The PCOS Nutritionist Podcast

Breaking the taboo on weight-loss surgery: Aimee shares her journey

June 30, 2023 Clare Goodwin Episode 143
The PCOS Nutritionist Podcast
Breaking the taboo on weight-loss surgery: Aimee shares her journey
Show Notes

Bariatric surgery is still a taboo topic in most circles. Weight gain and obesity is still portrayed as something that we should have control over and therefore if you need bariatric surgery, you are a failure. Or you’re taking the easy way out. 

But this isn’t the case at all. Weight gain and obesity is a really complex condition, especially in PCOS. Our body's email system, our hormones, are sending messages to our body to store more fat. And make it much harder for us to burn fat. This then leads into a spiral - we might become less active because it’s harder or more painful to move. We might start severely restricting what we eat, which leads to binge eating and a host of other factors that lead to spiralling weight gain. Most of us are doing the best we can, but our body is just sending the wrong emails.

For most people, bariatric surgery is no more your fault or quality of life improving, than needing a hip replacement!

So I wanted to break down the taboo of bariatric surgery and open up this discussion.  Because contrary to popular belief, this isn’t taking the easy way out.  Bariatric surgery requires a lot of hard work, not just in the initial weight loss phase, but as my guest today, Aimee, speaks about, 3 years post surgery.

This is the time that the surgeons and the patients know, is when they are at greatest risk of weight regain. 

In this episode we cover:

  • Breaking down the taboo of bariatric surgery
  • The challenges of living in a bigger body 
  • The before and after work
  • How bariatric surgery actually works (spoiler- it’s not just weight loss!)
  • The different types of surgery and what’s best for PCOS (and long term weight loss)
  • The psychological side of bariatric surgery 
  • Maintaining weight loss 3 years post surgery 


This episode is for you if:

  • You’re thinking about bariatric surgery, or just interested to know actually how it works
  • You’ve recently had bariatric surgery- you need this wonder woman’s wisdom! 
  • You’ve had a lap-band and are wondering why it might not have worked for you
  • Or for those who think that weight loss surgery is people taking the easy way out!


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