Mounjaro

Mounjaro Journey, 26 weeks, 7.5mg

flidfit Eating Out, Eating Out, Mounjaro, Recipes

Yay! The correctly sized glazed units finally arrived and were fitted into the sliding doors, and we’ve finally got our view back into the garden. It feels so good to see outside again after weeks of looking at wooden panels. We then spent the next few days dusting, vacuuming and clearing the last of the building-work debris, before moving all the furniture, houseplants, lamps and ornaments back to where they lived before the chaos started. The house finally feels like home again.

Enjoying our lovely view out to the garden.

Just one meal out this week, taking Mum to meet her nursing friends. I was delighted to see “light bite” options on the menu – including fish and chips! I never choose it normally because portions are usually enormous, but this was absolutely perfect and came with peas and homemade tartar sauce. I swerved the desserts and enjoyed a cappuccino instead. Mum had a lovely time, and the journey there and back was easy in the winter sunshine.

It’s been a slightly frantic week, juggling a lot of time-critical tasks, the main one being sorting staffing payroll for November and December. As I’m off on holiday for two weeks and not back until 22nd December, I wanted everything set up and scheduled before we go. I also needed to find time to complete the second edition of my “13-Year Weight Loss Journey”, which took a fair few hours of editing, but it’s now done. Please do take a look and let me know what you think – I really appreciate the feedback.

Slow Cooker Camp Fire Stew

I’ve also managed to put together two cooking videos this week: a Slow Cooker Camp Fire Stew and High Protein Blueberry and Cottage Cheese Pancakes. The pancakes didn’t look perfect, but they tasted very good and kept me feeling full until dinner time, so that’s a win in my book.

We’re off on our winter sunshine holiday soon and I really can’t wait – both for the warmth and to see how Mounjaro works for me when I’m away from my usual routines and environment. It’s going to be interesting!

Weight this week:  58kg (about 9st 2lbs) Last week 58.3kg (about 9st 2½lbs)

Loss:  300g (about ½ pound)

To goal: 1kg (about 2lbs)

Weight loss over the past 6 months (whilst using Mounjaro)

Mounjaro Journey, 25 weeks, 7.5mg

flidfit Eating Out, Mounjaro

Another week has rolled by — and with it, a fair bit of chaos, anticipation, and some very strange dreams!

Hopefully, today marks the end of the building saga. All being well, the new glass will finally arrive (hopefully in one piece and the right size this time!) and be fitted, and our builder is popping back to sort out the last little snagging bits. I can’t pretend we’ll miss having the house full of tradesmen… it will be lovely to have our space back again.

I’ve also been planning the next episode of my Weight Loss Journey on YouTube. The script is pretty much there… but actually recording it? Impossible! Between the drilling, banging, door slamming and general chaos, it’s been far too noisy and disrupted to even think about hitting “record.” I mean, a bit of background sound might add atmosphere, but I’m not sure anyone wants an unsolicited guest appearance from a power drill halfway through my heartfelt narration!

Food-wise, it’s been a sociable week. I’ve eaten out twice, catching up with friends, and both times ended up choosing a salad — one crispy beef with cashews, and the other a crispy duck salad. Both delicious. I even had a dessert, which is rare for me, but there was a tempting spiced orange panna cotta with a brandy snap calling my name… and honestly, it was worth it!

Crispy Beef salad with lotus root crisps and cashews
Crispy Peking Duck salad with Mixed Leaves, Carrot & Mooli Ribbons, Spring Onion, Cucumber, Sesame Dressing & Plum Sauce

Other food discoveries this week – Warburtons crumpet “thins” – 61 calories each.  Every bit as good as a regular crumpet.  And I made my first ever rock cakes (or should I say the lovely Sam made them for me!)  162 calories each – I enjoyed 2.  I think Mike and the builders may have looked after the remaining 10 between them.

Rock cakes – really simple to make with store cupboard ingredients. 162 calories each.
Warburton Crumpet thins. 61 calories and every bit as nice as a regular crumpet!

We’ve got another meal out this week, too. We’re taking Mum to meet two friends she did her nursing training with in the 1950’s — women she’s known for decades. They don’t live too far from us (Portsmouth).  We’re meeting halfway in a pub. Their adult children (who are around our age) will be there too; we all used to meet up during school holidays when we were younger. The last time we were together was sadly for a funeral, so it will be lovely to see them all in far nicer circumstances. And yes… I’ve studied the menu, and ham, egg and chips might be happening!

My Mounjaro dreams have been doing their own thing lately — incredibly vivid, detailed, and not always pleasant! I’ve woken up a few times feeling very relieved that they were just dreams.

Does anyone else get those incredibly clear, almost cinematic dreams? Mine often involve strangers… it amazes me what the brain can conjure up when I’m asleep.

And now — just two weeks to go until our holiday! I’m curious (and hopeful!) to see how Mounjaro will influence my holiday eating and, crucially, the usual post-holiday weight gain. Normally I can gain around 7lbs in two weeks, despite being mindful. I never go wild with food or drink, but it’s impossible to track calories accurately, and I’m less active because I’m relying on my wheelchair more during the day.

What gives me hope is how much Mounjaro has changed my appetite. Alcohol doesn’t appeal at all, sweet things don’t tempt me, and my appetite is reduced. I just don’t feel the need to snack between meals. So we’ll see! At worst, a small gain… at best, maybe nothing at all.  Now that would be a result!

Either way, I’m very ready for sunshine, a comfortable spot to sit in the warmth, and losing myself in my Kindle.

Weigh in this week:

Weight this week:  58.3kg (about 9st 2lbs) Last week 58.7kg (about 9st 3lbs)

Loss:  400g (about 1 pound)

To goal: 1.3kg (about 3lbs)

Mounjaro Journey, 24 weeks, 7.5mg

flidfit Mounjaro, Recipes

The building work had all been going so well… and I was quietly grateful for that. Then Thursday arrived. The HUGE glass doors were delivered and fitted — or rather, delivered, yes… but fitted, absolutely not. Somewhere along the line, someone mis-measured the glass. So instead of a beautiful three-pane sliding door, we currently have two wooden panels standing in for glass. A slightly rustic chic I didn’t ask for!

     

Thankfully, the window company have been mortified, and new glass is already being manufactured. It should arrive on Friday, with fitting scheduled for a week today. I’m counting down the days.

The builders, to their credit, have been outstanding throughout. Tidy, conscientious, polite — and the quality of their work has really impressed us. With luck, they’ll only be on-site for a few more days, and once the glass goes in, we should finally be finished.

The first episode of my video shorts about my weight-loss journey has also received such positive feedback. It’s been strange, actually — writing the script made me pause and really reflect on my life so far, and on all the factors that shaped how I’ve managed to achieve what I have. Not just the weight loss. Because of that, the next episode will begin with a short prologue that touches on some of those things. I’ve genuinely enjoyed building this narrative, even if it is rather time-consuming.  Please do take the time to watch it – and leave me a comment or a like!

This week’s other project: a new laminate floor going into an upstairs bedroom. We lifted the existing floor so we could re-use the boards to patch around the new window, and now it’s time to lay the replacement.

Weight-loss update:
My measurements continue to shrink, and so does the number on the scales. I took another 7.5mg injection yesterday — seven days since the last — and everything feels steady.

Clothes, ready for the charity shop

Oh, and I tackled the wardrobe. I now have a big pile of clothes that simply don’t fit anymore! But as most of my blouses come from Vinted, it hasn’t caused too much heartache — and I’ve treated myself to plenty of lovely replacements.

Food this week:
We enjoyed pies twice — a chicken, mushroom and leek pie, and a slow-cooked beef pie made from puff pastry and beef we unearthed from the freezer (from 2024!). I do adore pies, but pastry is a treat best enjoyed sparingly. Delicious all the same.

I also made a little YouTube video showing a butterbean and red pesto dish, which included a tour of my kitchen and some of the things that make it more accessible to me.

Weight this week:  58.5kg (about 9st 3lbs) Last week 59.3kg (about 9st 4.7lbs)

Loss:  800g (about 1½ pounds)

To goal: 1.5kg (about 3lbs)

Mounjaro Journey, 23 weeks, 7.5mg

flidfit Media, Mounjaro, Recipes

Another week has flashed past — honestly, where does the time go?

Our building work has been going full steam ahead, and thankfully, the weather has been kind to us. It’s been mild and mostly dry, which has worked in the builders’ favour. The team arrive every morning around 7.30am, breaks for their early lunch at 10.30am (yes, really!), and finishes up by 3.30pm — just as it’s starting to get dark. It’s a good routine and doesn’t interfere too much with our evenings.

This week I took my jab as a split dose — 5mg on Thursday and 7.5mg on Sunday — because the appetite suppression was starting to wear off. It’s such a weird feeling when those old thoughts about food and eating start to return. It always reminds me just how much I don’t miss them!

Me, as a baby (about 18 months)

Away from all the drilling and dust, I’ve been working on something much more creative — a new YouTube series! I’m planning a collection of short videos that narrate and illustrate my 13-year weight-loss journey. The first one went live yesterday and looks back over my childhood, exploring how my impairment shaped my relationship with food and body image. It covers the period from my birth right through to 2012 — the first fifty years of my life!

Future videos will dive deeper into specific topics such as calorie counting, life events that could have easily derailed me (but didn’t!), exercise, and my experience of excess skin removal.

I’d love it if you could take a look at the video, leave me a comment on YouTube, and give it a thumbs-up if you enjoy it. Your feedback really means a lot — and it helps me know what you’d like to see next.

Meanwhile, on the Mounjaro front, things are still moving in the right direction. I’m continuing to fine-tune my doses and listen carefully to my body. It’s fascinating to see how my long-term journey – from years of calorie counting to now – is evolving with this new chapter. Every week feels like a small but meaningful step forward.

Weight progress chart

 

Weight this week:  59.3kg (about 9st 4.7lbs)

Last week 59.5kg (about 9st 5.2lbs)Loss: 200g (about half a pound)

Weight to lose: 2.3kg (about 5lbs)

 

 

Mounjaro Journey, 22 weeks, 7.5mg

flidfit Mounjaro, Recipes

Hello lovely subscribers and followers. How’s your week been?

We’ve had a fairly relaxing week, which has been wonderful.  That’s given us ample opportunity to get everything done in the house before the building work starts today.  So an early start, as the builder arrived at 7.30am, and we needed to move the car off the drive beforehand.  Skip and steel delivery due this morning (a very heavy 4-metre steel beam which is needed to support the walls and roof above).

The two tall windows and door will be replaced with three large sliding panels, which will be just under 4 metres in total.
We’re still left with enough space to sit and eat at our dining table. The area underneath the beam (behind the wine cabinet) will be screened off temporarily whilst the building work takes place.

The room was emptied – our upstairs bedroom looks like a jungle as all the large houseplants have moved there temporarily.  The empty room downstairs is barren and echoey.  Our very nervous cat (Frank) isn’t amused with all the disruption and furniture movement.

By the way, if you want details on any of the food images I share in each post, I’m happy to provide more details on what is on my plate, including calories and nutrition.

I recognise the images are too small for you to pick out the detail.  But this week has included aubergine parmigiana, Alaskan sockeye salmon fillet with a Teriyaki marinade, venison meatballs with a spicy tomato spaghetti,  rump steak with a mushroom sauce, Thai green chicken curry, homemade butternut squash, ginger, chilli & coconut soup, kipper fillets with sourdough baguette, venison meatballs with a cranberry gravy, roasted pepper stuffed with Moroccan spiced lamb mince, cream of tomato soup with farmhouse pate and multi-grain crackers.

This week’s plans include a visit to the dental hygienist for a descale and polish, and a full-day “Away Day” with Reading Voluntary Action, the local charity for which I serve as a Trustee.  It’s also my daughter’s 29th birthday!  How did those years fly by?  It seems no time at all since she was in primary school, and she’s now an independent young woman with her own home.  I’ve bought her a bean-to-cup coffee machine, which she’s already making good use of.

This week, to try to combat the effects of the “Mounjaro breath” that seems to arrive about 24 hours after taking an injection, I’ve taken a 2.5mg injection on Friday, and I’ll take 5mg on Thursday after the Away Day, so splitting a 7.5mg dose.  I don’t want to be breathing that awful breath for the hygienist appointment, so this is damage limitation!  I’ll also be chewing on my peppermint oil capsules regularly.  These really help with the sulphur burps too.

Has anyone else experienced that weird-smelling Mounjaro breath? Have you found any remedies or solutions?

Weight this week:  59.5kg    (Last week 59.7kg)

Loss:  200g (about half a pound)

Weight to lose: 2.5kg

 

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 17 weeks, 2 x 5mg

flidfit Eating Out, Eating Out, Mounjaro, Vegan / Plant based, Vegeterian

Another good week… I’m a little late posting an update as I have been celebrating my birthday (63!) and my sister and brother-in-law are staying for five days.  They live about a 3-hour drive away, so we are treating their stay as a mini-staycation and have been enjoying days out.  We were joined by my daughter and her boyfriend for two days – they travelled all the way from Leeds (about 4 hours away) to join in the birthday celebrations.

These included a boat trip along the River Thames, a lovely walk in the sunshine along the river to Caversham for lunch at Vegivores, a vegan restaurant, and a morning trip to a local museum – The Museum of English Rural Life.

Food choices have been good – I prepared all of our evening meals in advance and put them into the freezer.  A fish pie, a carrot, lentil and beef bolognese and a Moroccan spiced minced lamb with stuffed roasted peppers.

We took packed lunches (salad for me) and our vegan restaurant lunch was carefully selected – a vegan macaroni cheese and delicious tahini crunch salad – shredded rainbow veggies, tahini dressing, sesame, mint and lime.

 

Of course, there was (birthday) cake, homemade butternut squash spiced cake.  I enjoyed one slice, and the rest was eagerly consumed by everyone else over the staycation.

I took 2 x 5mg injections from my 10mg pen 5 days apart.  I could feel hunger pangs returning on day 4!

I realise the feeling-hungry sensation was a daily occurrence before Mounjaro… and I most certainly don’t miss it.

As the maximum effect of the injection occurs around 48 hours after administration, it’s helpful to time it before the food noise becomes too overwhelming and hunger pangs become too unbearable.

Weight loss this week – 600g (approximately 1.3 lb), so my current weight is 61.4kg, down 10kg from my starting weight on June 2nd.

Just 4.4kg away from my target weight.