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

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.

saralthrash

Only people I'm close with. Never co workers. Except my best friend. But she's on the same journey. I've over shared in the past and if I don't succeed I feel like a jerk lol

saralthrash

sunnybeaches105 wrote: »

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

Ha! Absolutely!!!!

100df

Well, I am weird but won't pass judgement on the OP. If my husband mentioned how much weight I have lost, I wouldn't like that one bit. I despise talking about. It embarrasses me when people notice and say something. I am working on feeling good when receiving a compliment.

While I don't think you have to talk about it, you should figure out why it bothers you. In my case I think it's a form of denial. Like I am denying how big I am or was. I also feel scared of regaining and having people notice. That feeling is fading some as I go further along. Part of it is that I can honestly say counting calories won't be too hard when maintaining because I didn't try to change the way I eat this time.

KittyHeaven74

I did back in 2014 when I was on a restricted diet, because there were so many things I couldn't eat and at work they were wanting to do team lunches and such (so I needed a place that would offer options I could eat). No one judged, in fact everyone complimented me as they saw my weight coming off. This time around, trying to lose the 45 I gained back in maintenance, I've only told my closest friends. I'm doing MFP and and tracking everything, but because this time I'm not restricting WHAT I can eat as much as HOW MUCH, it's easier to work in those occasional lunches out. I think people know because I often turn down the baked treats at work, but they don't question or anything. Anyway, I work in healthcare so people tend to be very supportive when someone is working on getting healthy.

samgamgee

My partner and I are losing weight together, which is nice. It's come up in various conversations with our families, and I also post the odd update on Instagram. I quite like chatting about it if people bring it up.

JayRuby84

I think my friends and family know that I'm always on a mission to be more fit, eat healthier. It's just kind of who I am. There is no end in sight as far as I can tell. But I do not think it's bad for you to want some privacy. It's okay to want that. Your husband seems like a sweet guy who would respect your wishes about that. Sounds like a keeper to me

AskTracyAnnK28

I keep it to myself. The way I see it, it's no one's business but mine. When I'm offered food or whatever I just say "nah- I'm good, thanks". When someone says "did you lose weight??" I say "ummm I dunno...maybe a little".

sking0072

As someone who is compulsive about my methods of nutrition and exercise I do know it makes for boring conversation with others (especially with my wife). I prefer to stay in my own little world and routine. If they notice a difference in my weight I simply say thanks. If they ask how I'm doing it, I tell them I rigged up a liposuction machine in my garage.

Deena_Bean

I don't speak about it much - I don't look like I need to lose a lot to the average eye, but they don't really know. I hate the judgement. I know I carry the extra weight well - my doctors are always shocked when I weigh in. I am about 170, 5'7.5" - so I would like to be closer to 150. Not unreasonable, but I get super sick of hearing, "You don't need to lose any weight!"

TaraTall

I tell the people closest to me - husband, sister. They're supportive and want me to succeed. Everyone else can MYOB.

SheilaShines

kgirlhart wrote: »

Do you find it motivates you to let people know you are working on your weight? I don't really talk about my weight or my goals to anyone. I really didn't even want to tell my husband I was trying to lose weight, but it is hard not to tell someone you live with that you are watching your weight when you are weighing your food before you eat it. Plus I have started exercising so there is no way he wouldn't know. I have found that coming on this community board and having friends on here is good motivation and I like to get ideas from others and talk about weight loss and ask questions with other people who are trying to lose weight, but in real life I don't want people asking me how it is going, or if I am still trying to lose especially people who are not also trying to lose weight. My husband is about to drive me crazy because he wants to tell people how much weight I have lost. So far I have lost 24 pounds and my goal is 60 pounds. So I am not even halfway to my goal. And he wants to tell people how much weight I have lost. He says he is just really proud of me. While that does make me happy, I don't want him volunteering that information. Am I just weird? I told him that if someone comments to him that I have lost weight I don't care if he tells them how much I have lost, but that I don't want him to just volunteer that information or post it on facebook or anything like that. I don't want people not to comment on my weight loss if they notice it, but I don't want people to know how hard I am trying and to know if I fail. Am I being unreasonable? Should I stop being so private about it? Do you find it helpful to tell others when you are trying to lose weight?

I tell the people that matter. My boyfriend. My sister. The people at work I just say I'm eating healthier. I don't share my real goals.

callsitlikeiseeit

no, but as much as ive lost its not exactly like its a secret lol

i do check in the gym most of the time and my runs log to facebook automatically. if my friends dont like it, too bad. lol i honestly dont think any of them care, either way

SamathaDain wrote: »

She's more into loving your body at the weight you are. Which is wonderful and I 100% agree, but I also want to be healthy. She will readily admit that she is a queen bee and therefor will never have a need to run or pick up anything over 20 lbs. She says there is no need for her to ever try to lose weight because she is perfectly happy in a size 18 and will never be any smaller.

i thought the same until i started to lose weight.

i was wrong.

WAY WAY SO SO SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO wrong

enterdanger

I have no filter. I tell all. lol

Lounmoun

I've told the people I live with- dh and dd- but haven't talked about it with others. I don't really want to talk about my weight so I don't bring it up. I don't think I'll ever make some announcement about it. If someone asks then I would admit to losing weight.
I don't know if dh has told people I am losing weight. I haven't asked him not to.

Kristin2626

You know, as fat as I am, I still get a lot of unsolicited comments about my body in the form of sexual harassment, and because I am fat the occasional nasty insult as well. I REALLY HATE comments about my body PERIOD, but I smile and try to be gracious if the comment is well meant (haven't lost enough yet for anyone to notice, but I lost a lot after college and was grateful no one really said anything as I was losing. There were a few comments after I was done though and when I went home to visit family out-of-state.)

SheilaShines

The times I've been on WW and told people they would ask me how much I lost after EVERY meeting. It really can be discouraging when you don't lose.

BioQueen

Sometimes I will - once I lost enough weight it became obvious and I felt like I had to talk about it. Some people thought I was sick (eating disorder) and I felt like I needed to tell them that I was losing weight in a healthy way.

However I don't really like to talk about it unless people specifically ask me or someone else is going through the same thing. Fortunately I haven't dealt with people telling me how I should lose weight, which I would find frustrating. I have disappointed some people by saying I just "eat less and move more". But sometimes I feel like I NEED to talk about it. Losing weight isn't easy for me, and for my mental/emotional health it is nice to talk to friends about it.

I never told people I was planning on losing weight when I was at my heaviest (except my husband and mom). I only started talking about it when I had reached a healthy BMI and everyone noticed.

ElizabethOakes2

I don't scream it to the rooftops, but I find that working with others, hearing their stories and challenges, and having the support of friends who say things like, "Is that pic of you walking at the lake? You want to go walk at the lake with me this weekend?" is awesome and helps hold me accountable.

I think my biggest fear in telling anyone is that I'm afraid I'll fail and gain the weight back, and they'll look at me and silently judge my failure. Fortunately, since my husband is working on this healthy weight loss thing with me, I feel like I have a partner backing me up and supporting me.

kar328

I didn't tell anyone when I started here. No one noticed till around 40 lbs. Now I get way too many comments and even compliments (I hate the attention). I keep it the weight stuff off facebook, although I do post sometimes about something gym related. I don't friend anyone on here I know in real life, so I can be totally honest in what I have to say. It's all a personal choice, those are mine

Eliniita

I definitely do! It makes it easier to reject the food they try to give me. Haha, of course I get the "from where [are you going to lose weight]" "you'll disappear" "it'll be unhealthy" ... I'm trying to lose 20 lbs. I weigh 140 now. So not unreasonable! (5.5")