Do you tell people?

Most people around me know, it's pretty obvious as I'm down 4 sizes. I'm open with my food habits at work and I'd say I have "supportive" coworkers (one let me weigh her slice of cake last week as I'd scoffed mine, of roughly the same size, without thinking before doing so - a crap estimate is better than a wild guess, I suppose), nobody's ever made a negative comment to me about my food, probably because lots of my department are health conscious and maybe slightly because I'm the boss.

The only person who gets teased is a co-worker who insists he is on a low carb diet while scoffing half a dominos pizza but he makes the jokes himself first


I'm happy to talk about it with anyone who brings it up although very few people are interested in hearing "calorie counting" as the reason I lost weight, most press me on my exercise routines etc and then nod sagely when they hear I have a trainer (aaaah, that must be the magic secret of weightloss, the "expensive" trainer they decide they cant possibly afford thus giving them an excuse to not try) usually replying with "oh well of course if you have a trainer then it's easy".

I'm a private person so when I was losing I kept it to myself for the most part. I had support from my online fitness friends however.

Once it got to a point where you could clearly see my weight loss I could no longer hide. Then came the questions...

Most people wanted to know my secret or what diet I was on. When I said I was aware of my calories and was active almost everyday I usually got that glazed-eye stare. haha

I didn't mind sharing my experiences or what I was doing if someone asked, but I never volunteered.

sofchak wrote: »

InkAndApples wrote: »

I'm happy to talk about it with anyone who brings it up although very few people are interested in hearing "calorie counting" as the reason I lost weight, most press me on my exercise routines etc and then nod sagely when they hear I have a trainer (aaaah, that must be the magic secret of weightloss, the "expensive" trainer they decide they cant possibly afford thus giving them an excuse to not try) usually replying with "oh well of course if you have a trainer then it's easy".

Glad I am not the only one who experiences this - I consider myself an endurance athlete now, running marathons, triathlons, ultras, etc. I only started down this path to endurance-based fitness activities this year.... but when people comment about my weight loss, they almost always attribute my current weight to the fact that I do these endurance events.

Meanwhile, I would claim the opposite - if anything, these endurance events add an extra layer of difficulty to lose/maintain weight because you need enough fuel to power through the training, but not so much that you gain weight. It’s a struggle to keep the pounds off when you are trying to guess how much to eat to avoid bonking mid-run at mile 25.

But that’s not what people want to hear... my weight loss and subsequent maintenance are “easy” because of my dedication to fitness. I wish I burned as many calories as people think I do so I could eat whatever I want... but alas, I burn about 2,300 calories running a full marathon - not even enough calories burned to lose a lb.

Can’t outexercise a bad diet.... but people think you can!

Yeah. I even had one cousin absolutely insist that my frequent rowing was why I'd lost weight, even though I'd been rowing the same amount for 12 years while staying obese, and she knew that. SMH.

I don't volunteer it, but I've dropped over 85 lbs in the last year. People notice and I'm not coy about it. As some of you know from my posts on other threads, what got me started was developing a medical condition. A year ago, due to cellulitus/lymphedema, the doctors wanted me walking as little as possible (until the vascular surgeon confirmed it was safe for me to exercise again), to the point where I attended Rosh HaShannah services in a wheelchair. People at synagogue were asking me then what happened. And since I attend regularly, they've all seen the changes over the past year.

When they ask what I'm doing, I just say 'MFP, calorie counting, and exercise'. Usually, one of three things happens at that point.

1) "Well, you look great! Keep up the good work!" and the conversation shifts.
2) "So... I bet you cut out bread/sugar/candy/gluten/dessert/alcohol/cooked food/raw food/rice cakes/soda/etc". To which I mostly smile and say, 'Nope. Everything in moderation.'
3) "So... I need to lose a few, too. What are you doing exactly? How does it work?" NOW I'll have that conversation. And pray it doesn't end with "Well, I think I'll do a cleanse and see how that goes."

When I was getting started, the people I told were my immediate family (since my Dad was after me to get bariatric surgery. I was BMI 45 with 114 lbs to go to reach a healthy BMI when I started, so it was a valid option for some people in my situation. Not one I was interested in.) and the friends who often had us over for meals, because I didn't want them to think my taking smaller portions of their homemade bread and desserts was any reflection on their cooking/baking.

Nowadays, I really only mention it if it's relevant (medical professionals. Shopping for clothes and explaining that I'm losing weight so I don't want to spend big $$ on something that might be too loose in a couple of months). I don't share details unless asked.

@estherdragonbat Just wanted to say again what an amazing job you've done! Love your no-nonsense approach. No magic, just dedication.

Two people know in depth - my boyfriend (lives with me) who's super supportive and I talk to in depth and works out with me and a girlfriend at work who's also trying to lose 20-30 pounds who goes on daily walks with me. We don't talk about the boring details, but sometimes we'll share if we discovered a great recipe or had a great weigh in. I work in a pretty health conscious environment and most of my friends are pretty fit, so if I'm like, "no nachos fo rme today" people pretty much get it.

In the beginning I kept it very quiet. Now, with results backing me up, I'm an open book about weight loss when someone asks. I don't bring up the subject, but I'm not afraid to whip out my food scale in a restaurant anymore either. I try to be low key, but I still do my thing.

I don't tell anyone very much about controlling my weight. I've steadily lost weight every year for the last 15 years at a rate of about 3-8 lbs per year. People that are in my life tell me all sorts of things from the genuinely hostile to the angelic fist bump.

Overall, I think that people are generally trying to be helpful and some of them even succeed at it. Your mileage may vary. I'm happy with the balance, so I'll continue not talking about it much, unless I think someone could seriously benefit from what I have to say.

I only talked about it with people I'm very close too, but after a 23lb drop on my frame it was noticeable and colleagues started questioning the "how to do it". Once I explained counting calories, it bored everyone back into other local gossip. I made a mistake of expressing wanting to drop another 10lbs and of course the eating disorder talks started Needless to say I'm going to lay low and let the dust settle and just keep plugging along.

I've lost enough that it's definitely visible. I'm not the only one working on my weight so I haven't noticed any food pushing. I generally tell people I have sugar issues, which I do, as a reason to refuse if I need to. For some reason no one seems to do the pushing on protein/savoury or veggies