Phoenix Bariatric Surgery

Can joining a support group help you lose weight? Major bariatric and psychiatric professionals say so.

At the 26th Annual American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) meeting, Dr. Kathryn Kaiser, Dr. Susan Franks, and Dr. Adam Smith discussed these results. The study found that LAP-BAND® patients who regularly attended post-surgery support groups reported higher weight-loss rates.

Here are some tips on how you can find a local weight loss support group to help further your weight loss efforts.

Ask Your Bariatric Surgeon
First, ask your Phoenix bariatric surgeon or local bariatric surgeon about these types of groups. They should be able to refer you to a local support group to help you share your experiences and lose weight. Surgeons sometimes even run several support groups themselves.

Online Forums
If your busy lifestyle can’t accommodate support group meetings, then an online lap-band forum may be the perfect solution for you. Lap Band Talk offers support groups based on cities and/or regions, as well as special interests, age, gender, ethnicity, and more. Forums like this are great resources for those who are considering the procedure. Use discussion boards to share your goals and struggles with others who may be able to relate and/or help with suggestions.

Meetup.com
Lap Band Meetups are happening all over. Use Meetup.com to find a local lap band meetup group and to see when a local event is happening next. Some Lap Band Meetup groups organize other walking and exercise groups, too. You can also find plenty of other general weight loss group, not specifically tied to bariatric surgery.

The key to these support groups is to regularly attend or if you’re participating online, to regularly update and tune-in to your fellow group members. Whether you want to share your goals or your struggles, remember that the key word is support; these people are here for you.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 9th, 2009 at 2:43 pm and is filed under Phoenix Bariatric News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.