About Bariatric Mel
I didn’t build Bariatric Mel to hand you another food plan or motivational pep talk. I built it because I know what it’s like to live in the after-after; when the surgery glow fades, the old voices creep back in, and you feel like you’re fighting the same battles on repeat.
This is the stage no one really prepares you for. When the surgery glow fades, the structure disappears, and the old voices start creeping back in. When you are technically doing fine, but inside it feels like you are fighting the same battles on repeat.
Bariatric surgery changes your body in a matter of hours.
Learning how to live in that body, with the habits, decisions, and emotions that come with it, takes years.
Most support ends long before that part is figured out.
Bariatric Mel exists to fill that gap.
Why Bariatric Mel Exits
In the first months after surgery, support is structured and constant. Appointments. Check-ins. Education. Clear rules.
Then that phase ends.
You are released into maintenance, and the assumption is that you will be fine from here. But maintenance is not passive. It is where the real work lives. Restaurant meals. Family holidays. Stalls. Regain. Changing hunger cues. The realization that surgery did not fix everything you hoped it would.
Most people reach this stage without a roadmap and without anyone to call who will not make them feel like they have failed.
That gap is not anyone’s fault. Bariatric programs are designed for early recovery, not long-term living.
But the gap is real, and it leaves many people feeling on their own too soon.
Bariatric Mel is led by Melinda Schuster, who brings personal proximity to bariatric surgery and professional experience supporting long-term behavior change.
I come to this work with personal proximity to bariatric surgery and professional experience supporting long-term behavior change.
I have watched people I care about navigate this process. I have seen what helps, what does not, and what often gets oversimplified. I have also spent years working alongside people as they sort through the challenges that tend to show up months or years after surgery, not because they did something wrong, but because this life is more complex than anyone warned them it would be.
This work is not about me having all the answers.
It is about creating a space where you do not have to pretend you do either.
No shame.
No hype.
No pretending this is easy.
Who I Am in This Space
What Guides My Approach
Post-op support should be ongoing, not crisis-based.
Honesty matters more than motivation.
Regain, frustration, ambivalence, and grief are common parts of many post-op stories.
What worked in month three may not work in year three. That is not a problem to solve. It is part of the process.
You do not need a new path.
You need a new way to walk the one you are already on.
What this is (and Isn’t)
Bariatric Mel offers coaching, education, and long-term support for people living life after bariatric surgery.
We work on practical strategies, patterns, and real-world decision-making. That includes quieting the inner critic, resetting the group chat in your head, and building confidence that holds up outside of perfect days.
This is not therapy or medical care, and it does not replace working with a therapist, dietitian, or medical provider. It is a different kind of support. One that focuses on where you are now and where you want to go next, without pathologizing the process of getting there.
If You're Here, You're Not Behind
If you are reading this page, there is a good chance you are further out from surgery than you expected to be without feeling settled.
Maybe you are dealing with regain.
Maybe you are white-knuckling your way through every day.
Maybe you are doing fine on the outside and exhausted on the inside.
You are not behind.
You are exactly where many people are, quietly and without saying it out loud.
You do not have to keep doing this alone.