Do you tell everyone?

No. In fact I've learned it's best to save conversation about nutrition and exercise for MFP.

I didn't have to tell anyone, they could see it. They saw me walking...then running.... around the streets for hours. They saw the weight come off. They stood there at their windows & watched.... then said "I wish I could do that". I wish they would NOT watch me & go out and do it rather than just WISH.

I don't tell anyone. My family knows I'm eating healthy. Others/coworkers know I eat healthy. And they just don't bug me with offering sweets anymore.

They say things like "hey skinny" no one knows my real name anymore.

But I avoid it at all costs, why? Because EVERYONE is an EXPERT and they all have something to say, yet, no one does it. Except me.

I don't want to hear about how much you think I should weight, or how long it should take me to reach my goal, or what I should and shouldn't be doing.

I learned the hard way.

My family is supportive, but I find, most people aren't interested in the details of what I'm doing. After sending people practically running because I just can't take subtle hints that they aren't interested, I try not to talk about it very much, unless
they are bringing it up, or I have some helpful info for someone specific. Recently, my mil asked me to send her the youtube workout videos I was telling her about, so sometimes, they seem to find it helpful.

The other benefit besides possible support, is more thoughtfulness at family gatherings with food, and if we're exchanging gifts,
they know I want something fitness related,

I don't talk about it mostly because I was brought up with the idea that being overweight was not okay and that talking about diet wasn't "polite conversation." My mom knows and at this point, my friends know because they comment on how much better I look. I don't really talk about it though. I'm doing what's right for me and I cannot find a reason to bring it up in conversation.

I never tell. Due to years and years and years of eating disorders, if i SAY weight-loss im threatened with hospitalization. So i focus on fitness when asked anything about it.

I decided to only tell friends and family. It became impossible to avoid the subject at work since I lost a goodly amount of weight and they keep asking me how I did it. They seem genuinely surprised when I tell them it was counting calories and exercise! Everyone wants a miracle cure.

For me it really depends on the person. For instance there is a woman at work, who has the best of intentions, and everyday asks me questions. "Did you get your run in?" "How many calories do you get a day?" "What is your protein intake?" All standard questions, and coming from a place of support. But there is something about how it is asked that comes off like she is monitoring me. I don't want to be accountable to anyone, I'm doing this for me, and no one else. Besides, I don't want to have to feel like I'm making excuses when I say, "no, I'm taking a few days off of running because my ankle is bothering me." Or "no, I'm not eating candy, they are nuts, and I have the calories for them."

I definitely tell everyone-I am proud of what I've been able to do through better food choices and exercise. And I hope I can be some kind of an inspiration for anyone who is currently in the position I was in 3 years ago when I started out. It is hard to begin, and hard to stick with it, but it can be done. I didn't have the benefit of a gym, or a "diet" or meals delivered or a trainer or a dietician or whatever.. But, I was motivated enough to do what I could (can) to figure it out. And have stuck to it-so I am proof that persistence pays off even if it is a journey not a race.

My friends all know I am trying to lose weight and don't give me a hard time at all. One of my friends makes the most amazing fattening comfort food desserts on the planet. When she and her hubs come over for dinner here, or we go there-she always makes something decadent. But she knows it is MY choice to eat it or not. My hubs usually does and I usually don't. I almost always take my own splenda with me, tea bags, coffee, diet soda, whatever food I need to fit into my plan if it's a potluck. LOL! I had a meeting a couple of weeks ago and I was in charge of the snacks, so I took crap and garbage. Our host house thought about me and bought fresh fruit.

It may be different because I am 51 not 21-and my friends are even older ;-)

I used to share my progress on facebook because I was happy and wanted to share. I would get a lot of positive feedback. However, I hated that suddenly people think they are a dietitians and tell you what exercises to do and what to eat. I was doing Weight Watchers and they have many success stories, so when people would ask me what I eat and tell them "everything", many of them would start giving me their two cents. I also noticed that people watch everything I eat. If one day I decide to eat ice cream, they comment "i thought you were on a diet". I would rather only tell people closest to me.

I share major milestones on FB, but it's not something I tell people everyday in face-to-face conversation. I'm very open if they ask, but I don't advertise it to the world.

I told family and close friends, but I didn't make a big deal about it. It keeps me accountable and they can celebrate with me after each goal I hit.

pros: encouragement, accountability, your hard work will be noticed

cons: if you don't end up losing weight people will be asking, embarrassed if you fail

I don't like to tell people because in general, they make it sound like I have an eating disorder. "You've gotten so skinny!" "You shouldn't lose any more!" "Are you sure you're eating enough?" I didn't start out very overweight, so maybe that's part of it, coupled with the fact that I'm 4'11" and people don't seem to get that 130 on me is waaaaaaay different than 130 on someone even five inches taller. And I don't understand how people who see me only part of the day can tell me I'm not eating enough - they don't know what my other meals are like!

I hate people commenting on my choices anyway, so no, I don't tell them any more. If they ask, I avoid the words "weight" and "loss" at all costs, and try to steer the conversation toward fitness. That has worked much better for me, because most people I know don't do much exercise and just let the topic go after that. (With one exception, and thinking about this dude still sends me into a rage - we were talking about running, and I said that while I didn't enjoy it while I was doing it, I sure loved finishing my run every day. He practically scolded me and told me that I had to find some form of exercise I enjoyed. That under no circumstance should I force myself to do something I didn't like. Well, newsflash, mister, I've never met an exercise I did like. I'm a slug! I find moving around a lot to be very tiresome. But running is easy, accessible, and empowering for me, and the fact that I like being done with it better that doing it isn't going to stop me! Ugh.)

I actually tell very few people, the only people who know are close friends who are also trying to lose weight. I don't like the idea of telling everyone since I spoke with a friend about my weight loss (thus far) since she was going on about how she wanted to lose weight etc etc. The next week all she could go on about (in person and over the internet - publicly) was how she's so happy how she is and doesn't want to make herself miserable by denying herself this, that and the other and how she is healthy and doesn't want to become unhealthy and obsessive like "certain people". (Note: I'm not miserable or unhealthy at all haha, though I would say I'm obsessive) All that just made me feel quite low and unwilling to share with people.