Experienced in weight loss (bariatric) surgery

Since 1996, my business Wesley Nutrition Centre maintained a special interest in lapbanding, adjustable gastric bands, sleeve gastrectomies (gastric sleeves), biliopancreatic diversion (BPD), roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) and other obesity weight loss (bariatric) and metabolic surgeries. Wesley Nutrition Centre's online presence resided at foodtalk. FoodTalk continues now that I have formally closed my company.

From 1996 to 2011, I provided personalised advice for the patients of more than nine surgeons in Brisbane and surrounds and my weight loss surgery guides and books are used internationally.

In July 2011, I changed my dietetic practice and no longer see individual clients in rooms. I swapped my rooms for phone consults because I wanted to reach and help many, many more people right around Australia and the world. In 2022, I closed my books and ended my individual consulting entirely.

Until I closed my consulting, I attended the Obesity Surgeons Society Australia and New Zealand Conference (OSSANZ) conferences each year to find out the latest in bariatric surgery techniques (all forms of bariatric surgery - experimental and approved) and shared her food and nutrition knowledge with colleagues. I presented a nutrition paper at the OSSANZ conference in Darwin, Northern Territory, in April 2012 and attended the OSSANZ Conference in Nov 2010, 2013 (Gold Coast), 2015 (New Zealand), in 2016 (Sydney), and in 2017 (Adelaide, South Australia), and others.

I have been an invited presenter at professional meetings and a registered mentor for dietetic colleagues.

In 2017, I peer reviewed lectures and content for the Dietitians Association of Australia's (DAA) Advanced Bariatric Training Program for dietitians. The DAA invited me to review content because of my extensive knowledge and experience in weight loss bariatric surgeries.

A few of my important presentations and peer-reviewed works include:

  • Australian Hospital & Healthcare Bulletin published online. Co-authored Nutrition Management in Bariatric Surgery and the Healthcare Facility

    Read the article extracted online.

  • September, 2013. Invited presenter in Bariatric Surgery Workshops and Ask the Expert panel at the inaugural iNova National GP Obesity Forum in Sydney.

  • Australian Family Physician, Vol 42, No 8, Aug 2013. The bariatric surgery patient - nutritional considerations. Co-authored with Caroline Shannon and Ashlee Gervasoni.
  • March 1, 2013. I presented a professional update lecture about Diabetes and Bariatric Surgery to an audience of dietitians.
  • July 2012, I submitted a few invited blogs at Allergan's support site.
  • April 2012, I presented at the OSSANZ Conference in Darwin.
  • July 2010, I was the Guest Speaker at the GP's Professional Development Symposium about Diabetes and Obesity Surgery in Brisbane.
  • March 2010, I presented at the Diabetes Qld Update for dietitians about the impact of obesity surgery on food, nutrition and the individual.
  • July 2009, I presented at the Sydney National Update event for Allergan's team.
  • November 2008, I presented the nutrition component at the Allergan Patient Management Day for physicians and health professionals in Brisbane
  • November 2007, I presented at the 21st Annual Scientific Meeting of the Obesity Surgery Society of Australia and New Zealand held in Western Australia.
  • September 2006, Wesley Nutrition Centre's dietitians (Diana Barr and I) presented at the prestigious congress, the International Federation for The Surgery of Obesity. The topic: Volumetric energy content of foods and adjustable gastric banding. Essentially, this paper addressed two key issues - how much food and fuel really 'fits' into a baby stomach pouch and the illusion of serve size.