How do you explain

guardianwill

It seems from the moment I came to MFP I have been having to explain my small amounts of food, that I have blood work done every 3 months to follow my nutrition and even have my own nutritionist. How do you all explain to your MFP friends you are doing things by the book and that your just not hungry but you do get in the protein and water and vits.... And to say the least probably healthier than many that make some rough comments. I believe all are doing things from their heart and are sincere and concerned, but it seems to be an everyday thing.... Thanks for any suggestions....

strength34

All I can say is I completly understand and feel people are just curious and really do not understand the everyday effort that has to go into living with the decision to have gastric surgery. I have family members whom still seem to not understand the concept of it all and thats ok you know what you need to do to take care of yourself and it is difficult to feel you have to explain yourself to others all the time but best thing to do is know your doing what you need to do and people's comments just need to roll off your shoulders as best you can I know it doesn't help much but from your pic your doing fabulous and your journey will never end people will always question because socially what do we do eat its hard for people that have never had a weight issue or find the minimal amout of intake enough to satisfy so smile and take care of you. Know it doesn't help but hopefully the support in knowing your doing the right thing does take care.

JenaOnTrack74

have been on MFP for years I think since 2010 ?? Something like that anyway, late last year after I came to the decision to have WLS I created a new account and have ONLY added WLS friends pre & post op. After being on this site for so long I already knew how most people on this site feel(and are not afraid to say it) about WLS and I wasn't asking for their opinion and didn't want to hear it. It has worked out beautifully for me I have almost 100 awesome SUPPORTIVE friends who I need not explain a single thing to. For me explaining it all the time would start to feel like a job and we already have enough work ahead of us. I would suggest starting your friends list over( I swear by the WLS Friends ONLY, at least on this website) or close your food diary altogether.

minibandit

I closed my diary - and explained why. If people didn't like it they were welcome to un-friend me.

csmccord

I have my diary open to all, however I typically only post on WLS related groups, and my friends are either family or WLS patients. I've never had to explain anything to them on this site. You know, it's the internet. You don't have to explain anything to anybody on here. You never have to respond. If you don't know them in real life, then you never have to respond online, at all. You can simply ignore the message, or forum post or whatever. You owe no explanation to anybody else, your choices are your own.

bethlaf

WLS is not generally supported in the open community of MFP - most dont understand it or think its "cheating" etc . stick with WLS friends , its usually easier Sad but true

Tristaan

You choose your own privacy settings and friends on MFP. You can choose not to share your diary at all, or only share it with your friends if you like. Why should you have to explain anything? If someone on your friends list is making rude comments or being intrusive, YOU get to decide when to use the DELETE button.

bikrchk

I generally have mostly WLS friends. We have a different set of challenges and I've come to the conclusion that most others will never "get it". It's my way of keeping my feedback positive, I guess.

pawoodhull

The only time I've had to explain my food intake to my MFP friends is when I was ill or fasting for a medical test. Then it was concerned questions because I wasn't eating. Most of my friends on here are WLS patients, so they know why my diary looks the way it does most days. Also, I had the sleeve, but not all my WLS friends did, so our diaries don't all look alike because each surgery has it's own unique plan.

That said, you don't have to share your diary with everyone, you can restrict it to just friends, or you can close it completely. The choice is yours. I personally have mine set to just friends and I have "unfriended" people who are negative, consistently eating/drinking outside their plan and bragging about it, etc. So set your privacy setting where you are comfortable, choose your friends, and remember, you chose the surgical weight loss road because it was best for you. And you owe no one any explanation for that.

Losing_Sarah

I also opened a new account and only have WLS friends so I didn't have to explain myself. Not that I should have to, but I didn't even want to deal with comments or questions.