mostly this is just to vent.

there is a support group at the hospital. its peer run and i have heard lot of negative things about it from people who have gone. so i avoided it.

i have attended an invitation only local group a few times. i am so disappointed, none of the women there are exercising! when they told a newbie they hated the shakes and couldnt get them down, i chimed in that i started doing Protein bars at 5 weeks post op for that reason. one of the women jumped all over me about how bad that was. um, but its better to not get in your protein? its supposed to be a group for dealing with the emotional crap, but no one said a word about changing our relationship with food until the very end of the 90 min we had. it was so disappointing. there were women there with lots of time in too.

i am so grateful for the internet! suppose that was all the support i had!

This post is exactly the reason why I haven't gone to any local support groups near me. I just had bad memories of the weight watchers meeting basically being enablers anonymous.

I check in here each day to get my fix.

I too was not impressed with my first local group meeting sponsored by the surgical office. The meetings were for pre-op and post op patients and so the information was very general and basic. There wasn't really a forum to ask questions and I was not comfortable asking specifically what I needed to know about with so many pre-op individuals there trying to get their questions answered.

I did find another support group in the area and liked it better but trying to fit the meetings in my schedule plus the group meets on the opposite side of town than where I live made it hard to get to the once a month meeting.

I prefer getting online daily and reading the treads here. Plus I feel more at ease answering others questions as well as posing my own. I have told several people about this site so they can get the information about WLS and have support after surgery.

I guess the "live" groups are only as good as their members and any one that organizes them... Maybe you can be the one that brings some relevance and turns that group around! If not, you have us. I only use this group for my support. My Dr.s group was only RNY the last time I went, so never returned. I have thought about going back and seeing whats up... and maybye becoming a bit of a leader.

yeah, everyone there is a bypass patient, but i dont care about that. i have a friend who lost 150 pounds through diet and exercise. i see she struggles with the same stuff i do. even more. i'm not going anywhere, a good friend of mine is having wls in the next 6 months or so and i plan on being there for her. i was just venting about how disappointed i am!

My local meeting is a mix of pre and post op. The first part is a general meeting about a topic pre planned, which is usually very interesting. The break out puts you in groups with people around your length of time since surgery. Basically, my group discussed all of the ways they are cheating their diets and how little exercise they are doing and still losing. I was disappointed!! I'm very thankful for this site, I find people who are successful and helpful. I'm hoping my meetings get better, or I'll just have to find a new group.

My local meeting is a mix of pre and post op. The first part is a general meeting about a topic pre planned, which is usually very interesting. The break out puts you in groups with people around your length of time since surgery. Basically, my group discussed all of the ways they are cheating their diets and how little exercise they are doing and still losing. I was disappointed!! I'm very thankful for this site, I find people who are successful and helpful. I'm hoping my meetings get better, or I'll just have to find a new group.

yeah its like the water zumba lasses at the Y. lots of really really obese people, would leave class early, hang out in the hot tub, then go and eat. felt like i was at an NA meeting in a crack house.

Omg I just went to one , it was waste of my time. There was a guy there yelling out , interrupted , and his wife also they talk about what they want to eat, like junk , am sitting there Why in hell you put yourself threw this , if already your talking about chips, so stupid !