Eight Stone Lighter on Mounjaro… and Somehow My Husband Got the Compliments! 😂💕

There are certain things you expect to happen when you lose eight stone.

You expect your clothes to get smaller.

You hope your health will improve.

You might even imagine being able to walk a little further without feeling exhausted.

But one thing I certainly didn't expect was for my husband to start losing weight too.

Especially when I was giving him the food I couldn't finish!

And the REALLY annoying part?

He was getting compliments about his weight loss at work, while I'd lost more than five stone and nobody at my work had said a word!

Honestly.

There I was, doing all the hard work, paying for the Mounjaro, learning how to eat smaller portions, and apparently he was the one getting all the congratulations.

The absolute cheek of it. 😂🙈

But joking aside, it's made me realise something rather lovely.

When I started Mounjaro in October 2024, I thought I was making a decision about my own health.

I hadn't really considered how much it might change our everyday life together.

And nearly two years later, with eight stone gone, some of the biggest changes have absolutely nothing to do with the number on the scales.

It all started with a rather nervous conversation 💉❤️

When I first considered taking Mounjaro, I was almost 20 stone.

I'd struggled with my weight for years, and although I desperately wanted to improve my health, I was frightened.

What if the medication made me ill?

What if I couldn't tolerate it?

What if I started, had dreadful side effects and had to stop?

I'd heard plenty of stories, and my imagination was doing a wonderful job of coming up with every possible thing that could go wrong.

I initially told exactly one person that I was thinking about taking it.

My husband.

And it wasn't because I was bursting with excitement about this fabulous new weight-loss adventure.

Oh no.

It was because I was terrified that something might go wrong, I'd end up in hospital, and he'd discover for the first time that I'd been taking weight-loss medication.

Not quite the surprise I'd want to spring on somebody. 🙈

I wasn't ready to tell anybody else.

Partly because I didn't know whether Mounjaro would work for me, but also because I was worried about being judged.

I didn't particularly fancy hearing that I was cheating by taking an injection.

And I certainly didn't want people asking questions if I tried it and then decided it wasn't for me.

But at home, we talked about how I wanted to approach things.

And one thing was very important to me.

I didn't want to spend the rest of my life cooking two separate dinners.

One kitchen, two people, and absolutely no diet food! 🍝🥔

My husband is a chef.

So you can probably imagine that food has always been a fairly important part of our lives.

We love cooking.

We love trying restaurants.

We love finding somewhere nice to eat at the weekend.

And we both appreciate a really good meal.

I didn't want all that to disappear just because I was trying to lose weight.

Nor did I fancy making a lovely dinner for my husband and then sitting opposite him with three lettuce leaves and a piece of grilled chicken.

That sounded thoroughly miserable.

I wanted us to carry on eating ordinary meals.

Just healthier choices, more sensible portions and a bit more thought about what we were eating.

And that's largely what we've done.

We cook more meals at home now, have fewer takeaways and generally make better choices.

We've also made a conscious effort to drink less alcohol during the week.

Nothing terribly dramatic.

No enormous list of forbidden foods.

Just a collection of changes that have gradually become our normal routine.

And, as it turns out, those changes haven't just benefited me.

Although I do feel that I deserve slightly more credit than I've received. 😂

The great leftover redistribution scheme 🍽️😂

One thing I've had to learn since starting Mounjaro is that I don't need to finish everything on my plate.

Now, that might sound incredibly obvious.

But I absolutely hate wasting food.

And when you've spent years automatically finishing whatever you've served yourself, learning to stop when you're full can be surprisingly difficult.

So occasionally, when I've realised I couldn't manage the rest of my dinner, I've pushed a little of it onto my husband's plate.

Problem solved.

No food wasted.

Everybody happy.

Except, apparently, I was unintentionally operating a rather successful weight-loss programme for two people.

Because despite eating some of my leftovers, my husband started losing weight as well.

Which just goes to show how much our wider habits had changed.

We were eating differently.

Ordering fewer takeaways.

Drinking less during the week.

And making healthier choices together.

Then came the compliments.

He'd come home and tell me somebody at work had noticed he'd lost weight.

How lovely.

Meanwhile, I'd lost more than five stone and apparently become completely invisible to the people at my workplace.

Not a word!

I mean, FIVE STONE.

You'd think somebody might have noticed that a fairly substantial amount of Helen had disappeared.

But no.

He gets the compliments.

I get to do the washing up.

Marvellous. 🤣💕

Of course, I'm pleased he's benefited from the changes too.

And it's rather nice that we haven't had to turn our entire household upside down to make it happen.

We found something else to do at weekends 🏊‍♀️✨

For years, one of our favourite things to do was go out for something nice to eat.

A restaurant.

A country pub.

A takeaway at home.

Food was often at the centre of our plans.

And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

We still love going out for meals.

But one of the nicest changes is that we've found other things we enjoy doing together.

We joined a gym and hotel spa.

Now, my husband isn't particularly interested in the gym itself.

Which is absolutely fine.

I use the gym, while he enjoys the swimming pool, jacuzzi and sauna.

And sometimes we'll go together after work.

Other times we'll spend two or three hours there on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon.

A swim.

A little time relaxing.

And a few hours doing something that isn't centred around eating.

I appreciate we're very fortunate to have somewhere lovely like that close to home.

But it's become a really nice part of our routine.

And it wasn't something I would necessarily have imagined us doing regularly a few years ago.

Not because I didn't want to.

But because my mobility and confidence were so different.

Which brings me to one of my favourite memories from this whole journey.

Morocco, the markets, and a LOT of walking! 🇲🇦☀️

We both love exploring food markets when we're on holiday.

I love wandering around the stalls, seeing the different ingredients, watching people prepare food and taking in all the sights and smells.

It's one of those things I find absolutely fascinating.

And on our holiday in Morocco, we did rather a lot of it.

We wandered around busy markets, looked at the stalls, explored and generally enjoyed ourselves.

Nothing particularly extraordinary, you might think.

People walk around markets on holiday all the time.

Except a few years ago, that would have been an entirely different experience for me.

At almost 20 stone, walking around busy markets in the heat would have been incredibly difficult.

My legs would have hurt.

I'd have become hot and tired.

I'd probably have needed to stop frequently.

And I suspect there would have been a fair amount of moaning involved.

Possibly quite a lot of moaning, actually. 😂🙈

But this time?

We walked.

And walked.

And walked some more.

We explored the markets on more than one occasion, and I genuinely loved every minute of it.

I wasn't spending the whole time worrying about how far we still had to go.

I wasn't desperately looking for somewhere to sit down.

I was simply enjoying being there.

And my husband noticed the difference too.

That was quite special.

Because it wasn't just that I'd lost weight.

I was able to participate in something we both enjoyed, rather than struggling to get through it.

And I think that's one of the biggest gifts this journey has given me.

The ability to say yes to things I might once have avoided.

Even if it means walking around a Moroccan market in the heat and coming home with aching feet.

At least they're aching because I've had a lovely day exploring! 😂❤️

My legs aren't perfect, but goodness, they're better! 🚶‍♀️

I've spoken before about living with lymphoedema.

It's something that has affected my legs and mobility for years.

And losing weight hasn't magically made it disappear.

I still have challenges.

There are still things I need to manage.

And I'm certainly not going to pretend that eight stone of weight loss has fixed absolutely everything.

But the difference in my mobility has been enormous.

Walking isn't the ordeal it used to be.

I have more energy.

I'm more willing to go out and do things.

And I'm much more confident when I'm out and about.

It's difficult to explain how much that matters unless you've experienced a time when ordinary activities felt physically difficult.

Something as simple as suggesting a day out can feel very different when you're not constantly worrying about how much walking will be involved.

And that changes life for the people around you too.

It changes the places you suggest visiting.

The activities you feel able to do.

The way you spend your weekends.

And sometimes even the way you feel about yourself when you're out in public.

My husband has noticed that I'm more confident interacting with people.

And I think he's right.

I'm more comfortable joining in.

More willing to explore.

And less likely to sit on the sidelines watching everybody else enjoy themselves.

Which, when I think about it, was exactly what I hoped improving my health would allow me to do.

It's not all sunshine, swimming pools and roast potatoes ❤️

Now, I don't want to paint a picture of some magical transformation where losing weight has made every part of life perfect.

It hasn't.

Mounjaro hasn't removed difficult emotions.

It hasn't solved every problem.

And there are still plenty of ordinary frustrations, challenges and days when things don't go according to plan.

Because that's life, isn't it?

Losing weight doesn't suddenly mean the washing does itself, work becomes effortless or every day turns into a lovely relaxing afternoon at the spa.

Unfortunately.

If somebody invents an injection that sorts out the ironing, though, please do let me know. 😂

But what has changed is how much more capable I feel of getting on with everyday life.

And that's a rather wonderful thing.

The things you can't measure on a set of scales ⚖️💕

When I started Mounjaro, I thought success would probably be measured in pounds and stones.

And don't get me wrong.

Losing eight stone is an extraordinary achievement, and I'm incredibly proud of it.

But when I think about the changes that have mattered most, they're not always the things recorded in my weight-loss app.

They're the ordinary little moments.

Being able to enjoy a whole afternoon exploring somewhere new.

Feeling confident enough to suggest an activity rather than wondering whether I'll physically manage it.

Having more energy to go swimming.

Sharing healthier meals without needing to cook separate dinners.

And finding things we can enjoy together that don't always revolve around food.

Even the fact that my husband has lost weight alongside me is a lovely reminder that the changes we've made haven't happened in isolation.

Our everyday routines have shifted.

And we've both benefited.

Although I still maintain that I should have received at least SOME of those compliments. 🤣

I started Mounjaro because I wanted to improve my health.

I wanted to be more mobile.

I wanted to feel better.

And I wanted to enjoy more of my life.

Nearly two years later, that's exactly what I'm beginning to do.

Not perfectly.

Not every single day.

But in ways I could only have dreamed about when I was almost 20 stone.

And I think that's worth celebrating.

Preferably with a lovely meal somewhere.

Just perhaps a slightly smaller one than we would have ordered two years ago. 😂❤️

I'd love to hear from you! 💬

If you've lost a significant amount of weight or made changes to your health, have you noticed how it's affected the people around you?

Have your family meals changed?

Do you spend your weekends differently?

Or have you found yourself enjoying activities you might once have avoided?

I'd genuinely love to hear about those everyday changes, because sometimes they're the ones that mean the most.

And if you're following my Mounjaro journey, thank you for being here. There are still plenty more stories to tell! 💕🎉

I'm sharing my personal experience of Mounjaro and weight loss, rather than providing medical advice. Everyone's circumstances are different, and decisions about prescription medication should always be discussed with an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.