From 30 Stone to the Stage
When we boarded the plane to Riga in March 2024, the idea that James would enter a bodybuilding competition within two years of surgery was not something either of us would have predicted, or even considered. It happened anyway – and it is worth writing about honestly, because it captures something important about what significant weight loss can make possible when the mindset shifts alongside the body.
The decision to enter came about a year and a half post-op. James had been training consistently since around month four after surgery, initially just walking and light resistance work, then progressively heavier training as his energy and capacity improved. By month eighteen, he was training seriously. The competition felt like a logical extension of where the training had gone – a goal with a specific date attached, which is a very different motivational structure than open-ended fitness.
The Preparation
Preparing for a bodybuilding competition is a particular kind of commitment that intersects with post-sleeve nutrition requirements in interesting ways. The protein emphasis that is standard bariatric dietary guidance is also the foundation of any serious muscle-building programme – this alignment made the dietary side of preparation more manageable than it might have been for someone without a pre-existing protein-first habit.
The caloric restriction required for competition prep, combined with the sleeve’s natural portion limit, required careful monitoring. James worked with his bariatric team to ensure that the additional demands of competition prep were not compromising his nutritional status. Regular blood tests throughout this period were essential. The deficiency crisis at month eleven had been a sharp lesson in what happens when nutritional monitoring lapses – he was not going to repeat that.
What the Competition Meant
Entering the competition was never primarily about winning. It was about demonstrating to himself that the body he was living in now was capable of things the body he had inhabited before surgery was not. Standing on a stage at a healthy weight, having started at around 30 stone, is a form of evidence that is difficult to argue with.
The psychological dimension of the bariatric journey – the gap between how you look and how your brain still sometimes perceives you – is not resolved by entering a competition. But competing provides a concrete and externally validated data point about where you are. That matters, particularly in the first two years when the brain is still catching up with the physical reality.
What We Would Tell Others
Setting ambitious fitness goals post-surgery is not something everyone will want to do, and a bodybuilding competition is at the extreme end of that spectrum. But the principle – that the sleeve creates conditions in which previously impossible physical goals become possible, if you choose to pursue them – applies more broadly. The surgery is a window. What you do with that window is genuinely up to you.
Sources
BOMSS – Guidelines on the peri-operative nutritional management of bariatric patients
NICE CG189 – Obesity: identification, assessment and management
NHS – Exercise after weight loss surgery
About this content
This blog is written by James and Kirsten, a couple from the UK who had gastric sleeve surgery together in March 2024.
We started this blog because we couldn't find any sources of content that details before surgery, the surgery and then life post surgery - so we decided to write one ourselves.
Everything on this site is based on our own experience and the research we have done along the way. It is not medical advice. Gastric sleeve surgery is a serious procedure and every patient's journey is different. Please always consult your own bariatric team or GP before making any decisions about your health or treatment.
Some posts on this site may contain featured or sponsored content, or affiliate links. Where this is the case, it will always be clearly stated at the top of the article. Our opinions are always our own.
Publish Date: 17 August 2024 | Last Reviewed: 7 June 2026 | Next Planned Review: 7 December 2027