Hello: I did not have success in Kaiser SFF, and only went to Richmond once, or maybe my mind set needed more information for making things work better. I lived in the Bay Area but relocated to Sacramento. I did a 360 on finding something that was really going to help me, and things lead me back to getting RNY surgery. I felt that the South Sac system work really well for me, but don't get me wrong and they require the same and expect you to loose a percentage of your excess weigh too just like SSF Kaiser. This is not the easy way to loose the weight-for-life. The process this time around went like a breeze. I did exactly what was asked of me, even excerising by walking and the weigh reduced as stated. A really big effort on my part was sticking to the 1200 calorie diet, no Nutri systems, just real food helped a lot too. My comorbities had increased and I really wanted better health and a better life. I really wanted it! So these days is about "how bad do you want it?" and "Weigh (ha-ha) the worth.... eat only to live." I feel that Kaiser is the hard way to go but the best, and if they made it easy, they would see a lot of failing post-op and they do not. We come out of the training and education so solid in skills and understanding, so I think the process is great!