Disability

A Kiss from Leo Sayer? Well, That Was Unexpected!

flidfit Disability, Eating Out, Emotional well being, Maintenance, Mounjaro, Weightloss Medication

Well, it’s certainly been a busy week!

The week began with another changeover of Mum’s live-in carers, which involved not only organising everything behind the scenes but also providing a taxi service to transport the outgoing and incoming carers to and from the railway station.

My sister Yvette also came over for a day to work for me, and we (well, she…) got an incredible amount done! We tackled the garage, sorted through things, rearranged everything, and generally had a good clear-out. By the end of the day, we’d taken two carloads of unwanted items to the recycling centre. Very satisfying indeed!

One evening last week, we were out with friends for a fundraising quiz night at a brewery.  We didn’t score particularly well, but it was great fun, and it was lovely catching up with our friends.

Then came the highlight of the week!

My friend Mary is visiting from Melbourne, Australia, before travelling on to the Netherlands. We spent the day together, giving her a tour of Reading. Thankfully, the weather was beautiful, with glorious sunshine, although it was bitterly cold.


Later that evening, we headed off to The Anvil in Basingstoke to see Leo Sayer in concert.

Now, Mary is a HUGE Leo Sayer fan. She’s seen him perform numerous times in Australia and has even met him on several occasions. When she found out he was touring the UK while she was here, she told me we simply HAD to get tickets. So, being the dutiful friend that I am, I managed to get some!

I must admit, I went with few expectations. I mean, Leo Sayer’s music is a bit like ABBA’s, isn’t it? Pleasant enough, inoffensive, and you know most of the songs.

Well, how wrong could I have been?

He was incredible!

At 78, Leo Sayer still has an extraordinary voice, bags of energy, and a wonderful ability to engage his audience. He gave the performance absolutely everything, and by the end, the whole theatre was on its feet.

He completely blew my expectations out of the water!

Afterwards, Mary was determined to wait at the stage door to meet him. Having done this several times before, she knew the drill.

Now, I was happy to go along with this plan, except for one small problem.

It was FREEZING!

About 30 people were waiting when we first arrived. An hour later, the queue had dwindled to around 15, and there we were, still at the back…

But it was absolutely worth the wait.

Leo was such a lovely man. He took time to speak to everyone, showed a genuine interest in what we had to say and didn’t make anyone feel rushed.

And I even got a kiss from him! Although, rather unexpectedly, it landed on my lips… I’m still not entirely sure how that happened. I think we both turned our heads in the wrong direction at the exact same moment! Anyway, that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

And what about my weight?

Considering how busy the week has been, I think I’ve done reasonably well.

The pub quiz was in a brewery and involved approximately two pints of beer, one of which was rather strong! Interestingly, I didn’t feel particularly affected by the alcohol at the time, but when Friday morning arrived, I felt decidedly hungover. I rarely drink alcohol these days, so when I do, the effects can be quite startling. Clearly, my tolerance isn’t what it used to be, I was extremely grateful I had a quiet day planned the following day and didn’t need to go anywhere!

As for my Mounjaro, I think I’ve finally found the right balance.

I’m now taking 7.5 mg every seven days, and at long last I’m experiencing some decent appetite suppression. It took quite a bit of experimenting to get here, but I’m pleased with how things are going, and I intend to stick with this schedule for now.

This week’s weigh-in

Weight this week: 55.25 kg (8 stone 9 lbs)
Weight last week: 55.35 kg (8 stone 9 lbs)

Weekly loss: 0.10 kg (3½ ozs)

100% – 8 months, 6 days in weight maintenance range (54 – 57kg or 8st 7lb – 8st 13lbs)

All in all, a productive, sociable, and thoroughly enjoyable week, and there’s more to come! We’re off to London tomorrow to meet up with Mary again to make more happy memories together.

And I certainly didn’t expect to finish it having been kissed by Leo Sayer! 😂

The Great House Clear-Out, From House Clearing to Hibernating

flidfit Disability, Maintenance, Mounjaro, Weightloss Medication

How’s this week been? Well, I can safely say that my week has been very, very quiet – and that was very welcome!

Last weekend, I helped my sister and brother-in-law empty a house they’d been renting out locally. Their tenant had moved out after almost 20 years and, although he’d left the place in good condition, he’d also left it full of things. We had just two days to get the house completely empty and dispose of everything.

At the start of Saturday, my sister admitted that she really didn’t think we were going to manage it. She’s still recovering from knee replacement surgery; I have a disability which impacts my ability to do much lifting and carrying, and there was no way my brother-in-law could do all the lifting and shifting on his own.

But this organiser was on the case!

I started by searching a local neighbourhood site for an extra pair of hands, while also booking several trips to our recycling centre over the weekend. Since Covid, visits have had to be pre-booked into timed slots. It serves a very large area and is extremely well run, but when you’re trying to empty an entire house in two days, it does require a certain amount of military planning!

The first person who responded to my plea for help turned out to be brilliant. We were, of course, offering him a decent hourly rate, but he certainly proved his worth.

This man was like a machine.

He was practical, didn’t hang about, came up with lots of useful suggestions and, most importantly, accompanied me on all six of my tip runs over the weekend. He loaded my car, then unloaded everything single-handedly at the recycling centre, taking enormous care throughout to make sure my car didn’t get damaged.

He was reliable, punctual and just didn’t stop. A human machine really is the only way to describe him!

Since then, I’ve left him a glowing review on the neighbourhood site and apparently, he’s been inundated with more offers of work. I’m delighted for him because it’s entirely down to his own hard work and reliability.

I could perhaps have done without quite such an energetic weekend, though. Ever since we got back from Sweden, I’ve been trying to shake off a cough and cold which has aggravated my breathing. When I weighed four and a half stone more than I do now, asthma was a regular feature of my life. Since losing the weight, it rarely bothers me, but a cough or cold can still trigger it, and that’s when I need to start using my inhaler again.

This bug has also left me feeling completely exhausted and drained, so two days of house clearing probably wasn’t ideal. But hey ho – we got the job done!

The wonderful Sam has been on holiday herself for the past fortnight, which has helped because it has given me an excuse to take things easy. She’s back next week, so my week will be “back to normal”.

In fact, my only organised activity this week was giving a talk on behalf of the charity I’m a trustee for. The charity supports volunteering in Reading, as well as the voluntary sector more generally, providing training, advice and support and helping organisations find volunteers.  The event was the annual “Older Persons’ Day” and was hosted within a local shopping centre.

My talk was all about my experience of volunteering. Unfortunately, my slot coincided with a choir performing elsewhere, so my audience was just four people! Nevertheless, the talk went down well, and I really didn’t mind popping into town to do something that required very little effort from me.

And, after last weekend, “very little effort” was exactly what I needed!

As for my weight, although I’ve continued to log everything I eat, I’ve struggled a bit this week with staying within my calorie allowance. There’s no reason for it and, if I’m honest, no real excuse either! I’ve simply eaten more than I intended to on several days.

The logging is still happening, though, which is important. I can see exactly where I’ve gone over rather than kidding myself that I haven’t. And, despite all that, I’ve actually managed a small loss this week – so I’ll certainly take that!

Weight this week: 55.50 kg (8 stone 9¼ lbs)
Weight last week: 55.65 kg (8 stone 10½ lbs)
Weekly loss: 0.15 kg (⅓ lb)

So, no excuses – I just need to rein things back in again.

100% – 201 days in weight maintenance range (54 – 57kg or 8st 7lb – 8st 13lbs)

Cakes, Steaks, Liquorice and the Great Fourth-Floor Flush!

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

I’m back from my travels, and apologies for the slight delay in getting this post to you. I’d been really clever – or so I thought – and tried to get ahead of myself by scheduling a blog post to upload automatically while I was away. Unfortunately, I put the wrong date in!

Anyway, I had a super time in Copenhagen and Helsingborg in Sweden, which I’ll tell you a bit more about in a moment.

Since getting home, things have been rather busy. My partner Mike headed off to Turkey for a week, and then my sister and her husband arrived to stay with me for three nights.

Her visit had originally been planned around what we usually do when she comes to stay. She lives about two and a half to three hours’ drive away, so we normally make the most of our time together with lots of days out.

This time, however, things didn’t quite go to plan. She needed to empty a rental property ready for sale, and the deadline happened to coincide with her visit. So instead of enjoying lots of days out, we spent two days working hard clearing furniture and household items from the house.

I tasked myself with getting everything to the local recycling centre — six trips in all, three each day! My car would be loaded up, I’d drive to the recycling centre, queue, offload everything, drive back and have the car filled up all over again. Then off I’d go for another round.

As if that wasn’t enough, I also managed to come down with a bit of a cold. I was feeling decidedly under par, lacking in energy and generally not particularly great. It also affected my sleep, so I wasn’t getting a good night’s rest either — just when I could really have done with one!

We had an amazing time in Copenhagen, where we stayed for one night and spent the following morning exploring, visiting food halls and the Round Tower, which,  having been built in 1642, was surprisingly very accessible for my powered wheelchair!

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The following afternoon, we took the one-and-a-half-hour train journey to Helsingborg, our next destination. Helsingborg is a city on the western coast of Sweden, overlooking the narrow stretch of water separating Sweden from its very close neighbour, Denmark.

My friend (Tina) was determined that we should see as much as possible of the beautiful area in which she lives – and there was certainly plenty to see.

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The weather was definitely on our side. We had very little rain and plenty of sunshine, although being that bit further north, it was slightly cooler than we were used to back home in southern England with an added fresh sea breeze.

Helsingborg was just lovely, with a wonderful mix of culture and history, beautiful buildings and gardens to explore. Despite it being September, there was still plenty of colour around, including some gorgeous displays of roses and dahlias.

One thing that fascinated us was the Swedish enthusiasm for cold-water swimming. And when I say cold, I mean cold! I felt chilly enough standing beside the sea, never mind actually getting into it.

Helsingborg has a long tradition of kallbad, or cold bathing, with traditional bathhouses built out over the water. People warm themselves in the sauna and then walk down steps straight into the sea for a swim or a quick dip, before heading back into the warmth of the sauna.

And modesty doesn’t necessarily come into it either! We actually saw people swimming completely naked at one of the kallbads in Helsingborg – including older swimmers who seemed entirely untroubled by either the cold water or the lack of clothing.

Apparently, alternating between a hot sauna and a freezing dip in the sea is considered wonderfully invigorating.

I was quite happy to take their word for it and observe this particular Swedish tradition from a safe distance — fully clothed!

We also got to visit my friend’s apartment, where I finally met her 17-year-old cat in person! She’s a familiar face because she often comes to say “hello” when we’re chatting on video calls, so it was rather nice to meet her properly at last.

Our hotel was excellent, apart from one small snag, which I’ll come to in a moment! All of our travelling was actually very straightforward, but you know how it is – travelling takes it out of you. There’s all the hanging around at airports and navigating unfamiliar train stations, and when you’re reliant on lifts and travelling with a wheelchair, there’s always that extra layer of planning (and anxiety) involved. Accessibility was generally very good, although not entirely without its problems.

And then there was our hotel.  Our hotel was perfect in almost every way. It was only about a five-minute walk from Helsingborg’s main train station and overlooked the sea and the ferry terminal.

Ferries run regularly across the narrow stretch of water between Helsingborg and Helsingør in Denmark, with the crossing taking only about 20 minutes. We made the trip ourselves during our stay, which felt rather novel – popping over to another country for a few hours!

However, one rather memorable incident happened at the hotel.

All of the toilets operated on a vacuum system, rather like those on an aeroplane. Press the button and, with an almighty WHOOSH, everything disappears at great force – and with a noise that certainly doesn’t go unnoticed!

When the toilets on our floor suddenly stopped flushing, it was fairly obvious that something had gone wrong. Thankfully, they were still usable, but we had to wait until the following morning for the problem to be fixed.

And that’s when things became rather amusing. Presumably, everyone on the fourth floor had been waiting to test whether their toilet was working again because, once the system sprang back to life, an extraordinary succession of loud WHOOSHES seemed to come from rooms all around us.

And so it became known as The Great Fourth-Floor Flush of 2026.

Thankfully, normal service had resumed – although for a short while it sounded as though the entire fourth floor was being sucked out to sea!

Thankfully, that was the end of our plumbing excitement and the toilets behaved themselves perfectly well for the rest of our stay!

One thing that really stood out was how helpful people were, both in Copenhagen and Sweden. Of course, it helps enormously that so many people speak excellent English, but we found that people were only too willing to help if they saw us struggling to find somewhere or work out how to do something.

Travelling with a wheelchair in an unfamiliar place can sometimes add an extra layer of complication, particularly when you’re trying to find an accessible route, a lift or the right way onto public transport. Several times, people simply noticed that we might need a hand and offered to help without us even having to ask.

Those little acts of kindness make such a difference when you’re travelling – and they certainly added to our enjoyment of the trip.

In terms of Mounjaro, I deliberately spaced out my injections so that I didn’t have to take my pen with me to Sweden. And while I was away, I certainly indulged!

Since coming home, I’ve taken a 7.5mg injection, and I’m really pleased to be experiencing the kind of appetite suppression I had when I was taking Mounjaro before. My weight chart has started to respond accordingly.

That’s not to say I didn’t come back from Scandinavia carrying a few extra kilos! But I’ve largely ignored that, got straight back on track and, as I write this, I’m now only about half a kilo heavier than I was before I went away. I’m very confident that will quickly disappear.

And actually, I can live with half a kilo. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and ate things I wouldn’t normally eat at home.  Breakfast for one, since it was included in our hotel package.  Then there were cakes, some lovely steaks and plenty of liquorice, which the Scandinavians seem to absolutely love – so do I!

For me, that’s what maintenance is about. I don’t want to go away on holiday worrying about every mouthful or feeling guilty because I’ve enjoyed something different. I enjoyed the food, enjoyed the holiday, enjoyed the company of Tina and her PA,  came home a little heavier, but simply got back to my usual routine. No panic, no guilt – just back on track.

Weight this week: 55.5kg (8 stone 9¼lbs)
Weight September 12th: 55kg (8 stone 10¼lbs)

Weekly loss/gain: +0.5kg (+1lb)
100% – 7 months 17 days in weight maintenance range (54 – 57kg or 8st 7lb – 8st 13lbs)

Getting Ahead Before Getting Away

flidfit Disability, Maintenance, Mounjaro, Travel, Travel & Holidays

This will be a very short blog post, as I’m currently travelling in Copenhagen and Helsingborg, Sweden. I thought it would be useful just to touch base, though, in case you are eagerly anticipating my usual weekly blog post. I wouldn’t want to let you down!

So, how has this week been? Well, mostly I’ve been trying to get way ahead with life admin because I know that once we get back to the UK in a week’s time, I’ll hit the ground running.

Some of the things I’ve been trying to sort out this week include arranging cover for the live-in carer who supports my mum while her usual carer takes some breaks at the end of the month and over Christmas, organising who is going to feed our cats and our fox while we’re away, and putting together an itinerary for a friend from Australia who is visiting next month and spending ten days in London.

We’re planning to get together with her while she’s here, and, as well as helping with hotel reservations, I’ve been sorting out tickets for a London theatre show – Matilda the Musical.

She was also extremely excited when we spoke last week to share news that Leo Sayer is doing a UK tour while she’s here. She must be his number one fan and has attended every single one of his tours in recent years. I’m not sure how many that is, as I’m not a huge fan myself, but she always seems to end up meeting the man himself!

Naturally, she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see him while she’s in the UK. The closest he’s getting to us is Basingstoke, which is quite handy, as Reading is roughly halfway between London and Basingstoke. It also means she’ll have the opportunity to drop in and visit my home in Reading.

I should probably mention that this friend is also a thalidomider, and I can’t help being impressed by the fact that she is travelling halfway around the world. She has very shortened arms and feet where her legs would normally be, and is a full-time wheelchair user, but remains incredibly independent and active. Goodness knows how she manages that huge long-haul flight. It isn’t something I would particularly want to do!

She’s stopping off in London on her way to the big international thalidomide congress taking place in the Netherlands in October.

I can’t remember whether I’ve mentioned the event before, but I’ve chosen not to go. I think I would find it rather overwhelming being among so many people, and I think I made the right call. The latest numbers, I believe, are around 480 people attending, although that will, of course, include carers, family members and others.

These days, I prefer doing things in smaller groups, where there’s more opportunity for in-depth, meaningful conversations. However, I completely understand why thalidomiders who don’t have many opportunities to meet others are making the trip. There are people travelling from America, Canada, Ireland, Sweden, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Norway, Japan and Australia – which gives you some idea of the scale of the event.

I’m quite happy to take a back seat on this one. I was instrumental in planning international events in 1992 and 1995, when I was much younger and had considerably more energy!

Mounjaro update.  I do feel that, at long last, I’m starting to experience some appetite suppression and a reduction in food noise from my current dose of Mounjaro. A 10mg pen should be delivered within a few days of my return.

I’m not bothering to take my medication with me this time. As we’re staying in different hotels, it just feels like too much hassle, and I’d worry about leaving the pen somewhere. Instead, I’m taking my usual Friday dose one day later, on Saturday, and will then take my next dose on the Sunday after we return. Hopefully that will see me through the week and limit the damage when it comes to food! I’m certainly not planning to spend my holiday worrying about every mouthful, but I will remain mindful as I don’t want to undo all the hard work I’ve put into maintaining my weight.

Anyway, that’s my quick update from Scandinavia. I’ll share some of the details of my trip on my return – assuming, of course, that I survive the life-admin avalanche waiting for me!

(PS. In my eagerness to be super-organised, I realised today I’d scheduled the blog post for the wrong date! So here it is anyway 5 days later than planned!)

In the meantime, here’s my weight report…

Weight this week: 55kg (8 stone 9¼lbs)
Weight last week: 55.60kg (8 stone 10½)

Weekly loss/gain: -0.5kg (-1lb)
100% – 6 months 26 days in weight maintenance range (54 – 57kg or 8st 7lb – 8st 13lbs)

I’m really pleased with that loss ahead of my time away, and I’m also liking the downward trajectory of my weight graph, back towards the middle of my maintenance range.

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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.

On Saturday, we took part in a community litter pick along our road, as well as cutting back the basal shoots growing around the lime trees that line the avenue. It’s always a lovely way to catch up with familiar neighbours and, this time, we also had the opportunity to meet a couple of new ones.

Basal roots are those leafy shoots protruding from the base of the tree.

Once we’d finished, a group of us were invited back to a neighbour’s garden, where we sat together in the shade enjoying a well-earned cup of coffee. It was such a simple thing, but really rather lovely – neighbours chatting, getting to know one another and enjoying a bit of time together after doing something positive for the area.

The litter pick also coincided with the installation of our exhibition in the windows of a vacant local shop unit. I popped around to see how things were progressing and to offer my support – although I certainly wasn’t about to start climbing any ladders!

The shop has been empty for around six years and, as you can see from the before-and-after photographs, I think the exhibition has made an enormous difference to its appearance. Instead of a rather sad-looking empty shopfront, there is now something colourful and interesting for people to stop and look at as they pass.

If I had to talk about the things that contribute to my own sense of wellbeing and good mental health, being involved with my local community would definitely be right up there. Working alongside other people to make improvements, particularly when you can actually stand back afterwards and immediately see what you’ve achieved together, is enormously satisfying.

We have something that feels remarkably close to a village community here, but with all the advantages of living on the outskirts of a very large town. People know one another, stop for a chat, look out for each other and are prepared to muck in when something needs doing. I think that sense of belonging and connection is incredibly valuable – and Saturday was a lovely reminder of just how fortunate we are to have 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. My new 7.5mg pen arrived this week. I took my first 7.5mg injection on Friday.  Now just waiting to see what happens.

What I’m hoping for, more than anything, is the return of that 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!

This week’s weigh-in…

Weight this week: 56.55kg (8st 12.6lbs)
Weight last week: 55.75kg (8st 11lbs)

Weekly loss/gain: +0.7kg (+1.5lb)
100% – 6 months 12 days in weight maintenance range (54 – 57kg or 8st 7lb – 8st 13lbs)

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)

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)

 

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)

 

Why I’m Going to Try the New Wegovy Pill

flidfit Disability, Maintenance, Mounjaro, Titrating dose, Wegovy Pill

After a lot of thought, I’ve signed up to try the new Wegovy weight-loss pill.

Many of you who regularly read or subscribe to my posts will know that I’ve been gradually reducing my Mounjaro dose since reaching my goal weight in January. The plan was always to see whether I could successfully maintain my weight on less medication, while continuing to rely on the habits and routines that have served me well for the past 14 years.

However, over the last few weeks I’ve noticed a definite change, and it’s been increasingly difficult to stick to my daily calorie allowance.

My appetite has increased considerably and, perhaps more significantly, the food noise has returned.

For those who have never experienced it, food noise is that constant chatter in your head about food. Thinking about what to eat, when to eat, whether to have a snack, counting down the time to the next meal and battling cravings that seem to appear out of nowhere. Mounjaro quietened all of that for me. As my dose has reduced, in the last 4 weeks, it has gradually started to creep back.

The reality is that my daily calorie allowance is incredibly low. At 4ft 8in, 63 years old and with very limited mobility due to my disability, my maintenance calories are only around 1,100 calories per day.  I don’t have the ability to earn additional calories through doing lots of calorie-burning activities or exercise.

What has surprised me is just how much I have come to appreciate the freedom that Mounjaro gave me. For the past seven or eight months, particularly when I was on the higher doses, sticking to my calorie allowance felt easy. The constant internal negotiation around food largely disappeared. I wasn’t fighting hunger all day, and I wasn’t endlessly thinking about what I could or couldn’t eat. Instead, I was able to eat sensible portions, stay within my calorie target and watch the weight come down gradually, week after week.

Looking back, I realise how much mental energy Mounjaro took out of the process. Weight loss still required planning, calorie awareness and making sensible choices, but it no longer felt like a daily battle against my own appetite. As the dose has reduced, I’ve become increasingly aware of just how much work the medication was doing behind the scenes.

In many ways, the return of hunger and food noise has been a reminder of what life was like before treatment. It has made me appreciate just how transformative Mounjaro has been for me, not simply in helping me lose weight, but in making it feel achievable and sustainable.

                         

What this experience has made me realise is that if I want to maintain my weight loss long-term and avoid regaining the weight, I may need some form of ongoing medical support. There is absolutely no shame in that.

I’ve joined the pre-order list with Pharmacy Online for the newly approved Wegovy pill and have paid £106 for 30 tablets at the 4mg dose. They’ve suggested that this is roughly equivalent to the level of appetite suppression I currently receive from my low-dose Mounjaro maintenance regime.

The tablets are expected to arrive sometime in July.

One of the attractions for me is the convenience. No injections, no sharps bin, no refrigeration and no travelling with injection pens. Instead, it’s simply one tablet first thing in the morning with a small amount of water, followed by a 30-minute wait before eating or drinking anything else. As someone who rarely eats breakfast anyway, that should fit quite easily into my daily routine.

Will it work as well as Mounjaro? I genuinely don’t know.

But I do know that the return of hunger and food noise has reminded me just how difficult life felt before I started treatment. It has also reinforced my belief that obesity and weight regain are not simply about willpower for many individuals.

For me, maintaining my weight isn’t about fitting into a particular dress size or about how I look in a bikini. It’s about preserving my mobility, reducing pain, protecting my independence and giving myself the best chance of remaining active and healthy as I get older.

I’ll continue documenting my experiences honestly and sharing exactly how I get on with the Wegovy pill, including any side effects, changes in appetite, effectiveness and, of course, whether it helps me maintain my weight.

If you’d like to hear more about why I’ve made this decision, I’ve also recorded a YouTube video where I talk through my reasoning in much more detail.

As always, I’d love to hear from anyone else considering the Wegovy pill or already planning to switch from Mounjaro.

Feel free to leave a comment and share your own experiences.

Mounjaro Journey (Maintenance) – Week 53 (2.75mg every 5 days)

flidfit Disability, Eating Out, Eating Out, Maintenance, Mounjaro, Titrating dose, Travel, YouTube

It has been a very sociable week.

The week started with a day trip to visit a friend who lives in Shrivenham, Wiltshire, followed by a lunchtime visit from a friend over from Germany for a few weeks.

This was followed by an evening of gin and tonics with a neighbour, where peanuts and little savoury biscuits were on offer, but I was quite pleased with myself as I stopped at a single measure of gin and tonic. What affected me more than the drink was the late night! Having said that, I was still in bed by 10pm, but that’s late for me these days. My head was still buzzing from all the conversation and it took me a little while to drift off to sleep.

Later in the week, we enjoyed a day out in London to see Come Alive, the Greatest Showman-inspired spectacular. It was absolutely amazing in London at the Empress Theatre (built on the site of the former Earls Court conference centre).

We were attending the matinee performance, and I’d deliberately planned for us to arrive early enough to have lunch beforehand. The food options at the venue looked fairly uninspiring, and I imagined there would be lots of people all trying to eat at the same time. Instead, we found a lovely café in Brompton Cemetery, just a five-minute walk from the venue.

Brompton Cemetery and Park

I’d never visited Brompton Cemetery before (or indeed any Cemetery in London!) and was struck by how beautiful it was. As part of the Royal Parks, it’s enormous and feels like a peaceful oasis in the middle of London. I was particularly pleased to learn that it is the final resting place of Emmeline Pankhurst, who led the suffragette movement. Many of the graves date back to the 1800s, and some of the monuments and mausoleums are incredibly impressive, clearly belonging to notable and wealthy families of the time.

Emmeline Pankhurst’s grave

The show itself was spectacular. It combined singing, dancing, acrobatics, magic and even fire-eating, all performed within a circus setting. The talent on display was incredible, and we were fortunate enough to have seats right at the very front.

The access team also deserve a special mention. The care and attention they provided throughout the show was exceptional. They checked in with us regularly, explained what would happen and when, ensured we were seated before the main rush of people arrived, and even escorted us through a priority entrance so we could avoid the queues. It made the whole experience so much easier and more enjoyable.

After the show, we met up with one of our friends. She had spent a week in London after travelling from the Isle of Man and joined us for the journey back to Reading and dinner before flying home the following day. We had parked at a hotel for the day and, somehow, managed to secure free parking, saving ourselves £18 in the process.

So, all in all, it has been a week filled with friendship, days out and plenty of socialising.

On the weight-loss and Mounjaro front, my dosage is now down to 2.75mg every five days. I’m also pleased to report that my weight has returned to its pre-holiday level. Given the extra food, reduced activity and all the temptations that came with being away, followed by another busy week packed with socialising, meals out and disrupted routines, I’m very happy with that outcome. It reassures me that the habits I’ve built over the past 14 years are becoming deeply ingrained and can continue to support me, even as I gradually reduce my medication.

Maybe the years of weighing, logging, planning and preparing really are paying off.

I’m just in the process of uploading a video about the holiday, my return to maintenance, and how things are changing as my Mounjaro dose continues to reduce. If you’d like to take a little peek, it’s now live on my YouTube channel.

 

Weight this week: 55.05kg (8st 9.4lbs)
Weight last week: 55.7kg (8st 10.8lbs)
Weekly loss/gain: -0.65kg (-1.4lbs)
100% – 3 months, 26 days in weight maintenance range (54-56kg or 8st 8lb – 8st 11lbs)