Last week, after more than a year of silence, influencer Remi Bader opened up about getting weight-loss surgery. Her audience's response was mixed, but for writer Lauren Brown West-Rosenthal, the admission felt intensely personal and relatable.
"Like Bader, leading up to my surgery, I put on a brave face, assuring my clueless friends and family that I was 'at peace' in my body," she writes. "While I was confident, empowered, and steady in my decision to have weight-loss surgery, keeping it a secret was nonnegotiable."
Lauren describes what it's been like to keep her struggle with weight a secret her whole life, and what that means right now as we all navigate a "golden age of weight loss."
