We asked, then you asked...and we answer! Thank you to everyone who submitted questions for our first Q and A episode...you sent ins some good ones! Here are the questions that we address in this episode:

Here are some things that are adding value to our lives this week:

We also encourage to you VIEW this podcast on our YouTube channel. During the show, we shared some graphics and images that aid our visual learners who listen also enjoy listening! If you like what you hear and see, follow/subscribe to the feed and leave us a review!

Our goal is to create content that is of value to our community. If you have a topic, idea, question, or threat you would like us to explore in-depth, please leave us a comment on whatever platform you are listening to or watching from or message us directly on Instagram! We are @east2west_wls and welcome your feedback! Please like, share, and review this podcast- your review helps us grow and reach more people.

Where to follow along:

Instagram: @east2west_wls

Jason: @tha_smithsonian

April: @actively_april

YouTube: East2West_WLS

Thank you for being the best part of this community!

After we have decided to have weight loss surgery, we want to share our decision with our closest friends and family. We are excited and want them to share in our new adventure! But sometimes, our news is met with reactions that we were not anticipating; negative statements, constant and digging questions about our decision, and attempts to talk us out of our weight loss procedure. Often, we are told just to eat less or follow a different diet, to start a specific workout regimen or program, to stop going through the drive-throughs and sneaking food. These suggestions are infuriating and undercut the work we have already done to live our lives at a healthy weight. These statements and actions let us know that we are going against the grain of the group, and if we want to remain a member of the group, we must conform to the group's unwritten rules.

What we see on the surface is not what is going on- by us taking such drastic and lasting steps to improve our health, we are letting others know that they could be doing the same thing in their own lives. We are forcing people to confront the stories they have been telling themselves about their weight issues and struggles- others take our news as a slap in the face. Our news forces people to take stock of their efforts and compare their decisions with the decisions we have made. We know it is easier to stay the same and people will consciously or unconsciously try to keep people in their group "status quo" to avoid change.

In this episode, we welcome Becca @refreshing.becca to deep dive into "The Outsider Syndrome"- a term we have coined to describe the reactions we have received after telling our group members that we will be having weight loss surgery. It is NOT a clinical term. It is something we coined on our own to label something we have experienced along our journeys. We can all experience this Syndrome in different ways, and we might not experience it at all! By understanding what we or others are going through, we can help ease the discomfort of people we love and care about and let them know that they are never an outsider when they are with is. 

Episode Notes:

We also encourage to you VIEW this podcast on our YouTube channel. During the show, we shared some graphics and images that aid our visual learners who listen also enjoy listening! If you like what you hear and see, follow/subscribe to the feed and leave us a review!

Our goal is to create content that is of value to our community. If you have a topic, idea, question, or threat you would like us to explore in-depth, please leave us a comment on whatever platform you are listening to or watching from or message us directly on Instagram! We are @east2west_wls and welcome your feedback! Please like, share, and review this podcast- your review helps us grow and reach more people. 

Where to follow along:

Instagram: @east2west_wls

Jason: @tha_smithsonian

April: @actively_april

Becca: @refreshing.becca

YouTube: East2West_WLS

Thank you for being the best part of this community!

The road you have to travel to get to your actual bariatric procedure can be a long and twisty one filled with pit stops, roadblocks, and potholes. In this episode, Jason and April talk about ways to navigate the seemingly endless checkpoints with efficiency and joy. Of course, you need to follow your doctor's orders and meet all requirements set forth by your surgeon and the insurance company. And your surgeon will provide you with some clinical information about your pre and post-op experiences, but we found that what we were provided with from our clinical team did NOT touch on some of the most important elements to finding success before and after our procedures...things like preparing your friends and family for your recovery and transition to the thin life, emotional and behavioral changes, how to best prepare for your physical and emotional recovery, and- as Jason calls is- your "Farwell to Food Tour"! As always, we deep dive into all things pre-op with humor, humility, and honesty.

Episode Mentions

We also encourage to you VIEW this podcast on our YouTube channel. During the show, we shared some graphics and images that aid our visual learners who listen also enjoy listening! If you like what you hear and see, follow/subscribe to the feed and leave us a review!

Our goal is to create content that is of value to our community. If you have a topic, idea, question, or threat you would like us to explore in-depth, please leave us a comment on whatever platform you are listening to or watching from or message us directly on Instagram! We are @east2west_wls and welcome your feedback!  

Where to follow along:

Instagram: @east2west_wls

Jason: @tha_smithsonian

April: @actively_april

YouTube: East2West_WLS 

Thank you for being the best part of this community!

The road you have to travel to get to your actual bariatric procedure can be a long and twisty one filled with pit stops, roadblocks, and potholes. In this episode, Jason and April talk about ways to navigate the seemingly endless checkpoints with efficiency and joy. Of course, you need to follow your doctor's orders and meet all requirements set forth by your surgeon and the insurance company. And your surgeon will provide you with some clinical information about your pre and post-op experiences, but we found that what we were provided with from our clinical team did NOT touch on some of the most important elements to finding success before and after our procedures...things like preparing your friends and family for your recovery and transition to the thin life, emotional and behavioral changes, how to best prepare for your physical and emotional recovery, and- as Jason calls is- your "Farwell to Food Tour"! As always, we deep dive into all things pre-op with humor, humility, and honesty. 

Episode Mentions

We also encourage to you VIEW this podcast on our YouTube channel. During the show, we shared some graphics and images that aid our visual learners who listen also enjoy listening! If you like what you hear and see, follow/subscribe to the feed and leave us a review! 

Our goal is to create content that is of value to our community. If you have a topic, idea, question, or threat you would like us to explore in-depth, please leave us a comment on whatever platform you are listening to or watching from or message us directly on Instagram! We are @east2west_wls and welcome your feedback!

Knowing that our identity needs to change after weight loss surgery is one thing, but what if we don't really know what our current identity is? What if we have never thought about our identity before? In this episode, April and Jason welcome Becca- a community member and follower of East2West_WLS, who asked this very question. After listening and watch the podcast episodes on identity and joining us at our virtual bariatric meetup where identity was discussed, Becca realized that she had never really thought about her identity before. But she knew that her current life and lifestyle would not support her after her bariatric procedure. She is ready to deep dive into her identity, and she didn't know where to start.

Working on our identity is not just something people who have had weight loss surgery do, we can ALL do to identify areas of your life that are holding us back and map out the changes we can make to help us live the life we want. This podcast is for *anyone* who is looking to create lasting change in their life. If you are thinking about having bariatric surgery, are in the pre-op stages, or have had bariatric surgery, this podcast will speak to our soul, your struggle, and your future. We hope you find meaning and value in this episode! In this episode, we will walk you through four steps you can follow to help you define your current identity and see if the pieces of your identity are helping or hindering your growth. Then we show you how to refine and revise your identity to support the person you wish to become and how to get clear on WHAT you would need to do to collect the evidence that would prove you are living your identity.

We are not the identity experts...but we are happy to share our own experiences in identity-based growth and talk about the steps we have taken to learn how to live our lives as thinner people. We DO reference some experts; however, in the podcast and recommend you reference their work as you dive into identity! We also encourage you to VIEW this podcast on our YouTube channel. During the show, we shared some graphics and images that aid our visual learners who listen also enjoy listening! 

Episode Mentions:

Our goal is to create content that is of value to our community. If you have a topic, idea, question, or threat you would like us to explore in-depth, please leave us a comment on whatever platform you are listening to or watching from or message us directly on Instagram! You can also leave us a voice mail through the Anchor app or in the link in our Instagram bio! We are @east2west_wls and welcome your feedback!

Where to follow along: 

Instagram: @east2west_wls 

Jason: @tha_smithsonian 

April: @actively_april 

YouTube: East2West_WLS 

Thank you for being the best part of this community!