Kelly Broadwater is back and we’re diving into a topic that impacts every bariatric patient: the Three P’s—Product, Preparation, and Portion. Together, we’ll explore the differences between diet culture and the bariatric diet, why no two bariatric eating plans are the same, and how to start listening to your body post-surgery. We’ll also share insights on how your relationship with food evolves and touch on an exciting bariatric eating experience training launching in January. Whether you’re newly post-op or years into your journey, this episode is packed with valuable tips to help you feel your best. Let’s get started!

IN THIS EPISODE:

• [0:57] Kelly defines the diet culture as opposed to the bariatric diet
• [3:12] Discussion of the three P’s:  Product, Preparation and Portion
• [6:10] No two bariatric patients eating plans are identical
• [8:33] Listening to your body
• [10:50] Discussion of the bariatric eating experience training beginning in January

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• A "diet" supports health and recovery post-surgery for bariatric patients, unlike "diet culture," which emphasizes appearance. Understanding this distinction promotes a focus on nourishment and a healthy mindset.
• Bariatric success relies on the "Three P's"—product, preparation, and portion. Choose quality foods, control portions, and mind how dishes are prepared to avoid discomfort and maintain a healthy relationship with food.
• Your dietary needs change after bariatric surgery. While early guidelines focus on recovery, long-term success requires listening to your body, understanding how it reacts to different foods, and adapting your choices. This approach helps create a sustainable, personalized plan and shows that initial rules aren’t always permanent.

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 

GUEST RESOURCES:

Kelly Broadwater - LinkedIn

https://www.facebook.com/people/Be-Barieducated/61551171285582/?mibextid=LQQJ4d

https://www.linkedin.com/company/barieducated/

www.bebarieducated.com

BIOGRAPHY: 

Kelly has provided preoperative assessments and postoperative counseling to metabolic and bariatric surgery patients for over 20 years. An expert on eating disorders in the bariatric population, she is passionate about educating others on this topic. She is the co-author of the book BariEDucated, published in 2023.

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.

BariNation - Website

BariNation - Podcast

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

But before we dive into the conversation, Kelly, will you introduce yourselves to our listeners and watchers?

April: Well, this conversation is, I know, going to be very meaningful to everybody in this community. Oftentimes, we hear the word diet and we kind of get this like visceral response. It's this cringe, it's this like hit, it's this [00:01:30] something deep inside of us is like, Oh, I know what that is and I am not thrilled about it.

We have [00:02:00] undergone a surgery that restricts the amount of food that we eat or changes the way that our body absorbs that food, absorbs the nutrients. So we do need to follow. Uh, prescribed plan of eating, and that is a form of a diet, [00:02:15] but diet culture refers to something very different. Diet culture really refers to this, like the societal draw for us to eat or drink, to consume foods in a very specific way.

Kelly Broadwater: Yeah. I think, I mean, diet culture, a lot of times is about restriction and deprivation and shame. And You know, trying [00:03:00] to change your body, punish yourself, you know, there's a lot of, um, dichotomous thinking, the good, bad mentality, um, and that you have to follow really rigid rules. And I think, you know, you spoke about the bariatric guidelines and that's [00:03:15] eating, you know, you do have to be mindful of, we call it the three P's product preparation and portion.

And then eat something in a restaurant that's prepared with a lot of, you [00:03:45] know, fat or butter or oil that is going to make you sick. And it can be the exact same food. It's just how it's prepared. So I think really just focusing on eating in a way that makes you feel good, that fuels your body, it's [00:04:00] enjoyable for you because it's not enjoyable to have dumping syndrome or to be so stuffed, you feel miserable.

That can lead to a sense of deprivation, which can then even lead to [00:04:30] binging and that looks different in bariatric patients, but it can still, you know, create this disordered mindset and behaviors. Yeah,

When we're six months, 12 months, one year, two years, right? Five years, I'm five years post op now. And [00:05:00] what I eat today looks very different from what I ate within the first year. Um, but I also know that I've done so much work and learning around. what, what diet really does work best [00:05:15] for me, right? The foods and the things that my body functions best on and That happened because I really had to spend some time checking back in with my intuition, right?

So it really does change after a while. And I think that's where sometimes this like, Diet is a bad word comes into the bariatric discussion, right? Because it's like, well, I was told I was supposed to eat just [00:06:00] these things. And it's like, right. But were you told to eat those things within the first six, six months?

Or were you told that that was kind of a forever thing? So I think that's where some confusion comes in.

So, you know, no two [00:06:30] bariatric patients are exactly alike. And definitely as you say, like, Oh, well, when I was first out from surgery, I couldn't have this, or I couldn't tolerate this or this. Like that evolves over time. And so, you know, I think that's [00:06:45] where follow up nutrition is really important with, you know, a dietician or the medical practice where you've had surgery or even outpatient, um, finding someone that can help guide you with those things.

April: That is something that I was so frustrated with, um, kind of early on in my journey, years one [00:07:15] and two, you know, is it professionals and people would say, well, just listen to your body.

It's that intuitive side that really gets pushed down with the disease and, and [00:07:45] just how I, I was before surgery. So what are some things that patients can do if they know that they're ready to kind of start trusting their body and trusting what, what their brain is telling them to do, but they're nervous about [00:08:00] it?

Where can they start?

Like, that's not trusting your body. That's. Trusting and, you know, a prescribed diet, that's [00:08:30] maybe not what's going to work for your body. So I think that, you know, there's a lot of different ways to go about that, you know, in terms of the more intuitively you eat, the, you know, the more your body's going to tell you what you need and what you don't [00:08:45] need.

It's not, not your body separating out physical versus emotional hunger. And that can be tricky. And obviously professional assistance [00:09:15] can be a good thing in those cases. Yes.

And there is a disconnect there for, for many patients and for myself included. And when you throw in that flow. food noise, which I absolutely have on top of that. It can be very confusing. It can be [00:09:45] very loud and very jumbled. And what I've learned is that that confusion and that distraction that happens up here, um, really pushes me to make default decisions that I was making before surgery.

These are the things that we need to learn, the questions that we have to ask ourselves and then the, the time that we need to take to actually answer those questions and dig a little bit deeper. That is the work. That is how we go [00:10:30] from, okay, why, why almost all of a sudden am I wanting Cheetos? Okay. That can mean a couple of different things, but if you haven't done that work, you're not going to know the steps that you need to take to kind of distance yourself between this, this impulsive, [00:10:45] you know, things that are being called for versus the actions that you want to take.

So we're calling it kind of a bariatric eating experience. intuitive [00:11:15] eating, deep dive, this like cohort learning experience. How can learning about intuitive eating and these 10 principles impact or make a positive difference in our bariatric experience?

I think for so long, a lot of times people have had such a struggle and, you know, they're listening to all these outside messages, whether it's doctors or society or weight watchers or [00:11:45] whoever telling them what they should eat, when they should eat, how much they should eat. Or even if you like put in, you know, on an app like, Oh, I want to lose this much weight by such and such date.

But, you know, really listening and getting in tune with yourself. Um, you know, I always tell people, if you, if you look at a little kid. And, you know, how they eat, they will tell you when they're full, they'll tell you when they're hungry, they'll tell you when [00:12:30] they're all done. I mean, my daughter, before she could even talk, learned signs and she knew more and she knew all done and, you know, little kids are in tune with that.

So, [00:13:00] um, yeah, that's a long winded answer, but really kind of, you know, listening and trusting yourself versus all these outside sources.

I would eat less, lose weight and everything would be great. Well, all of those things did happen, but what I didn't fully understand is [00:13:30] all of the work that would go into making the tool as efficient and effective as it possibly could be. And I didn't understand that me reconnecting with my intuition with really learning how to become an intuitive [00:13:45] eater was going to be a part of my journey.

It's not that right. Intuitive eating has eliminated the food noise. It hasn't or taken away this. This obesity hunger that I have, it hasn't, but what it has given me is a set of tools and skills that I can use to [00:14:30] combat those things when they present in my life. It is one of the greatest gifts that I've gotten.

You're there to answer our questions. You're there to really, you're there to be the mirror for ourselves to say, [00:15:00] okay, so when I hear you say this, this is what I hear up here. And if I, Right. Try it this way. Am I doing it right? Like just to have you there to go, yes, that's, that's exactly what we're talking about.

Kelly Broadwater: Yeah. I think I really like the word tool. I mean, there's so many tools in our toolboxes after surgery. And I think this can be a really good one, um, because it's a different way of thinking and approaching things than [00:15:30] how a lot of people are taught or have learned over the years.

So I think it can be, it'd be really helpful just to look at it from a whole different lens.

Uh, this deep dive is going to be starting in January [00:16:00] and it is a wonderful way to kind Like you said, uh, block out all of the noise that we're hearing in January about like new year, new you, right? Like all of these like diets and these exercise and workout things that are maybe being [00:16:15] thrown our way.

And we would love for you to join us as we all learn about bariatric intuitive eating together. So you can click that link in our show notes or just head to [00:16:45] barrynation. mn. co. Uh, this deep dive is a part of membership. It isn't anything extra or on top of. If you are a member of the Berry nation community, you get to participate in this amazing experience.

Kelly Broadwater: So I think New Year's, we get all bogged down and everyone's talking about resolutions.

April: I love that.

Kelly Broadwater: Thank you for having me.

Natalie: 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 [00:18:30] everybody.