Ep 16: Life After Bariatric Surgery | Finding Balance
This post is a companion to Episode 16 of the Bariatric Nutrition Coach Podcast. Listen to the full episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
So many of my clients come to me battle-worn from years of dieting. They've counted calories, tried every plan, started and stopped more times than they can remember. They arrive at bariatric surgery feeling defeated — and often carrying deep shame that they "needed" surgery at all.
I want to offer a different way of looking at your journey.
Understanding Your Eating Cycles
Most people who've struggled with their weight are intimately familiar with two eating cycles — even if they've never named them.
The restrictive eating cycle is dieting. Rules, good foods, bad foods, black-and-white thinking. It's exhausting, depriving, and unsustainable. You can only hold it for so long before you bounce into the next cycle.
The overeating cycle is where you land when restriction breaks down. Discretionary foods, eating quickly, eating in private, shame, guilt — followed by pulling yourself back into restriction. This yo-yo pattern is familiar to most people who've dieted for years.
Neither of these cycles will serve you well after bariatric surgery. The first keeps you undereating (which stalls weight loss). The second keeps you overeating (which prevents weight loss and eventually causes regain).
The Third Cycle: Intuitive and Mindful Eating
This is where we want to get to. In the intuitive eating cycle, you're relaxed. You listen to your body. You have a few non-negotiable habits — eating regularly, prioritising protein, eating slowly — and you know that when you do these basics, everything else falls into place. You allow yourself treats without guilt. You drift off track sometimes and you know how to come back — without beating yourself up.
This isn't a place you arrive at overnight. It can take years to find this balance after weight loss surgery, especially when you've spent decades in the other two cycles. But it's worth working towards — because it's the only approach that's genuinely sustainable for life.
Your journey after surgery isn't just about the first year or getting to goal weight. It's a lifelong journey. And approaching it with self-care, compassion, and balance will always get you further than restriction ever did.
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