I was in your same boat and still currently am. I had sleeve surgery on 3/13/17 and told no one except my family. I haven't told a single one of my close friends, they all think I've been simply eating healthier. There is actually a place in my hometown that does medically supervised liquid diets to lose weight. I actually did this last year and stopped and gained my weight back. I told my friends and coworkers that I was trying the liquid high protein diet again and that i would slowly start adding in healthier foods because if i stopped all together i'd go back to old eating habits and gain the weight back. I just entered the week of being able to eat soft foods so i told my friends i was adding in fruits and vegetables and next week i'd add in proteins and i would try to cut carbs way back. Told them i hoped this would help me make a lifestyle change. They have complimented my dedication and weight loss. My excuse of absence was that i had to get my appendix removed lol. They didn't expect anything of a WLS and change in diet because I had started my "liquid diet" 2 weeks early (for preop) I am not planning to ever tell my coworkers and once i get along in my journey i hope to open up and tell the truth to my close friends when i feel comfortable. i'm scared of the judgements.