As we reflect on 2024, we’re diving into the challenges, the victories, and those profound “aha” moments that have shaped us this year. Together, we’ll share what we’ve learned from the most challenging parts of our journey, celebrate the wins that have propelled us forward, and explore how leaning into our incredible BariNation community has made all the difference.

But that’s not all—we’re thrilled to look ahead to 2025 with bold predictions of bariatric care and obesity treatment. We’ll also reveal this year’s community support theme, focusing on how relentless curiosity transforms our journeys.

So, grab your favorite drink, settle in, and let’s reflect, predict, and dream big for the year ahead!

IN THIS EPISODE:

• [3:02] Jason and Natalie share what has been their biggest challenges for 2024
• [17:24] April shares the importance of leaning into the Bari-Nation Community 
• [22:12] Finding hope in the Bari-Nation Community
• [25:00] The hosts talk about the wins they have had in 2024 and how much they appreciate the listener's support
• [35:15] Leaning into the tool of curiosity for 2025
• [37:55] The hosts make bold bariatric predictions for 2025

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Recognizing that you're not fully participating in your own life can be a harsh reality, but it also opens the door to transformation. Moving from survival mode to actively committing to your potential is not just a challenge—it's an opportunity to reclaim your life, shed the emotional and symbolic weight holding you back, and propel yourself forward with newfound clarity and purpose.
• Life's opportunities often appear unexpectedly and require bold, immediate action. The lesson is in recognizing that while challenges and hurdles may persist, stepping through them—even if unprepared—can lead to transformation when a door opens. 
• The bariatric journey isn’t about learning entirely new skills—it’s about approaching the things you already know how to do in a different, healthier way.

RESOURCES:

• BariNation Website 
• Join the BariNation Membership community meetups to support you on your journey with obesity treatment. https://barination.com/pages/join-our-community
• Want to see bonus content? Head over to Patreon to get more and to support the podcast for as low as $5 per month! https://www.patreon.com/BariNationPodcast 

OTHER RESOURCES: 

Treo Foundation - Website

ABOUT:

If the BariNation podcast helps power your bariatric journey, become a monthly podcast supporter and help us produce the show! Visit www.barinationpodcast.com and help us support people treating the disease of obesity with humor, humility, and honesty.

Bariatric Surgery, BariNation Community Support, Bariatric Diet, BariNation, Bariatric Journey, BariNation Community, NSV's, GLP-1, VSG, Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy, LapBand, Roux en Y, Gastric Bypass, SADI-S, Treo Foundation, Bariatric Challenges, Bariatric Wins, Post Op Support, Pre Op Preparation, Revision Surgery, Obesity Disease, Adjunct Treatment, Shifting Mindset, Sustainable Habits, Emotional Intensity, Manageable Change, Small Adjustments, Meaningful Progress, Bariatric Journey, Healthy Perspective, Positive Transformation

April Williams: You've just tuned into a podcast that welcomes you into a community, a resource center, and a safe place that powers your [00:00:15] journey towards personal wellness.

Natalie Tierney: Our goal is you leave us today feeling helpful, inspired, and ready to live your best bariatric life.

Natalie Tierney: right here. We are

April Williams: so

Natalie Tierney: fast,

What are like this year. [00:01:00] most profound aha moment has been what our biggest win for the year has been. And then we are really excited to kind of do two maybe new things. We have some bold predictions that we are going to be [00:01:15] making about where we see the bariatric world obesity treatment going in 2025.

So sit down, get comfortable, tune in on YouTube, right? Or really find a place that you can just join us for this conversation and know as well, if you're listening or watching, we [00:02:15] would love to know what your biggest challenge was from this year, what your aha has been and what your biggest win is. So leave it in the comments of this episode, wherever you are watching or listening, join the conversation with us.

Uh, and I [00:03:00] think Jason, we're going to start with you on this one. What's been your biggest challenge that you've overcome this year?

Like I would do things, but I would kind of not really [00:03:30] step fully into the role. So that like, we talk a lot about the commitment phase, but I really feel like I was not in the commitment phase of any part of my life, not just my bariatric life, but life in general, I hadn't really committed to anything because I was just surviving.

wasn't until I got out from under all of that, much like my bariatric life, that I was able to kind of clear the clouds away and see just how much I had wasn't participating in my own life. And it was, it was [00:04:30] very, it was hard to see, but it was eye opening at the same time because I, you know, I had this, these procedures to really live this second part of my life to the fullest.

I was just so happy to be out from under it that I just took that and kind of used it to propel myself forward.

I'm not living the life that I want to. That's brutal. Especially when, like you said, you have bariatric surgery. So you can live this different life. [00:05:30] And when you're given it and then you realize I'm not actually doing it, that's a challenge. But you certainly have pivoted that into your, your win and an aha.

Natalie Tierney: Um, you know, I think mine is pretty similar to Jason's. Um, I, 2023 was probably one of the best [00:06:00] years I've had in a long time. I got to travel a lot, see my Barry fam a lot. Um, I got to, you know, do things that I otherwise maybe would have not been able to do because of what we've built [00:06:15] through Barry Nation and otherwise.

I'm in a tiny town that I don't like. I have no friends that are within, you know, drivable distance to me. [00:07:00] It really was like, we talk about those dopamine crashes. It was like, I was on the highest of highs in 2023. And if I'm being completely honest, 2024 has been one of the lowest years I've ever experienced.[00:07:15]

Tears are welcome here. [00:07:45] It was a really hard year. Yeah. And, um,

I think that was also my lesson of,

April Williams: you got through it really bravely. You, you, and you're still doing that. [00:08:15] You're still being brave. You're, you are taking risks. You are saying yes to things that are hard to say yes to, right? You, you are boldly going in the direction that you want your life to go in despite it all.

Natalie Tierney: Yeah, I just, um, and I've had a lot of conversations with, you know, with April and Jason and with people in our community that have felt very similarly this year. It has not [00:08:45] been, it's not been an easy year for a lot of people. And, um, I just think that that's been the biggest thing for me is just like allowing myself to be.

I know it. Yeah, I know it sucks. It does. And I've um, I just there have been so many people that I've talked to in our in BariNation outside of Bari [00:10:15] Nation that that I know have felt the same way and It's possible to go through it. You just have to lean on your community. And that was the biggest lesson that I learned this year.

I am going to be stuck here forever, and you just don't want to be stuck there, but it's almost like sometimes that that is the thing that [00:11:00] has to happen for change to happen, right? Like, I mean, Jason, it kind of it's it's what you were talking about, right? You got to this place where you're like, Oh, my God, what am I doing?

Jason: Well, as uncomfortable as complacency can be, especially in an uncomfortable situation, there's an odd kind of paralyzation that happens when that's going on because [00:11:30] you really just can't, you know, you need to move out from under it, but you can't always, you don't know the way, so you just kind of sit in it like there's a lot of times, but you know, Nat, to your point, like this has been one of the hardest years that you've [00:11:45] had, but this is the first time I've seen you shed tears over it.

Natalie Tierney: you.

Or why can't I just, you know, get this thrown this bone or, you know, whatever it is. [00:12:45] Um, and then all of a sudden it does. happen and then you just have to take it and be okay with taking it and just like, you know, this move, we, we talked earlier in a, another episode that, you know, I got this [00:13:00] job and they were like, can you be here in two weeks?

And I was, uh, this is a ramble, but I was also very [00:13:30] disappointed because this was my 30th year. I had so many hopes, and like, Oh, this is a new decade, this is gonna be so, such a fantastic year. And I was like, a month in, and I was like, What the [00:13:45] hell is this? What? I'm sorry. I did not order this. I'd like this to go back to the kitchen.

April Williams: and I, I might push back a little bit on on that, right?

You got to get to the bottom of it for it to really go in a different direction. And that is what this year has been all about [00:15:00] for you. It is the change that you wanted in your life. You just don't realize that the change is going to feel so Awful. Yeah, I guess

Natalie Tierney: because no one talks about it. Yeah. Like leading up to my birthday.

That was

Jason: hard. I mean, the good news is you got nine more years to get it down. I mean, you know, it's,

Jason: nine more years, let's go.

Do the things that I was doing the year [00:16:30] prior, I physically couldn't, um, and that was the difference like, oh, there's so many people like friends of ours that have been like, oh, let's go live and do this big thing. And I'm like, yeah, [00:16:45] sure. And then the day comes and I'm like, nope, can't. Yeah.

April Williams: Sorry. I am fresh out of everything.

Right. Pause and pivot. My year, very much like all three of you has just sucked. There has not really been, I [00:17:30] mean, and I don't mean to say there's been amazing things in, in this year too, but on a whole, it's been challenging. It's been an absolute slog. It has not gone the way that I thought it would at all.

I'm here. Wow. I thought it was gonna look like bikini bottom. It doesn't. It's an absolute wasteland. Um, and it's not bikini bottom. It's rock bottom. Uh, but there is hope [00:18:15] at the bottom. If you have that one little piece and that one little piece is what our theme for next year is really going to be all about.

Like we literally tapped into the community and leaned in hard. My family went through it a couple months ago, and I absolutely detached from [00:19:30] reality. And the thing that kept me tethered was the community. I logged into very nation each and every day. I looked at that very good day checklist. I gave myself permission to do one thing.

That's the only thing that is still, that I feel like is still mine because everything else got blown up. My challenge this year was the freaking year and my, my aha, uh, my, [00:20:15] the, the thing that I, I don't know, it sounds weird to say, but I, I have proof of concept now is hot damn the community is what kept me going.

And it was literally like, we were like, okay, yeah, no, we are, we are all on the same page. We all need this as patients, as members, as humans. And we are all here and none of us, there was no business. It was no anything. It [00:21:00] was just like, oh, Okay. Yep. Hi.

Jason: We're

April Williams: here.

With the proper support, because without the proper support, we're just sitting there on baby giraffe legs trying to figure out how to walk. And yeah, it's, it's not, it's not the best. [00:21:30] So with the support, we know not only can we do the hard things, but there's, you know, cause there's lots of fear involved in what we're doing.

And if you don't crawl towards it and find it like it's just going to be there with nothing, you know, you're not going to tap into it because you can't find it, but it takes really digging out of it with the proper support to get where you want to be.

We found hope in the community. We found hope in each other. We, we found hope when we gathered with other people and heard. How not only like, it's [00:22:30] not about hearing the struggles, that's a part of it. But for me, I got so much hope when I just heard people saying, I'm, I'm, yeah, I'm struggling with this, but here's what I'm doing.

And I didn't know hope lived at at rock bottom, but it absolutely does. It absolutely does. [00:23:15]

I know every Thursday at 8 a. m. there's a commitment meetup that I can [00:23:45] log into and I can be a patient and I can share what I need to share. Um, and there will be people there that can take, uh, you know, Christine Mason, our dear friend. She's on our leadership team. She always [00:24:00] says the voices in her head are assholes.

That seems kind of weird because I don't like protein. No, that's not crazy. Try something new, you know, like, having a space where you can trust that there's going to be people that get it or that can be there [00:24:45] for you and the hope it's both. It was both for me this year, the trust and the hope together.

Absolutely.

I figured out how to do the things that I know I need to do as a patient [00:25:30] in the most challenging and difficult moments. Because if I can do it through that, I can do it at any time of the year. It doesn't matter what life throws my way. It doesn't matter. You know, it just doesn't matter because I've proven to myself [00:25:45] I can do the things in the hardest part of life.

That's a huge win. Huge win for me. Jason, what about you? What's your big wind from

Natalie Tierney: We

And I knew that if there was any place I could do it, it would be around other bariatric patients who get it and understand. [00:26:30] So, you know, I used retreat this year as my kind of springboard for all of those things. So there was lots of things I was concerned and worried about, but I used that space. To be able to conquer a lot of those, because I knew that if there was [00:26:45] any place that I was going to be understood and, you know, embraced and appreciated was going to be around my bariatric people.

You know, like we were talking about it before, like I sang in front of [00:27:15] people and I was never going to ever do that ever. I wanted to always, but I never thought that I could do that or that I was good enough or that all the things that creeped into my head that I didn't think I was going to be able to do.

Yep.

Um, Yeah, and I'm a very, [00:28:30] I, I'm one of those people that I will drop anything to help you. I will. And I expect that a lot of times from people that I care about or that I consider friends or family. Um, [00:28:45] and there were times, uh, leading up to this year where No, you can't always expect that of people, which is fair.

Okay. Then you just ask another person. You know what I mean? So it was the trusting in my [00:29:30] community and the people that I've, I've set to put around me. And also the trust in myself, uh, to be kind of the powers combined. Um, for this year, but not one or the other is bad and not having one and not having the other isn't [00:29:45] bad.

It's just, it is what it is. And you just gotta, okay, that's fine.

Every time you watch or listen to this podcast, you, you are helping us. Every time you, you comment on a social media post, right, [00:30:15] or you, you join the community and you attend something that we're at, you are helping us get, get through that. And you were also by our side when things looked and felt different because they had to write Jason and that transitioned into new [00:30:30] jobs.

We say it all the time, right? It's one of our mantras in Bari Nation. We have to pause so we can pivot. And [00:31:00] this year has kind of felt like this big pause for, for Bari Nation. We bit off a lot. We have a dream of really changing what bariatric care looks and feels like for patients [00:31:15] in the pre op and the post op, right?

And we took this huge leap of faith and we said, well, we're going to do this. We are going to do this because we believe in it. and we're so thankful that we did. [00:31:45] Holy crap. It was not what we thought it was going to be. It's a lot and it's worth it and it's it's been worth it because you help us make it worth it.

So we just have to acknowledge you. We have to thank you. We have to let you know how grateful we are for you and all of the support that you have showed us and and continue to show. Um, it's been a lot and we couldn't do it without you. [00:32:30] So thank you for making it the amazing journey that it is.

Natalie Tierney: I would like to add to that, that, um, you all have made it so much more than what we could have imagined.

Um, and so I just wanted to clarify, like we, we had no idea. We just had no idea how big this was going to [00:33:45] be. We're, we were just three people that met on the internet and we thought, Hmm, this seems cool. Uh, and now it is really cool. And it's also just a lot more work and a lot more of an impact than we had originally, [00:34:00] realized.

And it is because of all of you. And we're so grateful.

And it, it really does touch us. At the bottom of our hearts [00:34:30] from watching what we kind of conceived on paper become what it has become we, you know, the, the, the brightest spots in our year so far have been from you all from the things you guys have sent us from the [00:34:45] conversations we've had, the connections we've made, the time we've spent together, it's just been phenomenal and you guys have really helped pull us through some of the toughest times we've had.

So we appreciate you very much.

It is [00:35:30] curiosity and it's relentless curiosity. It is this deep desire to get to the place that we want to go, right? It's, it's acknowledging that I might [00:35:45] not be there right now, but I'm going to get there. And how I'm going to get there is by remaining curious. It is by saying, I wonder if, or I wonder what would happen if I, I wonder if [00:36:00] I just shifted my mindset a little bit.

And when all three of us were kind of like really at that, that moment, what got us [00:36:30] through was curiosity. It was. I wonder if I just did this. I wonder if I thought about this differently. I wonder if I just leaned in a little bit to to community. That was the thing that that really got us through. So in 2025, you guys are [00:36:45] theme are direction that we are going is curiosity.

But once we really understand that, this is a tool that can be applied in any facet of our life. not just our bariatric life. Uh, so 2025 guys is going to be about relentless curiosity and we are so flippant excited to, to be exploring [00:37:30] that with you all. It's something that means a lot to us. It's, it's something that we, all three of us have, have utilized recently and are excited to, to continue to, to carry it forward, um, into next year.

for what we think bariatric care, obesity treatment is going to look like in 2025, right? So [00:38:15] bold predictions about what we see lying ahead, right, in, in our community and, and for obesity treatment. And Matt, I think we're going to start with you.

M. B. S. Trio Foundation, the conversations that we have had with folks behind the scenes. I [00:38:45] am really thinking that we're going to see a lot more incorporation of post op support in bariatrics. And maybe that's me also being radically optimistic. Um, but I'm going to put [00:39:00] it out into the world that, you know, these, these medical centers are going to realize that you know, post op care, even the pre op preparation care that we provide in very nation is important and does [00:39:15] make a huge impact on the success of bariatric patients for life, not just for the first year.

April Williams: I, I support that bold prediction. We're, yeah, we, we, because we, we see the [00:39:45] power of it. We see how profoundly people's lives are changed in the most positive way when they have access to that level of care and support and community.

Jason: Mine's kind of a twofold. I think, uh, it can be summed up best by saying adjunct treatment, I think, is going to [00:40:15] be, um, more in the forefront, uh, less, you know, Kind of stigma around revision as well as glp ones after post op because I know a lot of people are still You know in the different [00:40:30] platforms that we use kind of Connecting with the people you see that there is still a lot of stigma and even among people in the bariatric community They still don't understand why you would go have the surgery and then on board a glp 1 and it's just a People needing to [00:40:45] understand the disease of obesity and how chronic it is and how it will outsmart, you know, the treatments that you've, you know, onboarded and you have to continuously adjust the treatments that you're given, you know, to, to be as successful as you want to be.

So.

It shifts the conversation and it opens up more possibility in people's minds. So yeah, adjunct

I just something, I need something lab coat, something just make me look official. I don't know. Let me do [00:42:30] rounds one day. I don't know what this, what, what this plethora unholds, but I'm just saying there's something that needs to be done.

Natalie Tierney: Yeah. Barry nation rounds for a week. I don't know. Barry nation

Jason: rounds with a Barry nation lab coat.

April Williams: Mm hmm. I think that that that should be a conversation. We yeah, we have with him soon. Definitely.

I think the conversation is coming back full circle [00:43:30] to bariatric surgery remains the most effective long term treatment for the disease of obesity. And it's not a one or the other. It is, just like what you said, it is a modality of treatment [00:43:45] and it's the most affordable. It's the most accessible to people still.

[00:44:15] But I've lost access. I don't know how many times I just got word from our insurance carrier that I will again lose access to it. Uh, and it just leads to frustration and, and I think more and more people are just going to experience that. And [00:44:30] they're, they're going to get to this place where they say, okay, surgery is the choice for me.

We, we can be the messengers of hope. We can be. the success stories that people look to, we can amplify the success stories of the thousands and thousands of people that we have, um, [00:45:15] you know, in our corner, that is what will move the needle when it comes to people accessing care and treatment and just encouraging people to just book a consultation, right?

And we're here to share with you just how amazing that life could be, right? Even though we just talked about how this year was was horrible, our years would have been monumentally worse had we [00:46:00] not on boarded the treatment of bariatric surgery. So, right, bariatric surgery doesn't automatically make your life wonderful and roses and, you know, happiness.

when, when you need to be. So that's, that's kind of my, my bold prediction for, for 2025.

Natalie Tierney: I love it. I think that's, that's a great one. Right.

So on social media, in our newsletter, in our community, on this podcast, right? With the educational things that we're excited to be doing with all of the [00:47:15] experts that we have in our community, uh, with your surgeons through practice partnerships. Um, it is our goal in 2025 to really lean into curiosity and to imagine what is possible if we do things a little bit differently.[00:47:30]

We know how to eat, we just have to learn how to eat differently. We are why [00:48:00] changes, right? Our why becomes something different. We all know how to talk to ourselves. We, we do it 24 seven. We just have to learn how to talk differently to ourselves. So, right. One of the things we talk about all the time in variation is one of our goals is to [00:48:15] help people lower the temperature when it comes to this bariatric journey, right?

It's about learning how to do what you already know how to do differently. That's a very different discussion. That's a very different, uh, different [00:48:45] mindset. So, um, Yeah, we just invite you to to join us on on this ride. We are here to support you. We are here to learn alongside you. And we're here to be patient with you.

Jason: I would just say, you know, we understand that everybody goes through things and if we can be any type of testament to, you know, life on the other [00:49:30] side of those things, please allow us to do so because not only as you know, we've talked about with Natalie, you can do hard things, but doing hard things with support is a little easier.

Natalie Tierney: Yeah, I mean, everything everyone has said already, [00:50:00] but, uh, just adding that, you know, you do not have to walk this, this journey alone.

That's all we care about. If we can be that community, we would love that. If you have community, whether it's through practice or family member or friends, great. If it's tuning into the podcast every week, [00:50:45] um, just lean on, lean on us, lean on your community. Um, and, and you will go far and you will have a great long life with your bariatric.

family and community.

Jason: Bye everybody.

April Williams: Bye guys.

Natalie Tierney: Join us at barrynation. mn.

Jason: And just remember at the end of the day, you've got this, we've got you and we'll see you next time. Bye [00:52:00] everybody.