Being faithful to a vitamin regimen after WLS is key to our long-term success. Not only will it help us reach our weight goals, but it will ensure we remain metabolically well. So many people in our community find themselves hospitalized or under a doctors care for nutritional and mineral deficiencies and we don’t want that to happen to anyone. We sat down with Ben and Stephen, the founders of Paravita Vitamins to learn about their amazing bariatric vitamin! They shared with us why they started ...
Nov 17, 2021•44 min•Season 6Ep. 72
Traveling might not have been something we did a lot of before bariatric surgery. Our weight might have made getting from one destination to another difficult and once we were to our destination, our size might have prevented us from fully enjoying our adventure. But with the Bariatric Retreat one day away, we wanted to take a moment and reflect on what travel has looked like in our lives and offer some tips and tricks for traveling in your pre and post-op life! Episode Topics: What was travel l...
Nov 10, 2021•53 min•Ep. 76
Today, East2West_WLS becomes BariNation! We have come a long way from our humble podcast beginnings. We realized we had the power and capacity to create something meaningful and valuable for our bariatric community and today, we are excited to share with you what we have spent the last year working on! None of our current supports are going away, we are just adding a new and dynamic support option that was created to support EVERY bariatric patient! Today, we welcome to the world BariNation, an ...
Nov 04, 2021•50 min•Season 6Ep. 75
In November, we will be focusing on discussing things that support our bariatric life. Things changed significantly before and after bariatric surgery. While many things remain the same, almost nothing remains the same. In this episode, April, Jason, and Natalie talk about how their lives have shifted after their procedures and what #barilife looks like for them. Episode Topics: What “bari life” means to us Why we refer to ourselves as “bariatric patients” and not “weight loss surgery patients” ...
Nov 03, 2021•54 min•Ep. 74
Regain is something every *human* will experience. Our weight is designed to fluctuate over our lifetimes, regardless of our bariatric status. Regain is not a bad or scary thing, it is simply data we can observe and collect along the way. Nothing scary there! We also know the stress that weight regain can play in our lives because we are on this bariatric rollercoaster with you and have experienced regain ourselves. If we have regained an amount of weight that does not feel right on our frame , ...
Oct 27, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Season 6Ep. 73
There is the plan…and then there is what happens. This episode is a *perfect* example of that because we started out talking about partying before and after WLS and we ended up making some DEEP connections about how we are using partying after WLS and what it is helping teach us. None of us thought we would go THIS DEEP but we are so thankful for the safe place to have meaningful conversations like this one. A HUGE thank you to Katie @katie.vsg for her openness and honesty. Her bravery shows us ...
Oct 20, 2021•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 73
We had the *amazing* opportunity to sit down with Lora Grabow, bariatric therapist and Jana Wolff, Registered Dietitian and founder of BariBox to learn about CRAVINGS. This unique opportunity allowed us to learn about this hot topic from two different and important perspectives- from a mindset and metabolic wellness lens. This one-two punch will offer fresh insights into cravings and how we can learn to live with them! Episode Topics: What is craving? Is it true, is ever craving a LIE? Is it phy...
Oct 13, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 71
Bariatric surgery is a life-altering decision. The fear that surrounds this procedure is real, despite the life-saving effects and impacts it can make on your life. Undergoing any type of weight loss procedure comes with risks and costs. It is important to weigh these risks with the potential rewards that come with living on the lighter side of life. We sat down with Dr. Joe Cribbins, the Director of The Texas Center for Bariatric Surgeries in Dallas, Texas to help us talk through some of the mo...
Oct 06, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Season 6Ep. 70
Well...we made it through September. BARLEY. What we learned this month was a little shocking, in all good ways. By focusing on getting back to our bariatric basics, we learned that: Sometimes you have to slow down to go faster. Even with all of the support in the world, you will still find ways to talk yourself out of doing things to reach your goals. That by hyper-focusing on a few things, we can regain control. If we are intentional with our time, we can accomplish more. Whole food feels diff...
Sep 29, 2021•42 min•Season 6Ep. 69
We are SO PROUD of Natalie! She has reached her ONE YEAR milestone of post-op life and sat down with us to reflect on what this past year has meat to her. This is actually her *third* one-year milestone because she has undergone three, separate bariatric surgeries. Her resilience, grit, and tenacity has allowed to to fine success, and redefine what that means to her. We also had a pretty profound discussion about stalls and how they are NOT reserved for our bariatric journey. In this episode, we...
Sep 28, 2021•50 min•Season 5Ep. 68
We made the decision to have bariatric surgery for many reasons. Many of us are seeking metabolic wellness...we have just never called it that! Metabolic wellness can be defined as having ideal levels of blood sugar, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, blood pressure, and waist circumference, without using medications. These factors directly relate to a person’s risk for heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. If we lose our metabolic flexibility, we will have a much harder t...
Sep 22, 2021•48 min•Season 6Ep. 67
Mindset is the last thing we think of when we think of weight loss but it is actually the most crucial of all of the pillars of bariatric success. When our motivation and willpower disappear, our mindset is what will actually push us through to make those lasting changes necessary to live at our happy, healthy weight. In this episode, Jason, April, and Natalie sat down to talk about mindset. We wanted to know what it meant to each other, how it has become a tool in our bariatric toolbox, and how...
Sep 15, 2021•55 min•Season 6Ep. 66
Our body is designed to move. We also understand that you might not always feel like moving! We define “movement” as “intentional movement that is beyond your everyday normal.” We love this definition because it meets you where you are at NOW, not where you were or where you are going. In this episode, April and Jason sat down with Michaela @losingtoblooming to deep dive into movement. We wanted to know: How bariatric movement is different How it can help us find lasting success after bariatric ...
Sep 08, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Season 5Ep. 65
Have you fallen off your bariatric wagon? Has your wagon crashed into a ravine somewhere and do you need some help getting back on track? Don't worry...ours has too. WE GOT YOU! In this episode, April, Jason, and Natalie share their recent bariatric struggles, setbacks, and stumbles and talk about how they will be getting back on track in September. They set goals and talk through the goal-setting process, helping set each other up for SUCCUSS! Our goal is to create content that is of value to o...
Sep 01, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Season 5Ep. 64
We have all experienced food shame and guilt after eating something we deemed "bad" or "unhealthy'. This shame and guilt are what might have kept us in a cycle of unrelenting darkness and struggle because we thought there was something wrong with us...something is so broken it could never be fixed. We are here to tell you that you can break this cycle and find your pathway out of food shame and guilt. We are walking this path with you now, and have some tips, tricks, suggestions, and stories to ...
Aug 25, 2021•59 min•Season 5Ep. 63
Life after bariatric surgery can be filled with food anxiety, even though we were hoping to move away from it after our procedure. Making food choices that align with our health goals means that we are -at times- thinking more about food after surgery than we ever have before. And finding creative, interesting, and delicious alternatives to our favorite foods can feel like more work than what it is worth. In this episode, April @actively_april and Natalie @breakingbari_ers sat down to talk about...
Aug 18, 2021•35 min•Season 5Ep. 62
We sat down with our friend Katie @katie.vsg to see how life has changed 6-month post-op VSG surgery! We wanted to know what has stayed the same, what has changed, what has gotten easier, and what has been harder than expected! Katie has made amazing progress and is honest about her struggles, stalls, let downs, disappointments. But Katie is a FIGHTER and determined to craft the life of her dreams. No matter where you are in the bariatric process, this conversation will resonate with you! Follow...
Aug 11, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Season 5Ep. 61
We have a 50% chance of regaining our weight two years after our bariatric procedure. These two critical years will make or break our long-term success and once we reach this milestone and have maintained our new low weight, we should take a moment to CELEBRATE! April recently reached this milestone and we took some time to reflect on what has changed and what has stayed the same. The trio had the opportunity to talk about what fun is and looks like after bariatric surgery and think about how we...
Aug 04, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Season 5Ep. 60
Are you considering plastic surgery after your bariatric procedure? We sat down with two experts in the plastic surgery field Dr. Gavin Dry, MD and his wife, Melissa Dry, Surgical RN, and answer all of your plastic surgery questions! Many of us undergo plastic surgery after our weight loss to tackle our extra skin but there are quite a few factors that go into making the decision to have a plastic surgery procedure and then recovering from that procedure! We want to know: Why would our plastic s...
Jul 28, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Season 5Ep. 59
Plastic surgery is something many people in the bariatric community consider after losing a significant amount of weight. But knowing where to even START can be daunting. We sat down with one of our favorite humans, Dez @wokeuplikedez , to learn about her plastic surgery experience. She is not afraid to talk about everything and we got to say, we got into EVERYTHING! In this episode, you will hear answers to these important and frequently asked questions about plastic surgery. Questions about Pl...
Jul 21, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Season 5Ep. 58
Spoiler Alert- we think this is one of the BEST patient-to-patient conversations we have had to date on the podcast. Don't get us wrong...we have had some AMAZING conversations with fellow bariatric friends, but this one was so far-reaching, so targeted to our emotional and physical changes, and really dove into the hard things that we don't want to talk about or admit- that our friends, family, and even strangers treat us differently after bariatric surgery and then again after plastic surger...
Jul 14, 2021•1 hr 52 min•Season 5Ep. 57
What do you think of your scars? Do you love them? Do you hate them? Do you show them off or do you hide them? Our scars are something we rarely talk about, yet they are a visual representation of our history. They help tell the story of us. Most humans have a scar by two years old and as we age, we keep accumulating scars as our history progresses. After bariatric surgery, many of us are left with scars of varying degrees and after plastic surgery, the scars are large and prominent. We recently...
Jul 07, 2021•56 min•Season 56Ep. 4
Our size and shape are not the only things that #transforms after #wls...our #skin does too! We recently sat down with the amazing women of @vsgtea, Sammi @therealslimsammii, and Bre @thebresg to talk about the transformation of their skin and #skincaretoutine have gone through #wlspostop! We anticipate loose and saggy skin after surgery, but what about wrinkles, dimples, and bumps? It all happens and it's OK! We can learn to love our new skin and pursue different ways of caring for our skin thr...
Jun 30, 2021•50 min•Season 5Ep. 53
We know that many of us struggle with loving our skin before bariatric surgery. So how do we get to the point after surgery where we can accept, acknowledge, and even love our skin? We sat down with Charity @wanderlust.wls to better understand her recipe for loving her skin at every stage of her journey! And let us tell you...she has been through it ALL. She has overcome life-threatening surgical complications and has come out of those experiences with an attitude of gratitude and positivity. Yo...
Jun 23, 2021•1 hr 18 min•Season 5Ep. 54
Caring for our skin might have been something we *neglected* before bariatric surgery. Maybe we didn't enjoy interacting with our bodies, maybe it was never a priority, maybe we couldn't *touch* parts of our body because we simply could not reach it. Whatever the reason, skincare is a VERY important part of our overall health, and neglecting our skin can lead to lasting negative impacts. In this episode, we welcome Celia @estetics.by.celia to talk all things skincare! She is a licensed Esthetici...
Jun 16, 2021•57 min•Season 53Ep. 5
What started out as a conversation about skin turned into so much more. Loving our skin means that we are using our three pillars of success before and after bariatric surgery to truly love ourselves. Our skin is the largest organ in our bodies, yet it is something that most of us have neglected. We people say "skincare" we instantly think of our face and how we care for the skin on our face. I think most men would just give you a blank stare when you asked them how they cared for their skin. Bu...
Jun 09, 2021•1 hr 20 min•Season 5Ep. 52
We are diving right into this month's support topic- we recently sat down as an East2West_WLS Crew to talk about our current skin situation! We wanted to reconnect with each other and find out where everyone is at with this skin relationship and turns out, we are all kind of in the same boat. We all acknowledge that our skincare has taken a back seat and we are ready to move it up to the shotgun position! In this episode, we talk about what our relationship with our skin was before our #bariat...
Jun 02, 2021•51 min•Season 4Ep. 51
A vice is something we turn to when we are feeling BLASTED (Bored, Lonely, Anxious or Angry, Hungry, Sar or Stressed, Tired, Excited, Depressed) and we have run "out of gas". We can turn to our vice when we want to escape these feelings and trade them in for something exciting, rewarding, pleasurable, and when we need to just "numb out". And after bariatric surgery, we actually NEED to buy new clothes because our old ones are falling off our frame. But many of us walk a fine line between need an...
May 28, 2021•50 min•Season 4Ep. 50
Trigger Warning: Alcoholism and Death Bariatric patients face an increased risk of many health issues after surgery. But Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) is one of the least discussed issues, even though it increases our chances of major complications and even death. Study after study has shown an increased risk of AUD, leading to severe complications and death three years post-op. The medical community is not in agreement on why this happens, so many years post-op. But understanding that we are at an...
May 19, 2021•1 hr 25 min•Season 5Ep. 49
Our brains are wired to keep us safe when we sense danger. If we are experiencing physical or emotional pain, our brains work every possible scenario until it finds the most effective and efficient way out of the pain. What our brains do not understand is that sometimes those pathways out of pain actually create more lasting and long-term pain because they negatively impact our overall quality of life. Wendy defines a vice as something we turn to when our emotional or physical resources are low....
May 12, 2021•1 hr 12 min•Season 5Ep. 49
