Useful Resources to Support You on Your Bariatric Journey

If you have tried many different things to lose weight, you may feel that bariatric surgery is your last option to help you lose weight and lead a healthier lifestyle. Bariatric surgery should still be seen as just one of the many tools in your toolkit, if you are to have a successful outcome.

If you want to lose weight to improve your health and stay well in the process, you will need to commit to a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle for life.

This leaflet provides a range of resources that you can access to support you throughout your bariatric journey.

How do I find more information on bariatric surgery?

For more information about bariatric surgery, you can visit:

We understand that there is a lot of information to take in at your first bariatric group seminar. We have therefore recorded a video that gives an overview of what you may need to consider from a food and nutrition point of view.

What should my diet look like overall?

For more information about healthy eating, and helpful ideas about how you can improve your diet, you can visit:

For a range of information about living well, you can visit:

You may know what you should do to help you lose weight and be healthier, but understanding how that behaviour helps can be important. There is a lot of wrong or misleading information out there, so the videos below go into detail about the following topics:

• The dieting cycle
• Regular eating patterns
• Triggers to eating
• Diet myth busting
• Balanced eating.

While we do not actively encourage you to count calories, being aware of the calorie and nutrient content of the foods you eat may be helpful. Below are freely available apps you can access using a smart device:

NHS Food Scanner – Find out how much sugar, saturated fat, salt and calories are inside your food.

MyFitnessPal – A food diary, calorie counter and fitness tracker.

How can I improve my relationship with food?

Mindful eating can be a useful tool in your tool kit. After bariatric surgery, not only is what we eat important, but how we eat is too. For more information about how to eat mindfully, visit:

What about my mental wellbeing?

You are considering a surgical intervention on your body, but this is only a small part of the picture. You will need to make behavioural and psychological changes alongside your operation to help you succeed.

The following book will help you develop a psychological understanding of your eating behaviour and the changes needed in order to make surgery successful. The book is written by Denise Ratcliffe, a Consultant Clinical Psychologist who has worked in bariatric surgery since 2007.

‘Living with Bariatric Surgery’ Denise Ratcliffe, Routledge. (Purchase required, also available as an eBook).

Overall wellbeing does not just include our physical health. Our mental wellbeing plays an important part too. Our mental and physical health can affect each other, so it can be helpful to look at the full picture.

For more information, support and self-help resources on a range of mental wellbeing topics, visit:

If you notice that you eat in response to stress, within this range of resources are tips and exercises to help you relax and find alternative ways of coping with stress.

Mindfulness extends further than mindful eating, and can be useful in everyday life. Below is a freely available app you can access using a smart device:

Headspace – learn meditation skills to help reduce stress and sleep more restfully.

What about physical activity?

Increasing our physical activity levels can improve our health independently of weight loss. It can reduce your risk of major illnesses, such as type 2 diabetes, stroke, coronary heart disease and cancer and lower your risk of early death by up to 30%.

Below are freely available apps you can access using a smart device:

EXi – Your personalised workout plan (NHS approved).

What patient support is out there for me?

Guidelines for bariatric surgery state that you should have access to patient support groups. These may be invaluable, however caution must be given about the accuracy of nutrition-related information given out on patient-led support groups.

If you use social media, you can access the following Facebook group:

Obesity UK Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery Support Group – provides information and support to those who have had or are considering weight loss surgery. It offers information and support in the form of forums, content pages via the website, chat rooms, support groups, several Facebook groups, telephone helpline and two national meetings each year.

Contact numbers

If you need further help or advice about your diet please contact:

North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust

Specialist Services Admin Hub

Telephone: 01429 522471

Opening hours: 8:30am to 4:30pm (Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays)

If you have any general queries about your bariatric surgery, you can contact:

Specialist Bariatric Nurse

Telephone: 01642 624601

If your call is not answered, you have the option to leave a voicemail message.

Further information can be found at:

Please ask a member of the bariatric team if you would like any of the links sending by SMS to a smart device.

If you do not have access to the internet, but would like to access any of the information from the links in this leaflet, please discuss this with a member of the bariatric team. It may be possible to send you a printed version from the website.

Information and references used in the development of this leaflet:

1. Obesity: identification, assessment and management (2014) NICE guideline CG189.

Comments, concerns, compliments or complaints

Patient Experience Team (PET)

We are continually trying to improve the services we provide. We want to know what we’re doing well or if there’s anything which we can improve, that’s why the Patient Experience Team (PET) is here to help. Our Patient Experience Team is here to try to resolve your concerns as quickly as possible. The office is based on the ground floor at the University Hospital of North Tees if you wish to discuss concerns in person. If you would like to contact or request a copy of our PET leaflet, please contact:

Telephone: 01642 624719

Freephone: 0800 092 0084

Opening hours: Monday to Friday, 9:30am to 4:00pm

Email: [email protected]

Out of hours

Out of hours if you wish to speak to a senior member of Trust staff, please contact the hospital switchboard who will bleep the appropriate person.

Telephone: 01642 617617

Data protection and use of patient information

The Trust has developed Data Protection policies in accordance with Data Protection Legislation (UK General Data Protection Regulations and Data Protection Act 2018) and the Freedom of Information Act 2000. All of our staff respect these policies and confidentiality is adhered to at all times. If you require further information on how we process your information please see our Privacy Notices.

Telephone: 01642 383551

Email: [email protected]

Leaflet feedback

This leaflet has been produced in partnership with patients and carers. All patient leaflets are regularly reviewed, and any suggestions you have as to how it may be improved are extremely valuable. Please write to the Clinical Governance team, North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, University Hospital of North Tees, TS19 8PE or:

Email: [email protected]