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Beefeaters, Boats and a Brilliant Few Days Away

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

We’ve had a lovely week, with lots of socialising!

After seeing Leo Sayer and having a late night last weekend, we were grateful for a nice, quiet Sunday before heading to London on Monday to spend two nights and three days with our friend Mary.

We took a different route to London than I’ve taken before. Instead of taking the usual 25-minute train from Reading to Paddington, we travelled from Reading to Waterloo, which takes around an hour and a half. The longer journey is because the train stops at about 24 stations. However, it was a very pleasant journey. The train was spacious, very accessible and, best of all, there were hardly any other passengers. Perfect! At Waterloo, it was a 15-minute walk to our hotel on the Embankment, where Mary was waiting patiently for us.

As the weather was looking good, we decided to make the most of it and visit the Tower of London, somewhere none of us had been for around 30 years. We made enquiries about the hop-on, hop-off sightseeing buses, one of which stopped right outside our hotel. Would it accommodate two powered wheelchairs? The answer was yes. So off we went, enjoying a tour of London with a recorded commentary explaining the landmarks we passed. It was a lovely way to travel, and it was interesting to hear about the buildings and places we passed.

At the Tower, we stopped for coffee and something to eat before going inside.

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We spent a good couple of hours exploring, watching the squirrels and the famous Tower ravens, and generally taking in the atmosphere of this extraordinary place.

Of course, we couldn’t visit without seeing the Crown Jewels. We made our way into the rather gloomy Jewel House, where the magnificent collection was on display. They really were incredible.

Back outside, we chatted with a Beefeater and other staff members before heading back to catch the sightseeing bus to our hotel.

By then, the sun was setting, the temperature had dropped considerably, and it was getting dark. We’d certainly made the most of our first day.

Unfortunately, the following morning brought a complete change in the weather. It was raining, grey and thoroughly miserable.

Undeterred, after a good breakfast, we set off on what turned out to be something of a nightmare journey to Greenwich Park.

None of us had been there before, and we particularly wanted to see the Royal Observatory and the famous Greenwich Meridian Line, from which Greenwich Mean Time takes its name.

Our journey involved travelling part of the way on the Jubilee Line, which was absolutely horrendous! It was noisy, extremely crowded and not an experience I’d be in any hurry to repeat. Thankfully, we only had to endure a few stops before getting off and transferring to the Docklands Light Railway (DLR), which was much more comfortable and enjoyable.

View from the Observatory

We changed trains twice, travelling on three different DLR trains before finally arriving in Greenwich. From there, it was another 20-minute walk up into the park. By then, the rain had really set in, and everything looked grim and dismal. We decided a cup of coffee in the park café was in order before taking a few photographs and admitting defeat. Rather than stay longer and get cold and wet, we headed back towards the centre of Greenwich and took refuge in the indoor market.

Our return journey, however, turned out to be a revelation. We discovered something called an Uber Boat, which I’d never seen or even heard of before. It was an absolutely brilliant way to travel, especially for wheelchair users.

Instead of battling our way back through the Underground and changing trains, we enjoyed a wonderfully straightforward, accessible journey along the River Thames from Greenwich to Westminster.

What a difference.

By the time we arrived back at the hotel, we were all thoroughly exhausted. Poor Mary was also suffering from a nasty cough and cold, which certainly hadn’t helped matters. We sent poor Mary off to bed early to nurse her cold, while Mike and I enjoyed a lovely meal out. We weren’t exactly party animals, though. We were both fast asleep before 9 pm!

On our final day in the capital, following another good breakfast, we crossed the Golden Jubilee Bridge towards Charing Cross. The wind was blowing a gale, and it was raining again!

I’d packed plenty of warm clothes but, unbelievably, nothing waterproof. In London. In October! So we bought a couple of disposable ponchos, which conveniently covered both us and our wheelchairs. Very fetching.

We continued to Covent Garden for a wander around the market and a coffee before heading to the Cambridge Theatre for the matinee performance of Matilda the Musical. What I hadn’t considered was that a midweek matinee of Matilda would be packed with schoolchildren. They were generally well-behaved, but there was inevitably plenty of fidgeting and sweet-packet rustling, making it hard to hear at times. Nevertheless, the performance was fantastic, particularly the incredibly talented young cast.

Afterwards, we collected our bags from the hotel and made our way back to Waterloo for the train to Reading, followed by a bus home. We finally arrived around 8.30 pm, thoroughly exhausted and very pleased to be back in a warm, dry environment.

Since then, I’ve been recovering, catching up on laundry and getting back into my usual routine.

And what about my weight?

Well, I was pleasantly surprised to discover I hadn’t gained weight during our London adventure.

I’d certainly eaten more than usual and moved considerably less, spending most of the three days in my powered wheelchair. However, I think sticking to a substantial breakfast and a sensible evening meal, without snacking in between, helped.

Proof that I can still enjoy eating out and going away without undoing all my hard work.

This week’s weigh-in

Weight this week: 55.75 kg (8 stone 11 lbs)
Weight last week: 55.25 kg (8 stone 9 lbs)

Weekly gain: 0.5 kg (1 lb 1.6 oz)

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

And finally…

I’ve uploaded a new YouTube video sharing some of our London adventures, along with an update on my Mounjaro maintenance journey.

Why not pop over to my channel and take a look?

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)

 

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)

Mounjaro Journey – Week 32 (7.5mg every 5 days)

flidfit Air Fryer, Eating Out, Emotional well being, Mounjaro, Recipes, Sweet Treats, YouTube

I did it. I reached my goal weight.  It’s taken me just over 7 months (32 weeks) but I did it!

And if I’m being completely honest, it felt a little underwhelming.

Not disappointing — just quieter than I expected. No fireworks, no sudden sense of arrival. Just a number on the scale and the realisation that life carries on much the same as before.

That in itself has been an important insight. For so long, the focus has been on “getting there”, as though everything would somehow feel different once I arrived. Instead, it’s made me think more about what happens next and how I want this to feel long term. I’ve decided to lower my target weight slightly and aim to lose a further couple of kilos, not as a push for perfection, but to give myself some breathing space and flexibility as my body settles.

I don’t have any immediate plans to reduce my Mounjaro dosage, but I’m confident that will happen in the coming weeks and months. There’s no rush. Right now, this feels like a period of consolidation rather than change.

It’s been a good, steady week. Things have returned to their usual rhythm, and I’ve had the headspace to catch up on all the small jobs that get pushed aside with Christmas and New Year. I even found comfort in simple, practical routines — cooking a large lasagne and portioning it up for the freezer (six portions) felt quietly satisfying.

Less about control, more about care.

I’ve been spending some time sketching out outline plans for a series of YouTube videos — a way to share the behaviours and changes I’ve gradually incorporated into my life over the last 14 years that have made my weight loss not only possible but sustainable. When I step back and look at the bigger picture, it’s quite astonishing. Since starting my journey in February 2012, I’ve now lost a total of 5 stone. I currently weigh just under nine stone, and for the first time in my life, I’m in the “8’s”.

What feels even more significant than the number is how I’m living now. I’m eating more healthily than ever, genuinely enjoying my daily exercise, and — thanks to Mounjaro — I’m able to focus on nutrition rather than being consumed by calories. That mental shift has been quietly transformative.

I’m creating outlines for about 10–15 short videos, each covering a different aspect of weight loss and the importance of mindset for long-term success. Topics include why medication isn’t enough, developing a maintenance mindset early, managing emotional eating, making healthy habits enjoyable, exercise, portion control, setting realistic expectations, and food planning. This process has highlighted how much I’ve learned and how my perspective on weight loss has evolved.

One thing that’s become very clear is that I am my own greatest cheerleader — although “sergeant major” might be a more accurate description. I do hold myself to account, but not in a harsh or performative way. It’s all internal. A quiet but firm reminder that I do these things because they help me feel better, stay healthier, and preserve my independence as I grow older.

This week includes a few social commitments: a lunchtime meal out with two close friends; an evening meeting I’m hosting where wine is usually involved — although those who would usually partake have already sent their apologies, so I’ll declare it a “Dry January” evening, with non-alcoholic drinks and a few nibbles instead; and later in the week, a social dinner with fellow trustees from the charity I’m involved with.  I’m really looking forward to that, as meetings usually don’t offer us much of an opportunity to chat with one another.

These are all situations that once would have felt slightly daunting, but now feel manageable and enjoyable.

I’m in the process of putting together a new YouTube video to share a lovely “Apple, oat and cottage cheese mug cake” (I’ll link here once it’s up), 270 calories and 16.2g of protein.  Lovely and filling, plus very tasty!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And with that, here’s my weight loss report for the week.

Weight this week: 56.8kg (about 8st 13lbs)
Last week: 57.4kg (about 9st)
Loss: 0.6kg (about 1.3 pounds)
Goal weight: 57kg (+200g)

Mounjaro Journey – Weeks 31 (7.5mg every 5 days)

flidfit Emotional well being, Mounjaro, Sweet Treats, Travel & Holidays, YouTube

Happy New Year to all of my subscribers.

Here’s a New Year plot twist I never expected — two weeks of holiday sunshine, festive meals… and the scale still went down.

Mounjaro has made a genuinely positive difference to my Christmas and New Year, and this is the first time in many years that I’ve come through December without the usual weight gain. We always go away for two weeks of winter sun, and I’d long accepted that the holiday plus the festive period meant an inevitable increase on the scales. It was simply “the price I paid” for relaxing my routine and not logging food while I was away.

This year was different. I started the New Year weighing half a kilogram less than I did before our holiday.

I ate mindfully, I logged everything, and my portions were naturally smaller. There was no snacking between meals because I finally felt satisfied. Mounjaro has shifted my tastes and preferences in a way I didn’t expect. Sweet foods just don’t appeal, and I’ve not eaten chocolate since starting my Mounjaro journey on 2 June 2025. If I want something that feels like a treat, I have a small, measured portion of dried fruit and nuts.

Chia berry pudding, full of flavour and my “daily sweet fix”

My evening “treat” — the time of day when my snacking used to be at its worst — is now a chia pudding. Chia seeds, full-fat Greek yoghurt, a little Sweet Freedom and a handful of berries. About 200 calories, but full of nutrition. The chia seeds bring protein, fibre and omega-3 fats. The berries are low-calorie but rich in fibre, vitamin C and natural sweetness. And the 5% strained Greek yoghurt is both satisfying and nutritious; the straining process concentrates the protein, making it far more filling than the 0% versions. It keeps my blood sugar steadier and gives me a long “full” window. The live cultures also support gut health and digestion. It’s become my daily fix — and one I genuinely look forward to.

Sweet Freedom syrup

This week I’ve started planning a new series of YouTube videos exploring aspects of the Mounjaro journey that rarely get discussed. So much of the content online focuses on weekly losses, side effects, dosing, stretching pens, and how much people still have to lose. What seems to be missing are the habits, emotions and behaviours around food that don’t vanish just because hunger is quieter.

The everyday choices. The old patterns that still need unpicking. The subtle shifts in how we shop, cook, portion, and respond to temptation. The mindset work. The behaviour changes. The part that ultimately determines whether long-term success is possible — with or without medication.

Over the past 14 years, I’ve worked hard to reshape my relationship with food. Small changes became part of my routine until they felt normal. Those foundations have made my Mounjaro journey so much easier, and they’re exactly what give me confidence in my life beyond weight-loss injections – my continued success and weight-loss maintenance.  I feel I’ve learned so much through my own experience and would like to share that to inspire and encourage others who might be struggling with these issues.

If you know of any content creators who talk honestly about this side of the journey — the habits, the mindset, the emotional work — please share details in the comments. I’d love to explore their content.

Weight this week: 57.5kg (about 9st ½lb)

Last week:  58kg, (about 9st 2lbs)

Loss: 0.5kg (about 1 pound)

To goal weight: 0.5kg (about 1lb)

Will I reach my 57 kg goal next week? Check out my blog for next week to see!