Losing weight during the holiday season can be quite a challenge. With an abundance of food more prominent than any other time of the year, there’s a societal expectation to indulge.
Whether it’s a beloved homemade dish like your mom’s mashed potatoes or a cherished family recipe such as cranberry sauce, declining these holiday essentials might earn you the title of a Christmas killjoy.
For many individuals using weight-loss medications like Mounjaro, this presents a genuine hurdle during the festive period.
A user of Mounjaro, who successfully shed 42lbs using the appetite-reducing GLP-1 drug, encountered disappointed reactions last year as she found it difficult to join the family meal.
The apprehension she felt after discontinuing the medication has driven her to consider turning to it once more this Christmas.
“As I truffle down another mince pie – one of many – I inevitably feel a pang of guilt that I can’t control my eating.
“However, I console myself with the thought that putting away a small mountain of food is an essential, joyfully shared part of Christmas,” Lucy Cavendish writes of her pre-jab self in the Daily Mail.
The author and mother noted a significant shift when she started the weight-loss injections, observing her large meal preparations with a sense of disbelief at the quantities people consume.
“I felt like an alien that had been beamed down to Earth, expected to join in with customs that I didn’t understand,” she explained.
Cavendish recounted receiving disapproving looks from her relatives and inquiries about her health, as she picked at her food, sampling it in small portions.
This situation can also trigger self-consciousness among others about their own eating habits. “I caught sneaky glances at my plate from a few family members, followed by a sad stare at their own hefty portions,” she said.
Despite her reservations toward holiday indulgence, the author found a ‘huge upside’ she hadn’t experienced in previous years—she was losing weight.
This achievement not only allowed her to fit into a size 8 dress for the celebrations but also helped her rediscover the joy of Christmas without the overwhelming ‘food fog’ that comes from overeating.
“Even better, I didn’t have to subsequently undo my trousers at the table or lie in a food coma in front of the TV by 8pm,” she added.
Although Cavendish felt a sense of satisfaction as her family members complained of feeling overly full, this year, she worries about maintaining her restraint.
“I came off Mounjaro three months ago and fear I will be at the mercy of the food noise that has since returned,” she explained, noting that she managed to maintain her weight at 10 stone after stopping the injections.
The apprehension of regaining her lost 42lbs has driven her to adopt a strategy that her slender friends have used to maintain their weight.
“But I realise now that friends were saying they were off the jabs, while still microdosing small amounts,” she revealed. As a result, Cavendish might find herself facing similar challenges once more.
She shared: “I intend to take a weekly dose as a perfectly sensible way to stay on course over the next few weeks, and my doctor has approved.”
The writer plans to administer the smallest dose weekly throughout the holiday season, using regular 2.5mg injections to help manage her appetite.
Ultimately, the results speak for themselves: “I want to put on that tiny sequin dress and sashay into parties feeling fabulous – not paranoid and distracted by food.”