Another type involves placing an adjustable band around the upper portion of the stomach.

CNN: Learning to eat again: Man drops 130 pounds after surgery

Hill immediately started researching the procedure, in which an adjustable band is placed around the upper part of the stomach to restrict the amount of food the stomach will hold.

CNN: Surgery helps woman drop 135 pounds, 10 dress sizes

Some doctors avoid using the adjustable band procedure because they think it needs to be adjusted or removed too often, and because they believe the weight-loss results aren't as strong, according to Robinson.

CNN: Weight-loss surgery safe, but sleep apnea increases risk

Unlike gastric bypass, adjustable gastric band procedures can be easily reversed.

CNN: Learning to eat again: Man drops 130 pounds after surgery

For now, the basic CORE 2 model comes with an adjustable elastic band (available in multiple colors) and a sensor module packing an accelerometer and three heat and skin sensors.

ENGADGET: BodyMedia CORE 2 armband and View patch health monitors hands-on

Many patients opt for less-aggressive surgical approaches, including an adjustable gastric band (which can be reversed) that forms a pouch in the stomach, or a sleeve gastrectomy, in which a portion of the stomach is removed, leaving a tube for food to pass through.

WSJ: A New Look for Weight-Loss Procedures

You had to consider the risks of doing nothing or having a fairly aggressive surgery like gastric bypass -- or doing something a little less aggressive like the Lap-Band, also called the adjustable laparoscopic banding system.

CNN: Congrats Gov. Christie: You saved your life