Welcome to Options at Kaiser Permanente!
Options is Kaiser Permanente’s metabolic and bariatric surgery preparation and support program. It was designed with members and health care professionals to both prepare you for surgery and support you long term.
Exploring Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery
Explore frequently asked questions about metabolic and bariatric surgery at Kaiser Permanente Southern California.
What is metabolic and bariatric surgery?
Metabolic and bariatric surgery includes a variety of surgical procedures that support weight loss and overall health improvement. Learn more about the types of surgeries Kaiser Permanente offers.
How does metabolic and bariatric surgery work?
Surgery is just a tool. Tools are only as effective as you allow them to be. On average, you will see the greatest effects within the first 18 months after surgery. After that, the ability to maintain weight loss will depend on long-term lifestyle changes (sleep, physical activity, healthy eating, and mental health).
Learn more about how surgery works and the different surgeries offered.
What does the metabolic and bariatric surgery journey look like at Kaiser Permanente?
Kaiser Permanente worked with members to design a program that supports you every step of your journey, from thinking about surgery, to deciding, preparing, recovering, and adjusting to life long after surgery.
Learn more about the journey and resources available to you at every stage.
What weight loss programs are available through Kaiser Permanente Center for Healthy Living?
Think about metabolic and bariatric surgery as one option on a larger spectrum of health and wellness tools. Kaiser Permanente Center for Healthy Living offers several different programs aimed at improving overall health and wellness, health condition management, and weight loss.
Our Healthy Balance program is a one-year lifestyle program. For the first 6 months, you’ll work on reaching your goals during 16 weekly group workshops. After that, the program offers monthly phone calls with a personal lifestyle coach to help you stay on track.
Wellness Coaching by Phone offers personalized one-on-one coaching aimed at supporting you with almost any lifestyle change you are working on, such as managing your weight, quitting tobacco, reducing stress, increasing activity, and eating healthier.
The Options program is our metabolic and bariatric surgery preparation and support program. It is just one of the programs offered by Kaiser Permanente Southern California when it comes to your health, wellness, and weight loss journey.
Check out all our programs at the Center for Healthy Living. Your local medical center may also offer additional programs such as cooking or exercise workshops or other lifestyle programs. You can always ask your local care team for details.
Overview of the Program
The Options program has four components, all designed to support you throughout your entire journey.
Website
A comprehensive website designed to:
- Provide trusted information for all things metabolic and bariatric surgery at Kaiser Permanente Southern California.
- Give you the chance to listen to real member stories in podcasts.
- Offer more lifestyle resources, including recipes, mental health tools and tips, resources for families, resources for doctors, and more.
Wellness Coaching by Phone
1-866-862-4295
Phone coaching for members both before and after surgery. The program is optional and designed to support you with:
- Getting started on or sticking with a healthy path before surgery and providing tools, resources, and encouragement so you can see it through.
- Long-term weight loss maintenance after surgery.
- Getting back on track if you need help.
Wellness coaches are health educators with expertise in preventive health care and behavior-change counseling. A wellness coach can help you reach your goals with a personalized action plan and one-on-one support.
Pre-Surgery Workshops
A 10-week workshop series to help you:
- Prepare physically for a safe and effective surgery.
- Understand the short-term and long-term expectations of surgery.
- Decide whether you want surgery, and if so, which type is right for you.
- Build and apply the skills needed for long-term surgery success, including healthy eating, physical activity, and mind-body tools.
- Build and maintain healthy relationships with yourself, food, and others.
- Know where to seek support at every stage before and after surgery.
- Feel empowered to seek and use mental/emotional health resources.
Support Group
A long-term support group to:
- Provide continued skill-building before surgery and long after.
- Offer professional and peer support.
- Provide a place for members to learn from other members who have had the surgery.
- Offer support between the end of the workshop series and the surgery date.
- Provide a shame-free environment to support members when getting back on track.
- Offer a chance for friends and family members to learn about surgery and provide support.
Overview of Your Journey
- Self-referral
- Referral from primary care/specialist
on surgery
for surgery
Referral to the Options Program Orientation
For your safety, there are a few guidelines to make sure you are eligible for metabolic and bariatric surgery at Kaiser Permanente. Your health care team (primary care doctor or specialist) will be able to assess your eligibility and provide you with the appropriate referral to the Options program orientation.
We encourage members who do not meet the surgical guidelines to consider our other weight management programs!
Top 10 Important Considerations
One of the most important goals of the Options program is to prepare you for a safe and effective surgery if you decide surgery is right for you. Surgery can change your life in a lot of ways, and it’s important to be aware of these up front. We asked Kaiser Permanente members who have had the surgery to share some of the most important decision-making factors when it comes to metabolic and bariatric surgery. Here are the top 10 considerations that came from those conversations.
1. Surgery Is Just a Tool
Surgery is just a tool. Tools are only as effective as you allow them to be. On average, you will see the greatest effects within the first 18 months after surgery. After that, the ability to maintain weight loss will depend on long-term lifestyle changes (sleep, physical activity, healthy eating, and mental health).
2. Pre-Surgery Weight Loss
To improve the safety and effectiveness of your surgery, surgeons ask you to lose some weight before surgery.
3. Lifelong Changes to the Way You Eat and Drink
Surgery changes your digestive system, making it necessary to change the way you eat and drink. You will only be able to eat small amounts at a time. You must also separate what you eat and drink by 30 minutes.
4. Vitamin and Mineral Supplements for the Rest of Your Life
Surgery changes your digestive system, and some vitamins and minerals will no longer be absorbed as well. To stay healthy, you will have to take vitamin and mineral supplements every day for the rest of your life.
5. Relationship Changes with Self, Food, and Others
Surgery can lead to major lifestyle adjustments (for example, how and what you eat and drink) and body changes (for example, extreme weight loss and loose skin). This can also impact how you think about yourself, your relationship with food, and your relationship with other people. Taking care of your whole self, including both your mental and physical health, is an important part of the pre- and post-surgery experience.
6. Sleep
Sleep is key for overall health. Many people have sleep apnea before surgery. While it can improve with weight loss, it’s important to continue treatment for sleep apnea after surgery.
7. Fitness Before and After Surgery
Being able to walk for at least 15 minutes before surgery is aimed at making sure you’re able to move after surgery to reduce complications like blood clots and lung infections. Gradually increasing your fitness toward a goal of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise a week will help keep your weight off long term. Finding a fitness routine that works for you after surgery is key to long-term success.
8. Tobacco
Smoking or chewing tobacco or other nicotine products (vaping devices, e-cigarettes) harms every organ in the body and has been linked to ulcers, blood clots (the leading cause of death after metabolic and bariatric surgery), heart disease, stroke, lung disease, increased risk for hip fracture, cataracts, and certain cancers.
Need support quitting tobacco? Check out Center for Healthy Living resources, including Freedom from Tobacco workshops and Wellness Coaching by Phone.
9. Alcohol
Alcohol is not recommended after surgery. Surgery changes the way your body absorbs and processes alcohol. Alcohol contains calories that will work against your weight loss goal, and it may cause ulcers. Alcohol is also more addictive after surgery. One in five patients develop alcohol-use disorder within 7 years after surgery.
Need support to lower your drinking risk? Check out Center for Healthy Living resources on alcohol and your health.
10. Family Planning/Pregnancy
It’s recommended to avoid getting pregnant for 18 to 24 months after surgery. This allows you to have maximum weight loss and reach a stable weight. Your nutrient intake will also be very limited for quite some time after surgery, which can affect a baby’s development. Weight loss can improve fertility, and it may be easier to get pregnant after surgery.
Pre-Surgery Preparations
Explore some common questions about making a decision and preparing for metabolic and bariatric surgery at Kaiser Permanente Southern California.
What factors should I be considering in my decision?
Surgery can change your life in a lot of ways, and it’s important to be aware of these up front. We asked Kaiser Permanente members who have had the surgery to share some of the most important decision-making factors when it comes to bariatric surgery. We have organized these into the Top 10 Important Considerations for you.
Why is the Options program recommended before surgery?
The Options program is designed to help you make your decision about surgery and prepare for it. The pre-surgery workshops offer a supportive environment to ask questions, learn about the benefits and risks of surgery, and support you in making lifestyle changes to ensure a safe and effective surgery. The support groups offer long-term connection, peer and professional support, and continued skill-building for life.
Our surgeons strongly recommend that you attend Options because it will prepare you for the life-long changes you will need to make after surgery to avoid complications and maintain weight loss.
Our members who have had surgery strongly recommend Options because it:
- Provides crucial information about bariatric surgery
- Changes how you view yourself
- Changes your relationship with food
- Supports you in making important changes
- Provides ongoing support
- Helps you learn to cope with stress
- Helps you develop a plan for success
“I think the classes before are so helpful. But in the midst of surgery, pain, your body changing, it was a struggle to even figure out what I needed to eat and how to plan for it. Everything you learn in class kinda comes back to you.”
–Margarita, 6 months after having gastric bypass
What resources does the Options program provide?
The Options program pre-surgery workshops break down all you need to know about surgery and provide resources along the way. Explore topic-specific resources throughout this website!
Medical Information
Medical Alert Wallet Card:
Nutrition
Healthy Eating After Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery: Post-Surgery Meal Plan:
Vitamin and Mineral Supplement Guide:
Daily Lifestyle Log:
Physical Activity
Videos:
Daily Lifestyle Log:
Mental Health and Wellness
Self-Care Apps:
Daily Lifestyle Log:
For more frequently asked questions before and after surgery, explore the FAQ page.