Do you keep your weight loss surgery a secret?

I've told strangers standing in line at Wal-Mart.

I figured that I'd rather have people know I had WLS than to think I was doing crack or dying of cancer. I can honestly say I never got any negative feedback, probably because everyone was thinking "Well, it's about time!" (*grin*)

I didn't keep my wls a secret but I didn't broadcast it either. I've told some people that I trust & care about me. If it comes up & they ask me depending if it was a friend or a fair weather gossip hound I'll tell my friend what I did & the busy body in a oh so polite way that I rather not discuss it & keep it moving. I'd rather say that rather than give half truths or misleading information. I'm a private person but I really don't want to lead anyone down the wrong path, not even the gossip hounds.

No secrets here, but most people aren't terribly interested in me or what I am doing, either. When I was in the active losing phase I was straight out about it. Now that I am not, there really isn't a reason for anyone to ask. If someone does ask, I tell them.

My experience is that most people are so wrapped up in themselves you could tell them you're on the Purina diet and they wouldn't bat an eyelash.

There is a poster here named Audrey, and she has the perfect response. She says when asked how she lost weight, "Diet, surgery, exercise."

I always think about Starr Jones and how she lied about having WLS.  Not that she was a pillar of integrity before, but her obvious lies made her look like an even bigger fool that she already was.

Most of the time people will find out anyways.  There are two threads on the main board regarding this subject so you might want to check them out for various opinions.

Thanks, everyone! I really appreciate the answers!

I have not kept it a secret. I'm a nurse and I told my co worker. At first they were upset, but when they saw my seriousness and resolve they have been extremely supportive.

One of the reasons there is such societal disbelief at the scientific FACT that such a huge percentage of diets fail, and that surgery is literally the ONLY thing that works for the super, super-morbidly obese, is because everyone has that anecdotal "friend" who lost hundreds of pounds through "sheer willpower." Surely if ONE person they know can do it, then it's possible for everyone, right? (Which is BS anyway, but that's how people think.) So clearly the 95% of people for whom diets and "lifestyle changes" (just another word for diet & exercise) fail must just not have enough willpower or they must not be trying hard enough!

Too bad a certain percentage of the time that person they know lost so much weight through "sheer determination" probably had surgery and just isn't telling anyone, helping to perpetuate the idea that staying fat is simply a character failing. 

Believe me, I understand both sides of this - I don't want the flack/judgment that comes from having weight loss surgery, either. But I'm also not going to throw my fellow large people under a bus and lie about how I got there. So if I don't trust someone to not judge me, I just won't be talking about it with them. End of.