Being "Out" About Weight Loss Surgery

I've been reading the bariatric sleeve forums on  www.bariatricpal.com for a few months now and one of the popular discussion topics is whether or not to share with others that you are having or have had weight loss surgery.  I totally get why some people prefer to keep it private.  I'm the opposite though- I have been telling everyone I know.  Part of me worries that if I don't lose weight as quickly as other weight loss surgery patients I will be judged or that people will be watching closely to see what I am (and am not) eating.  I've read cautionary tales, warning me that some people react in hurtful or unhelpful ways often implying that weight loss surgery is the "easy way out."   But I want to be "out" about my surgery- because it feels big and important and I want those around me to be supporting me on the journey.  I also feel like making my surgery public honors the magnitude of my struggle- getting most of your stomach surgically removed is pretty extreme and for me it's a powerful way of owning up to the fact that I can't conquer my weight problem alone.  Some people can and do but I am just not one of them- at least not at this time.  I guess I want people to know that I'm not "obese by choice"- I feel imprisoned by my body in its current state and I want to be liberated from it.  I worry that someone reading this words who is also overweight might think I am saying they are bad or in need of fixing and it's actually the opposite- I really admire people who are at peace with their bodies regardless of size or shape- I've just never been able to get there myself.  I see myself as weak- despite how much I want to lose weight, my lifelong patterns of turning to food for comfort and to overeating are just too strong for me to resist them consistently enough to lose weight.  What I love about the sleeve is that you don't have to rely on willpower alone- your new mini-stomach can't tolerate overeating and so you are forced to learn new ways of coping.  The surgery doesn't take away the longing for food (for most people) but it eliminates a lot of the battle by artificially limiting your food intake, so you would have to work hard to overeat instead of having to work hard not to.  I know losing weight will not make my life perfect- I've been thin or average-sized before and I still struggled with self-criticism and negative self-talk.  But my current weight is weighing me down- I feel tired and slow and self-conscious and unattractive.  When I tell people, it feels like sharing good news- "I've found a tool that I think can really help me!  I was feeling very hopeless and now I feel hopeful!"