I found this article about the pros and cons of going public with ones weight loss efforts to be interesting. Especially since in a sense so many of us here have decide to go public, at least with our tickers. I hope you all find it worth reading!

interesting article - thanks for sharing.

i think i am in the "keep it private" camp. although I have my overall weight loss and exercise goals public and other little things within my blog - i haven't shared hardly any of this with my family and friends. i think the most they know is that i do want to lose weight, but my goals are my own.

there is a fear of failure and i don't want to let myself down let alone anyone else. that paragraph in the article about the weight loss chart and who would take it down kind of explains it.

that is one of the reasons i like 3FC. i can still talk about how i feel during this journey to people i consider friends, but i keep a certain amount of anonymity.

Interesting. It didn't favor one way or the other really, but rather stated parties that support both sides.

My name's not really "kateful", you know. So, even if I had a ticker, it wouldn't really be "public".

I've done the "I'm on a diet; I can't eat that" thing many times in the past and won't do it again. I think it's like wearing a sign that says, "Give me cake" or "No, go ahead, my weight is open for discussion". From now on, I'm keeping it to myself.

Oh, I think there is definitely public accountability here.

But, it is anonymous and within a support system-- which seperates it from placing bets at the office, or putting your chart up at the workplace or church meeting place. People here (hopefully ) are not going to make fun of you, whisper behind your back, and point their fingers. I came back and announced I gained it all back- just as publicly as when I lost it. Luckily, I was embraced and told we will just have to figure out what went wrong and to see how we can avoid it this time around. Hopefully it will be the last time around.

I definitely went public with mine - the day it all clicked for me I told my bf, since we live together. I also told my parents and friends. For me, it was sort of the embarrasment factor - I didn't want to say I was going to lose weight and then not do it. I made a point of it, so I had to stick to my word. I'd been private about it in the past, and it obviously hadn't worked. The other thing this did was give me a sort of safety net. I gave certain people permission to call me on it if they thought I was slacking or cheating too much - it's not like they slap my hand if I want a treat, but if I have a big portion, or go back for seconds, or want to skip my salad at dinner, I have these people around me to say something. It doesn't bother me, since I brought it on myself. They aren't mean about it, but they definitely keep me in check. Oh, and the only person who knows my numbers (aside from you guys, of course!), is my mom - she just finished losing 45 pounds, so she knows where I'm coming from. It's definitely helped a lot with my weight-loss so far.

I went public with mine also and I think it helped to hold me more accountable. However, at one place I worked before, the nurses were always trying to lose weight. They would make a chart and post their weights. I would never do this, I was too embarassed of my weight.

This quote from the article describes me to a tee:
"Frank of George Washington University advises against going public. "It's better not to get other people involved unless they have to know," he says.

That's because there's a natural inclination to "start monitoring, watching and making judgments," Frank says. "Everyone suddenly becomes a weight-loss expert and tells you what you should be doing."

EVERYONE BECOMES A WEIGHT LOSS EXPERT!!! This is too true... I haven't gotten so damn tired of people telling me what or how I should lose weight - they are usually very wrong so you'd think their ignorance should be an embarassment to them!
When I started Optifast, obviously my parents know since Dad is doing this too, they told Grandma and Grandpa (which is difficult for me because Grandma is the type who gives you these great homemade goodies then says you shouldn't eat them). My husband knows because this affects him, my best friend that lives 5 hours away knows, and my counselor knows.
My husband didn't understand the "need to know" basis for telling people - so HE STARTED ANNOUNCING my weight loss plan to others that I didn't want to know. I got after him for that because this is MINE to tell about if I feel it is necessary, not his. He has told people who I already know will attempt to sabbotage me - those same people who will try to tell me that I've lost to much weight when I get smaller.
That pisses me off.
Its a need to know kind of thing, and the public doesn't need to know.

One of the ways I knew it was different for me this time around was that I was comfortable telling people what I was doing. For me it was a big step because always in the past I was so afraid of failing that I didn't want anyone to know I was trying. It isn't that I shout it from the rooftops, but if the subject comes up I talk about it, whereas in the past I wouldn't have told anyone at all.

I guess I'm sorta semi-private. I have my website, which lists me by name. But I didn't announce to anyone in my "real" life what I was doing. But, when people notice that I am losing weight, I talk freely and openly about it, to whatever degree they want.

I don't think I would be happy with a chart on the wall detailing my progress, though. Even if I do really well, what it the point? To make other people feel self concious about not taking similar steps? To make me feel bad during the times I don't do so well? No thanks.

I know what you're saying Tealeaf. When I lost weight before (a substantial amount) I didn't say anything to anyone. People started to not recognize me, or they were worried I was sick, or whatever, but they definately said what they thought. Most of the time it was very sweet or just concern because they didn't know I was trying to lose some weight... but there is always one person that .... er.... for me it was a guy I worked with. He just kept going on and on about how much better I looked because I was so fat before. I ended up telling him, fat can be fixed- bald is a little harder.

I felt a little bad for being so mean, but it was people like him that kept me on the down low. I didn't want to be under a microscope of the nasty ones.

I was afraid of being caught in a failure ... again. My husband knew, I talked to him like I do about most things. I think my kids may have noticed me eating less. They certainly noticed when I started walking.

The anonimity of the internet and message boards is what drew me to them. Who would notice if I flunked out and disappeared? But I feel ridiculously accountable to strangers on the web

When friends and co-workers started to notice then I talked openly.

Ditto.

I was definitely afraid of failure in the beginning so I not only didn't tell anyone, but I also went out of my way to hide it from people. I quit smoking the same way--when I did that, I didn't even tell my SO I was quitting. After a couple of months, he asked me about it. Since I had quit smoking--cold turkey--without the accountability of a public announcement, I knew I didn't need it to lose weight either. I did tell my SO, but only because we live together and he would have wondered where I was going when I went to the gym. I swear, if I could have found a way to sneak off, I would have.

Early on, my SO, who was not aware of the "let's keep this private" plan, outed me to one of my friends. I was horrified but luckily she is a close friend. After I lost ten pounds or so, I did tell a couple of other close friends. One of whom then annoyingly outed me to a business associate that I would never, never have told (another person not aware of the "let's keep this private" plan).

But that's all water under the bridge, because after I lost about 25 pounds, I sort of had a coming out party. I do a lot of public speaking in a very small industry. In May I spoke at a conference that I've been speaking at for close to ten years. There were lots of people at the conference who have seen me speak every year (and seen me get a little heavier every year). My 25 pound loss was pretty hard to miss, so throughout the conference, people that I was not in any way close to (in some cases, I was lucky if I could remember their name) were commenting on my weight and asking what I did to lose it. At one point, one woman told me she was watching everything I ate, so she could do the same thing (big mistake, because I was off the plan that week - LOL!) Getting all the compliments was great and made me feel good about myself, but it's scary to know that all of these folks are watching if I end up gaining the weight back.

- Barbara

I think it matters soley on yourself. Be true to yourself wether public or private. You are the person that counts.