Today marks exactly one year since I took my very first jab. I can honestly say that I have never felt happier in my whole life.
And it’s not as if being overweight ever stopped me doing anything. I still put on my swimsuit to lay on a beach or go to Center Parcs with the kids. I still stood on stage and spoke to groups of up to 200 people at leadership events. I dressed up to go to Buckingham Palace and out to fancy hotels and restaurants.
In fact, I was sure that losing the weight would not change me. I’d still be me, just in smaller clothes.
But it has.
I feel different all the time. And I am aware that I no longer stand out for this one obvious trait. When I look at a myself in a group photo, I now feel simply part of the group. Not a group of people and one great big fat one. This ability to blend in and not stand out has felt so good.
I am still discovering new NSVs (non-scale victories). On holiday in Egypt in April I realised that when I walked around in my swimsuit, I didn’t feel the discomfort of my thighs rubbing together. Now I am not claiming to have a ‘thigh gap’ just yet, but when I walk my thighs touch and then part, as opposed to continuously rubbing like pressing two balloons together. I decided to experiment with wearing a dress in the evening with NO comfort shorts (aka chub rub shorts) underneath. OMG it was completely fine. Could I repeat this at home, wear a skirt, all day for work, with nothing underneath, except my pants! I felt positively naked. It was weird. I could feel air, down there. This is very good.
Last week I had a couple of nights away in Champneys with my best friend Dee. I have, in the past taken my own dressing gowns to spas in fear of them not having one that would go round me. Now I have not had that problem for a while, but I have still always worn leggings underneath. This time as soon as we arrived, I donned my swimsuit, Champneys robe, Champneys flip flops and bag. The full kit!! I felt… like a ‘normal’ spa person. My friend changed to go for lunch. Not me. I was fulfilling a dream I didn’t even know I had, of going for lunch in that bloody robe as Champneys intended!!
I also had a full body exfoliation; moisturising cocoon wrap thing. As I lay on the treatment table, I was aware that there was space for my arms to lay beside me. I did not have to fight to appear relaxed while struggling to keep on the tiny table. And so, the ‘little’ that actually aren’t that little, discoveries and delights continue.
The reason I started this blog was because I did not know what to expect. I was excited and I was scared. I wanted reassurance and all I could find was celebrity stories from the USA. So, I decided to record my own experience to hopefully provide some reassurance to others thinking of starting.
What I did not expect is how reassuring and therapeutic writing this blog has been for me. I have always found journaling helpful when I am feeling overwhelmed. I do not do it regularly, but I do turn to it when I am struggling. Tumbling the words and thoughts out of my head onto a page has always helped me gain clarity. Committing to writing the blog had the same effect. That is why I included space for you to record your own story and experiences in my book, My Skinny Jab Story, available on Amazon.
Deciding to make it public and publishing as a book? Was I mad? Maybe? But I have always been an open book. My purpose and the purpose on my business 2nd Cup of Tea has always been ‘helping people find their happy’. I believed and still believe that people have the ability to be happy without changing a single thing about themselves. Happiness is a state, not a thing. You cannot buy it, you cannot find it my going on holiday, you have to take it with you.
So, while I stand by my belief that you can choose to be happy no matter what other factors exist in your life. You can also do things that make it easier to choose to be happy.
So, if you hate your job, or have a dream that you think you cannot have, or are saying to yourself “I’ll be happy when I…” Then I would love you to think ‘what can you do today that would be one tiny step towards your goal?’ And once you take that step, finding your happy is a whole lot easier.
I am sure that there are people who are overweight and genuinely happy about it and that’s great. But for everyone else, whether it is for health reasons, or because your weight is stopping you living the life you want, now it looks like you have a choice.
So that is my year on Mounjaro. I have no intention of stopping any time soon. In fact, I may be ready to move up to 12.5 mg next month as I am noticing the suppression reducing. I am definitely not “dieting’. I am not even trying right now. I eat what I want when I want, including cakes, ice cream, desserts, chips, the lot. But now, eating whatever I want, balances out to still be less calories than my body needs. Like a naturally slim person, some days I pig out and some days I get to 4 pm and realise I have not eaten. I don’t always finish what is on my plate, and can eat a couple of biscuits, not the whole pack. I do still get bouts of diarrhoea if I eat too much fatty food, or too much chocolate. And it is probably terrible to admit that it makes me think, ‘well at least that was out of my system quickly”.
Lots of people have asked me about maintenance. Well, I am not there yet, but, according to the Facebook groups, it sounds like some people are managing fine going without the jab at all, some people are taking a weekly low dose, and some are taking a jab once a fortnight. Everyone appears to be experimenting with no clear
clinical guidance of how to do it that has been tested. But the drug is still so new. So, I am confident that more variants will be on the way and, I hope, a specific maintenance drug will emerge.
My main maintenance motivator is the very expensive leather jackets I bought, yes, I bought 2, from All Saints. If I ever put them on and they feel snug, I will be back on a juice diet in a flash. Oh, and did I mention I had a professional photo shoot this week? So, I will have lots of visual reminders of just how far I have come, and I never want to start again, again.
So here are my numbers, all the details are on my dashboard.
Heaviest weight: 19 stone 10lb (2020)
Starting weight: 17 stone 8lb (2024)
Current weight: 12 stone 10lb (2025)
Total lost in 1 year on Mounjaro: 4 stone 12lbs
Total lost from heaviest: 7 stone
Oh, and I am only 5ft 3inches tall
I want to lose at least 2 more stones and do not care how slowly that occurs now. I will continue to weigh myself daily and not stress if it pops up a couple of pounds, as it did today because yesterday was bread, bread, bread!
In fact, behave as I have always suspected that ‘normal’ people do.
My blog posts will probably reduce now. I will check in from time to time.
If you are starting out and want some support, while I am not medically qualified, I am a professional coach and would love to help you find your happy.
I’m off out to dinner tonight to The Ivy Asia, to celebrate. Now what shall I wear?