I went on my first diet age 10. Now I'm on Mounjaro and won't look back

Telegraph

9 hours ago

I was just 10 years old when I went on my first diet. I remember so vividly being little and first becoming aware of my body, that it was different from everyone else's, or that I was built differently to my friends. My mum and I would even have contests to see who could lose the most weight. Ever since then I struggled endlessly with my weight – until I came to the decision stay on the weight-loss drug Mounjaro for the rest of my life.
The truth is, I've tried everything – Weight Watchers, SlimFast, the Atkins Diet. I even tried cutting out refined foods and dairy, and drinking solely shakes. I hired a personal chef, and a personal trainer too. Nothing stuck. Then I went on Mounjaro and lost 2st in three months, and 6st within a year. Now that I've reached 10st, my focus is on maintaining it. That is why I am still on the medication and will probably be on it forever. I have to keep the obesity at bay, and Mounjaro treats my disease and keeps me healthy.
I know a lot of people will have their opinions of me and my choices – I've heard it all. I'm ok with what they say because amongst all the hate, maybe I've reached someone who might be afraid of trying it, and this story changes their life.
How it started
My husband Erik and I live with our three children, two daughters aged eight and five, and one son aged 11, in New Jersey. I was a teacher for 10 years but after I had my first child in 2014, I switched jobs to be able to work from home because it was difficult to pay for daycare. After my second child, my husband became a full-time doctor and made enough money so that I was able to become a stay-at-home mum.
For the next eight years, I continued as normal while eating huge food portions. Eventually, it got out of control. I couldn't breathe doing cardio, I couldn't even play with my children. I'm an avid equestrian and I wasn't able to ride or do my lessons any more. We'd just trot around – I felt so bad that I was letting my horse down.
I can't even tell you how many weddings I turned down because I wasn't happy with my weight, or how many social events I missed because I didn't feel pretty enough. I felt I was the only person in the world struggling.
My mum and my grandmother both suffer from obesity as well. Growing up, my mum would say, 'Oh, we don't eat that food', or 'That's bad food, we need to eat good food.' Her words contributed to an unhealthy narrative around food. I always felt bad about eating a cookie or a slice of cake. It wasn't healthy to be having these conversations about my body at such a young age.
The moment I knew I needed to change
During my 20s and 30s, I thought that my health was infallible and that nothing could happen to me. Then in 2022, when I was 16st and just about to turn 40, I got my blood tests back and I discovered I was pre-diabetic and obese. It was such a shock to me: I'd always know I was a bit bigger, but I didn't realise my health was reflecting that.
I was at the end of my tether – something had to change. I read an article in The New York Post about someone else's experience on Mounjaro.When this medication first came out it was still new in treating weight loss. Before Mounjaro, weight-loss drugs had a very bad reputation – they had terrible side effects so you couldn't be on them for too long.
I sat my husband down and told him I'd looked into this new drug and I wanted to explore it. He said he wanted me to do some research into it to make sure it wasn't just a fad, but after a few days he came back to me and said that it was a legitimate medication. We then went about finding a doctor. At the time, only endocrinologists were prescribing the medication because of their work with diabetic patients, and because I was pre-diabetic, I was able to qualify, so we travelled to New York City.
My endocrinologist prescribed me the starting dose, 2.5mg. She prepared me well for the side effects. She said I'd feel nauseous for the first couple of months, I might feel tired, and I wouldn't feel hungry.
I'd describe the side effects to be similar to the first trimester of pregnancy. I know a lot of women on the medication suffer from constipation or diarrhoea but fortunately, I didn't have that. The doctor recommended I work with a nutritionist during the first months. I realised that although I was not hungry, I still had to fuel my body with good food. The nutritionist told me that not eating balanced meals while on the medication could lead to hair loss, skin issues and a vitamin D deficiency.
She told me to take a fibre supplement, drink plenty of water and drink protein shakes or smoothies daily. Three years later, a protein shake is still my go-to life hack – it's like a cheat sheet to ensure you are getting the nutrients in.
The results
When I first started using Mounjaro, I was very quiet about it. My husband was the only person that knew about it for three months. I was nervous about the judgement – what if people told me that I took the easy way out? I lost 30lb (2st) in three months, and slowly friends would start to tell me that I looked good, and I decided to be honest about how I'd done it.
My relationship with food also changed: I had so much emotional baggage and lifelong disappointment that I had to learn to erase. I had to learn that there was no such thing as 'bad food', it was just food. If I wanted to have some chocolate cake, I could have a few bites and have the strength to walk away. On previous diets, if I ate a slice of chocolate cake, I'd spiral and binge-eat the entire cake.
After a few months on 2.5mg, I went up to 5mg for three months. After that I stopped losing weight, so I increased it to 7.5mg. Every time I plateaued and went longer than three weeks without weight loss, I would increase the dose. Once I went up to 12.5mg I reached my target of losing 95lb, which is just over 6st.
The medication has offered me so many other health benefits – the inflammation in my knees and ankles has gone down. Before I lost weight, I was having a lot of trouble on my horse and I went to physical therapy to try and address it, but nothing worked. Once I lost the weight, I suddenly didn't have any pain at all.
My anxiety and depression have also drastically improved. When I weighed 16st, I was unable to leave my house and when I did, it was only to go into town to run errands. If anyone asked me to go for lunch or dinner, the answer was no. If I was invited to a party for the evening, I wouldn't go. After losing 6st, the travel fear went away – me and my husband went on a flight to Paris, and took weekend trips to New York City.
My newfound confidence
When I started noticing results, I decided to make a TikTok account because at the time, none of my friends were on there, so I could post without them seeing. Eleven months into using Mounjaro, I'd slimmed down to a US size 6 (roughly a UK size 10). I fit into clothes that I couldn't fit into before; going in and being able to fit into medium and small-sized clothes was so exciting. I was able to go out to parties and I became very social.
I gained a newfound confidence which many people start to lose in their 40s but for me, it continues to grow. I've started dabbling in interior design and am even considering opening up my own business. I just know I wouldn't have had the confidence to do that three years ago.
Ironically, I feel like my mum was a bit jealous of my successful weight loss. She realised how hard she had to work and how much she had to restrict herself to stay in shape, whereas I was able to be healthier and thinner without all that hard work. At dinner, I was able to order pasta and a glass of wine, and she had to sit there with her plain chicken. I had a lot more enjoyment in my life and I think she was envious of how many people said I looked good.
After I had lost around 75lb, Erik took me to a shop so I could buy new boots and breeches. It was so exciting to be able to buy equestrian clothes that I wasn't able to fit into before. I love the European equestrian brands like Redpost and Holland Cooper, and now I could shop there – these are the experiences that I hold so dear.
Staying on Mounjaro
I suffer from chronic depression, and although Mounjaro has helped me manage some of my symptoms, I know I'll be on antidepressants for the rest of my life. I truly believe it's the same with obesity, and so my clinician and I worked to bring me down to a dose that keeps me balanced, so I'm not losing or gaining weight. We initially trialled going from 12.5mg down to 7.5mg, but I started to gain weight again so I went back up to 10mg and have stayed there for almost two years.
I've had such a good experience with the medication that my husband started to take it too. He isn't obese, but once he hit 40, he became more conscious of his dad bod and wanted to feel good about himself. He hasn't lost as much as I did, probably around 30 to 40lb, and I think that is down to the fact he's not clinically obese. We are still figuring things out and discovering new science with this medication – we are the first generation.
Now I look at my eight-year-old daughter, who is a fuller-sized, beautiful girl, and know that's ok. We have healthy conversations about listening to our bellies and eating when we are hungry. I don't want her on Mounjaro, but if she needed to be on it when she's older, I'd understand. Some parts of maintaining her figure are out of her control, and now there's medication to help with that. That's why I look at Mounjaro as the medication that broke my generational curse.
My only issue is with how cost-prohibitive the medication is. In the US, most of the insurance companies don't cover weight-loss drugs, even though obesity is a disease. They believe that everyone can just lose weight with diet and exercise, when that is not the case. I pay $1200 (£880) a month for my medication – that's most people's rent, a lot can't afford it. (In the UK, you can get Mounjaro on an NHS prescription for £9.90, or from a private clinic for around £180 a month.)
I'm so happy that there's finally an answer to obesity. At 41, the unhealthy food narratives that have always been a battle, I've finally been able to put to an end.
As told to Nicole Collins
What I ate before Mounjaro
Breakfast: Coffee, three eggs, two pieces of toast
Snack: Handfuls of cereal, children's snacks
Lunch: A foot-long Subway sandwich with crisps, a cookie and a soda
More snacking
Dinner: Large portion of chicken and pasta
Dessert: Coco puffs
Alcohol: Two glasses of wine at night
Exercise: Horse riding – even though it was very difficult
What I eat after Mounjaro
Breakfast: High-fibre cereal like raisin bran
Snack: Protein shake
Lunch: Soup and Vietnamese spring roll
Dinner: Light dinner like a mince salad with taco shells
Dessert: No dessert
Alcohol: Mounjaro changed my relationship with alcohol, so I don't drink any more unless I'm out in a social setting, and I often feel nauseous when I do
Exercise: Horse riding, I'm now able to ride properly every day
Mounjaro FAQs
By Dr Kaywaan Khan, a GP and weight-loss and wellbeing specialist at Hannah London, and Dr Leah Totton, a medical and cosmetic doctor at Dr Leah Clinics and Skincare
Can you stay on Mounjaro forever?
Yes, you can use Mounjaro in the long term, says Dr Khan. Some people 'will take the medication forever because they not only have obesity as a chronic disease, but they [have conditions such as] heart disease or diabetes so taking this medication is part of their core health treatment and preventative health care,' Dr Khan adds.
Can taking Mounjaro affect your period?
'A woman who is already overweight might already be having irregular periods, so Mounjaro might actually help those women to regulate their periods,' says Dr Khan. 'It can potentially stop periods if you have too little fat. Alternatively you might have enough fat but if you lose weight too quickly, it can put the body into shock because of a very little calorie intake.'
How can you prevent skin sagging while on Mounjaro?
'Slow weight loss is advised. I would recommend reducing the speed in which you lose weight and increasing your protein intake during the weight loss process,' says Dr Totton. 'I would also suggest doing resistance training to work on the lean muscle mass. You can also take collagen peptides and vitamin C to support skin health, or consider treatments such as radio frequency or microneedling to stimulate collagen elastin and tighten the skin.'