Disability

The Art of Maintenance

flidfit Disability, Emotional well being, Maintenance, Mounjaro, Pain
March 2025 75kg (11st 11lbs)

There’s a quiet stage of life that doesn’t get celebrated very much.

It’s not the dramatic beginning.
It’s not the triumphant transformation.
It’s not the crisis.

It’s maintenance.

This week alone has been full of it. A new, larger radiator installed so the kitchen is properly warm. Clearing wardrobes of clothes that are now two sizes too big. Adjusting my glasses prescription. Tweaking medication doses. Bringing forward recruitment plans for Mum’s care. None of it headline-grabbing. All of it necessary.

For years, my life felt like it was about change. Losing weight. Recovering from injury. Adapting to mobility challenges. Learning how to live well in a body shaped by Thalidomide. Those were visible milestones. They felt measurable. Applaudable.

But maintenance is different.

Maintenance is choosing not to keep the size 18 “just in case.”
It’s planning meals because appetite suppression isn’t quite what it was.
It’s stretching daily, even when nothing hurts too much.
It’s booking the eyesight test before things become a problem.
It’s upgrading the radiator instead of just putting on another jumper.

Maintenance is a decision to stay steady.

With Mounjaro, the early months were about loss — weight coming down, food noise quietening, habits tightening into place. Now I’m at my lowest weight ever. I’m not trying to lose more, but I am determined not to drift backwards. That requires awareness. Planning. Honesty about increased hunger. A willingness to adjust rather than pretend nothing has changed.

Maintenance isn’t passive. It’s active stewardship.

The same applies to Mum’s care. To charity work. To relationships. To our home. Things don’t hold themselves together. They require small, often invisible inputs of energy. Quiet decisions made early enough to prevent bigger problems later.

There is a certain satisfaction in this stage. A maturity to it. I am no longer constantly reinventing myself. I am tending.

And tending, I’ve realised, is a skill.

It takes discipline to stay at a healthy weight.
It takes humility to ask for help when needed.
It takes foresight to recruit before there’s a crisis.
It takes confidence to throw out the clothes that no longer fit.

Maintenance may not look dramatic from the outside, but from where I’m standing, it feels like strength.

Steady doesn’t mean stagnant.
It means cared for.

And at this stage of my life, that feels like success.

Mounjaro Journey – Week 37 (5mg every 5 days)

flidfit Disability, Exercise, Mounjaro, Pain, Recipes, Travel & Holidays

A nice quiet week, ahead of what promises to be a busy one.

The most exciting event was a visit to our chiropractor. We tend to go every couple of months for a “maintenance” appointment. I first started seeing him just under five years ago after a fall on holiday in Majorca, when I tripped, fell forwards headlong to the ground, hitting my head on a wall on the way down.  Because of my shortened arms, I wasn’t able to break my fall properly and sustained a severe whiplash injury.

Immediately afterwards, I had no sensation in my legs and intense pins and needles in both arms — like shards of glass embedded in my hands. I was whisked off to hospital by ambulance. Unfortunately, unlike in the UK, there didn’t seem to be any assessment of neck pain or altered sensation. I suspect quite a bit was lost in translation, and perhaps the paramedics didn’t fully grasp that I had effectively head-butted a wall.

Thankfully, the fall happened right outside our hotel, and the receptionist — who spoke excellent English — came out to interpret for the paramedics.  I had to request that they fit a neck brace before they moved me, as at that point, I knew I’d damaged my neck and potentially my cervical spine.

I was x-rayed, told my neck was fine, and sent back to the hotel in a taxi. I was in excruciating pain and hadn’t been offered any pain relief. I took ibuprofen and paracetamol, and the following day, attended a different hospital where I was properly examined and given stronger medication. The remainder of the holiday was slightly marred by pain. On returning home, my GP advised me to go straight to hospital to rule out a possible bleed on the brain.

Thankfully, there wasn’t one.

That episode led me to our wonderful chiropractor, whom I’ve been seeing ever since. Treatment involves consultation, manipulation, exercises, traction machines, and six-monthly progress reviews with x-rays and posture imaging. The visits keep me relatively pain-free and have made me much more disciplined about daily neck stretches and limiting too much time at the computer. The staff are lovely too — we always feel genuinely welcomed.

It looks like an instrument of torture, but this neck traction became part of my regular routine for a while!

The weather this week has been rain, rain and more rain — until Saturday, when we were treated to bright blue skies and sunshine. It was bitterly cold though. The log burner has been on all day, most days, and turned down low overnight.

On the Mounjaro front, I’ve definitely noticed an increase in appetite and a drop in appetite suppression. I’m mindful not to let that derail my efforts. I plan my meals carefully so they’re ready to go, which prevents me from reaching that point of ravenous hunger where anything in sight seems appealing. The 5mg dose still takes the edge off, thankfully, but it’s a reminder that the habits I’ve built over the past decade really matter.

Cooking has been simple and satisfying. I made a delicious tomato soup using tomatoes from last year’s harvest — pulp that had been cooked and frozen. A small bowl is incredibly satiating. We’ve also had salads, prawn stir-fry, sticky beef stir-fry, and steak with mushrooms and onions.

I dusted off the bread maker and made a couple of malt loaves — far superior to anything from the supermarket. Once cooled, I slice and freeze them in two portions so we can enjoy them over several weeks. We took one over to Mike’s grandson’s family on Sunday, which was very well received.

A quiet week perhaps — but the kind that quietly reinforces routines, resilience, and gratitude.  Time to appreciate home-cooked food and my love of cooking!

Weight this week: 55.4kg (about 8st 10lb)
Last week: 56.1kg (about 8st 11.5lb)
Weekly loss:  0.5kg (about 1lb)
Goal weight: 55kg (about 8st 9lb)

Mounjaro Journey, 21 weeks, 7.5mg

flidfit Disability, Media, Mounjaro, Uncategorized

The car is fixed!  And what’s more…. and what’s more, it didn’t cost me a single penny….

We drove the 30 minutes to Maidenhead on Tuesday to visit the adaptation specialist’s home. He’s semi-retired but still maintains some of his clients, which has worked in my favour. The drive was enjoyable, with lovely autumn colours. Upon arrival, he simply fetched a couple of screwdrivers, removed the steering column housing, adjusted some connections and wiring, and then reassembled everything. It took him about 10 minutes!

I’d made and taken a packed lunch since the appointment was at 12.30 pm. We had planned to walk the short distance to Boulter’s Lock if it took a while to resolve the problem. However, it was raining, so instead we drove home (I was driving!) and ate our lunch there. This was the first time I’d driven the car in about a month because, although it was safe to drive, the steering was just too stiff for me to handle safely.

Sam and I have been working hard to begin clearing one end of our kitchen and dining room. In just over a week, we will start some building work—replacing two large windows and a French door with a large glass sliding door. The new “glass wall” will be nearly 4 metres wide and will provide easier (step-free) access to the garden, as well as offering a better view. Of course, to achieve my “vision”, we will need to endure some disruption and mess, which should last about a month.

Food prep this week has been a large batch of what I call “pizza sauce”, although it’s never used for making pizza!  Tinned and fresh tomatoes, onions, garlic, herbs and tomato puree.  The sauce is now portioned up in the freezer (16 portions) to be used in recipes in the future.  The freezer is full.   No more batch cooking until next year.

Mounjaro: I have taken a 7.5mg injection from a 10mg pen, which seems to have suppressed my appetite sufficiently over the week.

I’ve uploaded a short video with extra weight-loss tips I have found helpful during my weight-loss journey, especially while using Mounjaro. Feel free to watch it and consider subscribing to my YouTube channel.

Weight:  59.7kg – 700g off (about 3/4 lb)

Weight to lose:  2.7kg  (about 6lbs)

Total weight loss on Mounjaro:  11.7kg (about 25lbs, or 1 stone 11lbs)

Total weight loss since the start of my journey (February 2012): 29.2kg (4 stone 8lbs)

 

Mounjaro Journey – 20 weeks, 7.5mg

flidfit Disability, Emotional well being, Mounjaro, Recipes

Hello folks! well, that’s another week under my belt.

I’ve arranged with the adaptation specialist for him to take a look at the steering issue with my car tomorrow lunchtime.  In the meantime, I’ve stayed close to home.  Well, stayed at home!

I’ve enjoyed exploring YouTube channels to hear about others’ experiences of using Mounjaro.  It’s lovely to learn how others have dealt with the price increase, coming off Mounjaro and, more importantly, giving their lived experience.  I purposefully chose those who are a similar age to me, all with very different reasons for choosing the path of weight loss medication.

My sister brought my Mum to visit after her hospital check-up nearby. I served homemade tomato and lentil soup with bread and cheese, then orange jelly, mandarins, ginger cake, and crème fraiche.  Got to love jelly!  No sugar-free for me, this was the real deal (and orange, if you’re interested in the detail!)

Kedgeree with smoked haddock. A generous portion for 553 calories

We ate our lunch before they arrived, since Mum couldn’t eat until after her 2:30 pm appointment. They ended up having lunch at 3 pm.  There’s no way I could have lasted until then!

This weekend I made a tasty kedgeree with smoked haddock.  This is not something I make often, as I think it’s fiddly – but it’s actually pretty easy and a one-pot meal—something to be repeated.

Tonight I’m giving a presentation via Zoom to others about my weight loss journey – of course, Mounjaro features, but I want to share how crucial it is to make changes to our lifestyle and the way we approach food.

So just a short post from me this week!  How’s your week been (with or without weight loss medication….?)

My plan for injections and dosage this week is a 7.5mg dose injection at lunchtime.

Weight loss:  200g

Last week:  60.6kg, this week 60.4kg

Total loss:  11kg (around 24lbs, or 1 stone 10lbs)

That’s an average loss of 1.2lbs a week, which I’m very happy with.

 

Mounjaro Journey – 19 weeks, 7.5mg

flidfit Disability, Emotional well being, Exercise, Media, Mounjaro

A productive and productive week.  I’ve sorted and made space in my freezer and then promptly got to work filling it again!  Both soups made 10 portions, so the freezer is now nearly at capacity.  As the weather gets cooler, I’ve been making batches of homemade soup.

The first one was a chicken and vegetable soup, with added lentils.  The second was a spicy tomato and lentil soup made with the huge glut of tomatoes harvested throughout the summer months.

Both were easy to make, but the tomato-based soup required sweating the tomatoes down to create a really sweet and concentrated passata.

This week, with the assistance of my excellent personal assistant Sam, I completed another job: sorting out all the freezer drawers and updating my inventory.  The freezer is stored in the garage and is about 2 metres tall with seven drawers.  We roughly keep things organised together – meat, bread products, fish, etc.  I know it’s time to update my list when things have been jumbled up into different freezer drawers, so when I ask someone to retrieve something, it’s nowhere to be found!  Anyway, despite being full, the freezer is now totally organised, and we can concentrate on eating some of the items that I know have been in there for a while.

This week, the issue with the car’s steering was identified, but unfortunately, it was not fixed.  I’m waiting for a call from my modification/adaptation guy, and hopefully, he’ll come to take a look since it involves some of the work he did on the car when it was new.  Due to my shortened arms, some wiring and switches needed to be moved from the side of the seat into a box on the steering column, allowing me to adjust my seat position safely. It’s that wiring that appears to be impacting the power steering.  Hopefully, something that can be easily resolved and not too expensive.  I’ve not been charged by either of the two garages that have been involved so far.

On Saturday morning, we participated in a litter pick of our local area with neighbours.  This is something I organise regularly.  Not only do we make the area look cleaner, but we also use the opportunity to socialise afterwards in a local café.  I thought I’d try bubble tea for the first time and chose a “brown sugar bubble tea”.  It was very nice (a bit like a watery milkshake with large gelatinous pearls that add interest, texture, but no flavour.  When I returned home, I checked the calorie content of a bubble tea and was horrified to learn it could have been between 300 and 600 calories!  It was nice, but not THAT nice.

On Sunday, we were invited to a friend’s for afternoon drinks and socialising.  Mounjaro has meant that I’m not particularly enjoying alcohol now.  I’m not a big drinker anyway – those days are far behind me!  I bought and tried a bottle of Tanqueray Alcohol Free Spirit.  It most definitely doesn’t taste of gin but has a pleasant botanical juniper and citrus combination.

Oh!  I phoned in to LBC London radio on Sunday morning.  The discussion was about 1 in 20 people in this country now being on weight loss medication…  You can hear me on the radio (this morning) at 02:26:03 into the programme. Talking about my weight loss journey 😁

And I’ve also uploaded a little video onto YouTube.  What’s been your experience of using weight loss drugs and other people’s attitudes towards that?  Do you share openly or do you only share with those you trust to support you and not to be critical of your choice?  I’ve got a very tough skin, but I hate bullying in any form and don’t tolerate it. I’ll call it out when I can, but the power of social media and those keyboard warriors do sometimes serve to defeat me!  Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel to receive notifications of new posts.

Measurements!  As promised, I’ve done my body measurements and am pleased to share the results here.I’m pleased that the centimetres are going from those places that I want them to.  I’m always astonished by the change, but I am feeling it in my clothes.    I’ve been buying a few new tops (t-shirts) on Vinted.  I’m steering away from my usual patterned blouses – new shape, new style!

Weight:  60.5kg – 500g off (about 1lb)

Weight to lose:  3.5kg  (about half a stone/7lbs)

 

 

 

 

Mounjaro Journey = 18 weeks, 2 x 5mg

flidfit Disability, Emotional well being, Mounjaro

Another week has passed.  I have noticed this week that my hunger levels have increased.  My meals are starting to look kind of “back to normal”.  They were never huge, but I am clearing everything on my plate and enjoying it a bit too much.  I plan to take a 7.5mg dose of Mounjaro this week to see if increasing the dosage slightly has any effect on my appetite suppression.

I am in no hurry to reach the “finishing line”.  I recognise that there will never be an end to remaining mindful about what I consume and keeping track of my calorie intake if I want to maintain my weight loss.  That is the reality of being a very short, not very mobile older woman.

It’s not a vanity thing; I want to be lighter.  I accepted in my twenties that my body shape precludes me from being an “ideal shape”.  However, I do want to preserve my good health at a time in my life when the likelihood of avoidable conditions is increasing.

It’s (thankfully) been a quieter week in terms of socialising and eating out.  We arranged to attend a charity fundraising quiz at a local Cuban restaurant/bar.  We were raising funds for PACT (Parents and Children Together).

“PACT changes lives by building and nurturing adoptive families and empowering women, children and parents to rebuild after trauma and embrace a positive future.

Established in 1911, PACT is now one of the UK’s leading charities in its field and is dedicated to finding secure and loving families for children waiting to be adopted, continued support through therapeutic services, supporting and empowering women facing multiple disadvantages and the recovery of children affected by domestic abuse.”

The theme of the evening was our town, Reading.  The Quiz Master was Terry from Terry’s Reading Walkabouts, and he and his wife had set the questions.  I hoped that we might have an advantage, my partner and I being lifelong residents of the town.  Our team came in a respectful joint 4th place (out of approximately 15 teams), so we were pleased with that.

The food we ordered sadly didn’t match the ambience of the evening or the excellent company.  We were served dry (chicken), which lacked identifiable flavours.  My radish salad helped to add some crunch and colour.  The spicy rice may well have been a microwaved rice pouch!  Ah well…. The purpose of the night wasn’t eating a lovely meal, which was just as well!  I enjoy these reminders of why eating out isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.

My car took a trip to the garage this week, as it has developed an issue with the power steering.  Sadly, my usual garage was unable to identify or resolve the problem and advised that it be booked in to the main dealership.  It’s booked to be with them over two days this week, so we’ll be grounded.  Well, at least in terms of driving anywhere…

If you’d like to watch my latest YouTube video update, you can view it here!  Here are a couple of comparison pictures, taken six weeks apart—definitely less of a tyre around my middle.  I’m going to be doing my measurements this week, so I will share them with you next week!

My weight this week:

400g (approximately 1lb), current weight 61kg, down 10.4kg from my starting weight on 2nd June 2025.  Just 4kg away from my target weight.

BMI down from 35.3 to 30.2.

Mounjaro Journey – 16 weeks, 5mg

flidfit Disability, Emotional well being, Exercise, Mounjaro

It’s been a good week.

My regular support / right-hand woman is away on holiday, so the two mornings she usually comes to assist me have been a little more leisurely!  That’s not to say I’ve enjoyed a lie-in.  In fact, I’ve been getting up a little earlier in order to get things done she’d usually help me with.

I’ve been working on an idea to create my vlogs – seeking some expert input from my daughter, who has advanced social media/marketing experience.  I’m not after thousands of post views or subscribers, but I feel it would be beneficial to share some aspects of my 13-year weight loss journey.  I hope that these resources can help others who encounter extra obstacles to weight loss—whether due to impairments, injuries, medication side effects, limited time, or caring responsibilities.

My journey hasn’t just been about seeing the pounds disappear.  Yes, initially, it was about losing weight.  As my journey has progressed, it has become about increasing my activity levels and exercising, about developing strategies and habits to embed in my everyday life to make the weight loss sustainable.

Without these strategies, there is no doubt that my weight loss would have fallen by the wayside, and I’d be several more kilos overweight than I was back in 2012.

It’s also been an emotional journey. There is no doubt that I have grown in confidence.  I am naturally a confident individual; some might call me overbearing at times, especially in group situations.

The confidence I have acquired over the years has been about my ability to change myself.  As I’ve seen the physical changes in my body and stamina occur, I am reassured that I can continue to do this and that I can continue to succeed.

This week, I’ve also started incorporating some strength and toning exercises using resistance training bands.  I know it’s inevitable that some of my body parts are looking a little saggier (I’m deflating, my OH tells me!).  That comes with age… and we cannot stop ageing.

I’m doing these exercises (just a set of 30 reps each) to build/maintain my muscle mass, especially my core muscles.  I can’t use my arms to push myself up from a chair or bed, so I depend on my core strength instead.

Mounjaro this week:

I took a 5mg dose on Wednesday from a 10mg pen using a spare pen needle.

 

Weight loss this week: 0.0kg

Stayed the same: 62kg / 9½ stone

My weight did bump around a bit during the week, but I’ve stayed within my calorie deficit, so I’m just hanging on in here!

 

Mounjaro Journey – 15 weeks 7.5mg

flidfit Disability, Eating Out, Eating Out, Exercise, Mounjaro, Pain, Travel

Ever since I started taking Tirzepatide, many of those whom I’ve told ask me the very same question.  “What happens when you stop taking it?”

The short answer is, I don’t know.  Taking Mounjaro long-term at a reduced dose may enable me to maintain my weight in the future.

What I do know is that the extra boost I get from the drug in terms of appetite suppression and switching off my “food noise” has really made a massive difference.

The use of Mounjaro to assist my weight loss journey is just one small step or strategy helping me to stay on track with my weight loss journey.  A journey that has been over 13 years long.

13 years is a long time to be diligently logging food, weighing every item that one eats and drinks, keeping within a daily calorie limit and never really taking one’s eye off the ball.  Social occasions, days out and holidays present a challenge.  I need to stay on track and continue as best I can with my journey.  One bad day or a week’s holiday cannot derail me.

Of course, I do relax a little when I’m on holiday, but I soon realised that I can’t really ever take my eye off the ball…. I used to, but then I came to recognise that it’s very easy to gain weight that has taken me a great deal of time and effort to lose.
Inevitably, I am eating and drinking more when I’m away from home.  I’m unable to weigh my food portions.  I am also moving less.  Without my gym ball, my daily exercise routine doesn’t happen.   I am much more reliant upon my wheelchair.  At home, although I’m not particularly mobile, I still move about when doing housework, walking from room to room, preparing meals, etc.  Each day starts with my exercise, about 45 minutes of stretching and bouncing.

The other thing I have recognised this week is the huge wealth of valuable knowledge and experience I have around losing weight when you have a physical disability that severely impacts on your activity levels.  It’s time to share that with – whoever wants to hear about it – and I am sure that there are many out there who (like me!) have used their impairment / illness / lack of mobility as an excuse as to why they are overweight and why they can’t lose their additional weight.

When I started on my weight loss journey, the road ahead was long, and of course I wanted to lose that weight quickly and without effort.  Once I accepted that it would take time and I could reap the benefit of my effort and see regular small weight losses, things became much easier.  I just accepted that I needed to do my best every day and to keep on keeping on, things became easier.

That was my starting point.  A severely obese (BMI of 44), very short, disabled woman who ate to excess and didn’t move at all.  I sat in front of my computer or in front of the TV.  Then went to bed to sleep.
If anyone had told me in 2012 that I’d lose 4½ stone in 18 months and would be exercising daily, I’d never have believed you.  Of course, written like that, it seems an incredible achievement.  I never set myself a specific goal.  I didn’t go from zero to one hundred in days or even weeks and months.  I began slowly – doing what I was able to do and gradually increasing the amount I moved.  My confidence grew in my ability to set and achieve weight loss and fitness targets.
A little corner of our garage provided me with my own gym
I have covered my introduction to exercise in the very early days of my blog.  I had a few sessions with a personal trainer from the Physio clinic I attended to explore cardiovascular exercise that I could manage.

From there, I progressed to strength training and HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) in my own home gym equipped with a treadmill and other small items of gym equipment.  A little corner of the garage provided me with the perfect gym – just a few steps from my front door.

During 2014, we cared for a terminally ill relative who lived with us for the final 14 months of their life.  The garage gym provided me with a welcome respite from the situation.  Whatever the weather, I could be “at the gym”.  I didn’t have to worry about traffic, suitable weather or finding a parking spot.  I could fully immerse myself in my exercise session.

This was to stand me in good stead for dealing with the period of the two Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020.

I started to run!  I gradually built up my stamina to walk for sustained periods initially (on the treadmill, whilst holding on to a support bar.  Later I began to walk faster and then run using the Alter-G anti-gravity treadmill, which was available at a private hospital just a 10-minute drive from my home.  Running was something I had never done.  The last time I ran was at secondary school, not wishing to end up too far back in the very long lunch hall queue….

This week, I’ve started vlogging…. I am aiming to share aspects of my weight loss journey with those who may be looking for inspiration or ideas.  I’m using CapCut and YouTube, but – be warned – I’m learning new skills along the way.  Rather like this Blog, it will be a bit rough and ready as I get to grips with how to achieve what I want and the capabilities of the software, which is streets ahead of my own video-making capabilities!
Weight loss this week:
Last week’s weight:  62.7kg, this week 62.0kg
This week’s loss: 0.7kg (1½lb)
Total loss since starting Mounjaro, 2nd June 2025: 9.4kg (1½ stone)
Total loss in 13 years and 7 months:  – 27kg – down to 62kg from 89kg (4st 3½lb)

 

 

 

 

 

Mounjaro Journey – 12 weeks in, 7.5mg

flidfit Disability, Eating Out, Eating Out, Mounjaro

This week has been much quieter from the point of view of having fewer social activities planned.  Enjoyed a coffee in the garden in 24 degrees this morning – on a Bank Holiday Monday too!

I have some support to assist me in doing the sort of everyday things that most people can do without any difficulties – my disability affects my dexterity, limits my mobility and my reach.  As I get older (63 next month!) I am slowing down more and more.  If only my ageing body were able to achieve all the things I plan in my head!  That’s where the valuable practical support provided by my wonderful PA Sam (Samantha) comes in handy.

Two mornings a week, I spend three hours working alongside Sam, who is a human whirlwind.  She helps me cook, clean, do the laundry, recycling… and this week also some sewing repairs and a trip to get my car cleaned inside and out.  I find myself feeling exhausted after she’s been, but in a very fulfilled way.  Sam came to work for me shortly after the Covid lockdown in July 2020. We work well together.

My sister also works to support me and spends a day with me every other week.  This is wonderful, because as well as having support for more time-consuming tasks (pruning roses, trip to the recycling centre with a car load of rubbish…), we get to exchange news and have a proper chat, putting the world to rights.

I love spending time with my sisters.  I have two of them.  We have come to recognise in recent years that the close relationship we enjoy as sisters isn’t what most families have.  We are very close in age (three years between oldest and youngest), all of us have quite different personalities, and each has very different strengths and weaknesses.  The most important thing we share is solidarity and honesty.  I would do anything for my sisters, and they would do the same for me.  We acknowledge and celebrate our differences.  Together, we create a formidable team that works well together, working collaboratively to support our Mum, who is 90 and has dementia but still lives in her own home.  More importantly, we support one another.

Back to Mounjaro.  Side effects…. I’d be interested to hear whether anyone else using Mounjaro has vivid dreams?  My dreams are wild and wacky and often involve traumatic events!  I’m always glad to wake up to the fact that it was all just a dream.  Perhaps it’s because I’ve been waking at around 4-5 am, and then drift back into a restless REM sleep.  My dreams involve total strangers, but I can see these people in vivid detail.  This may well be down to the medication.  Thankfully, they don’t leave me too traumatised, and I do wake up feeling refreshed.

One social event this week – a trip to a local venue, Park House, which is close by on the University of Reading campus.  A lovely old house with plenty of outdoor seating.  It’s always busy, but mostly university staff and members of the public, rather than students (and often large social groups).

My choice of food was a puy lentil, quinoa, lemon & sumac salad with seared rump steak.  Although the description sounded good, the food sadly didn’t match up.  Thankfully the company was excellent! I drank 2 pints of stout which made up for the disappointing meal!

There were around 12 of us altogether and the conversation was good – gardening, travel, food loves (and hates).  Bees and bee propolis.  I was given a jar of honey by one lady who has bee hives, and some propolis was delivered the following day to allow my partner to make a propolis tincture.  Propolis has anti-viral, anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties.  In return for the propolis, she’ll get a bottle of the tincture he makes.

My final week on 7.5mg, my 10g pen is in the fridge; I’ll be taking my first dose today.

Weight loss progress – a week ago I was 65.6kg (10 stone 3lbs) and today at weigh-in I was 64.1kg (10st 1b), so a loss of 1.5kg.  Total loss of 7.2kg and over halfway to my goal weight of 57kg.

Mounjaro weight loss chart. I weigh myself every morning (when at home)

 

This is the entire 13+ years of my weight loss journey. The start of taking Mounjaro is the sharp decline at the end (June 2025)

 

 

Mounjaro Journey – 11 weeks in, 7.5mg

flidfit Disability, Eating Out, Mounjaro, Travel

I’ve not got as many images to share this week as I ate out a lot…. I feel it a little anti-social to start photographing one’s food.  But it was all delicious.

This will be my last week on the 7.5ml dosage, and we’ve been hit with the news that there will be substantial price increases for Mounjaro sometime in September.  Some reports are suggesting as much as 170% with the cost for the highest dose rising from £122 to £330.

My next injection pen will wing it’s way to me this week, increasing from 7.5ml to 10ml.  I am fortunate not to have experienced any side effects so far and am hoping this will continue.  So… depending on the hike in cost, it may be time to switch to Wegovy?  I’ll cross that bridge once I need to.

One thing for sure is that weight loss medication is making a difference to me. Mounjaro mimics the GLP-1 hormone (glucagon-like peptide-1), which tells your brain to let you know you’re full and slows down how quickly you digest your food. It helps me feel fuller for longer and reducing cravings.

Wegovy only works on GLP-1, whereas Mounjaro works on GLP-1 and the GIP hormone (glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide).

The price increase is not something to concern myself with just yet!

I reported last week that I had two big social weekends, one immediately after the other, and this weekend was my second such weekend!  I was responsible for organising a weekend for 14 friends visiting Reading from Canada, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Scotland, Sweden and… Oxford.

Myself and my partner stayed at the hotel with everyone else so that we could fully participate in the programme of events that I’d planned.

I was a little apprehensive about everything going according to plan and without any mishaps or emergencies.  I’d done everything in my power to ensure this!  Most of the group are damaged as a consequence of the drug Thalidomide, which is how my own impairments were caused.  Six of us are wheelchair users!  So getting everything right was imperative.

Terry Dixon, Terry’s Walkabouts explains how locks work and describes the route of the Kennet and Avon Canal.

It all went brilliantly – from start to finish.  We had a brilliant private walking tour of Reading, which took in Reading Abbey, the Harris Arcade, and we heard all about Huntley and Palmers Biscuit factory production, learned about the Kennet and Avon Canal which runs through the centre of Reading and how locks operate.

I ate breakfast in the hotel each morning, drank alcohol, ate lunch and enjoyed dinner in restaurants.  I most definitely was eating far less than pre-Mounjaro – I even left food on my plate.  Even though it was all very delicious, I just felt full long before my plate was empty.  I enjoyed a Beetroot and rose syrup iced latte (sounds interesting I thought… must give it a try!)

Beetroot and rose syrup latte. Matcha latte.

And my weight??? I’m 65.2kg so slightly down from last weeks 65.9kg. Earlier in the week the scales gave me a 64.9kg reading – given all the socialising, I am very happy with a small loss!

This week things are back to normal so I can crack on with eating well, eating less and shifting some more weight!