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Always the Fat Kid : My Bariatric Journey (Part 1)

Published on: 1st October, 2025

Welcome to the very first episode of Life in the Bari Lane! In this powerful opener, host Sacha Holder takes us all the way back to the start of her lifelong struggle with weight and what it means to grow up in a body that never quite fit the world around it.

From childhood obesity and early teasing, to emotional eating, diet culture, diabetes, and eventually deciding to pursue bariatric surgery, Sacha gets real about the lived experience behind the before-and-after pictures.

This is Part 1 of her deeply personal bariatric story — full of vulnerability, insight, and the kind of honesty we don’t get enough of in conversations around weight, health, and healing.

🔑 What You'll Hear in This Episode:

  • Growing up fat in the 70s and 80s: teasing, exclusion, and early shame
  • When emotional eating really began — and how it didn’t feel like “comfort” at all
  • Failed diets, Weight Watchers, and that infamous 1980s liver meal plan
  • The moment diabetes changed everything
  • Why surgery was never “the easy way out” — and what finally changed her mind
  • The truth about weight gain that isn’t about food
  • How finding the right bariatric doctor made all the difference

🧠 Keywords:

bariatric surgery, childhood obesity, emotional eating, weight stigma, body image, diabetes and weight loss, Weight Watchers, obesity in kids, lived experience, women’s health, bariatric journey, choosing weight loss surgery

📌 Mentioned in the Episode:

  • 1980s Weight Watchers (RIP liver)
  • A1C of 13.7 😳
  • The moment bacon became trauma food
  • Why “just move more” is a terrible oversimplification

💬 Quote Worth Sharing:

“I was praying as a kid to just wake up and not be fat. I didn’t know what else to do — I was playing hard all day, eating the same food as everyone else. It didn’t make sense, but the shame still stuck.”

🙌 Connect With Sacha:

Disclaimer:

The content shared on Life in the Bari Lane is for informational and storytelling purposes only. I am not a doctor, dietitian, or licensed medical professional — just a real person sharing my lived experience with bariatric surgery and life before, during, and after. Nothing in this podcast should be considered medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your qualified healthcare provider before making any changes to your diet, medication, exercise, or health routines. Your journey is your own, and your care decisions should be made with professionals who know your specific situation.

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About the Podcast

Life in the Bari Lane
Come along for the ride — it's no fun going alone.
Life in the Bari Lane is your 30-minute dose of real talk about life after bariatric surgery — the good, the hard, the weird, and the “nobody warned me about this” moments. No fluff, no “just follow the plan” nonsense — just honest conversations about what it’s like to change your body, your habits, and your whole damn life.

This podcast is a space for the highs and lows of the weight loss journey. Because here’s the truth: bariatric surgery is a tool — not a magic fix. It’s still work. It’s still messy. And it’s still life — with a different GPS.

Whether you’re pre-op and researching, post-op and thriving, or somewhere in the “what the hell did I just do?” stage, you’re in the right lane. This show is about building community — the kind that gets it, supports you, and doesn’t sugarcoat the process.

I’m Sacha — a real-life bariatric patient navigating this wild ride — and I’m here to keep it honest, funny, and deeply human.

You’ll hear:
💥 Unfiltered talk about the hard days
🥗 Nutrition talk that’s actually realistic
🧠 Mental health, body image, and identity shifts
👯‍♀️ Support systems and “friendship fallout”
💪 Motivation that doesn’t suck
🙃 Oops moments, progress wins, and honest reflections

New episodes drop weekly — short enough to fit into your day, but packed with the good stuff to keep you going.

About your host

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Sacha Holder

Sacha Holder is a project manager, podcast host, and bariatric patient who’s not here to pretend it’s all perfect. With over a decade of professional experience and a whole lot of lived experience, she creates podcasts that tell the truth about what it means to live, heal, and grow — through chaos, and curveballs, while keeping it together (mostly).

She’s the voice behind Life in the Bari Lane, a bite-sized bariatric podcast for real people navigating post-op life, and The High-Functioning Disaster, a show about showing up even when everything feels like too much. Through humor, honesty, and zero judgment, Sacha builds community through conversation — because no one should have to figure it out alone.