The BariNation Foundation Podcast

Trigger Warning: Sudden Death/ Family Trauma Jason and Natalie sat down with one of our brightest community members, Tawnya Bacchetti, to talk about her incredibly difficult journey after bariatric surgery. They talked about how Tawnya persevered about becoming a widow just four months after her VSG surgery, why she decided to stay positive and find her daily rainbows, and how she chooses her heal...

Our friend Katie has made amazing progress this summer, and she sat down with us to share what she has been doing, what she has been learning, and what she is focusing on next. Katie has discovered that accountability is key to her success and she shares with us just how she has found her stride and how she is staying steadily aligned with her goals! Follow Katie on Instagram and TikTok @katie.vsg...

Turns out that changing our established thoughts, patterns, and behaviors is extremely challenging. We are hard-wired to fight change. Humans are motivated to act (or not act) through what is known as the Motivational Triad, and trying to do anything that goes against those three forces is extremely difficult. But difficult does not mean impossiable. Mabel Joseph, Mindset Coach and creator of the...

This summer has NOT gone the way any of us thought it would. Things are in disarray, but we are not ready to give in or give up yet! In this episode, April, Jason, and Natalie reflect on their goals and how they have (or have not) been working towards them. We discovered that even though things are not going to plan, we are making small course corrections along the way. We each identified some are...

For many bariatric patients, learning how and what to eat after surgery is one of our largest struggles. We might have known how to eat a certain number of calories, but most of the time, those calories did not align with our goals. Learning how, why, and what to eat is our first struggle and one that often lasts quite some time. In this episode, we sat down with Dr. Matt. Weiner, a bariatric surg...

We have all set goals for ourselves and achieved them. We have also set goals for ourself only to find that we have run out of gas before reaching that finish line. We wanted to know why we give up on our goals and how we can not only recognize some of the “red flag” warnings that indicate we might be giving up on our goals and strategies to stay the course! In this powerful episode, bariatric the...

Consistency is doing what we have to do, even when we don't feel like doing it. That does not mean that we have to *hate* the way we do something. It does mean that we need to find ways of doing the things we know we need to do, in ways that meet our current lifestyle. It means we have to adopt systems, routines, and habits that fit the way we most enjoy living, instead of trying to do something t...

This summer, we are focusing on staying steadily aligned to our goals. We want to create or refine habits, systems, and routines that are not along aligned to our goals but feel automatic. Ultimately, we want to create a life we feel that we never want or need a vacation from. April, Jason, and Natalie sat down to review their Summer, Steady goals and update each other on their progress so far. Th...

We hear that balance is the key to success in everything. We need to find a balance between our work and home lives. We need to find a balance between enjoying foods that are in and out of bariatric compliance. We need to balance the things we say YES to with the things we say NO to.  This is all well and good…but what does this balance actually look like, IN REAL LIFE?  In this episode,...

Obesity is a chronic disease that will require lifelong treatment. When you are a parent, you have an added layer of helping your children learn about obesity and be an active participant in your bariatric journey before and after surgery. This conversation can be challenging when we ourselves don’t understand the very disease we are fighting well enough to help our children understand why bariatr...

For too many years, we allowed ourselves to lose our focus during the summer months. The warmer weather, the longer days, those summer vibes flipped a switch in our brains and all of our goals and aspirations went out the window. If we want to lead a different life after surgery, we have to live a different life. We have to do things differently. And one of the things we need to do differently is...

Food is nutrition. It is also a connection to our families and traditions. It is cultural and historical. It is artistic and at times, it is how we show love to one another. Can we still love, with food, after bariatric surgery? We sat down with Kedric Barrett, one of our community’s most outspoken patients and advocates to learn how he has shifted and changed the role food plays in his family aft...

Parenting comes with its own unique challenges and roadblocks. But when you add in your own bariatric journey to the mix, things can get REALLY interesting. Jason sat down with our friends Rob DeMideo and Niki Stryjak to talk about how their bariatric surgery has impacted their parenting. We wanted to know if surgery has changed the way they parent, the role food played in their families before su...

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. F...

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 thankf...

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 lif...

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 so...

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 b...

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...

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 wit...

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 th...

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 umbrell...

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 episo...

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 ma...

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...