Dads, Dumbbells and Life
Two dads talking, fatherhood, work, like and personal training businesses.
Dads, Dumbbells and Life
Full Ep. 4 - I lost 7 stone on the Fat Jab… But here’s the truth!
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In this Episode we speak to Tom’s client Erin. We talk about her fat loss journey and her experiences using the now popular weight loss jabs. We hear the truths about taking them and the things that you should be doing and not doing whilst on the them. This isn’t one to miss.
How long has it been? Almost seven years.
SPEAKER_03Almost seven years. Yeah. Since that first little meeting in Waitrose Capo.
SPEAKER_02In the Waitrose Cafo with Alex. You've stayed in for seven years. I know.
SPEAKER_03Dedication.
SPEAKER_02Wasn't anyone else you could use? Probably. Desperate at the time. Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_03My only option was.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So who have we got here today, Tom?
SPEAKER_00You know, we are joined by someone else there. We're by Erin, who's one of my PT clients. As you might have just heard, she's been with me for almost seven years now. We've been through thick and thin, really, haven't we? Absolutely. Went through everything. But yeah, we're going to talk about Erin's story, where she was, where she is now, and her journey to get there. We'll fire a few questions at her and see how she gets on with it.
SPEAKER_02And I don't actually know the story. So I'm going to be doing it first time. Okay. This is your client. Also, for once he might not talk about it. So for once I might be quiet, so for a treat.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. That's the hell. So you seven years. Seven years, so yeah, when I first started on my own, Erin and her sister Alex, of which I both I still PT both of them. Yeah, come to see. We had a meeting in Waitrose Cafe. And yeah, it kind of went from there, really, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. We did lots of training in your parents' back garden. Was that during lockdown or was it just general? I think that was before. Before, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Then we did during lockdown we did online. Yeah. So I used to wave at you because you were living just along away from me, so I could see you.
SPEAKER_02So I think it's quite interesting, right? So you you ever had PT before? Yes. You had?
SPEAKER_03I had, yes. But it just wasn't working for me.
SPEAKER_02So if someone's never had PT, it's good. So you went you downgrade the game Tom clearly. It's probably cheaper, is it? Yeah, that's what made the easier option. But it's all quite interesting. So anyone listening to this who's like maybe thinking, because we'll go on to a story in a minute, and it's not just a normal PT story. Right, no, no, no, no. So there's a reasonable. So stay tuned because this is gonna be quite interesting for a lot of people, I reckon. But so for you, what made you what A have a PT or change as well? Change PTs?
SPEAKER_03Um, so seven, I'm thinking seven years ago. So I um had had my fourth child by then, so she would have been about one, and the timings of the PT I was with previously just weren't working for me anymore. Um and then Tom knew my other sister Jenny, yeah, and Alex, my other my sister who then joined with me, and said, Oh, this guy's setting up, let's go and meet him. So I was like, fine, and I've always got on with men better than I have with women, um, and it was I hear that a lot. I know I just prefer to say that, but I think also I think it's definitely true, and I think Tom's that's the chair, by the way. Tom was very authentic, and I think as we've got to know each other, having similar struggles with weight and things like that is really helpful. Very relatable, isn't it? We actually can relate to each other quite well, yeah. And that was and that was really helpful, and I think I just for when you are going to a PT, because I think historically PT is something that, as you've talked on your previous podcast, it is a luxury for people, but it also you think, oh, I've got a PT, and you think just you know, oh god, people have got a PT. Like, wow, who what who do you think you are? But it's just so not like that, yeah. And it and it really for me, there was that stigma around PTs, I think, and then it completely broke that stigma, and it you know, I think it's just really important, and it gives me that accountability, but also I've built up a friendship with Tom. We've been through marriages, children, you name it, not together, no, not together. Um, but you know, and it's been really fascinating. The the seven years, and watching Tom as well grow as a PT and his business grow. And I'm a bit I'm a bit older than Tom, although you'd be surprised to know that. Yeah, I mean homeless. Like, and it's also watching him grow his business, it's been something quite that very proud of him, really.
SPEAKER_00So, do you swear? Oh, there's clients like Erin that have allowed me to grow my business, like loyal clients, and we talked about COVID and stuff and sticking with me through all those times. Like that's made a it made a huge difference to my business, and like you said, we've grown a uh we've made a good friendship, good bond. Um, yeah, you you oversaw my my marriage yeah at the coatils, in case anyone's wonder wondering where we are, um all that sort of stuff, and we just yeah, we've just got really, really good mates now. We're not just not just client and PT, it's you're really good friends. I think that's really important too.
SPEAKER_02If you haven't got a relationship with your PT, or worst case you don't like them, it won't last. No, because you're not in a go to someone. No, you need to. We talked last week about being that report with someone, didn't we?
SPEAKER_00Like, you know, click with them a little bit, yeah. For sure. You need that, you know, it's it's that fine line between between being too close and too friendly with your I say being too friendly, but within reason as in like you know, it ends up becoming a bit most strong, you end up what you know, they expect something a little bit cheaper, or yeah, um there's got to be boundaries like a handout, I think there's got to be boundaries, um but yeah, yeah, we definitely yeah, it's not it'd been nice to kind of form that that bond and that friendship, and it's grown over time. So Alex is the same. So Alex is still with me doing the group sessions, and she's come on masses as well, yeah. Um really, really well. But yeah.
SPEAKER_02So someone's to say um someone's watching this, and they're like people watch this, yeah. Allegedly, it's yeah, yeah. A couple of minutes ago. They're thinking like I'm thinking about a PT, but I don't know if it's worth the money, and I can get a gym membership for cheaper. I don't do I need a PT? Are they worth it? Because obviously a gym membership you can pay what 50-60 quid a month, yeah, and a PT you could be paying at potentially percent. Yeah, absolutely. Do you what would you say to someone who's thinking of it? What's is things to weigh up? Is it worth it?
SPEAKER_03I mean 100% worth it. Um, I have also have a gym membership that I don't use, but I pay for it. Um so um because I'm always saying to myself, well, I'll go in between seeing Tom. Um, so Tom and I, when we first started doing PTs, we were probably one session a week, he then started doing his, you had circuits on a Monday night and all that kind of stuff. So I was put doing those classes, and then there was the um we have this I can't remember what it's called now, the seven-week fitness group um morning group. So I was doing that, and unfortunately, I then had shoulder surgery in October, so I stopped doing that. Um, and my home life changed, so um, it meant I had childcare issues first thing in the morning. So I was doing like four sessions a week at times with Tom. Um, but it's that accountability for me. Accountability is bigger. 100% and also if you've got I'm not getting any younger, I also had a HIP replacement when I was 28, um, and I've got hypermobility, so it's also knowing that someone's going to keep me safe and not me going to the gym thinking I can do X, Y, and Z but I can't.
SPEAKER_02So it's like a safety being known you've done right and making sure you turned up.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, because then you pay for because you you know, I know I pay for my gym membership, but it's different. Yeah, um, but also someone that's thinking, all you know, I have said this to friends of mine, even if you do three months with Tom, for example, and do three like a week's session with Tom and then learn some things and want to take that to the gym, there's no reason why you can't go to the gym in between seeing your PT. Yeah, oh for sure, you know, absolutely, and you take the stuff that you've learnt. And obviously, Tom can put together, well, obviously, you would be able to as well, put programmes together for people that they want to go in the gym or at home if they've got free weights and stuff at home. Um, but for me, it's knowing like how to safely do things like squats, back you know, that sort of stuff that you're doing safely, you're protecting yourself because it's so easy to get injured.
SPEAKER_00It's education, that's a big part of it. I think what I prize myself on is education, that's teaching people how to do things properly. Yes. And I don't mind if people stick with me for a few weeks, months, and then go off. But if I know I've taught them correctly and they can go off to the gym and I know they're gonna do things safely, be it with one of my programs or something else, and I've done my job, but as long as they're safe in that environment, and that's yeah, it's a big thing.
SPEAKER_03Because that is a big thing because you've gone you see people in the gym, we've seen people in the gym not doing the exercises as they should be, and you can't, I mean, you can cause yourself serious injury by not doing stuff properly. So, um, so yeah, 100% I'm completely for personal trainers, 100%.
SPEAKER_02And what's the best way, like so if if you're thinking right, I don't know anyone, I don't know any personal trainers, I don't know anyone, I don't really know anyone who's got a personal trainer, what's the best thing? Do you recommend just going and meet meet up a few look a few local people up and just because you normally do a consultation so you can maybe go for a chat without committing and just so do you think that's the best way meet a few rather than just pay up front of someone that you don't know?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, no, you need to make sure that you've got that relationship.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, when you met with me, did you did you make sure yeah, I saw you get to like kind of get to know me in that half an hour or something and sort of think to yourself, actually, is this person for you?
SPEAKER_03I think for us though, we can just make a recording again. Because I knew you before, because I knew you through I was saying I'd heard about you through that Jenny and Alex, my sisters, yeah. It was different, yeah, and obviously, um I was just looking for something like my previous PT just wasn't you know, the timings weren't working for me, they were great, but it wasn't working for me, and I needed something that was gonna work for me, and that's what you know you weren't. I think, but it is about meeting people, you have to have that relationship, that connection with somebody for sure because otherwise because you're trusting them and you're really vulnerable in the gym. I hated going into the gym. Yeah, you did, you did. I've I'm much more comfortable now that I've lost weight, but when I was bigger, I did not want to go in the gym. I felt everybody was looking at me, which is absolutely a load of old balls because nobody does actually look at you, you just think that they do because I'm not that special. Do you know what I mean? People but people do think that, and there is that it is because they're jealous, it's that whole self-conscious thing, and immediately with Tom, it was actually this is gonna be fine, and I think that's what's really important is making sure that you've got that relationship, and you you're right, you need to do have a look. You also obviously need to decide, you know, do you want a man or a woman? You know, what are they offering?
SPEAKER_02Well, it is sort of interviewing, yeah. You might get people in for a job, and you're thinking, Don't know about this person, and someone walk in all of a sudden, you're like, I like I reckon I'll get on with that person, and it's it's probably similar, yeah, isn't it? You're thinking, could I work with this person?
SPEAKER_03Are they but it also works both ways? Yeah, I'm sure. Because there'll be clients that you can't work, you know, oh for sure, we started last week about that, didn't we?
SPEAKER_00About people we didn't get on with, or we talked to ourselves actually, is it worth our time? Is it worth the money, the hassle of training somebody that we don't want to train?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, but so it's worth going and meet someone, definitely, and yeah, if you haven't used a gym, people do that very self-conscious. I mean now our clients have said to me, new people, yeah. Like, one woman walked into the gym once to me, and she's like, I can't, I can't come in, I can't do this. She said, she would have to go and get that. We had to leave the gym, and she goes, I can't do it, she's dry anxiety, she's just too scary. And like it was a bit of a wake-up call for me, like, gosh, I forget. I work here when I'm comfortable here. You forget how scary this place is. You walk in, the bit, and the perception is everyone's fit. Yeah, and everyone, everyone's fit, everyone knows what they're doing. Everyone's fit. And I turn, look, they don't, and they're not. That's why they're in. It's intimidating, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00I think the I think we need to remember that. The pros of where I PT from it's like a small studio, it's a studio, it's a private PT studio. Which makes a big difference, which made a huge difference to me, getting I think clients in as well, because I was able to use that as a bit of an extra advertising point because it was like, Oh, it's not a commercial gym, there's not masses of people, sometimes it's just us, like because it was quite it's quite quiet at times, not always, but the only other people in there then are other PTs and other clients, you know, and a very, very small membership base. So, you know, when everyone was saying about you know being worried about being in the gym, that was one thing that I think helps because I think initially we trained to try, didn't we? Yes, yeah. We did a try fitness yeah, which is our box set, um, but then moving to Valor, it's just that a little bit more personalised, like it was just that our own space, you know, there wasn't that many people around, it made it a lot easier.
SPEAKER_02Which is what you've lasted seven years, yeah. Well, yeah, yeah. So where you so what so moving now to now, yes, where are we at now?
SPEAKER_00So I mean big things change really, haven't you? I mean, what we'll do in the video, and you're gonna have to edit this. Good luck. We're gonna pop a photo up of Erin, like a before and after, yeah. Like, because it's your transformation. I'll just go as we're talking. Yeah, that's amazing, was it? But it'd be amazing, but it's been amazing. But I mean, you were how heavy to be just under 20 stone.
SPEAKER_0320 stone. Just under 20 stone. Yeah, and what you what you're at now? So um, I have put on a little bit of weight actually. So I'm about 12-10 now.
SPEAKER_0112-10.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so I had like I was before I had my surgery, I was 11-11. So I've lost eight stone. Eight stone, yeah.
SPEAKER_00So, and then this brings us on to kind of the main course subject, really. Was we did start we worked together in the past and we worked on stuff, you'd lost weight, yeah, done really well, got fit, like made big changes, and then obviously life gets in the way, work gets in the way, kids get in the way. Um, so then you decided to take the leap and use the was it a Zenpic you're up? It wasn't.
SPEAKER_03I originally started when Saxender was released. Okay. So Saxender was the daily injection, so weight loss injection. People obviously immediately when you start talking about weight loss injections, they're like thinking about Oprah Wim um Oprah, you know, Kelly was born, Shadow Osborn. What do they call it? They called it face and all that.
SPEAKER_02Pat jab, yeah, and things we're calling it, so you might recognise that.
SPEAKER_03So Saxender was the first one that I was aware of that was released, um, and it was a daily injection. So I started my journey's gone up, started back in 2022. So I'd lost some weight through an eight-week weight loss programme with Tom. Um, and I will you've got the photos of that thing, but I will send you the all the stuff I've got, I'll send you those. Um so I'd done, I think I'd lost about 13 kilos in those 18, eight weeks, 12 weeks, might be 12 weeks. Um, but then I've really struggled with my weight in my entire life. So I had a baby when I was very young, I was 18, and I piled on the weight when I was pregnant for Ellie, um, to the to the tune of about seven or eight stone, I think. Oh well. Um so I'd gone from like a size 10, possibly, all the way up to like a 20, 22 after I'd had Ellie, and just really struggled with my weight and confidence, and it kind of just spiraled, and then I'd go back down, I'd go to about a 14, and then it'd be back up, and I just really, really struggled because I emotionally I'm massively emotionally food noise is a massive issue for me, and I get that bucket attitude where I just think solid, I'll just eat it. Because you get to a point and you just think, oh, it doesn't matter anymore. So I decided to start with a saxender, so I ordered online because you weren't able to get it lately, um, unless you were diabetic, which is completely understandable. And this is where obviously it's a touch controversial because I would be ordering it from a private pharmacy online. Um it was probably costing me about £200 a month at that point. Um and then I ended up moving on to um what was next? Saxenda. Then I think it was Ozempic that I went on to, which was a weekly injection. Yeah. So I went on that, then I went on to um WeGovi, um, and then I ended up going to the GP. And when we were able to get it through your GP without having other health conditions, it was just a private script. Um, and I so last year was probably the year that I lost the most weight, so 2024 into 2025, I'd probably I'd lost about six stone. I mean it was and it did come off quickly, and I know lots of people will say, Oh, fat jab's cheating, um, you know, you didn't do it properly, um, you're using an injection, absolutely, and I am not ashamed of it at all because I've struggled, I'm 40 now, I've struggled for the best part of 22 years with my weight, and actually, I'm not ashamed to say that something that I inject into my stomach every week has helped me lose weight, and but alongside that is it's very easy to go and get the injection um and inject every week, and you think, oh yeah, I've lost you know losing weight. I think that's the bad part. How easy it is, it is easy, it is easy.
SPEAKER_00So there's some areas it's not just the GP as you've said, yeah. But and it's it's shocking, and it's easy to lie.
SPEAKER_03So, like the online, so when you when I use this. Yeah, so when I've got mine online, you have to be over a BMI of over 27 to be um able to get the injection. But all the pharmacies that are online, and there's various companies, if you Google it, there's lots of companies that do it, you have to put like photographs on, measurements on, and obviously that's really easy to alter.
SPEAKER_00AI was there, people would use AI to make themselves bigger.
SPEAKER_03There's definitely people I'm aware of that have lied about their weight, lied about measurements in order to get the injection because if they put their true measurements in, they wouldn't have been able to get it. And that for me was really frustrating as well because it's not fair, is it? No, it's not, and I was like, well, actually, I'm getting this because it's doing me good. I need to lose the weight, um, because obviously I was nearly 20 stone, um, just under 20 stone, and something had to give. Um, I had a hip replacement when I was 27, all of those things have a massive impact, you know. I needed to make sure that I was looking after my body as best as I could, and I just wasn't. And although when I was big, I was training with Tom three, four times a week, I was what I consider myself as relatively like fit to a point as a big person. Oh, for sure. Um, and I'm strong, but you're still carrying this huge amount of weight around. Not for sure, you know.
SPEAKER_00It plays on your mind, doesn't it? Oh, 100%. Yeah, your confidence is like you were you're a confident person anyway, but it's grown hugely, I say, since the We're losing the weight and being able to, for the first time in a long time, being able to go into town and buy something off the rack, and that actually fitting me.
SPEAKER_03That's amazing. Like that had never hadn't happened for years. I always had to order online at like plus size companies, whereas now I can go into next, yeah, get a size, depending on what day of the week it is, 12 or 14 off the rack, and it's fits. Yeah, and like never in a million years would I have thought I'd be two, three years ago, but I I'd be where I am now.
SPEAKER_02And that's what's such an amazing feeling though, it is, it is. Haven't said that what you just said just made me think of something like I think what you said just triggered something in me then to think a lot of people who maybe haven't had any weight issues ever that you know never really try and lose weight. I think they may struggle to understand, and we've seen it, and you've obviously dumb to you, like how much this is a bit of a lifesaver for people. 100% like you could have been a a yo-yo dieter for your whole life, and one I've got a few of my clients who are on the on the jab, and like they said to me, I've tried everything I've been on my diet my whole life, I go up and down, and this is the only thing I've done that's actually got what I've always wanted. Yeah, 100%. And it's not it's the confidence. Like you just said about going to shops to town, one woman said she would never even walk through town, she's just so self-conscious, and now, and actually she's got a job, another job, and she said it's because I had the confidence to go for an interview because it's amazing, yeah. And I so and I think like anyone who says like they're against these jabs, just need to think of it more beautifully. There needs to be an open mind as well. Yeah, about like you don't realise people can be very low, depression, anxiety, effing with their weight, and this could solve quite a lot of that. Oh, yeah, and it's not it's not just the weight loss, it's how you aim feel, yeah, for sure. And I think like if that if that's what it does for you, I think go for it. I mean, absolutely.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I know, and I'm all for it, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Obviously, it's all for us as trainers to try and promote like people to be confident and have better willpower in terms of food and not overeating and trying to improve their diet and nutrition and everything else. But if like people's lives do take over, yeah, absolutely. And as we know, like this is probably started the podcast and the video, the videos about being busy dads and self-employed, and we're flat out. And we were talking the other day about we don't train as much as we like to because we're flat out all the time, but people haven't got the time to do it, and that's what that's for us who work in gyms, people haven't got the time to do it, or they struggle with certain things because their lives are flat out and they've tried everything. They've tried everything, it's for the right people. Diabetics, obviously, that's what was made for. But and it's um we'll go on to a minute, I suppose, about why I think you're a really good example of someone who's on it. Um but it's for people that uh are taking it that shouldn't be anywhere near it. They just want to drop a couple of pounds to go on holiday. Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_03And that's the issue when it when it's misused, that's the problem, and it does, and then it gives the like the wider like fat jab community a bad name. Exactly ultimately. Um and you there are there's criteria for a reason, you know. I'm still so I I was saying before, I actually went to the doctor this morning to get my um three-monthly prescription because I'm still not at the end of my journey because it's had a few stops and starts, unfortunately, due to various things going on in my personal life. Um, so I went to the doctor this morning, I'm still within, I'm still like two points over, so I might think my BMI is down at 28.9 or something. Um, so I'm still within that threshold of being able to get the injection. Um, so and I've been given my three-monthly prescription. It isn't cheap, it is a commitment, but I think them them for me and anything that you know when I first started doing it, and I think people obviously were aware I was doing it. Um, not that I massively publicised it, obviously, but if someone asked me, I would tell them to because I'm not ashamed of it by any stretch of imagination, I'm really not. Owned it. Um, and I was like, look, the main thing is you have to exercise because you're losing weight at a rate of not especially when I was obviously nearly 20 stone. But what you're losing is going to be muscle mass, and that's the that's the main thing.
SPEAKER_00What brings me on to what I was gonna say is that you this was what really annoys you about the jab and people taking it is the people that aren't is the education you're. It and and people aren't training resistance training. So if we talk about exercise, weight training is key with a high protein diet. Because when it comes to weight loss and fat loss, they're two different things. So you've got fat loss, fat loss, weight loss, fat muscle loss, muscle wastage. Your calories are hugely deficit, so you're they're so much lower than they should be because you're not eating food as much, and you're still doing your day-to-day. So everything you've your whole system is just eating away itself to try and get rid of all the uh your excess weight. But you need to try and promote as much lean mass as possible. So that means resistance training, you know, break down that muscle tissue, then promote the growth. Make sure you're eating enough protein. So the food that you are eating, obviously it's limited, but trying to get as much protein in your system as possible, which is somewhat you you were doing this, yeah, you were training three, four times a week, you had a good diet, that's the other thing. People that are taking the jab and just all got crap diets, yeah, just thinking, oh, I can eat what I want. You can still eat a chocolate bar, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Because obviously, but I think for me, like, so the it's the fat jab, especially when you're on like the highest dose, so I'm on 10.10, yeah, 10 that it goes, 12.5 and 15. Now I have been on 15 last year, um, but because I then didn't take it for a period of time, I've gone back down to put myself back up. Um, because otherwise you do get awful side effects. I mean, you can have horrendous side effects. I've been really, really fortunate that I haven't really had any. Yeah, um, but I could if I don't, if I'm if I'm not very, very aware about what I'm eating each day, I could go days without eating anything because it makes you that full that you just don't even think about it. Yeah, I was in speech about that.
SPEAKER_02So for someone who's might maybe think about having it and eligible to have it, everyone says to me who's thinking about it, I'm so scared of the side effects. My clients tell me, I was I want it but I'm read, I don't want to have diarrhea, I don't want to have this, I don't have that. And then they take it, and a lot of people said they haven't actually had a lot.
SPEAKER_03No, I've not. So the uh the only thing you I mean the thing for me, I suppose the things are um it depends on it depends on you on you. I don't drink enough water, and I'm very aware, I've never drunk enough water. It is a problem, I'm trying to get better, but I fail most days at drinking water. So obviously, immediately when you're not drinking enough water and you're not eating very much, constipation is a problem and can be a problem. I've not had major issues. The one issue I did have, which was uh late last year, I hadn't taken my injection for about four weeks, and I had a 15 in the fridge, and I was like, oh, just inject it, we'll be fine. And I literally vomited for 48 hours continuously. I could not keep anything down, not even water. That bad. It was horrendous to the point that I didn't even I had to run through my front door because I got home and thought, oh god, I'm gonna be sick. Yeah, um, and that, but that was the worst I've had, and that was my fault because I'd not because my body had obviously built up, you build up a tolerance, obviously, to the the um to the injection, um, and because I've not had it for so long, it was completely my fault. Um, but I've been really, really fortunate. However, I do know of people that have had diarrhea, but also if you eat, you have to also remember people who are doing this, I would like to think, are eating a bit more sensibly. So certainly I am trying to eat better and have been eating better for the last couple of years. Obviously, there are moments where you obviously have crap food, you have a burger or whatever, and actually, if I've been through a few weeks where I've not had anything that's kind of like a burger greasy or whatever, it will go straight through me.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um but it's about being careful, and I think also you've just got to give it a go. So I think there is that fear, you know, TikTok was full of it when it first saxender first came out, a Zempic. All I saw on my reels on my FYP page was um weight loss and side effects and a Zempic and da da da la da. Whereas obviously it's kind of calmed a little bit, yeah. Um, but I think people have just got to give it a go. Um for people that genuinely have struggled and yo-yo dieted and can't shift the weight, and it might be because they are aren't actually physically able to do lots of exercise. Um, and I was exercising, yeah, and I still really wasn't shifting, you know, weights.
SPEAKER_00Strong, yeah, you've got your strength.
SPEAKER_03And I've definitely lost muscle mass, even though I've been training throughout throughout.
SPEAKER_00I say more recently your training's diminished, it's kind of been on the downward scale, only because of your shoulder surgery and life, yeah. But you still you've kept your yourself in the game a little bit and done something, yeah, and more so recently when you've come back from your your surgery.
SPEAKER_02Ultimately that would you have lost the weight without this job?
SPEAKER_03No, not as so the options for me were gonna be and I genuinely looked into like having a gastric band, gastric bypass. I genuinely was like, it's gonna have to get I'm gonna have to do something because I can't, I don't want to be like this anymore. And I had tried food and I tried exercise and the food noise, if and if people if you've not suffered with having this food noise, I you can't I can't explain it, and it is like you get to a point where all you think about is food.
SPEAKER_00Oh, I'm I'm exactly the same. I've always struggled with my way.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and it's awful, whereas the injection just cuts it out silence. I don't get home and think I need to eat that whole packet of biscuits because I'm not thinking about food.
SPEAKER_02Did it change your did it change your mental state? Yes. Like you say, you said not think about food all the time. Did you feel caught? Did you feel just better generally in control?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, yeah. In much more in control.
SPEAKER_00You have a better relationship with food now.
SPEAKER_03Yes, yeah. And I can just like I used to, and we all we all do it, if we've not eaten properly, you get that sugar craving and you eat a whole packet of biscuits or a bar of chocolate. I am very much now, if I've been a bit crap that day with food because of work or whatever, I get home and I can have one biscuit and step away. Step away, fair boy. Um, I don't need to eat an entire don't get me wrong, there are days where I'm like, I'll eat a packet of chocolate, but like I don't do it as much. The only one of the side effects that I've struggled with is that nothing about food turns me on. So I there is nothing, I don't go to a restaurant and look at a menu and go, oh god, yeah, I could murder a blah blah. There is nothing about food that I've excited about.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, it's a bit like blah. Enjoy yourself, yeah.
SPEAKER_03So that's the only strange thing, and I don't know if other other people have had the same thing, but genuinely, I look at a menu, I'm like, oh god, I better pick something off. I suppose I better eat that. And it that that's really interesting to me because I've obviously haven't got to size like 20 stone, enjoy food. Yeah, um, obviously. Um, but I look at a menu and usually I'll be like, Oh yeah, no, that looks amazing, blah blah blah, and now I'm like, hmm, okay, well, we'll just we'll go with that just because you know I've had it before and I know it's okay, and that that was really interesting that that happened, um, because I wasn't expecting that. That's a big change for you, eh? Oh, yeah. That's really weird, yeah. It's changing how you think as well, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. But I just couldn't, I look, and I think what the other scary thing when I've looked back at photographs of myself from the last few years, and I see me as big as I was, I didn't realise I was that big. And it's only when you look back and I'm like, dear god, like my daughter, my 10-year-old, is probably about six stone, so I've lost more than her, and she's five foot, and I've lost so when I look at her, I think I was carrying you and a bit more all the time.
SPEAKER_00Every day, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Every day. That weight was sitting around my lungs, my heart, you know. I went for a checkup of the chest and heart 18 15 months ago, and my visceral fat was right down at like two or something ridiculous. So it was, you know, that for me as well was amazing. I'm really, you know, I just thought, and I do think, and I will forever be very grateful for the fat jab, and I hope that people's attitudes change towards it because there's no shame in it. So even the doctor this morning said because I told her that I was doing a podcast with you two, and um is she gonna listen about it? Well, you never know, and she's and I've not I've not met this doctor before, but she's one of the weight loss doctors at my one of my pra at the practice that I'm at, and she said, Oh, it's funny how people won't talk about it, and I said, I know, and it's a shame really because people I look at people who I've not seen for six months and they've dropped like three or four stage, yeah, and I'm like you're on the fat jab. That's the thing now.
SPEAKER_00You look at someone now because and you're oh you you were bigger six weeks ago. Oh, they're on the jab. Yeah, everyone's everyone's thinking people could be just doing through hard work and consistency, yeah. You think you're on the jab. Yeah, which is awful.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I think I've got a feeling it might just disappear all that. It will be a new thing, but I think people don't care after what. I think people would just go, oh yeah, they've got I've not asked I don't know, I just tend to think it's got this thing, isn't it? Like everything that comes out, it's got a stigma attached to it. Yeah, but um I think you talking about it now actually is I've really impressed it about it. Someone might not have ever spoken. I'd imagine a lot of people watching this hasn't really they haven't really heard someone speak as honesty as you about it. This is what impressed me about that. So it's really good.
SPEAKER_00She's been like at first it was like, are you on there? Well, you'd lost a lot of weight. Well you're getting on. Oh yeah, I'm on the jab. Yeah, but then she was open about it. So I think I've so been really impressed how open you are about it, but also it's given people an education into it as well. Yeah, so in general, exercise is so important, not massively, but people will learn from you like, oh, you're doing that and you're doing this, like whilst you're on the jab, yeah, because it's so important. It they go hand in hand together.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and I concentrate more on like protein shakes now to make sure I'm getting my protein in. So if I'm not feeling hungry, like this morning, I've um I bought a ninja blend boss, which I've got to say is like the most awesome blender. It's a very new device from Ninja, and it's um it's intelligent, so it knows when to stop whizzing it and mixing it. So I made my my I had a protein uh food.
SPEAKER_00I've just got given one of it, a ninja blend thing, it's a portable one.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, oh it's no, it's a bit bigger than that. Oh, okay. Um I will show I'll show you it's in my I'll show you in a minute, Marcus. Um, but I I've got one of those, and it means that I can mix my smoothie in the morning with my protein powder and my creatine. And um I have that in the morning because also when I'm on the jab, especially the first few days of the jab, not the first I've injected, it's a couple of days after that. I it will take me like most of the morning to drink that smoothie. So I but I know that I'm getting protein, and I know rather than just having a milk, not milkshake, but a normal smoothie, it means I know I'm getting some of my protein in there. Um so I tend to concentrate more on my meals in the evening because I'm very busy at work generally and I don't understand. So I do just make sure that I'm eating, I have my smoothie with my protein, and then I know that I've done something that's good in the mornings.
SPEAKER_02So another thing people are talking about is with this, is um so I can hear people saying out there, and I've been asked this a lot. So what happens when these people stop the jab?
SPEAKER_03So if you don't stop the jab properly, so the idea will be is you build yourself up, so it's in increments of 2.5, I think, um, on the Maljaro.
SPEAKER_00Is that a milligram?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so I'd have to look it up exactly. But I'm on like 10, and then it goes 12.5, and 15 is the highest dose. Yeah, so I'm sure it's 15 milligrams, and they're in a four-month little pen. Yeah, you self-inject, um, you just screw your needle head on and inject in your tummy or your leg. Yeah, I always inject my tummy because my leg hurts if I don't my leg, obviously, because I'm all my muscle. Um so I always inject my tummy. Um, something to be really mindful of when you're injecting is don't hit a stretch mark because that absolutely picks like you cannot even believe. Seriously, dear god, it hurts so bad. Yeah, don't inject in the stretch mark, just saying. Um, but yeah, so um they come in, obviously the pens, it's really easy, really simple. There's plenty of YouTube videos, and your nurse will show you how to do it anyway. Um, but I've completely lost my train of thought.
SPEAKER_02So it's then about when you come off of what happens what they said.
SPEAKER_03So I have come off, I have come off it briefly, yeah. Like when I had my surgery, and I um will be brutally honest and tell you that the weight goes on like that.
SPEAKER_02Well, I can just what what's what everyone's saying? Yeah, no, it's true. And I thought I'd be interested to see what they if they give you is a nurse's gentleman give you spoken to you about all this. So no, I did a lot of my own research.
SPEAKER_03So the idea is you come off it gradually, so like you build it up, you then come back down off it. So you can come down in your increments, yeah. So my intention is stop. Because I have done I've had that, I have done that.
SPEAKER_02Which doesn't sound good.
SPEAKER_03No, don't only because if you imagine that this injection is stopping you, so this injection is making you feel full and it's stopping the food noise. If you s if once that injection wears off, and obviously they're weekly, so you can imagine it takes maybe about a week to kind of that food noise and the hunger then hits you like an absolute train.
SPEAKER_01Oh really?
SPEAKER_03So I have definitely been in a situation where I've put on two stone in a matter of weeks, and not because I've been eating Yeah, not because I've been eating crap, but because I've been eating more. Because you I go from not eating I eat once a day generally when I'm on the injection, I have my protein and stuff like that, and I will have like a small lunch and things like that here. The main meal. But my main meal is in the evening, yeah, but then when you're not when you're then normally hungry, if that makes sense, and you're back to normal, you're then like, oh well, I'll have this for breakfast, and then I'll have this for lunch, and then I'll have this for dinner. Yeah, and it's that those cravings hit in as well, and your food noise. So when I'm if I'm a bit stressed because of work or the children or whatever, I'm like, oh, I'll have a biscuit. So I am better at eating one biscuit as opposed to 10, but it is that you are you have got something that controls that, and it's the same as if you had your gastric bypass or gastric band, rather, you've got something that stops you from overeating, and that because if you if I overeat on the injection, I feel like hell. I can't even or it's like eating a Chinese, you know. When you've eaten too much Chinese, you feel awful, it's like that, but tenfold. Yeah, um, so it is going from having that to having nobody telling you you're hungry, or you're sorry, no one telling you you're full, and suddenly being like, Well, I can eat everything then.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so that's something you've got to be very Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So the idea is you come down off in the increments because then you gain more control as you come down with yourself and the willpower, and that's where your willpower and your education hits kicks in. So I've I'm on 10 for the next month. I've got my two further prescriptions 12.5, and then I've got to 15 after that, and then I'm gonna start coming back down slowly and carefully and managing myself properly.
SPEAKER_02People don't know how long you're on this for.
SPEAKER_03So I think it's meant to be about solidly for about a year. Yeah, but I've been on it for longer than that, on and off.
SPEAKER_02So you can be on it for longer.
SPEAKER_00Well, they've made it now, isn't it? But you can be on it forever.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, because that's a maintenance date, so you can be on it forever. That's what people are saying.
SPEAKER_00So is it a bit of a scary thought? Chitching for the companies that are coming off it.
SPEAKER_02And imagine that day if you were like the doc said to you, you're coming off it in two months' time. For me, I can't really think that'd be on my mind. 100% is your comfort blanket going.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, absolutely. But I think that's where you have to you have to do it carefully. You need to be that's where people that haven't exercised and haven't changed their diet, they're the ones that are gonna suffer.
SPEAKER_00Create a healthier lifestyle, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Because it's about it is exactly that, it's about lifestyle changes, and it's not, you know, it's as we all know, people that have gastric surgery are very brave because that is life-changing, literally, um, because you're changing parts of your body. But if you still eat your chocolate bar for lunch instead of something that's better balanced, you're you're still gonna put the weight on eventually because your stomach will stretch again. Because you're back to doing that as long as it's gonna be a good thing. So it's the same as the weight loss injection, you have to be mindful of what you're eating and how often you're eating, um, and also bear in mind that you do it, it isn't gonna last forever. For some people, I mean it's super expensive. So I paid £252 this morning, which is a month, that's how much it costs me every month, plus seeing the GP, that's £75 quid. So it is a lot of money. So for some people, it is not affordable. Um but what if people aren't it if they aren't able to afford it, that's awful. And I, you know, I'm really sorry, but I am sorry because that's awful for people. But for the love of God, do not go to unmarketed, like unlicensed places because obviously people have died having taken what they thought was a fat jab and it wasn't. Yeah, um, so that's something that you have to bear in mind. Do your research if you are gonna buy it online, make sure you're doing it from a reputable brand. So, like I used to buy it on um, I was at a London Sliming Clinic in the UK, I used to buy it from them. I did my research, I knew that they were like kosher, etc. Because it is otherwise, it's a license to print money effectively, and that is that's where the risk set in because people get greedy.
SPEAKER_00It'd be interesting anyone watching. I've think you think the same thing, but yeah, it's get to comment if you're willing to comment, or if you know someone who's had issues or things they've been through whilst they've been on the jab, or if you know any stories, it'd be interesting to hear other people's stories. Um, and then maybe if you get if you've got any questions, we can always come back and speak to her another time and and and go through those questions and see what you've got.
SPEAKER_03But I think for those people that have struggled, and men and women, obviously, I know more w women that have been on it than men, but for people that have struggled, genuinely think about it. Yeah, because it gives you like I'm now I turn 40 at Christmas and I am literally like a new person, and I would never have got I'd never have become that person without the fat jab. Um hundred percent, a hundred percent. Um so definitely think about it. If you've got any questions, happy to answer them. I will be. I'm I am honest, I'm not I really am not bothered what people think about the fact I've done the fat jab because for me it's worked, and I'm really grateful. So, you know, but I will share some photos with you of my before and after, which are terrifying. We'll put those on the uh on the video.
SPEAKER_00You're brave not to young to us. I mean, just to finish it off, we'll wrap this up. But um, top tips for anyone who's thinking of doing it, and for anyone who's on it, what you think they should be doing.
SPEAKER_03So do before you've gone on it, do your research, yeah. For the love of God, do your research. If you've got a PT, speak to them about it, they'll know about it. Um, but have conversations with your GP. Most of the local um surgeries are all running their own weight loss programs now.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So even if you're gonna order it online, which is absolutely fine, but get some ask some questions first, do your research, and don't lie. It is designed for people that have got a like uh BMI of over 27, not for people that are under that for obvious reasons. Um, and what and if people that are on it, please make sure you're doing your resistance training um and strength training because that is so important. Um, to the point that even though I was training and doing strength training, obviously with you, Tom, um at one point they were concerned my hip joint was loosening where my replacement plant was. And even that was with me doing strength training. So for people that aren't doing that, and walking and stuff is not enough, it needs to be resistance training.
SPEAKER_00I was already talking about things like osteoporosis and that sort of stuff, yeah. You start to lose so much weight and brittle bone. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_03And if you're not getting your nutrients in, so it's worth investigating taking supplements on that as well. Um, obviously, there are side effects, they've been quite well advertised, the side effects, um, and people that have had pancreatitis um thyroid issues will not be allowed it potentially because it does increase the risk of pancreat pancreatic cancer and thyroid cancer by like 0.02%. I think it is or 0.05%. Um, but if you've had a history of it, they won't allow you to have the injection. Um speak to a GP. So speak to your GPU. Always just in case. And if he gives a go or she gives a go ahead, crack on an order online if that's what you want to do. Yeah, but please get you know information first because it's it is something you're injecting effectively, you are injecting something into your body, so you need to make sure you're doing it in the safest way.
SPEAKER_02Okay, sure. Oh well, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Very good. I thank you for your time. Yeah, I think you've helped a lot of people.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, hope you guys enjoyed that. Thank you.
SPEAKER_00And uh, yeah, cool.
unknownAll right, we'll speak to time. See you next time. Bye bye.