Emma’s story

First month nailed! Today was the day of my first official weigh-in and measuring session, and I was eager to see the results. For once in my life, could it possibly be that the workouts combined with healthy eating actually worked? Will my efforts pay off?

I admit, even before I stood on the scales, I did feel a bit slimmer. But I won’t kid myself; this has happened before. I always ‘felt’ like some pounds must have melted away at the start of whatever latest scheme I had employed to shrink myself. It would go like this: I would step on the sad step, aka the scales, only to find the nasty needle of doom had not budged an inch. An inch would be amazing actually. I should say, the needle would not have budged a micromillimeter. Occasionally, I would see a pound or two off, sometimes even three or four pounds, but that might be ‘water weight’ or bloating. Following that miracle at the start of a diet, where you shift a couple of pounds, comes stagnation. This is when you lose no more or very little, at best. After stagnation comes the ‘sod this’ phase of the cycle, where my motivation sinks into my shoes, and I think to myself, I may as well eat the things I want and crave because eating plates of salad and cottage cheese isn’t working anyway. Off to the cupboard I would go, seeking out the mega-sized bags of sharing crisps (Sharing? Are you kidding me – I’ll eat the lot), the doughnuts, the hot cross buns smothered in butter. Anything will do really at that stage!

Anyway, I’ll stop blathering about times gone by. Today, I have good news! It worked! I have lost a colossal (for me anyway) nine pounds. On top of that, some inches have melted away. You can see the stats at the top of this blog if you’re a geek like me and need to see results in numbers. I’m still classed as obese but am on the way down, so that is only positive. I’m going to pat myself on the back here and also give a huge shout-out to CheqUp and the medication, as this would not have been possible without them.
So, let’s take a look back at the month as a whole. You last heard from me at the end of week one where I shared my thoughts on that very first week. Since then, I have definitely made some changes to my diet which have obviously worked. I want to share these thoughts with you in the hope they might be helpful to motivate you.

The upsides

A slightly odd side effect I have noticed in the last month, I am not rushing off to the loo as much. Since having the injection I have been drinking far more liquid, but for the most part, it is water and herbal teas rather than caffeinated coffee and tea. Strange I know, but it seems to be the way. Maybe my bladder is happier too.?

As for other side effects, there have been few. I was a bit nauseous in the first week but that’s probably also down to litres of water and very little food. There was also a bit of heartburn for a couple of weeks. Both soon passed and I have noticed no other problems (except for a self-inflicted one which I’ll come to soon).
The app is very helpful! My health coach, Clare, advised me to increase my protein intake. This is not an easy task for a vegetarian, I can tell you. Carbs are our go-to! But until I started using the support app I didn’t realise how little protein I was eating. I admit, I have to work on this. I am still nowhere near hitting my targets, but I’m better than I was. Clare has given me some useful ideas for sneaking protein in my diet. For example, adding ground-up flax seeds and extra pumpkin seeds to salad and protein shakes. I will have to go shopping again!

The downsides

Whilst my appetite did initially disappear, over the course of the first month I noticed it did creep back. I quite enjoyed not being a slave to my appetite for the first couple of weeks, but it was also hard because there was no real joy in eating. Well, maybe for a couple of mouthfuls, and then I had to force myself as I knew only two mouthfuls of a meal was not sustainable. Anyway, that total lack of hunger didn’t last! I found I could eat more again in the last week or so. Not huge portions but still more than at the start of the month. The food noise was getting a bit louder again. A worry crept in – is the medication not working anymore? Will I go back to ‘before’?

After chatting with my Health Coach, she reassured me this was all normal. Most people need to up their dose after the first month. The starting dose is primarily designed to acclimatise you to the medication. Apparently, some people won’t notice any difference in their appetite or food noise in the first month, so I am grateful. It is working! Onwards and upwards as they say.

Another not-so-pleasant side effect, which in a way is also a good thing, is what happens if you over-indulge. This happened to me in week three, and I will be talking more about it in my next blog which is all about holidays. Let’s just say, if you eat a plate (well, half) of deliciously, unctuous four-cheese pasta, you will probably not feel great afterwards. For twenty-four hours, I felt like I had a brick of stodgy cheese stuck in my gut. My energy dropped so badly I could barely stay awake and after walking up 50 steps from the beach I was done in. This is not like me at all. It was not a pleasant experience and I now know what it must be like to have a proper glucose crash. Stay away from the high-fat food. Lesson learnt!

Motivation talk – for me and for you!

Having read numerous accounts of other people’s journeys during my research, I have realised this is not going to be a quick fix. There’s no magic wand to rid yourself of your excess weight (if only!) An injection is not going to melt your fat away while you carry on with business as normal. That’s not how it works. I’m saying this to be honest with myself and with all of you. There’s no judgment here as we’re all in this together, but I don’t want anyone to see this as an easy-peasy solution only to fail. The medication is like a big helping hand. If you make changes to your lifestyle (including healthy eating and exercise), it will give you the boost you need and make your dieting life so much easier.

This is a change for life, but it’s 100% going to improve things for you and I, if we go all in. In addition to losing weight, we’ll also improve our health. Down go the scales and with it, the risks for heart attacks, strokes, diabetes and certain types of cancer. I have read plenty of information about people even being able to reverse their type 2 diabetes by slimming down, which is, of course, a great result.

We’ve all ended up here for different reasons, but the end result we are all hoping for is the same. We want to be slimmer and healthier. Everyone reacts differently to the medication.. For some of us, the results will be instant; for others, it may take a month or two to really get going, but I’m going to trust the journey and follow my Health Coach’s advice. I hope I’ll be reading your success stories, somewhere online in no time!

It’s officially summertime here in the UK. As I write this blog it is blazing hot and, gulp, a time which strikes fear into many of us thinking of having to bare our flesh in public again. Goodbye forgiving baggy hoodies and comfy leggings – you’re going back in the wardrobe for now. Hello skin on show! Of course, I may point out, British summertime can also be a time of torrential rain and chilly temperatures, as we all know too well, but so far this year it’s been pretty warm and very dry.

Another issue with summer is hot weather cuisine. I’m talking sizzling barbeques stacked with grease-laden burgers, sausages and ribs, thirst quenching cocktails which go down so well you find you’ve consumed way too much before you know it, pints of ice-cold beer or cider. And that’s before we talk about ice creams, cream teas and all that jazz. It’s a literal smorgasbord of calories. A dieter’s nightmare. The trouble is, it all tastes so good so even if you are hyper aware of not eating stuff like that, as I am, I don’t want to deny myself. However, all it takes is one evening of having fun with friends or family and letting yourself off the hook et voila, there’s another pound of fat on the hips. I’ve spoken of the guilt I feel which is associated with eating anything other than a plate of raw salad before. Summer is a time when that guilt is rife.

I’m not a big drinker. I do however like a pint or two of lager on a hot day and if you offer me a Pimms or three and I’m not driving, I’m in. However, this isn’t a regular occurrence. Weeks can go by between me drinking alcohol and part of the reason is the little chattering monkeys in my head telling me ‘There’s loads of calories in that’ and ‘don’t do it.’ I’m also a vegetarian so generally a veggie bbq is not quite as bad as a meat one, but, don’t get me wrong, I can do a lot of damage if there’s things like coleslaw, potato salad or halloumi cheese on offer. What I’m trying to say is, it doesn’t take much to ‘go wrong’. One night off the dieting cards can undo a week of early morning workouts and walking 12 000 steps a day. That’s just the way it is for those of us who can’t eat as much as normal people. Add in the dreaded peri-menopause where your metabolism drops off a shelf as deep as the Mariana Trench and you’ve had it. Back into the winter clothing wardrobe to find those forgiving, stretchy leggings again and pray for rain and cold!

Let’s talk about holidays

This year, I had a week’s holiday in Croatia, taken at the end of May to coincide with the kid’s half-term holidays. We stayed in a self-catering cabin on a large campsite on the Istrian peninsula. If you’ve been reading my other blogs, you will have seen me talk about it as it happened to coincide with my second week on weight loss medication. I’m not going to lie; I was a bit concerned about how I was going to cope with it being so early on in my journey. I don’t want to parrot what I have already written but being on holiday did make me think, this is a topic deserving of a blog all of its own. So, here we are! Let’s talk about holidaying with weight loss meds and how it went.

Don’t forget to take your pen with you!

First things first, take your pen with you! It can be stored out of the fridge for up to 30 days if you need it to be but, be aware, it can’t be stored at temperatures over 30 degrees. I had a fridge in my cabin so I just popped it in there for the duration of my holiday – no worries. If you are on a road trip or camping you might have to be a bit creative with gel packs but where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Another thing to mention, if you are flying, ask your Health Coach for a medication certificate. You can then pop it in your hand luggage and if customs decide to root through your belongings, you can just show them the certificate and all will be fine. No one batted an eyelid at mine!

Whatever your destination, the same rules apply

Now, I realise not all people get to choose where they go on holiday and what type of break you have. It’s very much dependent on budget and who you go with. The principles of eating healthily while on weight loss medication remain the same whether you are heading for an all-you-can-eat buffet in Vegas or for a walking holiday in the Lake District. Don’t panic if you are going to an all-inclusive hotel either. In fact, it makes things a whole lot easier as you will have choices over what you eat.

Before we come to the little principles I followed on holiday, let me just remind you about the beauty of weight loss medication. It makes the healthy eating rules so much easier to adhere to. With the food noise much diminished I found I didn’t want to choose the junk food so much. Even if I did fancy something smothered in cheese (Croatian food is very much influenced by Italy) I found I only needed a small portion to be satiated. It was great! Only two slices of pizza was enough. That has NEVER happened before.

I did have a fresh croissant from the bakery a couple of times but I have to admit, I didn’t really enjoy it so I just didn’t eat it all. I did however really enjoy the fresh, juicy strawberries on offer and was totally happy with a bowl of salad for lunch or dinner.
Treat yourself!

Be prepared to not eat everything on your plate. Chances are you won’t be able to. When it came to pizza, I just asked for a box to take the remains back to the cabin for the rest of the family to scoff. One day I decided to have an iced coffee, heavily laced with ice cream. I really fancied it, even though I knew I probably shouldn’t, but as it turned out I could only manage half. I enjoyed every slurp whilst listening to the voice in my head telling me I was full and ended up giving the other half to my other half. He has no problems consuming vast amounts of sugar and was quite happy with this situation.

Have a drink if you want to! Why not, you are on holiday. But, if the medication is doing its job you may well find you only want one or two. I had a beer on the first night and to be honest, I didn’t fancy another. I was quite satisfied with sparkling water (weird, I know!) Not everyone will feel this way but from what I have read, a lot of people find they automatically cut back on alcohol without feeling they are missing out – yet another bonus!

Don’t forget your water bottle

Whilst on the subject of drink, may I remind you about water. Drink lots! Apart from needing two litres a day when on medication, flying and travelling in general can make you more dehydrated, plus if you are somewhere hot, you’ll need even more. Keep drinking. Your digestive system will thank you for it.

I should mention, on my last day I did choose a four-cheese pasta for lunch. It was a big mistake. It was way too heavy for my belly and even though I only ate half a bowl I found myself feeling sick afterwards. In addition to that I also felt incredibly tired, the type of fatigue you experience after a mega Christmas dinner. I barely had any energy, my legs felt like lead and I had to sleep off the food coma of my own making. That evening, I could only manage the smallest salad for tea and the next day I felt like I had eaten a brick. It was not a nice feeling, but a lesson learnt – if I plan on having something as rich as that in the future, I will only have the tiniest amount. To be honest though, I think I have been put right off.

So, in summary, I didn’t find holidaying with weight loss medication any problem at all. In fact, it kind of helped. I didn’t overeat (except for pasta-gate of course) so I had no food guilt. I wasn’t bloated so felt marginally better parading around in my swimming costume and I saved some money on food to boot (Croatia is not cheap). I’d say the main thing to bear in mind when you head off on your summer hols is to be sensible. Don’t deny yourself anything but listen to your body so you don’t end up overdoing it. And, no matter how crappy you feel this year about being overweight, just remember, if you stick with CheqUp, by next year all your efforts will be totally and utterly worth it!

Time flies! It’s already been three months since I started my medicated weight loss journey. I’m pleased to report that it is, hands down, the most successful health kick I have ever been on BY FAR and that is, for the most part, thanks to my medication. 

As you can see from the statistics above, I have now lost 21 pounds altogether and a few inches. Compared to my previous weight loss efforts, where I would consider losing half a stone over three months a roaring success, only to gain it all back and some more, this has gone really well. 

In my last blog, I spoke a lot about holidaying with weight loss medication, as it seemed an important topic to cover. I didn’t really say too much about how month two and now month three have played out, so let me fill you in. 

Month two

Before the start of month two, I decided to increase my medication to the next dose up. My introductory dose, while it worked really well, was beginning to lose its effect. I was getting a bit hungrier again; the food noise had begun to gently whisper in my ear (although not like the full-on hollering I used to experience), and I was finding that I could eat larger amounts before the satiety alarms started ringing. I spoke to Clare, my excellent health coach, and she reassured me that this was all normal, but it indicated it was time to ‘go up’ a level, so I did. 

I didn’t notice any particular escalation in the side effects. A positive thing! The food noise became quieter again, which is a blessed relief, but I wouldn’t say my appetite dropped off in the same way it had when I first began with the medication. My portions were also a bit bigger than they were at the very start, but I was still eating less than I would have before medication. I would say I was definitely more drawn towards fruit, veg and salad and less interested in my usual high-fat snacks. Most days, I ate two meals with the odd snack. Some days were healthier than others.  

Given that I lost 7lbs in month two, clearly what I was doing was going along the right track. I might add that not one cheesy Wotsit (my favourite) had passed my lips, nor had a crumb of cake, in the whole first two months. And I didn’t miss them. It’s a miracle! 

Month three

Just before the start of month three, I had a good think about whether I should increase my medication dose. It seems to be working well, but I just wondered if a slightly higher dose would help me hit the 2lb a week loss I was hoping for. It might be a bit much. Would the side effects kick in? In the end, I decided to give it a go and if the effects were too much, I could drop back down for month four. 

But bleh! I did something silly just before I dosed up, and I paid for it. This was how it played out. 

The last day of my meds happened to coincide with a temperature drop here in the UK. The two previous days had been pretty sweltering and the hottest days of the year so far. This alone knocked my appetite for six. For those two days, I ate little (mainly protein shakes, fruit and salad) and drank an awful lot of liquids. But by Wednesday, I was very hungry. I have noticed my appetite does go up and down somewhat whilst on medication and I think that is not only down to ‘what’ I eat but also the day of the week with regards to medication timing. Either way, I was peckish on Wednesday, so I ate! I wouldn’t say it was a lot, in fact, it was probably just a ‘normal’ amount, but more than I would normally eat, or need, while on medication. I had a fried egg sandwich as an early lunch, cooked in a little bit of oil, followed by an evening meal of fried tofu, a peanut sauce, coleslaw and rice. I then followed it up with a Mars ice cream bar. Looking back, as I type this, I see these were very much choices that are a weight loss ‘no-no’ and I ate way too much fat that day. Don’t tell Clare, my health coach! 

Following dinner that day, I prepared and took my new higher dose medication, thinking nothing more of it. Two hours later, at 11pm, I was caught short with a violent sickness episode that basically emptied everything from my stomach. Ugghhhh. It was not nice! What made it worse was that it was completely self-induced. The hunger that day had taken over my brain, and there I was thinking I could eat without being mindful. I ate too much fatty food and I paid for it. 

The following day, I sat, feeling admonished and a bit sorry for myself. My stomach was still sore from the vomiting and I struggled with anything more than water and peppermint tea. It reminded me of pasta-gate (see the blog about summer holidays) when I scoffed half a bowl of very cheesy pasta and had to have a long lie-down afterwards.

Anyway, it was a good reminder for me – stay away from the high-fat food and stop eating when I am full. Maybe I didn’t need to be so mindful of this on lower doses, but my higher dose filled body did not agree. 

After that minor blip, the rest of the week progressed nicely until my next medication day. I was careful not to eat too much that day, or unhealthily, but come late evening, I was sick again. I began to wonder if the sudden influx of medication on the day of my injection was the problem. 

Since I had two weeks left with this pen, I carried on. I felt a bit of nausea at times and just not quite right in the digestive system. I toyed with changing my dose again at the next renewal. Then I experienced side effects which made my mind up as I did get quite ill for nearly a week. 

We had booked four nights of camping on the Gower Peninsula in Wales, one of my favourite places in the whole world. I had a week off work and on the Friday night I took my final dose before our holiday. I had vegetarian spaghetti bolognaise for dinner and by 11pm, I started to feel quite ill. You know that feeling you get when you ‘taste’ your dinner again repeatedly all night, well, that’s what happened. Then the diarrhoea started at 3am. It continued all through Saturday and I was also vomiting. Stomach cramps and nausea accompanied this. It felt like a stomach bug, and it could well have been, but it did coincide with my medication day. 

I felt marginally better by Monday with no more sickness and decided to chance it and go camping with the family. If I’m being honest, I didn’t want to miss out on some beach time. The break was lovely and the whole family had a great time. For me, let’s just say I didn’t relish the half-mile walk to the toilet block at 3am for the first two nights. Each day I was hitting 25,000 steps! It’s never going to be fun dealing with the inevitable difficulties of gastro issues while camping. 

That being said, sometimes you just have to get on with these things. I’m not a drama queen, so I just managed my symptoms and ate little but drank a lot. By the Wednesday, they had pretty much settled down. 

That ‘experience’ made my decision to dose down again and on my renewal I opted for a lower dose again. On returning from Wales, I have used my new pen and two days on I have zero side effects. 

Please understand, I do not want this experience of mine to put you off weight loss medication in any way, shape or form. Learn from my mistakes and do not be in a rush with this journey. Just listen to your body. 

Since being back, I have listened to a podcast where a weight loss doctor explains it isn’t always necessary to jump up through the medication numbers. I’ll say it again: everyone is different. For some of us, it won’t be enough; for me it was too much. 

I see this as merely a blip in my journey though. Since every cloud has a silver lining, I seem to have come home from Wales a bit slimmer (I’m not surprised either)! Today I fitted into my favourite, comfortable old size 14 jeans shorts and they fit a treat. This time last year, they were condemned to the back of my wardrobe for being impossible to do up. That’s definitely a real positive in my view and dare I say, it’s almost worth the gastro issues!

Four months down! It’s gone by quickly. I’m now one pound away from losing two stone altogether. Not bad, eh? 

This month, when I got on the scales, I found I had lost five pounds. Initially I will admit to being disappointed, especially given how, at the beginning of this month I was suffering with the side effects of the increased dose. I figured that, at the very least, the week of gastro suffering would have given me  an extra bonus chunk of weight loss. It didn’t quite work out that way though. 

On reflection, and after Googling ‘average weight loss for a month on weight loss medication’, I found that although amounts vary, 1-2 pounds a week is pretty much what a lot of people are losing, particularly if you are a few months in or have a lower amount of weight to lose. 

I will also take into account that I have fallen out of my exercise groove a bit over the last few weeks. A combination of illness, very hot weather, a lack of routine, and general craziness due to the summer holidays has sent me a bit off track. I’ve squeezed in the occasional swim and yoga session, plus some walking, but that’s about it.   

Long and short of it is, I’m still on track. The scales are going down and that’s the main thing. Secondly, on the lower dose of meds my digestive system is happy. It is possible, if I have lower losses next month, I will need to step up to the next dose again, but as I like to say, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, so I’m sticking to my current plan for now. 

Given the amazing effect weight loss medication is having on me (which is a synthetic hormone but is treated by the body as a naturally produced identical version), it got me thinking about the other hormone medication in my life. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or ‘The Magic Elixir’ as I call it!

I am a 48-year-old woman and so it is inevitable that my body has entered the perimenopause phase of my life. Any ladies out there who are in your late thirties to early forties, if you haven’t started to notice your oestrogen levels dropping off yet, prepare yourself. It can be brutal. 

For me, it started early (it runs in the family). At the age of 38, I remember being up at the stables at 7am on a freezing February morning, mucking out my horse’s stable in a vest top. My friends, wrapped in layers with gloves and hats, looked at me like I had gone insane, but I was just overheating. That was just the beginning. Over the course of the next five years, things got progressively worse. One day I counted the hot sweats and got to 30. They were, on occasion, bad enough that I would need to go and have a shower or change clothes. I could be reduced to a melting hot mess just by bending over to pick up a pencil off the floor. It was embarrassing and just downright horrible. 

On top of that, I had dry skin, an aching back and my brain stopped working. I’m a writer and I had real trouble finding the right words or names. Not great for my career! I was overemotional and found myself crying because I overcooked some scrambled eggs one day, which is, quite frankly, ridiculous. 

Occasionally, I’d get days where I would find myself staring blankly out of the window, unable to do anything or think straight. The weirdest symptom was that I could no longer navigate my way around! I would constantly get lost and go the wrong way to places, even if they were familiar. My family thought I was going a bit bonkers. I thought I was too. The final, and most depressing symptom, was weight gain. 

Eventually, after a few years of strange behaviour, I started to suspect my hormones had been causing my woes for a while. After reading extensively, I began to believe that this was indeed the problem. A previous blood test two years before indicated my oestrogen levels were normal. I later found out that oestrogen levels fluctuate wildly through perimenopause. Take a blood test on a ‘good day’ and your results will come back as normal. 

Eventually, a good friend of mine had also been suffering and she had been to our local GP surgery. She spoke with a very sympathetic female doctor, was started on HRT, and encouraged me to get an appointment. Sure enough, after blood tests, I was told, ‘I haven’t seen oestrogen levels so low in someone your age for a long time.’ I was well on the way to full-on menopause. It was time to start on HRT! 

After six months of tweaking the levels, I can honestly describe the effect as life-changing. The symptoms eased and I no longer felt like I was one sandwich short of a picnic. Ladies, don’t hold back. If the perimenopause is kicking your butt, go and speak to your GP. Don’t suffer in silence. 

Whilst HRT has been a lifesaver, it has come with one major downside – not just weight gain but an almost complete inability to lose it. No matter how much exercise I did, how little I ate and how healthy I was, it just didn’t shift. One week of not being ‘on it’ and I could gain several pounds, which would take monumental efforts to shift again. While I have never had an easy time losing weight, this was final boss level difficult. 

It’s only recently I have learnt this is a common side effect of HRT, although on conducting a bit of research, it isn’t proven. Anecdotally, having watched myself and all my friends struggle to control weight gain on HRT, I am not so sure. Weight gain could, however, just be down to dropping hormonal levels that cause changes to resting metabolic rates, body fat distribution and water retention. Either way, the weight gained as a perimenopausal woman is incredibly hard to lose.

Weight loss medication and perimenopause

Whatever the cause of your perimenopausal extra inches, I’m pleased to say, all is not lost. It seems there is help out there for any of us struggling with hormonal weight gain and the inability to lose said weight. It’s weight loss medication! 

As you can see from my journey so far, with the help of medication, it seems it is possible to reverse the frustrating process of weight gain. This is such awesome news, I’m sure you will agree. 

The fact that weight loss medication allows you to cut back on the amount of food you eat more easily and be satiated faster means you effectively eat a lot less. Additionally, it can also increase your metabolism, allowing your body to burn fat more efficiently. In effect, it enables your body to function ‘like a normal person’. Then, when you put in the effort to eat healthily and exercise, you will see results. No more weight loss stalemate!

Weight loss medications do not affect the way HRT works, by the way. The two operate in tandem to make you feel oodles better. It’s nice to be able to inform you that there is a light at the end of the tunnel – you no longer have to be a slave to your hormones. At last, the difficulties we women can face in maintaining our health and sanity through mid-life and beyond have now finally been recognised, and great medications are available to help. 

In my opinion, that deserves a very big hurrah! 

I’m a clothes hoarder – I admit it!

This month’s big weight loss wake-up call must be the sudden revelation that I can now open my wardrobe door and say to myself ‘What do I want to wear?’ and not ‘What still fits?’ I can’t tell you what a happy realisation that is. So much so, I invested a couple of happy hours trying on things that haven’t fitted me for many years; since before I had kids in fact. 

I should add, I’m a bit of a clothes hoarder! None of my things are particularly expensive and quite a few of them came from eBay (and of late, Vinted), but I like to keep them if they are still wearable. Don’t tell Marie Kondo, the Japanese organising expert. She’d have a field day! 

Since I have so many clothes now, and they don’t always get worn regularly, they never wear out. Some of them have been hanging around in the wardrobe (literally) for years. In fact, let me tell you my slightly embarrassing and shameful secret: I have several storage boxes of ‘small’ clothes in the loft that I have kept for over fifteen years. They are clothes I used to wear before my kids came along. I have never passed them on to new homes because that would mean admitting I will never, ever, get back to a place where I am happy with my size. I have just kept them, stashed away in boxes, waiting, just in case. I must get up there and have a good sort out soon. It’s been so long that most of them are probably out of fashion now!

Last month’s ups and downs

Anyway, moving on from my clothing hoarding, let’s talk about the last month. If you check my stats above, you’ll see I actually only lost 3lbs. At first, this threw me a bit. I will confess to being a bit irrational and slightly bonkers when it comes to the weighing scales. Since the age of the dinosaurs, I have regarded the scales as ‘the enemy’, rarely rewarding me with good news and normally making me feel some sort of negative emotion. Sometimes I step on them and feel tearful because all of my hard work has been in vain. Other times I get thoroughly annoyed by them, and on other occasions I feel just pure frustration. Depending on the day and my general life mood this can result in one of several things: flopping onto the bed feeling depression; a trip to the fridge/ cupboard/ shop in search of some serious comfort food because I might as well go and stuff my face; or flounce off ready to punish myself in some way for ‘not being good enough’. These are all very unreasonable ways to behave – I do know that – and honestly, in every other area of my life I do not react like this, but when it comes to weight-loss, I can be very melodramatic. 

Since I made a conscious decision not to get on the ‘sad step’ a few years back (leading to unchecked weight gain), I haven’t had to deal with this roller coaster of emotion for some time. However, as you’ll know, you need to weigh in before each renewal date. Even though my previous losses have ranged from, in my mind, great to acceptable, I still feel a knot of worry before weighing in. Standing on the scales yesterday and finding I am only 3lbs down sent me into a minor spin. After beating myself with a proverbial stick for ten minutes, I decided to head to the swimming pool to punish myself with exercise.

The reality is, I have lost 3.5 inches this month, which is actually really good. My partner, who often bears the brunt of my unreasonable weight loss behaviour, rolled out the usual cliches, ‘It’s just a number’ and ‘But you look so much slimmer’, as I exited the door. After 70 lengths of front crawl, I was feeling far more reasonable – endorphins are a wonderful thing – and after half an hour of thinking time, I was over it, returning home in a better frame of mind. And rightfully so, as I have done okay this month. I have lost inches and my clothes are looser. 

So, why have I not lost as many pounds as I hoped? This was the question I posed to Clare, my health coach, at a session I booked. I was thinking, well hoping, it might be down to muscle gain. I have been back on my exercise regime this month and I can certainly feel my body toning up. My shoulders are more defined and my legs are so much more trim than they were. I am aware muscle weighs more than fat, but I always thought this was more applicable to the gym-bros with their huge biceps and bulging chests rather than this slightly more toned middle-aged woman. Clare assures me this is not the case and I defer to her expert status. The reason I am not losing as much weight as I hoped is not because I am not losing fat, it’s likely because I am gaining some muscle. On top of this, I might not be eating enough. Since I have not been monitoring my food intake, I have agreed that I will for the next week or two. 1200kcals a day minimum is needed if I am exercising, but really I should aim for 1400-1500kcals. CheqUp provide the Weight Watchers app for free, so I can use that. It’s simple to use and will tell me if I am undereating. This is the FIRST time in my life I have been told I might have to eat more. Well, hurrah for that!

Moving my body

I thought it might be worth mentioning exactly what this exercise regime is, in case you are wondering. My life is really quite busy, hectic at times. Outside of my work, which is desk-based, I am pretty active. I always have been an active person – it’s part of who I am. I have two dogs, both of whom need a daily walk and I always walk around wherever I live if I can; to work, to the shops, to see friends and the like. I quite often get 10,000 steps in without thinking about it but I am aware that this is not enough, especially as I am in the perimenopause stage of life. It’s important to incorporate strength training to prevent muscle loss, cardio to keep the heart healthy and flexibility to keep the body moving. I also have a lifetime of back issues, which are kept at bay with exercise. 

Long and short of it is, I have to find the time to do more and the only way I can fit in extra exercise, above and beyond my normal activity, is by getting up early. I am supposed to be up at 6am, but I’ll be honest, it’s normally 6.30am! After my morning cup of tea, which I regard as an essential part of my life, I get on with my exercise and get it out of the way. Some days I don’t do my exercise, like today as I am suffering with the first lurgy of the autumn and writing to you from my bed while sneezing and coughing. I try my best, though, to get five sessions in most weeks.

My yoga and strength training are done in my living room at home. I follow YouTube classes and have the Nike fitness app. Both are free! Because time is precious, I go for 20 minute sessions and this is enough. My stretch class and kettlebells both take place at a studio and are an hour long. Swimming, as I mentioned earlier, is at the local pool and again 20 to 30 minutes. 

I admit, I don’t always feel like it, but I have found that, since it is just part of my day, I am used to the routine now. I always feel better afterwards, more energised and ready to face the day, and I like not having to deal with the guilt associated with not exercising! 

If you are not a fan of activity, fair enough – we are all different but it is something we should all be incorporating into our lives alongside weight loss medication. I suggest you just start lightly. Any movement is better than nothing. Some people think that just because you aren’t busting your gut at the gym, you aren’t doing exercise. This is not the case. The idea of the gym horrifies me, but it really IS NOT the only option. Take a walk in the fresh air, pick a little beginner’s workout from the internet, get on a bike. Brave it out and enrol in a dance class or pilates or join a team sport. Try a round of pitch and putt golf. Just give it a go. You may surprise yourself. And, as you do lose weight, it’s only going to get easier. The first day is always the worst! Anyhow, I don’t want to preach to you but merely encourage, so that’s my little motivational speech out of the way for today.

The month ahead

Apart from chatting with Clare about muscle gain and weight loss, we also agreed it is probably time to try going up a level with the weight loss meds. I am slightly dubious, given how it went last time with the gastro issues (see my previous blog on that saga), but also feeling positive because maybe I just wasn’t ready for the transition back then.

I am ready for the month ahead and I will keep up with my current efforts. You never know, I may be able to report back to you that I have been up in the loft and brought down some of those really small clothes. I’ll either be selling them on Vinted or I might be actually wearing a couple of bits! 

It’s month five of my weight loss medication journey and things are going well. If you have been following the other blogs you may recall my weight loss was a little slow (in my view) the last couple of months, so I upped my dose at the last renewal. I’m pleased to say, it seems to have worked.

I’ve lost seven pounds this month and feel, in myself, notably slimmer. I am also now, according to my BMI, only two pounds away from being in the upper end of the ‘normal’ weight range. When I started with CheqUp I was aiming to get down to ten stones, but we’ll see how it goes as I’m actually now starting to feel happier with my shape and size. If I lose another two stones, I do not want to look too ‘scrawny’. As we get older, I think it helps to have a bit of fat on the body and face to pad out the wrinkles! 

It’s been an easy month on the meds. After using the WeightWatchers app to monitor my calories for a few days (on Clare the Health Coach’s suggestion), I could see that some days I am probably undereating and not consuming the minimum 1200kcals needed. But on other days I eat a bit more, maybe up to 1600kcals. I am finding, if I exercise more, I am definitely hungrier. I am learning to just listen to what my body needs. If I am hungry, I eat. If I am not, I don’t. 

I’ve not set myself any hard and fast rules, just eat mainly healthy food and stop eating when I get full, which is fairly quickly. The nice thing is, I am still eating things I really enjoy on occasion, but I don’t feel the need to eat them all the time like I used to. Yesterday I bought myself a bit of Dorset apple cake which is my absolute favourite cake in the world. I enjoyed it but it actually filled me up enough that I then didn’t have any lunch. Okay, it’s not the healthiest option but it’s alright once in a while. Next month I plan to carry on in the same way as it seems to be working.  

Smaller portions and a new partner in slim

So, you’ve heard a lot about me in these last few blogs. I thought it might be nice to introduce you to a good friend of mine, Sarah. She has joined me on this weight loss journey, albeit a couple of months behind. It’s been great to have a ‘partner’; someone with whom to share the successes, and frustrations, with. 

Some of Sarah’s reasons for doing this are different to mine so I thought it may give you another perspective, and hopefully motivation, because she is doing really well! 

Chatting weight loss medications

‘I believe, if you’ve got it flaunt it! And if I can go on holiday next year with the girls and walk around in a bikini with confidence I will.’

That’s one of Sarah’s short-term motivations. It’s a totally achievable aim in my view. Sarah is on month four of her weight loss journey and so far, so good. In all areas of her life, things are improving on account of her two and a half stones of weight lost, so far: her physical health, energy levels, mental health, confidence and self-esteem. She says she feels ‘lighter’ in all senses of the word. 

Life happened (and so did takeaways)

I’ve known Sarah for ten years now and she has always had a fun and bubbly personality, but she confessed to me, she didn’t quite feel ‘like herself’ while being overweight. Before her two children came along Sarah was a petite size ten. At 5 foot 2 inches tall she was, in my opinion, the perfect size and full of body positivity. But, as with many of us, you put on weight when you have children and post-pregnancy it can be really tricky to shift it again. As time went on, the scales crept up. 

When you are a busy working mum, and to add to that Sarah is raising her children as a single parent, it’s easy to just let scales tick up and not have the time or energy to tackle the issue by making changes. She admits she totally understands how it happened, having eaten a lot of junk food; crisps, biscuits, takeaways and fizzy drinks, and huge portions. Sarah loves food too!

‘I’d always put on a brave face for my kids,’ she said, ‘but deep down, I didn’t feel happy in myself. I’d smile and act confident, but it was just a front.’

More than just the scales

In addition to losing weight to feel better about herself, one of Sarah’s big motivations is to improve her health. She was diagnosed with fibromyalgia back in 2005. This causes her to have aching joints, chronic pain and weaknesses, which also affect her sleep and consequently her energy levels. At times her ankles can just give way, it makes everything more of a struggle. 

On top of this Sarah highly suspects she is in the peri-menopause stage of life. ‘I am always hot and always sweating, especially at night. It’s disgusting. Being overweight just makes that worse but in fact, since losing a couple of stones, it’s nowhere near as bad.’

As a self-employed cleaner, Sarah relies on being mobile as her job is physical. The fibromyalgia makes this more challenging and add to that carrying an extra five stones of weight, Sarah told me work, and life, was just getting really hard. And she knew, her symptoms were likely more severe, because of the extra weight she was carrying. 

The turning point

I asked Sarah, ‘Have you wanted to lose weight for ages or was there a pivotal moment that made you decide now was the time to take action?’

She said she had always wanted to get the weight off, but it seemed like too big of a challenge. Ultimately the new availability of weight loss medication privately was the push needed as she knew she required a bit of a helping hand. When you have struggled with your weight for many years, these medications give you hope and having seen her sister have great success with them and then me starting my journey, Sarah decided to give it a go. 

This was Sarah’s second experience with weight loss medication. The first time around she had a difficult time, where the side-effects made it unbearable to continue. This time Sarah decided to try a different brand. She chose to work with CheqUp, having witnessed my positive experience. 

Lighter, brighter and still partial to a nap

I asked her how she felt it was all going. ‘It’s gone really well! I’m really happy with it all.’

She said it didn’t take long to notice real improvements. Her knee pain eased, she could move more freely, and her energy levels soared. ‘I’m up early walking the dogs now,’ she said proudly. ‘I don’t even need my afternoon naps anymore, although I still like them!’ Her health has definitely improved and her fibromyalgia is easier to manage. 

These small but significant wins are giving Sarah a huge boost. She has also found herself eating less and therefore buying less food. ‘I’m learning to stop when I’m full and I’m saving money on food shopping too, which offsets some of the cost of the medication.’ 

Her progress has had a ripple effect at home. Sarah feels she is setting a positive example for her children, especially her daughter, showing her how to have a good relationship with food and how to make healthy choices.

Sarah wants to lose another couple of stones, she thinks, but it’s not really about the scales, it’s more about how she feels. Right now, Sarah plans to carry on as she has been, eating smaller portions of healthier food. Whereas a Sunday roast would have involved a huge plate of food, including all the trimmings and, Sarah informs me, ten roast potatoes, now she can only manage two roast potatoes. It’s all she needs to hit the roastie potato sweet spot!

One thing Sarah is sure about is how much she values the support she’s had from CheqUp. ‘They’ve been brilliant,’ she said. ‘Even though I’ve only had one phone consultation, I know they’re always there if I need anything. The team replies quickly, and the reordering process is so easy.’

‘Have you had any side effects?’ I asked. ‘None at all’ was the reply. All in all, Sarah says she is very happy right now!

From black and baggy to bright and bikini-ready

We talked about ‘life after weight loss’ and how it will have changed our lives. 

Sarah told me, ‘I really look forward to buying new clothes! I’m still wearing my size 18s but they are far too big for me although I don’t want to buy any until I finish my journey. I always wear black, big baggy clothes as I thought they look slimming, but I’m excited to be able to wear whatever I like; no more black and shapeless.’

I’m really happy for Sarah, while observing and encouraging her success. And here’s the thing; I’m pretty sure she’ll be parading around a Greek island next year with her friends, lots more energy and feeling fabulous in her bikini. 

I have noticed a weight loss side effect that I was not anticipating. I’m really feeling the cold – like bone-chillingly cold. It’s not even been that wintry yet and most days I am in three layers, sometimes four. I am wearing gloves already. This could mean one or both of two things: a) my excess fat was keeping me warm and b) I could be properly coming out of the other side of the perimenopause. 

It’s also probably not helping that I have been living in a building site for a couple of months now and we are lacking windows and a front door on one side of the house, causing an ‘air-conditioning’ effect. This is just one of the ‘life difficulties’ I have faced the last couple of months. Nothing disastrous has occurred, but everything has happened all at once. 

On top of building work, which caused us to have no kitchen for the last four weeks, Patch the pony has been lame, requiring me to make extra trips to the stables to practise my limited veterinary skills. I have also lost all my freelancing work, leaving me currently jobless. It’s all been a bit stressful really. Throw in the usual daily nuisances like cancelled trains and a sick bug, plus a kid’s birthday and Halloween; all in all, it has been hectic. 

I truly haven’t had a moment to myself during this mega-busy time so unfortunately my attention to weight loss has waned. I suspect this is the reason I have only lost one pound this month. We have been living off food that can only be cooked in the oven and, at times, only in the microwave. We’ve had a few takeaways and an awful lot of convenience food. Things I shouldn’t be eating and things that don’t suit my digestion. On more than one occasion, we’ve had a Tesco meal deal for dinner. It’s not good, but it is what it is! 

Here’s something a bit odd though – despite only losing 1lb in weight I have lost three inches. One from my chest, one from my waist and one from hips. This is very good news indeed. I am noticing a vague pattern with my weight loss – I either lose weight one month and not a lot of inches, then inches another month but not a lot of weight. Not sure what that’s all about but as long as it’s a downward trend, I’m fine with it. 

In addition to not eating as healthily as normal, while I have been active, I have given myself a bit of a hall pass when it comes to the early-morning exercise. In all honesty, that extra hour in bed has been much needed during the last few weeks. Sometimes you have to take it a bit easy on yourself; not something that comes easily to me, but I am working on it. Normally, I would be consumed with guilt that I had fallen down on my weight loss efforts, but this time around I have accepted it as just a difficult month where other priorities have sucked away my time. 

One of the nice things about weight loss medication is that it makes it easier to get back on track again. I feel like the meds have helped me to break the destructive cycles that we are all guilty of falling into. So, this month, onwards and upwards. I’m having to do some ‘routine’ changes due to my time required at the stables these days and with my work situation very up in the air. Unfortunately, I cannot be in two places at once on Saturday morning so I have had to drop my kettle bell class for now. 

It’s not like I am having a nice, relaxing lie-in though – instead I head off on foot with the dogs, and my daughter riding Patch. We covered 9km this last Saturday. Add in all the mucking out, sweeping, water bucket carrying and the like; it’s an active hobby. But, alas is probably not enough to keep me fit. 

While we’re on the subject of being active, let me share with you one of the main reasons I want to achieve my weight loss goal. Apart from that haul of clothes in the loft that I want to fit into (and I would say I am another stone away from that), I have decided I want to get back to horse riding. 

I’ve had my own horses for over 30 years, but after losing my horse, Sully, before the pandemic, I decided, with two young children and rising costs, that I would take a break. This hiatus has ended up lasting a lot longer than I planned, but I have been dragged back into the world of horses by my youngest daughter. She sat on a friend’s horse last year and promptly asked me for riding lessons! Because I am soft in the head and am always ready to encourage her to have time away from screens, I agreed. She thoroughly caught the horse bug at a local riding school. And then they announced they were sadly closing. The pony my daughter was learning to ride on was offered to me on loan and I just couldn’t say no. The timing wasn’t great, but I do believe that when things like this come your way, you have to jump at the chance. 

Patch arrived with us back in September. He’s a real superstar and we love him already. I’m thoroughly enjoying watching my daughter take joy in having a horse of her own, just as I was lucky enough to have when I was her age. While she does all the grooming and riding, I fulfil my role as chief groom with enthusiasm. It was not really part of the plan for me to ride him as he is a pony, albeit a big, strong one, and I am quite tall and was way too heavy for him (height is not really an issue if my weight is low enough). However, teaching my daughter and watching her I did get a bit of an urge to get back on board but was still too heavy. I promised myself, when I hit ‘the 11s’ I would have a little ride. While it will always be a benefit for Patch for me to be as lightweight as possible I am now in the weight zone where can carry me without issues. Today was the day for me to go out on my first ride with him. He was brilliant and I had a lovely time! I am still mindful though – every pound of fat I lose will make things easier for him, so returning to riding is still a big motivating factor for me. 

I imagine that most of us have motivations for weight loss, and they are probably all different. Perhaps it is to improve your health and lower the risk of conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. Maybe it is to help with mobility and physical function; after all, every pound of weight lost is a pound less to carry around. I have read stories of young parents saying they want to lose weight so they can run around with the kids without getting worn out. Other people lose weight to improve their chances of having children.

For some of us, it is about improving self-esteem and confidence. Who doesn’t want to feel better in social situations with an improved body image? For sure, I know that feeling of getting yourself ready for a night out and no matter what you do, you cannot escape the fact you ‘look fat.’ We can all relate to that one probably. 

There are also numerous benefits for emotional and mental well-being. By getting to grips with your weight and achieving losses (helped by the CheqUp team and your weight loss medication), you will gain a sense of control and accomplishment. By losing weight and feeling good, you are reasserting control over your health and your life. This is a hugely positive feeling.

While one of my big motivations is returning to riding, I am also benefiting from a boosted self-esteem, coupled with a real sense of empowerment. I would say I am much happier now I have lost weight and that is so very motivating. It’s crazy really; the benefits you can achieve just because of a few pounds of disappearing fat.