I recently weighed myself and was surprised to find that I had lost 5 stone 8lbs (35.3kg or 78lbs) since starting Mounjaro for weight loss last spring.
Using Mounjaro as a treatment for the disease of obesity has been really positive for me. It’s sometimes really hard to visualise that amount of weight loss, it turns out it’s the equivalent of
A full grown Irish Setter dog
Carrying 10 average size newborn babies
Carrying two extra average size human legs 😀
Two average size 5 year olds 😮
It’s so weird to imagine carrying around the weight of both my kids, plus more, all the time with me.
Over the last 12 months, I've noticed how much my daily mindset has shifted, and some things that used to occupy my thoughts no longer cross my mind. Here are some of things I don’t give much, or any, time to anymore…
Things I no longer think about:
Where to sit in a cafe/restaurant/pub and whether the chair is suitable
Weight restrictions at soft play and places where you have to supervise your children
Whether I can fit through the different parts of the soft play to accompany my children
Do I look like I am 9 months pregnant?
Being the fattest mum when we are at family swimming sessions
What others think of my appearance
Being the biggest parent in any situation.
Things I don’t do anymore:
Knowing I will probably be the biggest person in any group of people
Have to assume that for every medical issue, the doctor will suggest losing weight
Only being able to choose from Curve clothing ranges, and being limited to certain shops
Having to make do with whatever clothes come in your size, rather than the clothes you actually want to wear
Get out of breath from going up and down the stairs
Make a noise every time I stand up.
Thoughts I no longer have about food and eating:
How, when and what I will be eating next
When eating around other people that aren’t family, worrying that they think you’re eating too much
That strangers will judge me when eating in public
I don’t drink tea because now I don’t like the taste of it?! Such an odd side effect!
How much money I am wasting on food I don’t need
Which shops are convenient for me to get food from, making sure I don’t go to the same ones all the time
That I need to have snacks every day.
Discussion about anyone’s weight brings with it social complexities and lots of people won’t know whether or not they can or should say something.
Nuance and personal relationships will dictate what conversations you want to have with the people in your life, and I have told some people and not others. Here are some of the reactions I have experienced:
Some people…
will not say anything at all
will sensitively talk around it, ‘You’re looking well’
will jokingly say ‘what’s your secret’ and want to talk about weight loss but don’t know where to start
who don’t know you will say things like ‘wow you look totally different’
will ask you about the details of side effects, ‘do you just have diarrhea all the time?’ err no, thanks for asking :/
won’t even notice!
Thoughts on other people’s reactions:
It’s nice to receive a compliment about your appearance, even though it’s also the least interesting thing about you
It’s nice when people don’t say anything because you don’t always want to talk about it with everyone
Sometimes, you’re tired of talking about it and want to talk about absolutely anything else
It’s nice when people who know you’re using a GLP-1 medication, tell you how great you’re doing
When you know someone else is trying to lose weight, you wonder whether you should tell them you’re using Mounjaro
You wonder whether they are assuming you’re on a weight-loss medication, especially if they have known you bigger for a long time and now you’re a lot slimmer quite quickly
Comments can highlight how anti-fat society and culture can be, and how our weight impacts how we are perceived by the world
It’s weird that no-one really says the opposite, like ‘oh you’re not looking well’ or ‘did you have to buy lots of new clothes?’ in the time when you were gaining weight.
‘What will I think about all day?’ was what I asked my husband when I started this experience. And, well, it turns out there are lots of other things to think about!
I realise now just how much of my brain space was being taken up by all these thoughts, and so many more. It’s so freeing to just… not think about these things now. To just live, to experience things differently, and to feel like I am more than my weight and how I present to the world.
TTFN!
Hi, I’m Fran and I have been taking Mounjaro for the last 12 months. I am writing about my lived experience of using a GLP-1 medication to treat the disease of obesity. I’ll be covering all things connected to this including how to parent whilst on a GLP-1, enjoy a holiday, what food noise is and lots more. I hope you’ll subscribe and come along for the ride. See you next time!