. Another coworker overheard us and is a bit upset because they have different goals.... hard to be really open about it even though it's easier. I am training for some upcoming races so I've used that as an excuse for why I can't eat x,y,or z.

kaylasgriffin88

I tell certain people. A long time ago I didn't because for some reason I felt embarrassed/too shy. But now it helps keep me on track with what I'm doing. My friends and family support me and keep me focused.

hickmanha

My boyfriend and I are both changing our lifestyles (going to the gym, setting goals, eating healthier) and so we share our milestones with each other. My friends have a general understanding of my goals (as I told them I am training for a half marathon) but other than that I don't go into specifics. My sister is also successfully working on her healthy-fit journey, so we share milestones too. I find it helpful to have check-ins and supportive people, but it's absolutely a personal choice who you share your journey with. (And I think it's wonderful your husband says how proud he is of you! Just let him know it's your journey and your goal, and when you're ready to share it with other people, if ever, you will.)

Annabella402

I tend to keep it to myself mostly. When people offer me anything I shouldn't be eating, I just say "I am being good".

dutchandkiwi

You are not strange at all. I do not like to share either. I started this and I initially I did not even tell my husband. All I said was that I was avoiding sweet treats for a month to counter the indulgent christmas a bit. Nothing unusual about that. It was about a week before easter that I showed him MFP and what I was doing. He had not even noticed the small changes I had made to OUR diet.

Anyway he knows how I feel about things and would never volunteer the information. He knows and he tells me how damn proud he is of me. That is enough for me. Plus he knows full well that I made this journey for many reasons and weight itself was only one ingredient. The other ones are health, fitness but also finding better ways to cope with lots of stress. He knows my lifelong battle with weight and the sensitivity due to past experiences. More than how proud he is he respects me for going on this journey and sticking with it.

My husband realising how personal this journey to the new me is even has taken to protect me from those that do wish to go into a discussion with me about it. When he sees me getting very uncomfortable he will tell them yes isn't she looking great, She's working so hard for it. So what sports are you playing, what shows did you watch (or something to that effect) taking the focus off me and invites them to talk about themselves.
I so appreciate that in him. I know he wants to shout it from all the rooftops how proud he is, how much weight I have lost but instead he realises what is important to me and ensures that my comfort trumps his pride.

Emmest1

dutchandkiwi, he sounds like such a great husband I wish everyone had someone like that!

SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage

Nope. It tends to open discussions about fad diets and Dr. Oz supplements that I'd rather not talk about. I have a problem with being unable to disguise my facial expressions and conversations full of derp tend to get me in trouble.

ShellyBell999

No, they have too much crazy advice.

dubird

Meh, people I'm close to knew, mostly because it was visible after a while. And I did make a bet with my mom the first year if I got down to a certain weight, she'd come down and buy me updates for my wardrobe. ^_^; But really, while I have shared what I've done with people, it's only because they've mentioned they want to lose weight or something. I don't start conversations with it and I don't talk about unless I know the other person would want to hear about it. Since I wasn't doing this for anyone but myself, it didn't matter if I had outside support or not. Outside support is nice, but I don't ever depend on it because it's sporadic.

CarolSikes

sullus wrote: »

In the end, I will make ONE facebook post: AFTER I lose 100lbs I will post a before and after with the caption 100lbs gone. That is the only time I will ever mention weight loss on facebook.

I'm planning on making 2 posts. One when I get under 200 pounds and another when I hit my goal weight (losing over 100). I've had a couple of people notice now (I've lost 30 so far) and one of my best friends is the one that got me on MFP - and we live in the same area. My parents and siblings that live in the area know also (hard to hide when we have holiday meals together and I'm using my phone to record everything!).

But no, I didn't go around telling people except the ones mentioned. I haven't brought it up on FB, I haven't announced it to my church, nothing like that.