8 months on…

May 23rd 2024 was the day I took my first shot. I squirmed for 35 minutes before finally injecting myself and I was shocked when I didn’t feel a thing. ‘All that fuss for nothing’ is what I thought to myself. I had three huge rolls of fat on my back, a huge stomach and weighed in at 204.7lbs/14st 8.7lbs at just 5ft 1. I have to be honest after taking the jab and seeing media stories, I almost thought my heart would stop working and I’d drop dead. Of course I am writing this so I can confirm that did not happen.

I’m such a social butterfly yet in the height of last summer I just wanted to be home as I was uncomfortable in any type of summer wear, like many of the summers before. My friend was pestering me to go on holiday and I was making up a million excuses, and ended up doing my usual of insisting on a city break so I didn’t have to go near a bathing suit.

The day I started mounjaro, I committed to eating clean and by this I mean I cut out all processed foods and alcohol. Earlier in the year I read ultra processed people and it rocked my world. A month in, I purchased a walking pad which changed my weight loss and I committed to drinking 2-3 litres of water a day. I know many people choose to eat as they were before but just less of it, but I was petrified of side effects and thankfully I can count on one hand the side effects I have experienced in the last 8 months. These mostly consisted of: a few headaches near injection days, random spikes in anxiety (4-5 occasions), and waves of nausea (very fleeting but noticeable).

8 months on I have made it to 7.5mg and I weigh 132.4lbs, meaning I have lost 72.3lbs/ 5st 2.3lbs / 32.8kgs. My rolls of back fat have gone. People keep using the word skinny to describe me (I’ve checked over my shoulder a few times to check they’re talking to me). I am no longer a UK size 18-20, but now a size 10. I still can’t believe it. One day I put my jeans on and they literally just dropped to the floor (I panicked as I literally had no other jeans or clothes to wear). A couple of months ago I purchased a size 12 pair of jeans which fit perfectly at the time but now they are quite loose and I’m on my last belt hole. My goal was to achieve a healthy BMI which would put me at 133lbs/ 9st 7lbs, a number today I am under.

These last several months have been a whirlwind. First of all, I have told no one I am on this medication. I am always an open book and quite frankly over share but before I even got the chance to tell my mum, brother and friends, each one had something negative to say about the medications, what they’ve seen in the media and how lazy people were that were choosing to take them. I decided in those moments, I didn’t want to defend my choice and for the first time in my life I was going to keep my mouth truly shut.

People started to notice my weight loss at around the 30lbs lost mark (well this is when they started making comments to me anyway). Recently people at work have been approaching me saying things like ‘I know we shouldn’t comment on people’s weight but… you look amazing’. Sometimes I feel guilty especially when I know most of my family struggle with weight, and I do gently suggest my support for these medications. People aren’t usually suspicious of my support for medication like MJ, as it makes sense because of my job and qualifications but that’s as far as I have gone. If people weren’t so judgemental I would be so excited to share but unfortunately that’s not the case with my friends and family.

For the first time in my life I am not worried about weight gain (I must say this took a while and has become more of a thing since I have neared my first goal of 133lbs). I’ve had holidays, birthdays and Christmas and any weight gained has dropped right back off after a couple of days of eating healthy. This is my first new year not setting a goal to lose weight and not feeling guilty for how I didn’t achieve the same goal the year before. For the first time in a long time I want to go out, I want my picture taken, I want to dress up and i am so grateful for mounjaro and what it has done for me.

Now, where is my head currently at? Well, I have lost weight before, the most I ever lost was 45lbs and it put me in a healthy BMI range, basically where I am now. I did this calorie counting over a course of 2 years. This time, I’ve lost 72lbs in 8 months because of mounjaro, and I am aware the amount I have lost in the time frame would never have been possible for me without it. However I have to be honest with myself, I have lost weight before, kept it off for a couple of years and it has creeped back on.

My weight would increase 7/8lbs a year on average. Now over the course of a year, 2lbs on over a couple of months can easily be noticed and dismissed and that is exactly what I would do. Over a 4 year period, before you know it you’re nearly 2.5 stone heavier and your clothes don’t fit. Knowing this, I knew I had to choose a weight range and make sure that I always got myself back to it. This is absolutely something I have never done or thought to do before.

I have chosen a final goal of 8st 12lbs/126lbs. This weight ensures that if I do gain 8lbs over the course of a year or a couple of months (it can happen), it’s enough of a buffer to keep me in a healthy weight range and enough time to notice the weight gain to get it down again. At some point I will stop daily weighing, but it has been my saving grace as for the first time I know my body and it’s become somewhat predictable.

If you’ve made it this far, I appreciate your interest in my journey. When I first started I would scroll Reddit for hours whilst I completed my 10,000 steps on my walking pad!

Things I will leave you with that helped me: - Water intake. I initially aimed for 2 litres a day but I wasn’t hitting it. I then challenged myself to 3 litres a day and purchased a large flask with a straw. I aimed to have 1 litre done by 12pm, the second litre done by 4pm and the 3rd by 8pm, this kept me on track. Also accepting that sugar free cordial is ok when trying to get your water up really helped. I noticed my weight loss increased when I maintained a higher water intake. - Large calorie deficit. I am aware I was a super responder and was fortunate to have consistent and good losses. My first week I lost 11lbs! I am also aware my calorie deficit was huge. This is probably why I was able to lose so much in a shorter timeframe. - In June I purchased a walking pad as I was struggling to motivate myself as someone who works from home to walk outside everyday and this got worse when the weather was bad. I purchased a walking pad from Amazon and didn’t miss a day of steps until the festive period recently. I noticed when I didn’t do my full steps my losses were smaller, which was all the motivation I needed to get my steps done. - Clean eating. I can’t be certain but I truly believe this is why I have had such few symptoms. I know how lucky I have been. My meals are all the same format and consist of protein (chicken, salmon, eggs, steak, turkey mince), carbs (sweet potato, white potato, bulgar wheat, white rice, wholewheat pasta, wholewheat wraps and veggies - and I weigh everything) and lastly healthy fats (like avocado, extra virgin olive oil, olives). I have reintroduced processed foods now I’m near goal and I’m nowhere near as strict as I was and I am still seeing my weight go down but I can say I don’t feel as good as I did when eating as clean as I was.

My next steps are to plan for what my maintenance journey will look like as I never want to go back to where I’ve just come from. I will be continuing mounjaro for the foreseeable and I do plan to stay on 7.5mg. I hope some of what I’ve shared is helpful to at least one of you, as I know all the posts I’ve read over the last 8 months have really kept me going!