To think this is dishonest?

[Raspberryshortcake]

I know several people (Friends and family) lately who have had gastric weight loss surgery.
None of these people have made it public.

However they are posting photos on social media saying they’ve talking about how much weight they’ve lost and people are commenting saying well done, how did you do it and you’re an inspiration etc etc.

Am I wrong in thinking people will see these and feel bad that perhaps they can’t achieve similar from diet and exercise? Because they don’t know the true story.

These people don’t owe their social media friends their medical details, it’s nobody else’s business.

They are being dishonest if they pass their success off as being down to diet and exercise.

I take Wegovy and tell anyone who asks how I lost the weight. I would consider it lying by omission otherwise, or at least fudging the truth if I just mentioned ‘eating less’ as many do.

I agree with you OP. If they are deliberately making out they are doing it themselves and taking the credit for it and other people are feeling shit because they are doing everything they can do lose weight and not losing as quick or as much..yes that could make them feel like they are failing. The things is you cannot make people tell the truth about how they lost weight, it’s their business. If they are not saying how they lost it.. fair enough but if they are lying and saying it is through diet and exercise, well that's disingenuous at best.

Oh don't be so bloody ridiculous!

Its their own medical information

They are still 'doing it themselves' though, it's a weight loss tool rather than a magic wand!

Meh. I couldn't get worked up about it. It's not like they're selling anything.

Im sure there is a lot of judgment towards people who discuss their surgery. I'm sure the people close to them know about the procedure anyway.

Nah. Not quite. A gastric sleeve is NOT the same as someone who doesn’t have it. That’s why people do it in the first place, coz they can’t do it on their own.

No I don’t think it’s dishonest. It’s someone’s body, they’re not obliged to share how or why they look the way they do. It’s a bit like someone complementing you on a new dress and replying ‘oh this old thing’. I think it would be weird if people went in to chapter and verse about gastric surgery.

If the weight loss is dramatic I’m sure it’s obvious anyway.

I think it’s dishonest if you blatantly lie about it, different if you just don’t discuss how you are doing it.

We used to know someone that was in a slimming world group, she had a gastric band fitted and was put all over their social media groups as slimmer of the week every single week, absolutely no mention of the gastric band. Totally unrealistic goals for people who hadn't had the surgery and unfair and a lie to advertise that she had lost all of the weight from slimming world alone.

If they are just posting a nice pic of themselves in a bikini then it's no one else's business how they got into that shape. More power to them i say!
However, I had a friend who had a tummy tuck and boob lift, and once she recovered she posted loads of photos of herself in swimsuits and then accredited her weight loss to "smoothie bowls" and the MML supplements and products that she was promoting. Obviously all total bullshit and not ethically ok to advertise something that she's making money from when in fact the reason she looks so slender is because of plastic surgery.
Again, no shade on her for having plastic surgery, that's none of my business. What is my business is having someone trying to sell products on the basis of a lie. Otherwise, pose away.

This. It takes a lot of hard work to maintain a healthy weight once you have been obese.

Your post buys into the 'fat people are lazy and unworthy' narrative, which (IMO) is outdated, and lazy.

Before you judge people, I would try to educate myself on how the body works. Try reading The Obesity Code. Ultra Processed People, How Not to Die, for starters. Then look at the Glucose Goddess. These books will provide you with the very basics of how the body work, and why obesity is more than calories in vs calories out.

Also, it's absolutely non of your business.

Just be happy for them, as they try to make healthier choices.

So a gastric sleeve which makes your tummy smaller so you literally cannot eat as much as you previously ate because you now feel fuller is nothing to do with calories in?

Ghrelin, the hormone responsible for stimulating appetite, is usually produced in the fundus of the stomach which is removed during surgery. This causes ghrelin levels to fall which means you end up with more loss for appetite. Again noting to do with calories in?

Will you come off it!

To outright lie about it unnecessarily seems odd. But it's a medical procedure. Like any other and therefore is private and personal. Noone should have to sing from the rooftops 'oh, I've had my ovaries removed' or 'guess what folks, I'm now minus a kidney'. Unless they want to of course.
Tons of people have surgery and use injections now for weight loss, so it's not like it's taboo. But it doesn't mean you shouldn't allow people privacy about medical matters.

Ok and? what information are you missing? why is it any of your business?

The main reason people opt for a gastric sleeve is because they cannot do it themselves. Nothing wrong with that, it takes guts to go to such lengths. But when you lie about it and say you achieved it by diet and exercise or SW or some shit you're trying to peddle is dishonest.

The PP's other examples are more dishonest using the loss to sell unrelated products.

Really they don't owe anybody an explanation on their medical history, so its up to them if want to disclose. I would imagine they fear potential negativity about their choice given they've likely had experience of people's opinions during previous failed diets.

I'm glad the person on my FB that had gastric band surgery abroad, decided to post the whole procedure as it doesn't look like an easy option and presumably there's higher risks with surgery when obese. Sure they also have to be careful not to end up with malnutrition and as reasons for obesity can be complex and often psychological factors it may not fully resolve them.

In labradors they found a greedy gene which makes some more food obsessed than others and can reduce metabolism.

This. I have a friend who had weight loss surgery, and is open about it, and she simply cannot eat as much as she used to so it's not nearly as much hard work for her as for someone who is trying to lose the weight naturally and keep it off.

Weight loss surgery doesn't mean no diet work or exercising. Yes it makes you less hungry and resets certain processes in the body but it's something you have to work with forever.

Even if these people are lying, what do you propose should be done about it? Should we all call 999 and report it? FFS.

Mind your own affairs

It’s a tool that gives you an advantage. If somebody else is trying to lose weight and not getting the same results they are going to be feeling crap by comparison.

There’s no need not to mention it unless you’re ashamed, in which case get over it. Speaking from experience of using a weight loss tool.

It gives you an advantage though and that’s the point. If you’re chatting to somebody about weight loss and they can’t understand why they aren’t losing weight as easily and you don’t mention it, it’s a lie by omission. You know this; if it didn’t make weight loss easier nobody would do it.

So don’t talk to people about losing weight. Just say you don’t want to discuss it, don’t put it down to diet and exercise alone.

Does it matter? I've lost a lot of weight before and getting encouragement from people really helps. It's not like they're gaining money or anything. Just unfriend/unfollow if it disgusts you that much.