What is it like to go through bariatric surgery with the support of your family? What is it like when your spouse or a close family member makes the decision to have surgery after seeing your own success? Jason and Natalie sat down with Sarah, Jason's wife, and Madeline, Natalie's cousin to dive deep into how having bariatric surgery can influence our family members into choosing a similar path. From comforting each other during major complications to accepting that you're not the "perfect" bari...
Jun 01, 2022•59 min•Ep. 107
April, Jason and Natalie sat down with Jason’s wife, Sarah to reflect on the power of peer support and the importance of a strong support system. Whether it's a best friend, family member, peer support advocate, mental health counselor or our own BariNation community, meeting someone who has personally changed your life and supports you is the most powerful thing someone can have. We are so thankful for our digital spaces. It provides us a safe place to create and grow new friendships and suppor...
May 25, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 106
April, Jason, and Natalie sat down to reflect on their time at Advent Health’s Bariatric Retreat hosted by The Bariatric Society. The power of our stories was on full display and hearing them in person amplified the message and the power this community has. We are so thankful for our digital spaces. It provides us a safe place to create and grow new friendships and connections. Meeting in real life can be scary, what if your internet friends are not who they appear to be online? What if you don’...
May 18, 2022•49 min•Ep. 105
Knowing our stories can be a powerful tool we can use to help us move through difficult moment’s along our journey. But what can we do when people question or push back against our decision to undergo bariatric surgery? We can speak in stats! When we have statistical data to back up our decision, we arm ourselves and others with factual information about the chronic disease of obesity that help solidify our choices and provide a definitive rebuttal to anyone who wants to question our medical dec...
May 11, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 104
Turns out, the most important person who needs to know our story is yourself. That might sound odd, but if we don't acknowledge and understand our own story, we will never be able to identify those beliefs and ideas that can hold us back after bariatric surgery. It can be a painful process to go back and reflect on the impact weight has had on your life and how you dealt with it at the time. But by looking back, we can plot a course forward, into a brighter and more aware future. Follow BariNati...
May 04, 2022•56 min•Ep. 103
Our story is about our struggles. While we might think of our struggles in a negative light, it is actually where the “meat” of our personal stories lives. It is where hidden truths become known, it is where deeper understandings and connections are found, and it is where the change happens. Our struggles define us and at the same time, unite us. In this episode, April, Jason, and Natalie reflect on the struggles of their past and how they are using the acknowledgment of their past feelings and ...
Apr 27, 2022•36 min•Ep. 102
Trigger Warning: Alcoholism, Mental Health Do you ever feel like the rain showers will never stop? That you are facing storm after storm, with no break between squalls? Know that you are not alone and that sometimes, this is what your season will be like. We recently sat down with E.Beth Goad, an RNY patient who is not only 18 years post, but someone who has weathered every storm she has faced with grace, grit, and determination. Her story is inspiring and will leave you with the understanding t...
Apr 20, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 101
When April and Jason recorded their first podcast episode, they never imagined that it would turn into BariNation. They were frustrated by the lack of support they received from their surgical centers and felt isolated by the COVID pandemic that shut down the world. They were looking for the support they needed, and when they could not find it, they created it. Their humble podcast blossomed as they welcomed Natalie to the team after they interviewed her on the 16th episode of the podcast. The B...
Apr 13, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 100
Each setback we face could require a different tool to help us move through that moment or experience. It is important that we have a toolbox that is filled with unique and at-the-ready tools that we can use as these moments come. Think about it this way, if you watched the news the night before, caught the weather report, and saw rain was in the forecast, you might bring your raincoat and umbrella with you to work the next day. It’s not that you will use those rain tools that day, but you have ...
Apr 11, 2022•57 min•Ep. 99
Like the rain, there are no stopping setbacks and obstacles. They will continue to move through our lives no matter how well prepared for the worse. Before bariatric surgery, many of us turned to food to help us navigate these stressful moments. After surgery, we come to understand that if we want to find our happy, healthy weight, we cannot turn to food at every setback or obstacle. In this episode, April, Jason, and Natalie discuss some of the setbacks they experienced before and after surgery...
Apr 06, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 98
We know that bariatric eating can be complicated. It can feel overwhelming and daunting. But we are here to help us all lower the temperature on bariatric eating and help us all find that balanced and healthy relationship with food and eating! Balance can look different for everyone, but it takes a willingness to try different things and experiment to find equilibrium in our own lives. In many ways, we have to think about food more than every before, and that can be disappointing. But by shiftin...
Mar 30, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 97
Trigger Warning: Tracking and disordered eating UUHHHHHH- TRACKING. Sometimes we loathe tracking. Even though it does not take a lot of time, it can sure feel like it. Tracking can be another powerful tool we have the bariatric toolbox that will help us find and maintain our happy, healthy weight. And there is not one perfect way to track! We sat down with our good friend Rob @my_weight_is_history to learn his tracking story. We wanted to know how we develop such strong tracking habits and what ...
Mar 23, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 96
Today's conversation is about TWO things that we think we have to avoid like the plague after WLS- carbs and fat! We want to know some things…like…and we got all the answers! Mike even helped JASON work through some of his current nutritional wondering and provided us all with some HOPE when it comes to our goals and tracking! Episode Topics: — What are carbs and fats? Are they essential to your health? — Why have carbs and fat been villainized? What makes them “bad” for us? — What are the recom...
Mar 16, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 95
Hitting our protein goals after surgery is important for so many reasons, but we bet your surgeon never told you *why* it is so important. Turns out, protein is a critical nutrient that allows cells to be built and hormone signals to be sent! It also helps your body not eat away at your muscles as you are losing weight…who knew! We sat down with one of our amazing BariNation Experts Jeannie Boyer, RD to get the breakdown on all things protein! We wanted to know: What protein is and why our bodie...
Mar 09, 2022•1 hr 2 min
Everywhere you turn in the bariatric community, we hear MACRO this and MACRO that…but what the heck does MACRO even mean? This month, our support will be deep-diving into all things macros and we sat down with one of our favorite bariatric deititans to get the low down on all things macros. In this episode, Sam Tambeaux tells us: What macros are and what role they play in our bodies Why we need macronutrients, especially after bariatric surgery Why our bodies crave certain things when it is stre...
Mar 02, 2022•1 hr 32 min•Ep. 93
Advocacy means public support for something or someone you believe in. Self-advocacy means that public display of support means you are the one standing up for yourself. But this requires some practice as many of us have never advocated for ourselves before. We lived our lives in the shadows, attempting to not draw any more attention to ourselves than what our weight already did. Self-advocacy is a form of self-love and it can help us make progress in every goal we are seeking to achieve. We sat...
Feb 25, 2022•50 min•Ep. 92
The Growing Pains of Self-Love This is one of the most personal episodes April has ever recorded. We know that learning how to love ourselves is difficult and Mabel gave us a master class in WHY it can be such a painful process. She broke April like a farm-fresh egg getting scrambled in a hot skillet. Mabel was able to identify the reason April struggles to open herself to self-love and helped us understand the many other reasons the practice can feel so uncomfortable. Buckle up friends, Mabel t...
Feb 23, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 91
We were so excited to sit down with the one and only Dr. Dovec to talk about all things bariatric self-love! We wanted to know Dr. Dovec’s definition of self-love and how she practices it in her own life because this woman is BUSY! She is the Medical Director of AdventHealth’s Weight Loss and Bariatric Surgical Centers in Central Florida, she performs hundreds of bariatric surgeries every year, and is raising three amazing children with her husband Aaron! We also wanted to deep dive into how pat...
Feb 17, 2022•56 min•Ep. 76
Trigger Warning: Self-Harm, Drug, and Alcohol Use Many bariatric patients can trace their obesity to a trauma that was experienced in their past. Our brains are wired to keep us safe, out of harm, and in a place of comfort. When we experience any kind of event that our brains perceive as traumatic, it will immediately triage and do find the quickest path away from that trauma. For many of us, food is that pathway because it is something that humans are almost always around. But for others, our b...
Feb 16, 2022•1 hr 55 min•Ep. 89
Knowing the definition of self-love is the first step in actually loving ourselves. But how do we actually get there? How do we get to a place of love and acceptance for ourselves? We sat down with Maddie Spahr, one of our most amazing bariatric friends and creators, and Rodolfo Alvarez, a phenomenal Wellness Coach, to help us understand how we go from having no self-love to a place of acceptance, and eventual love for our bodies and minds. Acceptance plays a large part in our self-love journey ...
Feb 08, 2022•57 min•Ep. 88
Is loving ourselves selfish or self-centered? Do you think you have ever loved yourself or loved all of yourself? Self-love can be defined as having regard for our own well-being and health, but have we ever actually practiced that definition? April, Jason, and Natalie sat down to dive into self-love. They wanted to know what it was, how (or if) we practice it in our own lives, and talk about ways we can elevate the love we have for ourselves! And just wait until you hear Natalie’s take on self-...
Feb 02, 2022•47 min•Ep. 51
Have you ever wondered why self-care is something that seems so foreign to you? Something that always is on your to-do list but never gets checked off? It might be because you grew up in a culture or family where self-care was not practiced or acknowledged. And that could be creating some friction between you and your self-care. We sat down with Kelsie Danielle, an amazing bariatric patient who has an amazing YouTube channel dedicated to sharing her weight loss surgery life with the world! She o...
Jan 26, 2022•44 min•Ep. 86
If you think dental care is something you can put off or neglect, we are here to tell you that is a bad idea…ESPECIALLY after having bariatric surgery! Taking care of our physical health and our teeth are two of the most impactful things we can do as a form of self-care. We recently sat down with Day Sager- a dental assistant who has had years of experience working in the field. Our mouths can act as our personal “canary in the coal mine” when it comes to our overall health. There are some tell-...
Jan 19, 2022•47 min•Ep. 85
There is this idea, thought, or hope, that once we have bariatric surgery, all of our healthcare issues will magically disappear. For many of us, we *do* see certain medical conditions lesson or even completely go away. April’s sleep apnea dissipated two weeks after her VSG procedure and Jason has been able to cut back on many of his medications. In fact, the reversal of medical conditions is one of the top reasons people make the decision to have bariatric surgery. But in other circumstances, m...
Jan 12, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 84
Like many conversations we have, we think we will talk about one thing, but we end up talking about something completely different. Self-care can be defined as “The practice of taking action to preserve and improve one’s health.” We love this definition of self-care because it calls us to do several things; practice calls us to actually do self-care, action requires that we actually do those things that are self-care to us, and preserving our health means it is ok to just do what is needed to no...
Jan 05, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 83
Who else thought 2021 would go differently than it did? This conversation started out one way, and ended in a very different way…much like this year! Join April, Jason, and Natalie for a discussion on the year that was, and the year that is to be! We were amazed at how much *good* we found in 2021 when we really dove into the year. We all accomplished some amazing things, despite it all! Join us as we visit the year, discover the things that went well, break down the things that didn’t go so wel...
Dec 29, 2021•59 min•Ep. 82
How can we make the holidays merry and *bari* friendly? In this episode, Michaela Miller @losingtoblooming joins us recently to talk about some of her favorite strategies for navigating the holiday season and not abandoning her bariatric goals. It really all comes down to mindset ; recognizing how the "all or nothing" mindset does not serve us- especially in high-stress times, the power and impact of doing imperfect things consistently , and how we can treat an indulgence as just that- something...
Dec 23, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Season 7Ep. 81
The holidays can invoke some heavy emotions and feelings. On top of the sense of loss and grief, we might be feeling after our bariatric surgery, we might also be feeling the missing presence of loved ones. And when you add on the additional layer of the pandemic and just life in general, this season can become overwhelming. And when things get overwhelming, we tend to fall back on old habits, actions, routines, and thoughts to help us find brief moments of comfort. We must acknowledge that usin...
Dec 15, 2021•38 min•Ep. 78
Have you ever found that when one thing goes wrong, you want to discount the WHOLE DAY? Sometimes, we can use that one event to derail our week, month, or even our year. If we want to live differently after bariatric surgery, we need to respond differently when things do not go to plan. Suzanne Razaq- bariatric coach and educator- joins us in this episode to teach us how we can reframe our mindset (and actions) when things do not go to plan. We wanted to know why our default mindset and actions ...
Dec 08, 2021•54 min•Ep. 80
Finding moments of joy can be challenging any time of year, but during the holidays, it can be a monumental challenge. Even though we are in the season of joyful celebration, grief, loss, and sadness can make finding moments of joy difficult. In this episode, April, Jason, and Natalie discuss the meaning of joy; what it is, what it can look like, how we can find it in our daily lives, and how we can use joy as a tool to help us through difficult and painful moments in life. Joy can look and feel...
Dec 01, 2021•42 min•Ep. 78
