Bariatric Support

Course Overview
Start with Your Personal Bariatric Journey whether you are preparing for surgery, recently post-operative, several years into your journey, or returning after a setback. Continue sequentially or choose the modules most relevant to your current needs. Use the DGBB Bariatric Success Challenge as your ongoing daily practice and revisit assessments and your Bariatric Success Blueprint as your needs change.

Learn

Work through each module and lesson at your own pace.

Module 2Prepare Your Mind for Change4 lessons planned

A changed body works best with a mind prepared for change.

Prepare psychologically and behaviorally for a major life transition by examining expectations, beliefs, fear, motivation, perfectionism, shame, and the mental patterns that influence long-term change.

  • Develop realistic expectations about bariatric surgery and life afterward.
  • Recognize unhelpful all-or-nothing thinking, perfectionism, and shame.
  • Strengthen commitment beyond temporary motivation.
  • Practice constructive self-talk and mental rehearsal.
  • Build a support and preparation plan.
Expectations Matter
LESSON

Explore hopes and assumptions about surgery, weight change, health, confidence, relationships, eating, and life after surgery.

  • Realistic expectations
  • Unrealistic expectations
  • Health versus appearance
  • Relationships
  • Emotional adjustment
  • Long-term work

Planned lesson · Coming soon

Move Beyond All-or-Nothing Thinking
LESSON

Recognize perfectionism, shame, harsh self-judgment, and the belief that one difficult choice means the entire plan has failed.

  • Perfectionism
  • All-or-nothing thinking
  • Shame
  • Self-talk
  • Progress over perfection
  • Returning quickly after a difficult choice

Planned lesson · Coming soon

Motivation Changes — Commitment Can Continue
LESSON

Learn how values, planning, routines, support, and small actions can sustain progress when motivation is low.

  • Motivation
  • Commitment
  • Values
  • Planning
  • Small actions
  • Support

Planned lesson · Coming soon

Module 3Understand Hunger, Cravings & Eating Triggers3 lessons planned

You can respond more intentionally when you understand what is actually driving the urge to eat.

Learn to recognize the different experiences that can lead to eating and identify personal patterns involving physical hunger, cravings, emotions, habits, environment, stress, boredom, loneliness, rewards, and social situations.

  • Differentiate physical hunger from cravings, habits, and emotional triggers.
  • Identify common personal eating triggers.
  • Recognize environmental and social influences.
  • Understand what emotional eating may be attempting to accomplish.
  • Create alternative responses to recurring triggers.
Not Every Desire to Eat Is Hunger
LESSON

Explore physical hunger, cravings, emotional urges, habits, environmental cues, and social eating.

  • Physical hunger
  • Cravings
  • Habit
  • Emotion
  • Environment
  • Social cues

Planned lesson · Coming soon

Discover Your Eating Triggers
LESSON

Look for patterns involving stress, anxiety, loneliness, boredom, fatigue, conflict, celebration, reward, location, people, and routines.

  • Stress
  • Anxiety
  • Loneliness
  • Boredom
  • Fatigue
  • Conflict
  • Reward
  • Social triggers

Planned lesson · Coming soon

Module 6Build Habits That Support Your New Life4 lessons planned

Long-term change becomes easier when healthy actions become part of everyday life.

Create practical systems that make health-supporting behaviors easier to repeat, including planning, hydration, movement, sleep, follow-up care, stress management, and other individualized recommendations from your care team.

  • Translate health goals into repeatable daily behaviors.
  • Use planning and environmental design to make supportive choices easier.
  • Build consistent routines around clinician-directed nutrition and hydration.
  • Support appropriate movement, sleep, stress management, and recovery.
  • Recover quickly when routines are disrupted.
Build Systems, Not Just Intentions
LESSON

Create routines, reminders, preparation strategies, and environmental supports that reduce dependence on willpower.

  • Routines
  • Planning
  • Reminders
  • Environment
  • Preparation
  • Consistency

Planned lesson · Coming soon

Support the Basics Every Day
LESSON

Develop systems around the foundational behaviors recommended for you by your bariatric team.

  • Nutrition plan
  • Hydration
  • Movement
  • Sleep
  • Medication and supplements as prescribed
  • Appointments and follow-up

Planned lesson · Coming soon

Module 9Plateaus, Setbacks, Weight Recurrence & Recommitment3 lessons planned

A setback is information — not your identity and not the end of your journey.

Respond to plateaus, setbacks, returning habits, avoidance, or weight recurrence with curiosity, appropriate clinical follow-up, renewed support, and practical recommitment rather than shame.

  • Recognize common forms of habit drift.
  • Reduce shame and avoidance after setbacks.
  • Identify changes that may have contributed to current difficulty.
  • Reconnect with appropriate professional and social support.
  • Rebuild progress through small, realistic recommitment steps.
Recognize Drift Before It Becomes a Crisis
LESSON

Identify subtle changes in routines, eating patterns, coping, follow-up, planning, movement, sleep, or support that may signal a need for attention.

  • Routine drift
  • Eating-pattern changes
  • Reduced follow-up
  • Stress
  • Avoidance
  • Isolation
  • Early awareness

Planned lesson · Coming soon

Weight Recurrence Is a Reason to Respond, Not Hide
LESSON

Approach weight recurrence or other difficult outcomes as reasons for compassionate assessment, medical follow-up, behavioral review, and renewed support rather than secrecy or self-condemnation.

  • Avoid shame
  • Return to follow-up
  • Review contributing factors
  • Medical evaluation when appropriate
  • Behavioral support
  • Recommitment

Planned lesson · Coming soon

Rebuild One Behavior at a Time
LESSON

Choose the smallest high-value action that helps restore direction instead of trying to fix everything in a single burst of effort.

  • Choose one priority
  • Small actions
  • Consistency
  • Track progress
  • Use support
  • Add complexity gradually

Planned lesson · Coming soon

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