A Hotel Mix-Up, Matilda and Mounjaro

flidfit Disability, Eating Out, Eating Out, Maintenance, Mounjaro, Technology, Travel, Travel & Holidays, Weightloss Medication

My week began with a jolt. I’ve spent hours recently helping a wheelchair-using friend who is visiting London from Australia in October. She’ll be spending 12 nights in the capital and asked me to help her find a good accessible hotel in a convenient location from which to explore London.

My go-to hotel chain is Premier Inn, so I duly booked her a 12-night stay at the Premier Inn in Waterloo. This wasn’t quite as straightforward as the usual online booking process because any stay of more than nine nights has to be booked directly over the telephone.

I particularly wanted to put her into this hotel because I’ve stayed there myself, so I know it well. On that occasion I was staying with three or four other wheelchair-using friends, so I felt completely reassured that it would be perfect for her.

I sorted all of that weeks ago.

Then, this week, I realised I’d booked her into the wrong hotel!

Apparently, there are two Premier Inns in the Waterloo area, probably only about half a mile apart. The one I thought I’d booked was the one close to the river, with really easy access across the Thames into central London. The one I had actually booked was somewhere else entirely.

One particular detail should have alerted me when I made the booking. A warning said wheelchair access to some parts of the hotel involved a platform lift.

If you don’t know what one of these is, it’s one of those contraptions that often folds down alongside a flight of steps, usually at the entrance to a building. The wheelchair user rolls onto the platform and it then slowly glides up or down the steps.

I absolutely hate them!

Created using Chat GPT. I’d probably be laughing nervously rather than grimacing like that!! Haa haa!

For one thing, you generally have to find a member of staff to operate the thing, which is all very well if you have someone with you who can disappear inside and find somebody. More importantly, I always find using them slightly anxiety-inducing, however smooth and uneventful the short journey might be.

And there is always the very real concern that if the lift breaks down, there is no Plan B. If the steps are the only other way into the building, a wheelchair user simply can’t get in.

So, having felt rather smug about finding my friend a great deal at the perfect hotel, a flurry of frantic emails and a phone call or two followed as I tried to unravel everything.

Thankfully, it all ended well. There was still availability at the correct hotel and I managed to get the original booking changed.

Phew!

I don’t think most people have any idea how complicated something as seemingly simple as booking a hotel can become when you’re a wheelchair user. It isn’t enough to find somewhere in the right location at the right price. You need to know whether you can actually get through the front door, whether there are steps, whether the lifts are big enough, whether the accessible bedroom really is accessible and whether the bathroom will work for your particular needs. There are so many additional things to think about.

Anyway, onwards and upwards!

Mike and I have now booked ourselves into the same hotel for two nights during our friends’ stay so that we can spend some time with them. We’ve also booked tickets to see the stage version of Matilda, which we’re really looking forward to.

We’re also planning a trip to Greenwich together. It’s somewhere I’ve never visited before, although I’ve heard it’s beautiful, and my friend’s partner particularly wants to visit the Greenwich Meridian and stand on the famous line dividing east from west. It should make for a really enjoyable day out and it will be lovely to explore somewhere completely new together.

After that rather frantic start to the week, everything else has felt positively sedate!

The utility room refurbishment is now almost complete and I’ve managed to get most of the contents of the cupboards back into their rightful places. It’s amazing how much stuff you can cram into a utility room until somebody empties all the cupboards and deposits it around the rest of the house!

Everything should be completely finished next week, with just a lick of paint and some silicone sealant left to apply. I’m really pleased with how it has all turned out and, after living with the old utility room for so many years, it feels lovely to have everything looking fresh and new.

Another highlight of my week was taking Mum and her care team out for lunch. I arranged it partly to give everyone the chance to get together socially and get to know one another a little better, but also to say thank you for all the support they’ve provided during Mum’s radiotherapy treatment.

It turned out to be a really lovely occasion.

We went to the Butt Inn at Aldermaston and the food was way above average – really tasty and, even better, not ridiculously expensive. Everyone seemed to enjoy having the chance to chat away from the usual caring environment and get to know each other a little better.  My choice was a very tasty and perfectly cooked trout fillet.

Mum thoroughly enjoyed herself too. She kept telling everyone how grateful she was for all the support they’d given her, which was lovely to hear. All in all, the lunch was a huge success, and I was really pleased that I’d organised it.

Finally, there’s been another development in my GLP-1 maintenance journey.

My new medication has arrived – and it’s Mounjaro!

After my experiment with Wegovy, I’ve decided to return to Mounjaro and my new 7.5mg pen arrived this week. I took my first 7.5mg injection on Friday and now I’m waiting to see what happens.

What I’m hoping for, more than anything, is the return of the support that made maintaining my weight feel so much easier – particularly some relief from the food noise and persistent hunger that have gradually crept back in.

It feels slightly strange to be so excited about an injection, but I know what a difference Mounjaro made for me previously. I’m not looking for dramatic weight loss. This time, it’s about finding the right level of support to make maintenance manageable and sustainable.

So now we wait.

Hopefully, by the time I sit down to write next week’s blog, I’ll have some positive news to report.

Fingers crossed!

Builders, Birthdays and a Bit of Hadestown

flidfit Disability, Eating Out, Eating Out, Maintenance, Salads, Sweet Treats, Travel, Uncategorized, Wegovy, Weightloss Medication

This week has been quiet, but full of activity. How does that work, you might ask?

Well, we’re having our utility room refurbished.

It was originally fitted out 21 years ago, at a time when I was still recovering from a serious road traffic accident and was pretty immobile (non-weightbearing). We completely reconfigured the downstairs to make it more accessible for me, including adding a downstairs bathroom and toilet. The kitchen/diner was moved to the opposite side of the house, and the space where the kitchen had originally been was divided up to create a wet room and utility room.

At the time, I really wasn’t in a position to take much interest in the work being done, so I left a lot of the decisions to the builders. They were a family-run company – two fathers and their sons – and seemed to spend a considerable amount of their time arguing with one another! I mostly kept out of their way and got on with my injury recovery.

The result was that some of the finishing touches were, let’s just say, not ideal!

For example, the worktop in the utility room was installed about 6cm higher than the washing machine and tumble dryer underneath it. That might be completely inconsequential if I were very tall.

But I’m not.

I’m 4ft 8in, with short arms, so that extra 6cm makes an enormous difference when I’m trying to reach into the sink!

New wall units in place

The cupboards had also gradually started falling apart. I don’t think they were particularly expensive ones in the first place and, after 21 years, they’d certainly done their time. So, the moment had finally come to replace everything.

I decided to try to keep the refurbishment as simple as possible. I’m keeping the original sink, the safety flooring is staying – not least because it covers a manhole – and the basic layout remains largely unchanged. We’re really just replacing all the units and, most importantly, bringing the worktop down to a height that actually works for me.

Of course, “just replacing the units” turns out to be more complicated than it sounds! There’s been lots of hole-cutting for pipes and electrical sockets; the electricity has been on and off at regular intervals and, at one point, so was the water.

It has also meant getting up and organised early every morning, ready for the builder arriving at 8am.

The work is progressing really well, although there’s still a little way to go.

I was due to have a friend visiting on Monday, but she called off. As it turned out, that was probably just as well. There was no room for her to park in the driveway, and it was a particularly noisy day, with the demolition of the old cupboards taking place.

I also managed to get rid of my old cooker hood, which I mentioned in an earlier post, along with a dehumidifier that had been sitting in the utility room but was never actually used. Both have been recycled and gone off to new homes.

Even the old kitchen units have found another use. They’ve gone off to live in a barn where, I’m told, they’ll be filled with chicken paraphernalia – feed, bedding and the like! I’m really pleased that so much of what we no longer need will be reused rather than simply thrown away.

I’d actually booked two slots at the tip in anticipation of having loads of rubbish to dispose of, but thankfully didn’t need either of them. That was particularly welcome given how ridiculously hot it has been here, with temperatures reaching as high as 38°C on a couple of days.

On Wednesday, my sister came to work for me as usual and stayed overnight because on Thursday I was taking her to London for her birthday treat.  The night before our London trip, I’d actually arranged another little surprise outing for her. We went to the IMAX cinema for one of their “secret screenings”, where you book your tickets knowing absolutely nothing about the film you’re going to see other than its age rating. I rather like the idea — you could end up watching something you’d never normally have chosen for yourself! On this occasion, our mystery film turned out to be Tony, a new biographical drama about the early life of chef, writer and TV personality Anthony Bourdain. It follows 19-year-old Bourdain as he heads to Provincetown and rather accidentally finds himself working in the chaotic world of a restaurant kitchen — a summer which ultimately sets him on the path that will shape the rest of his life. We really enjoyed it, and given the heat outside, it was absolutely wonderful to spend a couple of hours in a beautifully air-conditioned cinema! Meanwhile, almost everyone else seemed to be outside in the blazing sunshine watching the solar eclipse. We may have missed the celestial event, but I think we probably had the cooler option! 😂

I’d booked us lunch at The Ivy in Soho, followed by a trip to see Hadestown at the Lyric Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue.

Love the old theatres – we are so fortunate to have so many of them!

It was a VERY hot day, but everything went perfectly.

There was an added bonus when I discovered that parking at the Royal Festival Hall is now free for Blue Badge holders. There were plenty of vacant spaces too and, being underground, the car stayed beautifully cool for the duration of our day — a definite bonus in that heat!

Once we’d parked, we were able to use the toilet facilities in the Royal Festival Hall before heading across the river towards Soho, wandering through Chinatown on our way to the restaurant.

Lunch at The Ivy was excellent. I made some pretty sensible choices too. For my main course, I had an 8oz sirloin steak with green beans and a heritage tomato salad, and we shared a dessert that was basically raspberry sorbet.

Then it was on to the theatre.

My sister absolutely loved Hadestown. It was a full house, and there was an incredible amount of talent on that stage, both in terms of the acting and the singing. If you get the opportunity to see it, I’d definitely recommend it.

On Saturday, I had a friend over for lunch and, given the continuing hot weather, kept things fairly light. We had a prawn salad with a really simple dressing made from lime, olive oil, black pepper and a little maple syrup.

We did, however, indulge in dessert in the form of a pistachio and almond ice-cream bomb which, from memory, came in at around 220 calories. Very nice it was too!

So I’m now getting through my final week on Wegovy before moving back to Mounjaro next Friday.

I have to say, I’m really looking forward to it.

I’m still experiencing zero appetite suppression from Wegovy, and the food noise has been totally overwhelming. I think I’ve managed to stay within my calorie allowance on most days, but it’s taken real effort.

It’s certainly reminded me how much of a difference effective appetite suppression and the absence of food noise can make. I know I can resist temptation and stick to my calorie allowance — I’ve been doing this for a very long time — but constantly battling those thoughts about food is exhausting.

I’m hoping that moving back to Mounjaro will give me back the helping hand that I know it gave me before.

Anyway, on to this week’s weigh-in…

Weight this week: 55.75kg (8st 11lbs)
Weight last week: 56.10kg (8st 11.6lbs)

Weekly loss/gain: -0.35kg (-1lb)
100% – 6 months 5 days in weight maintenance range (54 – 57kg or 8st 7lb – 8st 13lbs)

A Week of Tea, Cake and Talking Heads

flidfit Emotional well being, Salads, Salads, Wegovy, Weightloss Medication

So, what have I been up to this week?

It feels as though it’s been a fairly quiet one, although that’s probably because my mum has been having radiotherapy at our local hospital every day this week. I’ve been on standby for several of the appointments, ready to step in as driver and chaperone if needed. As it turned out, my services weren’t required, but on three of the days we invited Mum and whoever had accompanied her back to ours afterwards for tea and cake – and lunch on one occasion. We’re ideally placed, as our house is only a 10-minute walk or five-minute drive from the hospital, so it made a nice little pit stop after her treatment.

It was my way of trying to make the whole experience just a little more enjoyable and bearable – and it seemed to work rather well. There aren’t many things in life that can’t be improved by tea and cake!  And of course, the chance for my Mum to see us (she lives about a 30-minute drive away).

The only real excitement this week was a trip to the cinema.

My other half loves his music, particularly New Order, The Cars and Talking Heads. He also has a rather large soft spot for Bryan Ferry and can frequently be heard crooning along whenever one of his songs comes on the radio or Apple Music. Somehow, all of Mike’s “favourites” seem to have mysteriously repopulated my music playlists too. I can’t imagine how that happened!

While checking what was showing at our local cinema, I spotted a one-off screening of David Byrne’s American Utopia, a filmed stage performance featuring the former Talking Heads frontman.

I asked Mike if he fancied going.

He wasn’t particularly bothered.

This is fairly typical of him — he hates me organising too many things (even when they’re things I’ve arranged with him in mind), although he nearly always ends up enjoying himself once I’ve managed to persuade him to actually go!

Another attraction was that I have a CEA Card, which means that when I buy a cinema ticket, the person accompanying me can go in free. So, essentially, two of us get to see the film for the price of one.

Eventually, I talked him into it – and, my goodness, I’m glad I did.

It was showing on one of the smaller screens at our local Showcase Cinema and was absolutely packed, except for two or three wheelchair spaces left. In fact, I had no choice but to stay in my wheelchair because those were the only spaces left.

That actually suited me perfectly. I don’t find those enormous reclining cinema seats particularly comfortable anyway – they’re certainly not designed with my rather unique physique in mind!

Before long, Mike was thoroughly engrossed and singing along, much to my embarrassment. He absolutely loved it, so I felt happy that I’d persevered and booked the tickets.

We’re apparently heading into another spell of very hot weather over the coming days, so I’m preparing accordingly.

I’ve bought some ready-made kebabs from Waitrose, which we’ll have with simple tomato and cucumber salads. We’re also harvesting our autumn raspberries at the moment, so plenty of those are being eaten.

And I’ve continued making batches of my green bean salad with mustard vinaigrette. It’s absolutely delicious and contains a generous helping of garlic, which, let’s face it, improves almost everything!

When it’s really hot, the last thing I want to do is spend ages preparing food or standing over a hot hob, so having tasty things ready to go makes life much easier.

And Wegovy?

Absolutely no change.

No noticeable appetite suppression and, unfortunately, the food noise continues to be a real menace.

After giving Wegovy a fair try, it’s become pretty clear it simply isn’t having the same effect on me that Mounjaro did. I know everyone responds differently to these medications, but for me there really has been no comparison.

So I’m now counting down the couple of weeks until my Mounjaro arrives. My plan is to restart cautiously, see how I respond, and adjust from there.

I’m actually looking forward to finding out whether returning to Mounjaro restores the appetite suppression and freedom from food noise I had before. I certainly hope so!

And finally, after another week of managing my appetite largely under my own steam, here’s my weight update…

Weight this week: 56.10kg (8st 11.6lbs)
Weight last week: 55.75kg (8st 11lbs)

Weekly loss/gain: +0.35kg (+1lb)
100% – 5 months 28 days in weight maintenance range (54 – 57kg or 8st 7lb – 8st 13lbs)

A Hot Tub, Heathland and a 70th Birthday Surprise

flidfit Eating Out, Salads, Salads, Sweet Treats, Travel, Travel & Holidays, Wegovy, Weightloss Medication

We’re back after our little trip away to celebrate Mike’s 70th birthday!

We headed down to the New Forest, about an hour and a half’s drive from home, where I’d booked us into a Finnish-style log cabin on the edge of the forest. The real selling point? A wood-fired hot tub!

Before checking into our accommodation, we stopped off at Highcliffe Castle on the coast. It’s really more of a stately home than a castle, but I’d discovered it had an accessible pathway leading all the way down to the beach, which immediately put it on my list of places to visit.

We’d kept lunch simple, taking a packed lunch from Waitrose, and enjoyed it sitting on the beach with wonderful views across to the Isle of Wight and The Needles.

Highcliffe Beach
Highcliffe Castle

Afterwards we treated ourselves to tea and cake at the castle before making our way through the New Forest to our cabin, passing ponies, cattle and beautiful heathland scenery along the way.

The journey wasn’t entirely relaxing, though! It included a couple of rather hairy junctions where we had to pull out onto a fast-moving dual carriageway. Thankfully we both survived!

When we arrived, the owner showed us around the cabin and pointed out all the important things, including where to find the water hose in the unlikely event of a fire. Given the exceptionally dry weather we’ve been having, it was a sensible precaution.

Once we’d settled in, Mike set about firing up the wood-fired hot tub. It eventually reached the recommended temperature of 40°C. Personally, I found that just a little too warm! Getting into the tub wasn’t exactly easy with my disability, but getting back out again was on a completely different level. Thankfully, by taking things slowly and carefully, I managed it safely.

Easier to get into than out! But an amazing experience.

The following day we visited Exbury Gardens before heading on to nearby Buckler’s Hard, a fascinating historic shipbuilding village on the banks of the River Beaulieu.

Bucklers Hard

By chance, we arrived during a week-long archaeological excavation. Volunteers were carefully searching the mud and silt along the ancient slipway, uncovering artefacts that had lain hidden for centuries. It was fascinating to see the finds emerge from the mud.

That said, looking at the volunteers working all day in the blazing sunshine, covered from head to toe in mud, I have to admit I wasn’t tempted to swap places with them!

Back at the cabin we enjoyed a relaxed barbecue. I’d gone well prepared, taking several salads I’d made at home beforehand, so there was very little food preparation to do. That’s always a bonus because I find cooking in an unfamiliar kitchen much harder than in my own adapted one.

Barbequed steak, green bean salad, tomato and cucumber salad, olives and tzatziki
Barbequed Cumberland chipolatas, green bean salad, tomato and cucumber salad, olives and tzatziki

Our final morning was wonderfully relaxed. Mike had hoped to squeeze in one last soak in the hot tub, but despite being left overnight, the water was still over 43°C – far too hot to climb into! So we packed up instead, left at 10 o’clock, and were back home by midday, conveniently avoiding all the rush-hour traffic.

It was a lovely few days away and a wonderful way to celebrate a very special birthday. Sometimes you don’t need to travel hundreds of miles to feel as though you’ve had a proper break.

As for Wegovy, I have to admit I’m feeling rather disappointed.

I’ve now been taking it for five to six weeks and, if I’m honest, I don’t feel it’s really doing anything for me. Unlike Mounjaro, I’m finding that my appetite is much the same as it was before, and the food noise has never really gone away.

I’ve spoken to Voy, my provider, about switching back to Mounjaro. Their advice was that once I’ve finished this current 0.5 mg pen, I can move back to 5 mg of Mounjaro, which is exactly what I intend to do.

I know these medications affect everyone differently, and many people have fantastic results with Wegovy. Unfortunately, I don’t seem to be one of them. Whilst Wegovy is a little cheaper, any saving is quickly outweighed if it isn’t effectively controlling my appetite and food noise. For me, Mounjaro simply worked far better.

So… how did I get on with my weight this week?

Our little break away did include both cake and an ice cream. However, we tried to be sensible. Whenever we had cake, Mike and I shared a single slice, which immediately halved the calories without making us feel as though we were missing out. Apart from those little treats, we ate as we normally would, with packed lunches, prepared salads and a barbecue back at the cabin.

So, despite a few holiday indulgences, here’s where my weight stands today…

Weight this week: 55.75kg (8st 11lbs)
Weight last week: 56.1kg (8st 12lbs)

Weekly loss/gain: -0.35kg (-1lb)
100% – 5 months 21 days in weight maintenance range (54 – 57kg or 8st 7lb – 8st 13lbs)

Smart Tech, Crumpet Pizzas and a Birthday Surprise! ⭐

flidfit Disability, Fakeaways, Recipes, Technology, Wegovy, Weightloss Medication, YouTube

Fitting in a quick blog post this week before a few days away celebrating my wonderful partner Mike’s 70th birthday! It’s all a surprise, so to avoid giving the game away, I’ll tell you all about it in next week’s blog. We’re travelling about an hour and a half from home and, rather mysteriously, I’ve instructed Mike that we’ll need to pack a load of firewood… and his swimming trunks! That should keep him guessing.

This week started with a bit of disruption as we replaced both my cooker hood and induction hob with new models that can be connected to the internet.

“Why on earth does a cooker hood need to be connected to the internet?” I hear you ask!

Well… my previous cooker hood looked very smart and worked perfectly well, but there was one rather significant problem. I couldn’t actually operate it! The touch controls were completely inaccessible to me – something I hadn’t considered when I bought it around ten years ago. I tried everything I could think of: a stylus attached to a stick, touchscreen gloves… nothing worked. Every time I wanted to use the extractor fan, I had to ask someone else to switch it on.

The new Neff hob and extractor use Home Connect, which allows them to communicate with each other. Simply turning on the hob automatically starts the extractor fan. Better still, I can control everything using my voice.

“Alexa, switch on the hood.”

“Alexa, turn the hood to full power.”

“Alexa, switch on the hood light.”

You get the picture!

If you’d like a tour of my adapted kitchen and to see some of the many little changes I’ve made to enable me to cook safely and independently, there’s a video I made a few years ago here

Whilst voice-activated smart technology offers an extra level of convenience for many people, for those of us with physical impairments it can provide something far more valuable – genuine independence.

Alexa now controls much of my home, including the lighting, speakers, window blinds and every radiator. I also have a rather clever (and admittedly rather expensive!) Geberit bidet toilet. I haven’t yet explored whether it can be voice-controlled too, but it automatically opens and closes the lid, washes, dries, extracts odours, and even warms the seat. I have to admit, on a cold winter’s morning, a heated toilet seat is one of life’s little luxuries!

My culinary discovery of the week has been crumpet pizzas.

I’d made a batch of pizza topping mixture previously and frozen it in portions, so using that, a couple of slices of pepperoni and a sprinkling of grated mozzarella and Cheddar, I popped them into the air fryer for just two minutes.

The result? A delicious, surprisingly filling little pizza for only 186 calories each. They’re quick, easy and will definitely become a regular lunch in this house.

As for Wegovy, this week I took my first increased dose of 0.5 mg, having moved up from 0.25 mg.

So far… very little appears to have changed.

I’m still finding that I have to work quite hard to keep both my appetite and my sweet tooth under control. I know it’s still very early days, so I’m hoping the increased dose simply needs a little time to build up before I notice any real difference.

Weight

Whilst I’d have loved the increased dose to have taken the edge off my appetite immediately, I’m reminding myself that these medications don’t work overnight. Patience has served me well throughout this journey, so I’ll give it a little more time before drawing any conclusions.  BUT I am getting dangerously close to the top of my maintenance range!  I also remind myself of how far I’ve come on this journey in 14 years….

Weight this week: 56.15kg (8st 11.8lbs)
Weight last week: 55.95kg (8st 11.3lbs)

Weekly loss/gain: -0.2kg (-7.5ozs)
100% – 5 months 14

days in weight maintenance range (54 – 57kg or 8st 7lb – 8st 13lbs)

 

Good Food, Good Friends… and a Little More Patience

flidfit Eating Out, Fish, Maintenance, Salads, Salads, Wegovy, Weightloss Medication

Thank goodness this week has been a little cooler! The sunshine has been enjoyable again rather than unbearable.

On Monday I met some girlfriends for lunch at our regular venue – a lovely pub that serves really tasty, beautifully presented food. It’s a little more expensive than your average pub meal, but the chef there clearly knows what they’re doing. I chose a guilt-head bream fillet, served with a delicious potato terrine, samphire, and a courgette and asparagus side with heritage tomatoes and – rather unexpectedly – cubes of grilled feta. It seemed like a very odd combination, but it actually worked incredibly well!  The meal certainly didn’t disappoint!

Later in the week, I invited a friend over for lunch. We’ve known each other since primary school and also went to the same secondary school, so we’ve probably been friends since we were about nine years old! Although we don’t see each other very often because life gets busy, whenever we do meet up, we always have plenty to chat about as we catch up on family news and everything that’s happened since our last get-together.

With Sam’s support, I prepared a homemade pizza topped with mozzarella, olives, sliced courgette, peppers and grated cheese. The pizza base is made from a simple mixture of Greek yoghurt and self-raising flour – no oil or water required. Having shortened arms, rolling out dough is quite a challenge for me, and I usually end up wearing as much of it as actually makes it onto the baking tray.

My right-hand woman, Sam, is off on holiday for the next couple of weeks, so I plan to keep my meals a little simpler while she’s away. It will be a good opportunity to remind myself that healthy eating doesn’t have to involve complicated recipes or a lot of food prep.

Indeed, this weather certainly means plenty of salads, and as my other half (Mike) is harvesting cucumbers, tomatoes, and green beans from our garden at present, I’ve been making a regular delicious cucumber, red onion and tomato salad dressed with olive oil, red wine vinegar, as well as a green bean salad with a garlic mustard vinaigrette dressing.

There’s something very satisfying about growing your own fruit and vegetables. Picked fresh and eaten at their best, they’re packed with flavour in a way that supermarket produce rarely manages to match.

Wegovy update: I’ve now taken my fourth and final 0.25mg dose and… let’s just say I’m really looking forward to moving up to the next dose next week! At the moment, I’m still having to make a conscious effort to keep my appetite under control, so I’m hoping the increase will provide a little more support

As for my weight, the good news is that I’m still within my maintenance range.

I’m quietly hoping with Wegovy’s assistance, next week I hope to be moving back towards the middle of that range rather than teetering towards the top of it!

As always, one week at a time…

Weight this week: 55.95kg (8st 11.3lbs)
Weight last week: 56.1kg (8st 11.6lbs)

Weekly loss/gain: -0.15kg (-5.3ozs)
100% – 5 months 7 days in weight maintenance range (54 – 57kg or 8st 7lb – 8st 13lbs)

 

Chocolate, Snacking and the Wegovy Waiting Game

flidfit Maintenance, Recipes, Sweet Treats, Wegovy, Weightloss Medication

This week feels as though it’s been rather uneventful, but in reality we’ve simply been trying to keep as cool as possible, which has meant spending much of our time indoors. The hot weather has certainly dictated the pace of life.

I’ve used the time to make some lovely batches of fresh salads, which we’ve been enjoying for lunch, along with a seafood rice dish that I’ve shared the recipe for here on the blog. Finding meals that don’t involve using the oven, hob or stove has been a bit of a challenge. As much as I enjoy a good salad, I do like a bit of variety too!

I suspect the main thing you’re wondering about, though, is how I’m getting on with Wegovy.

The good news is that I’ve experienced absolutely no side effects so far. The less exciting news is that I haven’t noticed any dramatic appetite suppression either. That said, I tried to think back to my first few weeks on Mounjaro and whether I felt much difference then. I even went back through my food diary from those early weeks to remind myself how easy – or otherwise – I found it to stick to my calorie allowance at the time.

Looking back through my food diary from last June and July, I can see one really noticeable difference. There was virtually no snacking, and very few sweet treats. I’m beginning to realise that this is probably my biggest downfall when it comes to maintaining my weight.

One thing this exercise has really reinforced for me is just how valuable it is to keep a food diary. I’ve logged everything I’ve eaten for over 14 years now, and while it can sometimes feel a little tedious, it’s an incredibly useful tool. When something changes – whether that’s weight loss slowing down, hunger increasing or old habits creeping back in – you don’t have to rely on memory. You can look back at the evidence and spot patterns that you might otherwise have missed. It’s amazing how quickly we forget what was actually happening when things were going well.

What also struck me was that it wasn’t just a case of me having more willpower or feeling less hungry. My taste genuinely seemed to change. Sweet foods simply didn’t appeal to me in the same way. Even if chocolate or biscuits were sitting in plain sight, I just wasn’t interested. I didn’t have to fight the temptation because the temptation simply wasn’t there. I’d gone right off the taste of sugary foods and chocolate, and that made sticking to my calorie allowance feel almost effortless. Looking back now, it’s clear just how much that change in food preference contributed to my success. Sometimes the answers we’re looking for really are there, written down in black and white.

It’s also important to remember that this is only the loading dose. With each weekly injection, the amount of medication in my body gradually builds up, rather than reaching its full effect immediately, as shown in the chart below.

I’ve been using an app called Shotzy to keep track of everything. It allows me to log each injection, record the dose and injection site, reminds me when my next injection is due, and even provides a helpful graph showing how the medication accumulates in my body over time. I actually find it quite reassuring to see that visual reminder that, even if I can’t feel much difference yet, the medication is steadily building to a therapeutic level.

Looking back through my food diary from last June and July, I can see one really noticeable difference. There was virtually no snacking, and very few sweet treats. I’m beginning to realise that this is probably my biggest downfall when it comes to maintaining my weight.  Sadly, that effect has definitely disappeared. Chocolate has once again become rather tempting… even in this heat when it melts almost as soon as you unwrap it!

Let’s be honest – most of us enjoy a sweet treat now and then. My problem is that if it’s in the house, it will eventually get eaten! That’s “food noise” for you.

The reality is that I don’t really need those sweet treats. They’re not satisfying genuine hunger – they’re simply something I enjoy for the pleasure they bring. There’s nothing wrong with that in moderation, but it’s very easy for those little extras to creep back into my daily routine. That’s something I really need to get back under control.

So this week I’m making a conscious effort to rein it in. I’ll be sticking to my homemade chia seed raspberry dessert, which I genuinely look forward to most evenings, rather than reaching for chocolate or other snacks. Hopefully that one simple change will be enough to make a noticeable difference.

Another possibility is that the Mounjaro has now completely left my system. It makes perfect sense. I know I made the right decision to intervene now, rather than waiting until the weight started creeping back on pound by pound or kilogram by kilogram. Maintaining a healthy weight is so much easier than trying to lose it all over again.

I’m not worried that Wegovy isn’t working. I’m only on the loading dose, and lots of people don’t notice a dramatic reduction in appetite until the higher doses. At the moment, what I’m really noticing is the absence of the effects I had on Mounjaro—particularly that complete lack of interest in sweet foods. I’m hoping that as Wegovy builds up in my system over the next few weeks, those changes will gradually return.

For now, I’m just plodding along. I’m finding it a little more challenging than I’d like, but I’m determined to get back on top of the snacking.

I’d love to know whether I’m alone in this. Does everyone have that one food that’s their weakness? If you’re taking weight loss medication, have you found it changes your cravings? And if you’re not, how do you keep your own temptations under control? Let me know in the comments—I’m always interested to hear what works for other people.

Weight this week: 56.1kg (8st 11.6lbs)
Weight last week: 56.5kg (8st 12.5lbs)

Weekly loss/gain: -0.4kg (-⅞lb)
100% – 5 months in weight maintenance range (54-57kg or 8st 7lb – 8st 13lbs)

Mediterranean Seafood & Chorizo Rice – 552 calories

flidfit Fish, Recipes, Wegovy, Weightloss Medication

I made this dish using Arborio rice simply because I had some that needed using up. Although Arborio rice is traditionally associated with risotto rather than Spanish rice dishes, it worked brilliantly. The Arborio rice absorbed all the wonderful flavours while creating a deliciously creamy texture that complemented the smoky chorizo and tender seafood perfectly. It just goes to show that you don’t always need the “correct” ingredient to create something absolutely delicious!

My own Mediterranean-style one-pan rice dish is packed with colourful vegetables, succulent seafood and smoky chorizo.

One of the things I love most about cooking is creating meals that don’t feel like “diet food”. After losing a significant amount of weight and maintaining it, I’ve discovered that healthy eating doesn’t have to mean missing out. By filling the pan with plenty of vegetables, lean seafood and just enough chorizo to add a delicious smoky richness, this dish is hearty, satisfying and bursting with flavour.

Using Arborio rice makes it wonderfully creamy and forgiving to cook, while a squeeze of fresh lemon and a scattering of fresh parsley at the end bring everything to life. It’s a complete one-pan meal that’s simple enough for a weeknight but special enough to serve to family or friends. It certainly earned Mike’s seal of approval!

Arborio Risotto Rice, Tesco                      –  150g

Avocado Oil                                                  –  2 Tsps/10ml

Onions                                                            –  50g

Carrots                                                            –  35g

Garlic                                                              –  3 Cloves/9g

Tomato Puree                                                –  10g

Courgette                                                        –  60g

Green Beans                                                  –  40g

Red Pepper                                                    –  70g

Water (boiling)                                             –   600ml

White Wine Stock Pot                                –  1 Pot/28g

Chorizo, Spicy Spanish Ring                     –  45g

Seafood Selection, Cooked
(mussels, squid, prawns)                          –  1 Pack/250g

Paprika                                                         –  1 Tsp/2g

Parsley, Fresh, chopped                           –  1 Tbsp/3.8g

Lemon                                                          –   half – cut into wedges

Preparation

Peel and finely dice the carrot and onion. Slice the courgette into rounds. Top and tail the green beans, then cut them into approximately 3cm lengths. Core and deseed the red pepper before slicing into thin strips. Peel and finely chop the garlic. Slice the chorizo into rounds.

Method

Heat the oil in a heavy-based saucepan with a lid over a medium heat. Add the onion and carrot and cook gently for around 5 minutes until softened and translucent.

Add the green beans, chorizo, garlic, paprika and red pepper. Cook for a further 2–3 minutes, allowing the chorizo to release its richly flavoured oils.

Stir in the courgette and tomato purée, followed by a splash of the water and the Arborio rice. Mix well so that the rice is coated in all the flavours.

Add the stock pot and the remaining water, stirring well until everything is thoroughly combined.

Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Cover with the lid and cook for around 15 minutes, checking occasionally to ensure there is sufficient liquid. If the rice begins to dry out before it is cooked, simply add a splash more hot water.

Once the rice is tender, remove the lid. If any excess liquid remains, increase the heat for a minute or two until it has reduced. The finished dish should be creamy with a slight oozy consistency rather than dry.

Finally, gently stir through the cooked seafood and fresh parsley, allowing the seafood to heat through without overcooking.

Serve immediately with a generous squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

Nutrition Data Per Serving

Calories (kcal)        552.0

Protein (g)                28.7

Carbohydrate (g)    75.9

Fat (g)                       14.7

Fibre (g)                    4.2

Fruit & Veg                1.7

 

 

Maintenance Isn’t About Being Perfect: A Weekend Away, Wegovy and Keeping Things in Perspective

flidfit Disability, Eating Out, Eating Out, Emotional well being, Travel, Travel & Holidays, Wegovy, Weightloss Medication

Hello all,

Apologies for the delayed update. Usually I plan and draft my blog post over the weekend, but as I mentioned last week, I’ve just returned from a lovely weekend away in Cambridge with some girlfriends.

We had a wonderful time. The hotel (Ibis, Cambridge Central Station) was accessible (the most important factor), perfectly located with nearby parking, and the staff were welcoming and helpful. Trying to find a hotel that meets all the access requirements for three wheelchair users with very different impairments is quite a challenge! It had taken us several weeks to find somewhere suitable, but when we finally arrived and saw our rooms, we knew the search had been worthwhile.

Of course, all the accessibility features in the world don’t mean a thing if the staff attitude isn’t positive, friendly and proactive in providing the little bits of assistance we all need, particularly in the restaurant. Thankfully, they couldn’t have been more accommodating.

My journey to Cambridge took around three hours in total, including an hour’s break halfway. It meant tackling the M4, around the M25 and then up the A1(M) – hardly the most relaxing route, especially as those roads are usually very busy.

Thankfully, I’d planned well. I’d packed my lunch in a cool bag and stopped at South Mimms Services to use the loo, stretch my legs (well… as much as I can!) and found a peaceful shady spot under a tree to enjoy my lunch. Inside, the services were absolutely heaving, but the toilets were clean and spacious, which was the main reason for venturing inside in the first place.

Friday evening was spent at La Maison du Steak. Unsurprisingly, the menu featured a lot of steak in every imaginable cut and size! I opted for the quarter chicken… which turned out to be about the size of half a chicken!

On Saturday we visited the Cambridge University Botanic Garden. I’d been there once before, about six years ago, but remembered very little. I don’t think we’d had enough time to appreciate it properly on that visit. This time we enjoyed a leisurely stroll around most of the gardens, taking in the beautiful planting before stopping for lunch.

The café deserves a special mention. The food was delicious, healthy and excellent value for money. You all know my views on eating out, so you’ll know I don’t hand out compliments to cafés and restaurants unless they’ve genuinely earned them!

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On Saturday evening we treated ourselves to dinner at The Ivy in Cambridge. If you’ve never had an Ivy experience, I’d certainly recommend it if you have one nearby.

I must admit, I felt slightly alarmed when we arrived and found three steps leading up to the front entrance. Fortunately, a member of staff quickly came outside and escorted us around to the rear of the building, up a side alley, through the refuse area and into the restaurant, where we received a warm welcome and were shown straight to our table.

Sadly, older buildings often have to be preserved without being able to create ideal wheelchair access, so entering through the “back door” is something I’ve experienced several times over the years. As long as staff do everything they can to make you feel welcome rather than like an inconvenience, I’m more than happy to forgive the less-than-glamorous entrance!

The food was amazing. I chose the three-course menu for £50, which even included a glass of champagne, so I thought it represented very good value. The only problem was that three courses turned out to be far too much for me, and I finished the evening feeling uncomfortably full.

It wasn’t helped by the fact that our dining experience lasted about three and a half hours, as the restaurant was incredibly busy. I’d completely forgotten that Cambridge would be in the middle of graduation celebrations, so they were dealing with a huge number of diners.

Thankfully, my journey home on Sunday around lunchtime was much more straightforward. I’d picked up one of Sainsbury’s Kitchen Deli Japanese Style Teriyaki Chicken & Sushi Rice bowls, which I enjoyed sitting in the car before setting off again. No loo stop required this time, so I was soon back home unpacking.

So… how’s the Wegovy going?

At this stage I’d honestly say I’m not noticing any effects whatsoever. However, 0.25mg is only the loading dose, designed to allow the body to adjust gradually to the medication. From everything I’ve read, many people don’t notice much appetite suppression or reduction in food noise at this stage, so I’m not concerned. In another fortnight I’ll increase to 0.5mg and, hopefully, that’s when I’ll begin to notice the benefits.

Looking back over the weekend, it would be easy to criticise myself for some of the food choices I made. But it’s important to keep things in perspective.

Weekends away like this are rare for me. I limited myself to just two meals a day (even sitting watching people eat breakfast whilst I sipped a coffee!), planned ahead by packing lunches for both journeys, and made choices that undoubtedly saved me a good number of calories.  I also did my best to log my meals and estimate my calorie intake (about 500 over one day and 700 another!)

I also have to remember that I spent two full days sitting in either my wheelchair or my car, rather than moving around my home as I normally would. My energy expenditure was probably even lower than usual.

Could I have skipped the desserts? Absolutely.

In fact, I rather wish I had because they tipped me from feeling pleasantly satisfied to feeling over-full and stuffed. But then I reminded myself that this feeling used to be my normal. Before losing weight, feeling over-full after meals was something I experienced regularly without giving it a second thought.

Not surprisingly, the scales are showing almost a 1kg gain this week. But I’ve been here before. I know it’s almost certainly a combination of extra food, restaurant meals, a little more salt than usual and less movement over the weekend.

I’m confident that most, if not all, of it will have disappeared again before the weekend. In fact, it needs to be gone because I’m now just half a pound from the top of my maintenance range… eeek! 😬 That’s the reality of maintenance though – sometimes you brush right up against the edge of your comfort zone before reining things back in again.

Sometimes maintaining your weight isn’t about having a perfect week. It’s about enjoying life’s special occasions, accepting the temporary blips on the scales, and simply getting back to your usual routine afterwards.

That’s exactly what I’m planning to do

Weight this week:  56.5kg (8st 12.5lbs)
Weight last week: 55.7kg (8st 11lbs)

Weekly loss/gain: +0.8kg (+1.5lb)
100% – 4 months, 25 days in weight maintenance range (54-57kg or 8st 7lb – 8st 13lbs)

 

All Change!!! Wegovy swap

flidfit Wegovy, Weightloss Medication

Talk about changing my mind!

My blog post last week was all about my decision to move to Wegovy pills as a way of maintaining my weight without having to battle the increasing food noise and appetite that has become a real nuisance recently.

However, the more I thought about it, the more I realised that my circumstances are a little different from those of many people considering these medications. I’m not trying to lose any more weight. In fact, I’m very happy with where I am. My challenge is maintaining my weight whilst keeping the hunger and food noise at a manageable level.

That got me looking more closely at Wegovy injections rather than the newly licensed Wegovy tablets. Whilst the tablets are certainly convenient, I began to wonder whether the injections might offer more flexibility in fine-tuning a maintenance dose.

As a result, I completely changed my mind!  This decision was driven in part by the fact that I didn’t have a firm date for the delivery of the Wegovy pills (I don’t want to be waiting months…) and I continued make cost comparisons.

I cancelled my order for the Wegovy pills and instead went back to my original supplier, Voy, who were running a special offer on Wegovy injections for returning customers.  After an online assessment process of my weight loass medication history, my weightloss goals and how I was coping on my present medication dosage, they recommended that I start on a 0.25mg dose, and I’ve now taken delivery of my first order.

The cost was £84.00 for the first month, which I felt was a reasonable price to pay if it helps me maintain the weight loss I’ve worked so hard to achieve.

One of the biggest changes I’ve noticed since reducing my Mounjaro dose to 2.5mg is that I’m now feeling genuinely hungry again, just three hours after eating a main meal.

That might sound perfectly normal to many people, but after spending many months on higher doses of Mounjaro, it’s become very noticeable. During my weight loss journey, I could eat a meal and simply not think about food again for hours. Hunger and food noise had largely disappeared. It was such a relief.

Now, however, things are changing.

I think there are several reasons for this. Firstly, the appetite suppression simply isn’t as strong on the lower dose. My stomach feels as though it’s emptying more quickly, and my brain is no longer receiving those powerful “I’m full” signals that I had become accustomed to.

The other important factor is my very low-calorie allowance. At just 4ft 8in, 63 years old and with limited mobility because of my disability, I only need around 1,100 calories a day to maintain my weight. That really isn’t very much food spread across an entire day. Even when I eat balanced meals with plenty of protein and fibre, I’m finding that genuine physical hunger returns much sooner than it did on the higher doses.

Alongside the hunger has come something I’d almost forgotten about – food noise. I’m thinking about food more often again. It’s not that I want to binge or eat unhealthy foods, but I’m becoming much more aware of my next meal and having to rely on willpower once again.

Reducing my Mounjaro dose has been a useful experiment because it has reminded me exactly what life was like before I started taking it. The return of food noise hasn’t been dramatic, but it’s definitely been noticeable. I’m finding myself thinking about food more often, feeling hungrier between meals and having to rely much more heavily on willpower.

In many ways, this has been quite an eye-opener. It has reminded me just how much Mounjaro was doing in the background. It wasn’t simply helping me lose weight; it was making it feel effortless to stick to my calorie allowance because I wasn’t constantly battling hunger.

It’s this realisation that has led me to decide to continue with GLP-1 medication. My goal isn’t to lose any more weight. It’s simply to maintain the weight I’ve worked so hard to achieve whilst remaining comfortable, mobile, independent and, hopefully, not feeling hungry just a few hours after every meal.

Anyone who has followed my journey for any length of time will know that I’m a determined person. Throughout my life, I’ve overcome countless challenges and battles, and I’ve rarely shied away from hard work or perseverance. But this is one battle I’ve realised I don’t have to fight alone. If there is a safe, effective medication that can quieten the hunger and food noise, allowing me to maintain my weight, mobility and independence, then I’m happy to accept that help. For me, that’s not giving in – it’s making a sensible decision that gives me the best chance of protecting the health and quality of life I’ve worked so hard to achieve.

I took my first dose on 26th June – I will keep you posted about its effect on my appetite.  In the meantime, I made a little YouTube video about this decision.

Weight this week:  55.7kg (8st 11lbs)

Weight last week: 55.7kg (8st 11lbs)

Weekly loss/gain: no change
100% – 4 months, 17 days in weight maintenance range (54-56kg or 8st 7lb – 8st 13lbs)