I realized this weekend that I need to mention here the importance of having support through the whole losing weight process, whether it be a specific community for those that have had WLS or just losing weight in general. My surgeon's office has a support group that meets...monthly, I think? But it's hard to get to those meetings because of my job and family responsibilities. So, I turned to the internet. Fortunately, I found plenty there. Recently, I have had the privilege of participating in three online communities, each one with a different purpose, and I'm becoming a better person because of it. Allow me to explain based on each group. I'll keep them all anonymous just because I feel like it.
I joined the first group last Fall. It is a closed Facebook group for individuals who have had or will soon have weight loss surgery. It currently has nearly 30,000 members, so it can get pretty crazy. I've had some positive and some not-so-positive feelings with this group. Obviously, with as large a group as that, you'll come across extremes, and I've felt sorry for those that have been talked down to and badgered for making less-than-perfect choices. But it's a great group for celebrating victories, both weight and NSV (non-scale-victories), and I appreciate the recipes and other good finds people have shared. I'll stay in it because it gives me a little confidence booster when I can post an update or a recent picture and get a bunch of "awesome job!" and "way to go!"-type comments.
The second community is through MyFitnessPal. It is a group of MFP users that came together at the beginning of January to do a weight loss competition, with several teams of around 40 people each. We have weekly weigh-ins and other challenges each week, like adding time to your daily workout or swapping recipe ingredients to make something more healthy. I had hoped to participate a little bit more actively, but it's hard to keep track of everyone based on screen names and having to keep our conversation all in one thread. However, it has given me motivation and support for weight loss overall. I'm happy to say I've lost over 11 pounds in this challenge, so yay! The challenge will end soon, though. At least I'm still "friends" with several people in my group, so we can check in on each other as we continue to record exercise and our food diaries each day through the app.
The final one is another Facebook group. This one is much smaller than the first group, with a little over 450 members, but it is also for those of us in the WLS crowd. The difference with this group is it was set up as a short-term group focused on helping us set goals and accomplish them each week, almost like a hybrid of the other two groups I've already mentioned. There were also random prizes drawings for participants, thanks to generous sponsors in the bariatric community. I have found so much support with this group and really appreciate all the positive, encouraging notes as well as requests for help that everyone has been posting there. This group will be going away since the challenge is now over, but fortunately many of the members are going over to another group so we can keep this same support up. I'm looking forward to participating there on a regular basis.
Honestly, losing weight is HARD. Getting healthy is HARD. I've discovered that it's much easier to do both when you have a support group that is there to understand your challenges, commiserate with you when you slip, lift you up when you fall down, and encourage you in all areas. If you're reading this for advice, find one that works for you and your success will be that much sweeter.
