Building a healthier relationship with food — before and after bariatric surgery
I work with people who want to build healthier habits and a more sustainable relationship with food, with particular expertise in obesity and bariatric surgery. You may be preparing for surgery, adjusting to life afterwards or experiencing weight regain and finding that some of the emotional or behavioural patterns around food are beginning to return.
With 12 years’ dietetic experience, including specialist bariatric roles across major NHS hospitals, I look beyond nutrition alone. Your physical health and nutritional needs matter, but so do your history with dieting and weight, emotional eating, daily routine, mental wellbeing, expectations and the realities of your life. Understanding that wider picture helps us find changes that are realistic enough to last.
- 12 years’ professional experience
- HCPC Registered Dietitian
- Specialist bariatric & complex obesity experience
Could we be a good fit?
You may find my approach useful if:
You’re preparing for bariatric surgery and want to understand the nutritional and lifestyle changes involved, while developing realistic expectations about life before and after surgery.
You’ve had bariatric surgery and are experiencing weight regain or finding that established eating or emotional patterns are beginning to return.
You’re living with obesity or obesity-related health conditions and want specialist nutritional support that considers more than your weight alone.
You want to improve your relationship with food and better understand emotional eating, body image or recurring patterns around eating.
You know what you would like to change but find that your routine, work, living arrangements, energy levels, mental health or other pressures repeatedly get in the way.
You want to build healthier habits for the long term rather than follow another short-term set of instructions.
What working together can look like
Our first conversations are about understanding where you are now and what you want from the work.
I’ll want to know about your history with weight and dieting: when weight first became difficult for you, what you have tried before and what did or didn’t work.
We can also explore your relationship with food, including emotional eating, established habits and coping patterns.
Alongside this, I’ll consider your physical and mental health, medical history, nutritional needs, everyday eating patterns and the practical circumstances surrounding them. Work hours, energy levels, living arrangements and daily routines can all influence what is realistically possible.
A conversation, not simply a set of instructions
My approach is person-centred, collaborative and reflective.
I’ll ask focused questions where I need to understand particular aspects of your health, but I also want the conversation to be guided by what feels important to you.
My aim is to create a non-judgemental space where you can talk openly about your experiences and contribute to decisions about your care.
Rather than simply giving you recommendations, we can agree realistic actions and goals together. I’ll provide guidance where it is needed, but I also want you to understand your own patterns and feel increasingly confident taking ownership of the changes you make.
Education is an important part of my approach. I will spend time helping you understand why something matters, rather than expecting you to follow nutritional advice without understanding the reasoning behind it.
When the same patterns return
Weight regain or a return to previous eating patterns can bring considerable frustration and self-criticism, particularly after bariatric surgery.
When something keeps happening, I’m interested in understanding the triggers and circumstances around it rather than immediately responding with another recommendation.
What is happening when the pattern appears? What are the key challenges? What have you already tried? What makes responding differently difficult?
We can use reflective conversations to explore those questions and develop strategies together.
My work is informed by person-centred principles and behaviour-change approaches, including elements informed by CBT. In practice, that means helping you notice connections between thoughts, emotions and behaviours, reflect on what may be maintaining a pattern and identify changes that feel achievable.
The aim isn’t simply to tell you what to eat.
It is to help you understand your health and behaviour well enough to make informed, sustainable changes for yourself.
Areas of experience
My work has included supporting people with a range of emotional, relational and behavioural difficulties, including:
Pre- and post-operative dietetic care, preparing for bariatric surgery, setting and managing expectations, nutritional support after surgery and adapting to longer-term life following a procedure.
Weight regain following bariatric surgery, emotional eating, recurring eating patterns, self-criticism, body image and developing a healthier relationship with food.
Complex obesity, weight management, obesity-related health conditions and nutritional support around long-term health.
Readiness for change, understanding barriers and triggers, developing healthier habits and making changes that can be maintained within everyday life.
About Nese
Nese brings 12 years of professional dietetic experience, with much of her career focused specifically on bariatric surgery and complex obesity.
She has worked in specialist bariatric and obesity services across several NHS organisations, including Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust, Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and, most recently, University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust.
That specialist experience has reinforced a principle at the centre of her work: effective dietetic care is about much more than nutrition alone.
Food and weight sit within a much wider life. Physical health, mental wellbeing, social circumstances, work, routines, emotional eating, previous experiences of dieting and someone’s expectations about change can all influence what happens next.
Nese therefore takes a broader, person-tailored approach, combining evidence-based dietetic practice with education, reflection and behaviour-change support.
Her professional perspective is also informed by multidisciplinary working and her involvement in bariatric and obesity education. She has delivered patient talks and presentations at national and international conferences and co-founded the Global Bariatric Nutrition platform with a colleague.
For Nese, sharing that knowledge with clients is as important as giving a recommendation. She wants people to understand what they are doing and why — and ultimately to feel more informed, motivated and able to make sustainable decisions for themselves.
Qualifications & Professional Credentials
BSc (Hons) Dietetics
Plymouth University (2013)
MSc Applied Sports and Exercise Nutrition
Oxford Brookes University (2014)
Professional registrations & memberships
Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
Registered Dietitian
Registration number: DT27904
British Dietetic Association (BDA)
Registration number: 23966
Selected specialist training
View selected specialist training
- Senior Specialist Bariatric Dietitian — University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust – 2024–2025, Locum
- Senior Specialist Bariatric Dietitian — Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust – 2017–2024
- Specialist Bariatric Dietitian — Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust – 2016–2017
- Complex Obesity and Tier 3 Bariatric Dietitian — King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust – 2016
- Clinical Dietitian — Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust – 2015–2016
What happens when you get in touch?
Start with a conversation
Your free 20-minute discovery call is an opportunity to tell us what has brought you to therapy, what you are looking for and ask any questions you may have.
Find the right fit
We’ll consider your needs, preferences and what you would like from therapy, then recommend the practitioner we believe is best placed to support you.
Agree the next step
If you feel comfortable with the recommendation, our team will talk you through availability, fees and how to arrange your first session.
Fees
Nese’s session length and current fees were not included in the questionnaire response and should be confirmed before publication.
We’ll confirm current availability and answer any practical questions during your discovery call.
Session (60-minutes)
Change doesn’t have to mean starting again
Whether you’re preparing for bariatric surgery, adjusting to life afterwards or finding that weight or eating patterns have begun to change again, you don’t have to arrive knowing exactly what to do next.
A free 20-minute discovery call is a chance to tell us what has been happening, ask questions and understand whether Nese — or another member of the team — is the right person to support you.
Confidential – No pressure – Clear next steps