06/07/2025
THIS WAS POSTED BY MY BEAUTIFUL MEMBER & FRIEND, Louise Bee
As most will know Dawn Kenealy-Jones posted on Sunday/Monday that she would welcome members who are taking weight loss medication, includingMonjaro. I shared it to my own Facebook with the following post, I know some of you already know about this but not everyone does so here goes.
I've thought about posting about this before but this seems like as good a time as any. I had a few health scares last year, suspected mini stroke and suspected bleed on the brain, thankfully they were just scares, however I did have to go on blood pressure meds because it was sky high and I did have to take meds for a stroke whilst waiting for the tests, it was constantly said to lose weight, I know how much being overweight, actually obese causes all sorts of issues but the thought of having a stroke and or heart attack scared me so "just lose weight" if only it was that easy, after breaking 3 chairs on different occasions I knew I had to sort myself out so in November I joined the lovely Dawn Kenealy-Jones slimming world group and sobbed I was 19st 8lb, she was so kind, compassionate and caring, and it literally felt like we'd known each other for years not 5 minutes, and so my journey started. Between November and the end of December I lost 1½ stone, unfortunately at the end of January life threw a huge upheaval at us, this part isn't mine to share but over 8 weeks it was spending hours and days at singleton hospital as a relative was unfortunately end of life care, so healthy eating went out of the window but when I could I still went to group , unfortunately I'd fallen completely "off the wagon" and couldn't seem to get back on it but I still kept going and still trying.
10 weeks ago after some very serious consideration I considered monjaro, now anyone that really knows me knows I don't just take anything without checking with my GP etc because of my epilepsy. Myself and Brett done so much personal research and spoke to people who were using it and my GP etc and basically I was told I had nothing to lose and everything to gain but to obviously monitor my seizures, obviously the NHS waiting list for this is years and so Brett suggested going private and this is what we decided to do for me. We again done so much research into various providers and chose shemed, it wasn't a case of pay and receive it they send you a blood test kit, full medical history, GPs details, video calls and only when the bloods have been done and a clinician goes through all your information do they make a decision and I was accepted in may and all the information was sent to my GP, I was medium risk of type 2 diabetes and my cholesterol bloods came back high risk to which I have discussed with my GP who is happy with my weight loss so far but the fact I was/am high risk of heart attack and stroke is terrifying but will be having repeat bloods with the GP to monitor this. Now please know I don't for one second think I this to be a magic wand and I absolutely know it needs to be used along with healthy eating and exercise, I'd read all about something called the food suppression that people experience and had no idea what that was until my first jab, when I say my mind was silent I mean it no obsessing about food, I didn't even realise it was something I did until it stopped. I didn't know if I wanted to tell anyone about it because of the judgement that is so prevalent on social media etc but I also wanted to stay with slimming world because I know this isn't a long term thing and as I was now experiencing this quietness in my mind it is allowing me to revaluate my issues with food and when I say it's an addiction it really is and unless you've experienced this do not say "just eat less and move more" honestly it's not that "easy", I've heard people in the past saying how they have "forgotten to eat" and I never understood this because I was always thinking about food, now I understand it. So I firstly told my children who were amazingly supportive, told my mum who again no judgement, then I decided to tell Dawn, I was scared as didn't know what slimming worlds stance was, I can honestly say I'm so glad I told her and if you watch the video below you'll see why, Dawn had absolutely no judgement of me and slimming world don't judge either, this allowed me to be open with other people in and out of group, there are plenty of people who don't know but will once they see this and yes I risk being judged but that's life and I don't have to let it effect me. So far I'm a total of 3 stone down (slimming world and monjaro) with lots more to go, I'm back in the gym, off blood pressure meds, feeling and eating healthy, even my pepsi max addiction has gone, I can walk past Gregg's, honestly can't remember when I last had a McDonald's or any other takeaway, I used to hate lettuce now I'm wanting to eat it not because "I'm on a diet" but because I'm starting to understand myself and my food habits, I'm able to understand when I'm full and stop eating, and best of all I'm back out running without panting like an asthmatic donkey which is a good thing considering I got a ballot place for the London marathon in April. I'm 45 and for the first time in my life I get it, I understand I had an addiction to food no difference to someone addicted to alcohol or drugs but alcohol and drugs can be taken away (I understand alcohol addiction so please understand I don't make this comment flippantly) food can't be taken away we need it to survive but between slimming world and monjaro I'm learning to help myself and my food addiction. As for my seizures so far it hasn't caused any changes in the amount that I have.
If you've got this far thank you for taking the time to read this and if you have any questions please message me I'll be as honest as I can be.
