I went to my local WLS support group tonight...

Doctor David Dyer at Centennial Hospital in Tennessee.  They have a great support system.  If you go to the state board of TN they usually have one of the banners for advertisement there.

There are several groups operated out of my hospital.  There is 1 for up to 6 months, 6 months to 1 year, and over a year.  I go to a couple of them as I can.  There has almost always been 1 - 4 men and the rest women but at least a mix.  There is a different set of topics for each group.  In addition, they have about once per quarter an addition session (In sept. they will go over plastic surgery), My trainer may do a session around traveling and exercise routines, I believe they had  boxing training another time.  I usually attend the over 1 year (even though I'm only out 9 months, the analyst invited me, and the 6 months to 1 year.  I sometimes attend the less than 6 months to support the newer people and answer any questions they might have for me. I think for the most part I've been pretty lucky with the support here (though there is the occasional "He only loses like that because he's a male" to which I usually respond " I have no complaints" Have a great day, Brian

"He only loses like that because he's a male" Sounds like the usual attitude of the gonad-challenged at a typical WW meeting. 

Exact amundo! I went to exactly one support group meeting. In that meeting, I was one of two guys in attendance. My nut asked me to speak to the group since, ironically, that day was when I officially had lost a total of 200 pounds. Gave a quick speel at the meeting and proceeded to hear how lucky I was being a man since it was "easier to lose weight." Talk about a downer after being on cloud nine for breaking the 200 pound barrier. Other than that, normal chit chat about eating right, etc.  Never went back. I'm sure there are many support groups which certain men may find helpful in their personal WLS journey so I don't mean to sound like a "support group basher." I just think the one here wasn't right for me. I would recommend everyone give it a try though, at least once.  Boner

I got suckered into leading my local support group for my doctor and I'm 1 of MAYBE 2 men that attend the group of 20ish or so women.   It's like the main OH board sometimes and it sickens me.   There's one extremely negative, bitter woman that went so far as to reinforce to a new post-op that it was OK to not exercise because "Not everyone can exercise like men or like Chad."  She also went so far as to tell me a couple weeks ago the world didn't revolve around Chad as we were discussing target daily caloric deficiency via BMR?  Not sure where that came from but I ignored her and the sane people in the group continued the discussion.  Jealousy?   Bitterness?   Who knows.  She's absolutely a first class Certified Unix Network Technician!  The topic that evening was exercise and I'd like to think that I may have just a teeny bit of knowledge in that arena.   In a roundabout way I was definately putting a LOT of emphasis on post op success hinging on the patientmaking a commitment to exercise for the rest of their lives.    I didn't go so far as to say that not making that commitment would cause one to not be as successful but it surely does help.   I don't go to the meetings anymore for my support.  I go to help the guy (or lady) that was in my boat 2 years ago.   I want to help answer their questions and be a shoulder to lean on.  I certainly didn't have that person when I went through my surgery.

My local group has about 30-60 people attend every month.  Out of that, We may have 3 or 4 guys in attendance.  The two ladies who run the meeting most of the time seem pretty squared away.  And our meetings alternate.  1 month is kind of a check in where everyone gets to stand up and say how things are going, what troubles they are having etc.  The next month is a guest speaker.  It could be anything from nutrition to psych to plastic surgery etc.   If I had to cut anything out, it would be the sad stories of my insurance this or my insurance that.  I wouldn't mind that so much if they were actually looking for help or an answer, but it seems like it just becomes a pitty fest. Most of them are pretty positive, so the meetings are pretty good all in all.  The meetings seem to provide some good information for everyone. Scott

One more thought, for those pre op and those who are less than a year out post op.  I may have miss spoken.  The local support group has been very good for me.  The first few months out you have tons of questions and they can be very very helpful.  Yet after time as you do your own studying and due diligence you will find you may utilitize your time better by using OH, other WLS sites, or even a local lunchen meeting from the local support group.  Just me...Brian

 That's exactly why (as you can read from my past posts) I finally gave up on going to local WLS support groups, with the exception of our DS-specific group (and seeing how there has only been 1-2 people at all at the last couple of those, I'm probably now going to give up on those as well)   We don't need no stinkin' support groups!  (well, at least in real life)