The Modern LeadHer Way

[099] Beyond Weight Loss: My GLP-1 Mounjaro Journey

• Emma Clayton

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Emma shares her personal nine-week to date journey with the GLP-1 medication Mounjaro, documenting the physical and mental effects of using this weight loss tool and the sustainable health habits she's building alongside it.


We cover how:
• Week one brought mental clarity and reduced "food noise" rather than just appetite suppression
• The ability to listen to hunger cues and stop eating when satisfied emerged quickly
• Workouts became more energetic and enjoyable with increased mental focus
• Five weeks in, travel habits changed dramatically with less focus on food and alcohol
• Weight loss progressed at a healthy 1.5 pounds per week without obsessing over the scale
• Emphasis on protein intake, hydration, and strength training to preserve muscle during weight loss
• Online support groups focusing solely on scale numbers proved counterproductive
• Sleep quality improved after addressing sleep apnoea alongside weight loss
• Working with functional medicine practitioners to optimise hormone and blood glucose balance
• Viewing medication as a tool rather than a magic solution crucial for long-term success

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Speaker 1:

This is the Modern Leader Way a podcast for corporate career women who want to feel good on their way to the top. I'm Emma Clayton and I'll be sharing with you tangible advice to help you stop sacrificing your soul in the name of success and experience more balance, confidence and fulfilment both in and out of work. Hello, and welcome back to the show. So last week I shared with you my game plan for being in the best shape of my life in my 50s, and that involved actually introducing a GLP-1 medication. I'm choosing Monjaro, and I wanted to document my journey just so that you can really hear the real intention behind it, because it's not all about the weight loss. Yes, of course I want to lose weight, finally. I've carried this weight around with me for the last two decades and it's getting tiring. It's literally exhausting me. So if I can, then I will absolutely do something about that, and I've decided to try this medication and so far so good. So what I'm going to do over the next half an hour or so is just give you an insight. So I diarised after week one, I diarised again whilst I was in Spain around week five, and then I've just given you an update based on where I'm at now at week nine, five, and then I've just given you an update based on where I'm at now at week nine. I just want to caveat this with I am not a medical professional. I am not advocating for GLP-1 medication of any sort. I'm not suggesting everyone should go on it. This is purely my experience, my journey, that I'm sharing with you in full transparency and openness, because the modern lead her way is one where a you take full responsibility for your situation, for your current reality, but also for the life that you're creating for yourself. Whatever that looks like right and that's what I am doing here is demonstrating how I'm leading myself through this, the fact that I am where I'm not once, ultimately, where I don't want to be. I want to be somewhere else. I want to weigh less, I want to move through this life far more easily and therefore I have to do a series of things to make that happen, to become that person that has that reality, that is in the best shape of her life in her 50s. So please keep that in mind as you move through this next episode, and thank you, as always, for being here. It is an absolute honor to be in your ear and to share this with you. And if you have anything, anything at all, that you want to discuss further, then you know how to get hold of me. All right, so enjoy and grab yourself a cuppa. I'll see you after the next whoosh.

Speaker 1:

So it's been one week on Monjaro and I just wanted to recap on how it's been, just for my diary's sake, if you like. So I was really quite terrified about actually jabbing myself. I got the pen, I think on the thursday, and I woke up the next day, the friday morning, and was like, yeah, I'm definitely gonna do it, it's not a problem, I'll do it today. And today kind of came and went and I thought let's just do it tomorrow, I'll wait until my body sort of says yes, because the the decision before was a very head yes. And now my body was like saying I'm not so sure. Yeah, I planned to do it on saturday. It didn't do it. Planned to do it on sunday it didn't do it. Adam was getting a little bit frustrated with me, saying I was making excuses and I wasn't. I just wanted to be sure that I was ready and I guess, um, what I know about myself is I'm not necessarily always going to be 100% gung-ho, so I just have to dive in and be happy with being like four fifths of the way there or something like that.

Speaker 1:

So I decided I wanted to do it on my own, when no one was around, and so I planned to do it on the Monday morning and I got up and I sat and I worked out how to do the pen and everything. I watched a couple of videos on YouTube and actually the process of jabbing myself. I didn't feel it. I didn't feel anything. But I'm actually going to do it in the evening this time just to see, by comparison, if the symptoms are the same. Now, I didn't actually have any symptoms as such. I did feel terribly fatigued in the afternoon that I took the jab and I kind of felt a little bit spacey I think that's how I described it, but otherwise nothing. I didn't sleep very well that evening, so I thought, well, if I'm not going to sleep well, I might as well take it just before bed, and then at least I can be in bed with the fatigue, and then I would say, instantly.

Speaker 1:

When I woke up on the Tuesday, I just felt like I had just more spaciousness in my head and I certainly wasn't hungry, but the way I was approaching it was very much that I wanted to ensure that I a in like prioritise protein, because we don't want to be losing like a load of weight and that be muscle. So prioritise protein, then fibre and nutrients and also get lots of water in. So they were the main things. I was going to my shuffle class that night and I just seemed to have like lots of not energy, just mental clarity throughout the day and in my workout that evening I just went for it. I mean, I sweat anyway, but I just felt like I was pushing myself to another level. I was doing full star jumps rather than stepping ones that I've been doing in the weeks up until now. I really pushed myself on the air bike, which was absolutely hideous, but I wanted to. I pushed myself on the rower even though my knee was kind of giving me a little sign to say it wasn't great. I know how to work around it. So I just felt like I went for it. In my workout I was literally buzzing. Adam said I was buzzing when I got home after that one. It was a team workout as well, which was slightly different to what we had been doing up until then, but I really enjoyed it.

Speaker 1:

And then over the next few days I just found like half to my portion size, probably more. And then over the next few days I just found like my half my portion size, probably more than half my portion size, mainly because I thought I was going to be able to eat so much. But actually what I realised was I still had an appetite as such, in that I still could sit down and enjoy a really healthy plate of food. And I just got. I just realised and was able to listen to my body when it said, yeah, I've had enough. And because I was having smaller plates, I was still finishing my plate and feeling satisfied in that sense. So, yeah, really prioritized all those things.

Speaker 1:

And then I realized I probably wasn't getting enough calories and I probably needed to track my calories. So I started using my fitness pal on about day three and realized I was about 14 1500 calories, which for someone my size is just not enough if you want to avoid muscle loss and like plateauing, because your body goes into a famine state and holds on to the fat right when you give it too little calories, it literally holds on to your fat stores. So that's not what we want when we're trying to lose fat. So yeah, I'm now tracking my calories and I'm aiming for 2200 is still me in a 500 calorie deficit, believe it or not. So I'm aiming for around the 2000 mark and I've generally been getting there.

Speaker 1:

And what I've noticed over the weekend, when adam's been off and he wants to eat more regularly or he wants to eat, like you know, a big breakfast or whatever, I am consuming naturally more calories because he's around and also I wonder if there's a part of it that's the end of the week where the drug is kind of wearing off a little bit. So what I noticed on Friday, which was day five, I went out and I did. I had a shake in the morning, protein shake, which is about 500 calories. So it fills me up, keeps me going, doesn't make me feel too full and but I went out on a walk that was about nine, nine k's, but I didn't take water with me. The sun was out, it was quite hot and sweaty, there were some hills in there, so I think I dehydrated myself and I should definitely take water out if I'm going to be doing longer than my sort of hour-long walk and then on Saturday we got home after a walk there's some biscuits hobnobs left, and I think I had four hobnobs, which was so unnecessary I wouldn't have had it if Adam wasn't there, wanting to get through this pack. So that made me feel hideous afterwards, like in the way that it would have done normally, but it was more accentuated because I've been feeling quite good, and both Friday and Sunday it sort of started this like downward spiral of needing to reach for those foods again. Not in the same way as before, though, and that's the.

Speaker 1:

I think the biggest thing that I've noticed in week one is just this respite I feel from the voices in my head that have kind of kept me stuck in the habits of a lifetime, really the voices that are like constantly looking for the reward foods and, um, you know, I'm either battling it or I'm giving into it, right, and then feeling guilt and shame for it. So, um, or if I give into it, I don't just feel the guilt and shame, I also feel that like the um fatigue afterwards, the brain fog, all the things. So that's kind of lifted, it's given me some respite. It just feels like it's opened up this capacity, this mental capacity to think clearly. And the other thing I've noticed is like I've wanted to do more things so I wanted to go on a longer walk.

Speaker 1:

I wasn't in a rush and also, like Adam went out and scarified the lawn the other night and normally I'll be like, well, he hasn't asked me to help him, so I guess that's me off the hook. But actually I went down there voluntarily. I was like what can I do? And I raked up after him. So I raked the whole lawn twice and took probably ten bin loads of moss down to the bottom of the garden. Yeah, we got it done in half the time. If he'd have done it on his own and I got a sweat on and it's a bit more movement.

Speaker 1:

And then I've had three check-in and checkouts this weekend being easter weekend and you know I haven't moaned about any of it. Like normally I'll be like yeah, so far, so good. Um, I'm really interested. I've just had my lunch of prawn salad and I feel like I could reach for more food, but I'm just about to go on to a meeting, so that would distract me for a bit. I've got a shuffle tonight and then I'm going to try jabbing after, like I said before bed. So we shall see, going into week two, how we get on and obviously weighing in as well. Hello, welcome back.

Speaker 1:

I am in Spain on my own little solo retreat this week. I've got a few nights here and actually for a 11 mile no 11 kilometer hike through the mountains and backgrounds on the coast yesterday on my own, which was, um, I was kind of pleased with myself. Really. I wouldn't normally have done that. Yeah, I've done lots of dozing and I've taken myself with my own meditations that I've recorded here on YouTube. So, yeah, it's just been really lovely. I've eaten lots of healthy food, and I guess that's what I want to say. This is an update on I think I'm actually coming up for week five tomorrow. So it's about five and a half weeks that I've been um, taking on gyro for now, and so I'm settled into it.

Speaker 1:

My second dose is going to be again the 2.5 milligrams, which is the lowest kind of starting dose. Apparently they don't like you staying on it because it is just a starting dose, but I'm like um, it's working for me and I really don't want to go up to five milligrams if I don't have to. I just don't see the need, um, so yeah, got another four weeks on that and actually I'm changing providers because I was paying. I paid 99 for the first month and then it is assumed you go up through the milligrams after that and most providers increase the price with the increase of the dosage, whereas this one actually sticks it 159 a month. So I thought it's probably a good deal if I'm going to go up, but now I want to stick at a lower dose for as long as I can, for as long as it still works for me. Actually doesn't make financial sense to stay here when I can get it for a lot cheaper elsewhere. So I've just cancelled that subscription and when I get home I'll find a new online provider to continue. So I just wanted to touch base with a bit of an update, really a few things. Now I'm settled into this kind of new way of being.

Speaker 1:

What I have noticed in myself is like this is the first trip away and normally when I travel on my own it's like my little free reign to get all the nice foods in and see it as a treat and to probably go a little bit overboard, if I'm honest. So ordinarily I would. Well, I would have eaten out a lot. I wouldn't have cooked for myself. I would have absolutely made it my mission to go and have dinner out. So I actually like eating out and I don't mind it at all. I would have probably no doubt had some sweets and some chocolates and loads of crisps and that would have been like my main staples. And this time I just haven't done that. So I do have some chocolate in the fridge, but I barely touched it. Actually not that nice, so I'm like meh, whereas normally I would have persevered regardless and there's no alcohol in sight, so ordinarily I also would have had something, just in case I fancied it but didn't feel the need at all.

Speaker 1:

I actually had a drink with my friend um stayed with her for three nights when I first got here. We went out for a drink on um the first day and drank way more than I have done all year really, and that was only three. We had three vermouth, so martinis on ice, um, and then we shared a bottle of prosecco over dinner and then we had another Bailey's coffee, and that's way more than I've drank in or since way before Christmas, I think, and otherwise I would. I would say I hear people talking about suppression and I don't feel like I have a suppressed appetite at all. I just don't think about food like I used to, like it was incessant before. It was like it wouldn't go away. I'd eat and I'd be thinking about what I'm eating next and when I can eat next and what I can eat next. I would constantly be distracted by food or be able to relax, and here I've really prioritized um, reconnecting to myself, just getting out my head, reconnecting, being in my journal. I've taken myself through my own meditation that I recorded. So, yeah, that's how I'm getting on. I feel I feel good.

Speaker 1:

Um, I did notice last week after my jab. For like 12 hours after my jab I woke up. So I jabbed at two o'clock in the afternoon and I woke up at two o'clock in the morning and I felt a little bit nausea and that persisted in the morning so I kind of had to force some breakfast down me and I would say it went on for about 24 hours. I kind of keep an eye out for that this week because I didn't notice it in week two and three did notice it for sure after the first week. So, yeah, that suppression is not there, it's just I don't think about food. So I think it's again that food noise is the the main benefit for me of being on this, because it's allowing me to do all the things that I know I need to do to be doing this healthily.

Speaker 1:

So prioritizing protein on my plate first and foremost, and then building out the meal around that. So the next priority is fiber. So am I getting my fibrous veggies and fruits in there? Am I going to keep regular that way? And then the next thing is, um, my water intake. So always carrying a bottle of water and I have actually been adding in electrolyte. Then I'm getting my movement, in my steps at least, and also adding in some strength training, because I really want to prioritize building muscle rather than losing it, which can happen very easily when you lose weight.

Speaker 1:

I've added in since I last did an update, I've added in so I was doing my shuffle class, which is more high intensity interval training with some weights in it, but I wanted to really add some specific strength training in, so I've gone back to a body pump class. I used to do this 20 years ago. Hasn't changed much, so I found myself, you know, sinking into it very easily. And then I've also added in a little bonus combat class as well. So one combat class a week, an express one, so it's like 45 minutes. There's another kind of high intensity interval training and another thing I'm not I'm noticing is before I had so much resistance to go into the gym, even though I know I'd love it when I get there, and that resistance is just not there and it's not even a question whether or not I go, it's just I get up and I go and I'm really loving getting up for some earlier dog walks going a little bit further. So minimum kind of 5k up to about 7k, so I've definitely upped my distance, the dog, um.

Speaker 1:

And the other thing I'm doing is because I've really noticed in week one where I've taken the kind of food out, I was picking up my phone and scrolling like incessantly and I thought, wow, I've just replaced food with my phone. So I've implemented some better habits around my phone. So my phone doesn't go on charge next to my bed anymore. I never used to, I just sort of slipped into some bad habits. So I leave it downstairs on charge and I have this opal app which just restricts my social media apps until 12 o'clock midday. So my aim now is to not even look at my phone. I might look at messages, whatsapp and some emails. I might look at it before I go out and but generally the idea is I do my exercise, my walk in my classes, before I even look at it before I go out. But generally the idea is I do my exercise, my walk in my classes, before I even look at my phone, and it's just been like a godsend. So, yeah, that's a bit of an update.

Speaker 1:

And then I just wanted to also cover off some of the things I'm noticing in the groups that I've been in. So I joined through the provider I was with. You've got a lot of very well-intentioned people who are on this medication, who are wanting support, who are anonymously posting because there's obviously some shame around the questions that they're asking. And what I'm noticing in these groups with thousands of people, there is this tendency to be absolutely obsessed with the number on the scales and you might have noticed I haven't even mentioned it. I haven't even thought to mention my weight loss today, right, and I will get onto it, but I have a reluctance to as well, because this isn't my main focus, right, my main focus is implementing all these healthy habits that I know and have known through all the training that I've done, through doing the first year of a nutritional therapist degree, through doing the whole eating psychology, mind, body, nutrition kind of journey, through doing all the things like working with a health coach for years in 2015 and then, um, also more recently with liz sargent, who's been on the podcast to like really go into gut health and really unpick some of the symptoms I was having there and improve that situation. So I know what I need to do and actually my reasons for doing this.

Speaker 1:

The dabbing side of things is not that it's a magic pill, but that that it's a tool, and I think that's what I'm really feeling is it is a tool to enable me to do all the things that I wanted to do that I haven't been able to do because of the habit that I've been carrying around since I was a very young girl from. You know just this well-trodden path that I've been on around food and as a coping mechanism, as an emotional crutch, and it lifted that kind of reliance on food so that I can actually focus on doing what I want to do. So it's a tool for me. It's not a magic pill, and what I see in these groups is that they expect to jab themselves and just lose weight. I don't know whether they think it's going to be like this magic solution.

Speaker 1:

And there's a lot of talk around suppression so panic that they're not feeling suppression on certain doses and wanting to go up in strength very quickly. So I see people go from 2.5 to 5 to 7.5 to 10 in that 16 week period. And yet there is an element in this of mindset, right mind over matter, not so much of willpower, but of not giving away your power to this drug, this pharmaceutical. And I see that's what people are doing they are giving their power away and when the drug doesn't have the effect that they expect it to, because of what they've seen and read and heard about, they're panicking and they're putting it down for the drug's fault. But actually, are you drinking enough water? Are you moving more than you did before? Are you prioritizing protein, which is going to help you feel fuller for longer, it's going to help ensure that you don't lose muscle and, um, all these things? Are you eating fiber? So there's a lot of this talk like I'm biting my tongue a lot, because what I want to go in and give is some unsolicited advice around this. But I'm not going to. It's not my job and um, it's certainly not necessary for me to be the one to step up in that situation and judge anyone or make them feel any more ashamed than they already do right by being there. But what I'm seeing is, um to get a lot of reliance on the drug to suppress their appetite, because then hopefully they're only as much as they did before right, and then hopefully they will lose weight as a byproduct of that.

Speaker 1:

The other thing I see is, um, a lot of symptoms. Now there is so much variance in how people respond to this from the site in which you jab. So some people claim more suppression if they do in their stomach versus their thigh or the back of their arms. Other people, um say that they have to do on the back of their arms because they get nose suppression or they get too many side effects if they do it in their belly. It's like there is no one size fits all here. It is so down to individual makeup, right.

Speaker 1:

But the other thing I'm not sure about is a lot of the symptoms that you hear about, so the diarrhea, a lot of the symptoms that you hear about. So the diarrhea, the sulfur burps, the indigestion, the nausea they're the kind of main ones like. They also vary greatly and I still think a lot of it is down to what you continue, like the habits that you continue to have. So a lot of people report having diarrhea, for example, or actually being physically sick if they've eaten something greasy, um, something like really fatty, I don't know. Let's just take mcdonald's, for example. I've actually seen people going in there and saying, if you're having mcdonald's, what are you choosing? And people would say, oh, I'll have the chicken selects or I'll have the chicken salad or the chicken wrap or something like that. These, these people are actually still going to McDonald's and just wanting to make healthier choices when they're at McDonald's rather than implementing healthier options throughout their day. So again, no judgment. But if you are expecting to continue the same habits as you have before and expecting this drug to be the magic cure, then you really are going to be disappointed.

Speaker 1:

So I have very little patience and time for those people that are complaining about the drug's efficacy when they're continuing those bad habits and, either due to suppression or the fact they just don't, they're not educated enough to know what to do differently. That's been really interesting. I think they're the two things it's like the lack of education around what this drug actually does and what they're expecting it to do, and the lack of changing any habits like dramatically changing habits, right? Because if you're overweight in the first place, like I am, then you've had to have eaten, overeaten many, many calories over many, many months years to add that much fat to your body. It's just a fact.

Speaker 1:

Yes, there are people who take a medication and it it bloats them, it makes them put on weight and gain weight that way, but they are few and far between. Yes, there are people who are genetically predisposed to being in a large body without, and they maybe don't eat what you would deem an unhealthy diet, and again, they are few and far between. The majority of people have overeaten for an extended period of time to get the body that they've got today, myself included, and I make no secret of that. But for lasting, sustainable weight loss that we're all after, you've got to make lasting, sustainable habit change, because what I'm hearing also is the reason people gain weight when they come off this drug is because they go back to their old habits, and I don't want to do this and spend however much money on it for however long.

Speaker 1:

I'm going to do it to help me as a tool to shift the weight that I have been carrying around with me for 20 years plus. I don't want to do that just to gain it again. So you'll bet your bottom dollar I'm going to use this time to implement those healthy, sustainable habits in the hope that I can one day come do this for long enough and I'm really consciously making these habit changes a big part of just my way of life. Now then it will, of course, inevitably be just the way of life when I come off the drugs and therefore should be sustainable, because it's not the drugs that's making me lose weight. It is all the effort that I'm putting in to think about what's going in my mouth, to prioritize the right things, to think about what's in my fridge, to go to the gym and do extra on top of what I was doing, to think about ways that I can build muscle, to do extra movement just throughout the day, whether it's housework or gardening or walking a dog. Further, like all those things are going to add up and stack up to healthy habits, and as I lose the weight. I will be more inclined to do more of that because I will also be moving through this life a little bit easier than I am right now with all this excess weight right?

Speaker 1:

So, yes, I have lost, as at my week four weigh-in, I had lost 13 pounds and I have no idea how this being away out of my routine you know, having alcohol on Saturday, having a bit of ice cream and chocolate while I'm here, having some bravas, for example, the weekend how that's affected me and I'm not actually that bothered because I am away, I'm on holiday. It's my first time being away on holiday since starting this and I'm really happy with the difference. From any other time I would have traveled, especially being on my own. So I'm taking that as a win. Whether or not scales like show, that is another thing, and I'm really it's not going to impact me if I've gained, stayed the same or lost when I come home and wait in. So the other thing to say is it was really easy to travel with it actually.

Speaker 1:

So I have week five jab tomorrow. I will give you an update when I think about it, but hopefully that's given a really all-rounded account of where I'm at. And, yeah, I continue to be really happy with it, actually in terms of what it's done for me with around the food noise. I hope that's been useful if you've got any questions you want to ask. I'm no expert, but I certainly feel like I am well researched, well educated around it and you know I'm I'm living and breathing it right now. So, um, my inbox is Asian. If you want to give me a shout, all right, hello, and I am back for an update.

Speaker 1:

We are week nine and I've just literally edited the last two updates that you've listened to. So the week one and the week five, whilst I was in Spain and just reflected on where I've come over the last four weeks and, fair to say, I've continued to lose weight, albeit a very steady pace, not that fast at all. So around one and a half pounds a week, which I'm really happy with, because the last thing I want is drastic weight loss where I'm going to lose muscle mass along with the fat loss. So, yeah, that's been really good. I have had a period over the last four weeks of tracking my calories, so I've got a really good handle on you know what's what. So if I have my protein shake where I build it out with peanut butter and frozen banana and all the good things like maca powder and flax seeds. It's around 500 calories. So I know I'm getting a decent protein shake, for example. I know my go-to's, like my yogurt, my Greek yogurt and berries. I add collagen powder too, so I know I'm getting enough protein in those meals, in those kind of go-to's, and also that I'm going to build up my calories and not be under eating massively. So I'm happy with one and a half one, one and a half two pounds a week.

Speaker 1:

I've literally looked at my photos from I took them on day one and I've taken them again on day one of week nine and couldn't really see that much difference. However, when I did my measurements that I'd also did on day one, I have seen some inch loss there, which is good, and I just generally feel better. Right, you know in your body how you feel. I think the themes, though, when I look at what I have, action since Spain is it's a constant theme of taking back my power, so anytime that I feel like I'm giving it away for example, two calorie counting where I started to feel a bit spiraling, bit of old habits that die hard. Right In the past when I have been dieting, I've been calorie counting, points tracking, macro counting, whatever sort of counting it was. It sort of brought me back to that feeling of restriction and of just constantly being aware of food and what I'm putting in my mouth. So what I've done in terms of calorie counting I've decided I'm not going to calorie count for the next four weeks. I've got a good handle on what calories are in what and if I'm under eating or over eating. So I will just go by. Kind of more intuition, I guess, where that's concerned.

Speaker 1:

I think the other few things that had really started to wear me down, if you like. One one of them was actually being in those groups that I talked about, with thousands of people in. So there's one group with 5,000 people in another group with, I think, even more than that, and I think just being around those people that were just constantly obsessed with the movement on the scale was just not good for me. So I've taken myself out of those groups. I'm not in them anymore. I don't have that in my sphere of awareness and actually it's improved how I feel about my own journey. So it's improved how I feel about my own journey. So, um, it's a good reminder, I think, for anyone listening. If you're finding yourself, um, doom scrolling or, you know, picking up on energy in these places, that just doesn't feel good. Take yourself out, take your power back, take yourself out. It's just not worth it. So I left the groups.

Speaker 1:

I've stopped tracking calories and what I've noticed as well. I actually lost a couple of pounds in Spain, so I was really pleased with that. I do weigh myself daily, because what I'm trying to do is track the ups and the downs, because it still does go up one or two pounds overnight, right, and we know this. It's not fat, it's not fat loss or gain in 24 hours, but it is really starting to show some patterns, especially around my cycle, my female cycle. So this month, when I last had a period, last had a bleed, I really noticed hunger in the lead up to it and also in the week afterwards, so it was almost like the food noise had returned. Not quite, though, and what I decided to do because it really was quite a struggle in that last cycle is I've decided to go up from two and a half milligrams to five milligrams, so I had my first two months on two and a half milligram, which is just the starting dosage. You're only meant to stay on there for one month, really, really, and I dragged it out as long as I could. So I've gone up to five milligrams.

Speaker 1:

So again, that's another me with body autonomy, making decisions for myself, because you know there's no doctor here. Really, all of these providers of Manjaro or a Zenpig, whatever other brands you're talking about, are making money. At the end of the day, they're not in it for your best interests at heart. They have to follow some regulations. They have to be seen to care, but actually, ultimately you need to have, if you're going to go down this route, you need to have some body autonomy, some ownership around what it is that you want to do, and assertiveness when it comes to what it is that you actually feel is, and assertiveness when it comes to what it is that you actually feel is good for you, based on, you know, the symptoms that you're experiencing or just the journey that you're on. So I went up to five milligrams.

Speaker 1:

I must admit, after my first five milligram I was totally wiped out for the next 24 hours. So just with that in mind, when I take my jab jab next, I'm just going to change the timing slightly. It wasn't quite 24 hours, it's about 20 hours. So I'd like to, you know, give myself a big chunk of that where I'm going to actually be in bed asleep. So I'm going to take it slightly. I'm going to take it about 5pm I think this week. So. So we've gone up, and then I was talking about trying.

Speaker 1:

You know, I went back to the sports centre. I was doing body pump and combat and I tried this. And you know what, the more I went, the more I got frustrated with the fact a that, being a non member, you can't book on, because everyone that is a member books on two weeks in advance. So it's very it's a real struggle. You're waiting for people to drop out when, which inevitably they do, in the 24 hours before the actual class. They're cancelling classes so you get a cancellation spot.

Speaker 1:

But I couldn't really feel like I could. It wasn't a commitment, right. It was harder to commit to what exercise I was going to do that week when I didn't know if I was going to get booked on or not. So there was that. And also, just there's so many people in those classes for a body pump there would be like a studio full of 30 people, all with their steps out, their bars, their weights, their dumbbells, their mats, and god forbid you, you know you set up in someone else's spot even though you know it's unknowingly um, obviously quite clicky. Uh, it just wasn't my vibe, so that actually, rather than getting frustrated about it, I just thought what else can I do.

Speaker 1:

I started looking at other gyms, uh, that perhaps weren't so busy, especially at the times that I'm happy to work out, because I can work out at like nine, ten o'clock when everyone else is going to work. I don't have to be there at that busy peak time before work and after in the evening. And I actually came across someone who recommended a gym, but in particular because of the PTs that were there. So I found a PT who's actually in her 50s. She specializes in women that are going through perimenopause. You know, because there are different, we cannot work out, or we shouldn't work out, to the same extent that we did when we were 20 or even 30 or even late 30s. Like there are hormonal changes, our body is going through a transition and we need to treat it with care. So actually I feel in really good hands with this woman who is treating me as a like a rehab case, if you like, because I want to work around my knee injuries as I focus on building strength. So that started this week, so yesterday. I'm going to see her twice a week and we're going to just focus on that and and it all comes back to like functional movements and mobility and flexibility and all that kind of thing. So really excited about that. Another example of taking my power, all that kind of thing. So really excited about that. Another example of taking my power back and kind of just owning my own journey.

Speaker 1:

One of the things that's really stood out for me over the last few weeks, actually since I've been back from Spain. It's really now I've not got this food noise. It's kind of all consuming and now I'm also not reaching for those foods that would have dissipated that noise, albeit for a very short period of time. Now I'm not going to those habits. I'm really noticing my energy levels that are really quite impacted. So I'm experiencing fatigue, but fatigue in a different way.

Speaker 1:

I think before I started Manjaro it would have been that whole blood sugar roller coaster and I would have really experienced a crash in the afternoon, usually after my lunch, probably possibly because even my breakfast hadn't been ideal, um, and that would be a real crash and I would need to nap most afternoons just to get through that crash. This is slightly different. It's actually like I'm I'm getting up, I'm not necessarily um, having the best night's sleep and therefore I'm not feeling optimally energized in the first place. And then I'm taking the dog out for walks it's really warm in the mornings and I am coming back doing my exercise, then I'm having some breakfast, then I'm, then I'm really noticing doing my exercise, then I'm having some breakfast, then I'm really noticing how tired I am. So the fatigue is kind of like earlier on, and it could be a number of things. It could be because I am not eating early enough and my hormones are awry, or it could be a blood sugar thing. It could actually be a low blood sugar thing. The thing is I don't know right, but I want to know because I want to be able to optimize this journey. I don't want to feel fatigue.

Speaker 1:

So what I have done, as another thing in terms of taking my power back, is I have decided to sign up with Liz Sargent for a month. This is just me returning to her. I think you've heard me mention her many times before and she is a functional nutritionist. She has a team of hormone specialists and people that can read blood tests and things like that and obviously advise on the optimal kind of way forward. So what we're doing over the next month is we're getting some blood tests. I'm getting a full iron panel, um, checking for um, all the iron levels and ferritin, because that's important. Um. I'm getting a vitamin panel, so we're looking especially at the B vitamins, d and iron, of course, and then we are also getting my thyroid panel done and some inflammation markers just to see what's going on. Ideally, we'd do a hormone panel as well, but just because of the timing you have to take you have to take your bloods on day three of your cycle and I that's two weeks away and I'm not going to be here for someone to come around and take my bloods we've decided not to do the hormone panel at this point. So I am really interested to see if you know progesterone levels have already dropped off, because I'm hitting perimenopause if I'm experiencing some oestrogen dominance, but I think we can safely say that it's probably occurring due to my age I'm 46, so that's one thing we're doing. And then the other thing is I have got a continuous blood glucose monitor on and we'll be monitoring that over the next month as well, just to see what foods affect me, what timings of the day and see if we can flatline those peaks and troughs a little bit more to help with my energy fluctuations throughout the day. So that's one thing I'm doing, which I will also update you on, you know, in the next sort of six to eight weeks, once we've actually had a chance to implement whatever changes they are. So that'll be super interesting.

Speaker 1:

The other thing is I have mentioned this before, but I actually got diagnosed with sleep apnea last year and I know this is weight related. It took a year to get my follow up appointment after my diagnosis and it was a moderate diagnosis. It wasn't even mild. My oxygen levels were dropping significantly enough to be noted as an apnea 17 times an hour. So potentially 17 times an hour I was waking myself up. My brain was sending cortisol through my veins to wake me up. That was resulting in a lack of quality sleep for me, and I've now had my follow up and I've also received my CPAP machine, which is one of these kind of you wear an oxygen mask to sleep in and it basically gives you a constant stream of oxygen. So the idea is, if you did lose oxygen because you were having an apnea episode, it's going to give you enough oxygen. So effectively you should have a better night's sleep with less apneas.

Speaker 1:

And I had my follow-up, my four-week follow-up, and, um, she said the data was showing that I hadn't had a single apnea since using it. Now I am not getting on great with it, I must admit, um, and I have been to Spain since I've had it, so I didn't take it with me, although you could take it on the plane, I decided not to just because I I just thought I might. I'd rather have ongoing sleep quality that I have been, rather than like grappling with this bloody oxygen mask which, when it fits well, it's great, but otherwise you get these like little air leaks all around it and it's just so frustrating I end up just taking it off. Oftentimes I'm still waking up for a wee in the night and so, if I do, I'm generally not putting it back on, and I have noticed where it's a bit hotter.

Speaker 1:

If I wake up, I'm like conscious that it doesn't feel like I can take a deep breath. So I'm also taking it off, so I'm probably only sleeping with it for the first three hours or so, but but it is enabling me I can tell from my watch data is enabling me to get some deeper sleep at the beginning of the night, and I'm also noticing like dreams are back, so I must be getting some more REM sleep. So last night I actually had the best sleep I think I've had all year round, and so let's see, there is hope yet that, um, you know, with losing a bit of weight, that's potentially helping, um, my situation with my breathing and ultimately, I don't want to be sleeping with a CPAP machine. Um, that's not fun for anyone, especially Adam and um, and so, yeah, ultimately the weight loss is also going to allow me to, um, hopefully not need that machine and be able to give it back. That's probably been the main things to update you on, to be honest, um, so I am gonna keep it short and sweet and leave it there, as always.

Speaker 1:

If you've got any questions, don't you know? By all means, um, get in touch. If you're thinking about taking it and you want to chat it through, I'm very happy to do that in the DMs. So please do reach out and I'll be back, I guess at the end of the summer, with an update. Let's go 16 weeks in, or so four months, and hopefully I'll have some more interesting insights to share with you.

Speaker 1:

But otherwise, thank you for being here, and I think the next episode is our 100th episode and I am running a giveaway. I am actually giving away this time a ticket to my next time out experience. The date is to be confirmed. It's going to be at my house and this is the day-long retreat where you come to me and just get that chance to reset and, yeah, come away with a real spring in your step. So if you want to be in it to win it and you're listening to the podcast anyway, come over to instagram, find us at the modern leader way and give us a follow over there, like the pinned post, and just tag in there what you love most about the podcast, and I will see you for the 100th episode and the two year birthday celebration. So thanks for being here, as always, thanks for like being fully immersed and all up in my life right now and, yeah, I will speak to you soon, take care, thank you.

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Emma Clayton

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